Knocked Out Loaded

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Knocked Out Loaded
Studio album by Bob Dylan
Released	July 14, 1986
Recorded	Spring 1986
Genre	Rock
Length	36:11
Label	Columbia
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B) link Rolling Stone link
Bob Dylan chronology
Biograph (1985) Knocked Out Loaded (1986) Down in the Groove (1988)

Knocked Out Loaded is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 24th studio album, released by Columbia Records in July 1986.

The album was received poorly upon release, and is still considered by some critics to be one of Dylan's least-engaging efforts. However, the 11-minute epic "Brownsville Girl"— co-written by Sam Shepard—has been called one of his best songs by some Dylan critics. ^[1]

Composition

The album includes three cover songs, three collaborations with other songwriters, and two solo compositions by Dylan himself. Most of the album was recorded in the spring of 1986 (several tracks built on instrumental tracks from 1985 sessions), but one track, Got My Mind Made Up, was reportedly recorded during a one-day break in the Dylan/Tom Petty "True Confessions" tour in June. One song, "Maybe Someday", paraphrases a line from T. S. Eliot's poem Journey of the Magi: Eliot's "And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly" becomes in Dylan "Through hostile cities and unfriendly towns".

Reception

The album earned mostly negative reactions, with only a rewritten version of an outtake (New Danville Girl, retitled Brownsville Girl) recorded during the Empire Burlesque sessions, receiving uniform praise. Robert Christgau called it "one of the greatest and most ridiculous of [Dylan's] great ridiculous epics. Doesn't matter who came up with such lines as 'She said even the swap meets around here are getting corrupt' and 'I didn't know whether to duck or run, so I ran' — they're classic Dylan."

The album as a whole was generally (but not universally) panned, as was its followup, Down in the Groove. "Knocked Out Loaded is ultimately a depressing affair," wrote Anthony DeCurtis in his review published in Rolling Stone Magazine, "because its slipshod, patchwork nature suggests that Dylan released this LP not because he had anything in particular to say, but to cash in on his 1986 tour. Even worse, it suggests Dylan's utter lack of artistic direction." In the Howard Sounes book Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan, it is reported that Dylan said "If the records I'm making only sell a certain amount anyway, then why should I take so long putting them together?"

Sales for Knocked Out Loaded were considered weak, as it peaked at #53 on U.S. charts and #35 in the UK.

Dylan has played few songs from this album in concert; Driftin' Too Far From Shore, with 14 performances (all but one in 1988), is the most frequently performed. Four songs remain unplayed, while the other three have together been aired only five times.

In recent years the album has gained a cult following among some Dylan fans who believe it's one of his least-understood works,^[2] but critical consensus remains negative, with recent reviews from Salon.com to Rolling Stone Magazine calling it a "career-killer" and "the absolute bottom of the Dylan barrel" respectively.

Columbia has yet to remaster this album, but it is available on compact disc.

Outtakes

The following songs were recorded during the Knocked Out Loaded sessions. None of the tracks are circulating. The tracks without writer credits may or may not be original Dylan compositions.

• "The Beautiful Life"
• "Come Back Baby, One More Time"
• "I Need Your Love"
• "Lonely Avenue"
• "So Good"
• "Too Late, She’s Gone" (Tim Davis, Ricky Clinton Ryan)
• "Unchain My Heart" (James Freddy, Agnes Jones)
• "Wild & Wicked World" (J. D. Miller, George Sherry)
• "Without Love (There Is Nothing)" (Danny Small)
• "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)

Track listing

1. "You Wanna Ramble" (Little Junior Parker) – 3:14
2. "They Killed Him" (Kris Kristofferson) – 4:00
3. "Driftin' Too Far From Shore" (Bob Dylan) – 3:39
4. "Precious Memories" (Trad. Arr. Bob Dylan) – 3:13
5. "Maybe Someday" (Bob Dylan) – 3:17
6. "Brownsville Girl" (Bob Dylan, Sam Shepard) – 11:00
7. "Got My Mind Made Up" (Bob Dylan, Tom Petty) – 2:53
8. "Under Your Spell" (Bob Dylan, Carole Bayer Sager) – 3:58

Personnel

• Britt Bacon – engineer
• Mike Berment – steel drums
• Peggie Blu – background vocals
• Majason Bracey – background vocals
• Clem Burke – drums
• T-Bone Burnett – guitar
• Mike Campbell – guitar
• Carolyn Dennis – background vocals
• Steve Douglas – saxophone
• Bob Dylan – guitar, harmonica, keyboards, vocals
• Howie Epstein – bass
• Judy Feltus – engineer
• Anton Fig – drums
• Lara Firestone – background vocals
• Greg Fulginiti – mastering
• Milton Gabriel – steel drums
• Keysha Gwin – background vocals
• Don Heffington – drums
• Muffy Hendrix – background vocals
• April Hendrix-Haberlan – background vocals
• Ira Ingber – guitar
• James Jamerson, Jr. – bass
• Dewey B. Jones II – background vocals
• Phil Jones – conga
• Al Kooper – keyboards
• Stan Lynch – drums
• Steve Madaio – trumpet
• Queen Esther Marrow – background vocals
• Larry Mayhand – background vocals
• John McKenzie – bass
• Vince Melamed – keyboards
• Larry Meyers – mandolin
• Angel Newell – background vocals
• Herbert Newell – background vocals
• John Paris – bass
• Bryan Parris – steel drums
• Al Perkins – steel guitar
• Tom Petty – guitar
• Crystal Pounds – background vocals
• Raymond Lee Pounds – drums
• Madelyn Quebec – background vocals
• Vito San Filippo – bass
• Carl Sealove – bass
• Patrick Seymour – keyboards
• Jack Sherman – guitar
• Daina Smith – background vocals
• Don Smith – engineer
• Maia Smith – vocals
• Medena Smith – background vocals
• Dave Stewart – guitar
• Benmont Tench – keyboards
• Annette May Thomas – background vocals
• Damien Turnbough – background vocals
• George Tutko – engineer
• Ronnie Wood – guitar
• Chyna Wright – background vocals
• Elesecia Wright – background vocals
• Tiffany Wright – background vocals

Notes