Bob Dylan: Infidels - 1983
"You see people working in different ways, and it's good for you. You have to learn to adapt to the way different people work. Yes, it was strange at times with Bob. One of the great parts about production is that it demonstrates to you that you have to be flexible. Each song has its own secret that's different from another song, and each has its own life. Sometimes it has to be teased out, whereas other times it might come fast. There are no laws about songwriting or producing. It depends on what you're doing, not just who you're doing. You have to be sensitive and flexible, and it's fun. I'd say I was more disciplined. But I think Bob is much more disciplined as a writer of lyrics, as a poet. He's an absolute genius. As a singer—absolute genius. But musically, I think it’s a lot more basic. The music just tends to be a vehicle for that poetry" - Mark Knopfler
Along with 1989's Oh Mercy, 1997's Time Out Of Mind and, of course, 1974's Blood On The Tracks, this was hailed as one of Bob Dylan's great "comeback" and "return to form" albums.
Rightly so, in many ways, despite the hackneyed cliches (that I am also using!). After the comparative "wilderness years" of his spiritual quest between 1978 and 1982, Dylan widened his appeal somewhat, employing Mark Knopfler, widely respected reggae rhythm section Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare and ex-rolling Stones guitar genius Mick Taylor - this was certainly an improvement, all round, on the previous couple of slightly patchy albums.
Yes, the Biblical imagery was still there in places, but the full-on, in your face proselytism of Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot Of Love was not nearly as dominant. There was also a warmth to the sound - excellent quality, sumptuous guitar and infectious rhythms, not surprising given the personnel. It was the best sounding Dylan album since Slow Train Coming.
Let's take the motherless children off the street and place them at the feet of a harlot....
Jokerman is one of my favourite Dylan songs of all time, without a doubt. It is jam-packed to overflowing with Biblical imagery and all sorts of other images too. Couplet after marvellous couplet abound. I could quote the whole bloody lot, it is so good. There is an addictive, understated rhythm and a gently lilting guitar sound and Dylan's voice is intuitive and seductive as he spews out the stream of consciousness lyrics. One of the most memorable lyrical passages is this -
"...You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah but what do you care? Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister... friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame, you look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name...".
Wonderful, peerless stuff, to be sure. Quite what it means, though, is, as always, unclear.
Sweetheart Like You sees Dylan at his tender, romantic and sensitive but world weary best. Dylan asks what his love is doing in a place like this. Warnings of the evils of Satan still prevail in the ambience of this album, but it is not as much of a preachy piece of work. It wasn't so blatantly devotional.
License To Kill is in a similar vein. Beautiful, melodious and sanctifying, with another addictive rhythm and guitar, plus harmonica from the man. This is as good as anything Dylan had done for several years. Neighbourhood Bully has Dylan rocking and ranting - maybe about Israel - over a solid blues rock beat. It punches out as hard as Dylan had done for a good while. Check out the guitar in this one. Impressive.
Side Two opens with the grinding, pumping rock of Man Of Peace. "Sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace" warns a committed-sounding Dylan in full preacher mode. Are we back into Saved mode? Yes, to a certain extent, but the quality of the backing and of Dylan's vibrant vocal delivery raises it above the slightly muffled material from that album. It rocks, big time. There is a fervour that is hard to resist on here that maybe wasn't there on the preceding few albums.
Union Sundown certainly continues the rocking feel - an upbeat, bluesy rock number that sees Dylan railing about buying goods coming from overseas. Reading the lyrics, I am really not sure exactly what his gripe is, to be honest. Similar to Neighbourhood Bully, when Dylan gets political, his lyrics and general approaches are often contradictory and oblique, as most of his lyrics are that way, they don't fit well with "single issue" political themes. As a rocker, it sounds ok, though. Many critics have questioned its inclusion on the album at the expense of songs that were left off, like the blues of Blind Willie McTell or the mysterious Foot Of Pride. It is an argument that it is virtually impossible to counter, save by saying that Dylan wrote the material, therefore ultimately it is his choice. It is also a valid criticism to make, however, that Dylan seems to have considerable difficulty rating his own work. Bruce Springsteen has the same problem, and Van Morrison. David Bowie too. They all do, probably, one's work is a personal thing.
Anyway, back to this album. I And I is excellent - driving, bluesy, slight reggae influences in the lyrics and vaguely in the drum backing, subtle, mysterious piano, excellent guitar and one hell of a vocal delivery from Dylan. For me, it is one of the best tracks on the album, along with Jokerman, License To Kill, Man Of Peace and Sweetheart Like You. All up there with some of Dylan's finest eighties/nineties material.
Then, there is the lovely album closer, the simply beautiful and romantic Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight, with its yearning, sad Dylan vocal, country-ish slide guitar. This is as soulful as Dylan has got, in any era.
There are a lot of similarities with Van Morrison's output from the same period - spiritual quests, soulful songs, impassioned delivery. Listening to this again has been a pleasure. I won't leave it so long next time.
The two notoriously omitted, afore-mentioned songs from the album's sessions are the tribute to the blues legend Blind Willie McTell and Foot Of Pride. The latter has a slow-burning bluesy beat similar to many of the tracks on Slow Train Coming and also has a parable-like message about meeting those on the way down you abused on the way up. It is a good track that would have not been out of place on the album at all. The former is one that everyone says should have been on the album, and it certainly would have added a different ambience with its stark, acoustic narrative. I have to admit, however shameful it might sound, that I have never been that big a fan of it. It is a great song too, I also have to concede, and its presence on the album would have changed its reputation instantly.
A fine early version of Tight Connection To My Heart was recorded in 1983 under the slightly different title of Someone's Got A Hold Of My Heart. It is actually the superior version and would have definitely enhanced Infidels.
Also written in 1983 was the summery, vaguely reggae-tinged Tell Me and the moving, immaculately-backed Lord Protect My Child. Once more, both these songs would have enhanced the album considerably, particularly the latter. All these tracks would have made it on to a CD length album in the nineties and it would have been given "classic" status, no doubt.
