Album #17: Desire

 Released January 5, 1976


This album came out in the midst of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour, and features a lot of the same musicians. It’s unusual in that Dylan co-wrote most of the songs (with playwright Jacques Levy.) Scarlet Rivera’s violin adds a feeling of mystery to many of the songs, and EmmyLou Harris’s accompanying vocals add a lot, too. 

I’m not crazy about “Joey”, but I love “One More Cup of Coffee”, “Isis” and “Sara,” although “Sara” is incredibly sad to listen to now. “Black Diamond Bay” is also fun, reminiscent of “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” in its cinematic qualities. I half-like “Hurricane” - the performance and the tune are great, but the lyrics are just too literal for me. Still, Dylan wrote it to publicize the situation, and in that he certainly succeeded.

Black Diamond Bay:

https://youtu.be/73N211qQCZU?si=ZqflfqJDnAXKp0cl


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