Saved is the twentieth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 23, 1980, by Columbia Records. Saved was the second album of Dylan’s “Christian trilogy”, following his conversion to born-again Christianity. It expanded on themes explored on its predecessor Slow Train Coming, with gospel arrangements and lyrics extolling the importance of a strong personal faith. (More from Wikipedia)
One glance at the above album cover for Saved proves beyond doubt that Bob Dylan was serious with his Christian period. The songs were serious as well: “Covenant Woman”, “Pressing On”, “Saving Grace”, “Are You Ready”, etc. The opening track, “A Satisfied Mind” is a rare cover by Dylan of someone else’s song; “A Satisfied Mind” dates from the mid-1950’s and was first recorded by Porter Wagoner. (Interestingly, the debut solo album by folksinger Hamilton Camp, Paths of Victory – which, at the insistence of Elektra Records, has seven covers of mostly obscure Bob Dylan songs – also includes a cover of “A Satisfied Mind”). The album art is by a veteran in that field, Tony Wright; two of his designs – for Traffic’s The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971) and Steve Winwood’s Arc of a Diver (1980) – were named among the 100 Greatest Album Covers by Rolling Stone magazine.
In order to downplay the Christian message in the Saved album (if that’s possible), the cover painting was later replaced with a painting of Dylan in performance.
Saved was the middle album of Dylan’s so-called Christian trilogy (the three albums were released within a two-year period); but really (as is usual with Dylan), it wasn’t quite that simple.
Following Saved, Shot of Love reintroduced secular themes into his music; but “Property of Jesus” is the center song on the first side.
* * *
For a time, Bob Dylan only sang his gospel songs in concert; he was often heckled, but that certainly wasn’t the first time that happened to him. When his older material was brought back into the performances, there were changes in the lyrics in some cases. In “Tangled up in Blue”, the mysterious woman who originally quoted “an Italian poet from the 13th Century” began quoting from the Bible; sometimes it was the Book of Matthew, but eventually Dylan settled on Jeremiah 31:31 – “Behold, the days come, sayeth the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.” This Biblical quotation was included in the liner notes for Saved.
* * *
There was a noticeable dip in the ratings given by rock critics of Bob Dylan’s Christian recordings. That was not true so much for Slow Train Coming – Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave the album a B+ and wrote: “The lyrics are indifferently crafted. Nevertheless, this is his best album since Blood on the Tracks. The singing is passionate and detailed.” Allmusic and Rolling Stone both rated the album ***.
For Saved, the Rolling Stone rating stood, but Allmusic gave the album only **, and Christgau scored it as C+. Entertainment Weekly showed a C–. Shot of Love had ** from both Rolling Stone and Allmusic; Christgau and Entertainment Weekly showed B–.
With Infidels though, all was forgiven: Rolling Stone and Allmusic were both at ****.
* * *
To put these ratings in context, Self Portrait (1970) is the only Bob Dylan album to get just ** before Saved, other than some live albums (Allmusic shows low ratings for most of the Rolling Stones live albums also). To this day, no one seems to understand Self Portrait – I certainly don’t. The music seems as off-putting as the splashes of color in the cover art. The first few times I played it, I really only enjoyed the live version of “Like a Rolling Stone”; I have heard several others since that I enjoy more. Some years later, the opening track “All the Tired Horses” stood out, but probably only because I couldn’t discern a hint of Bob Dylan anywhere in the song.
(August 2014)
* * *
Items: Saved
One glance at the above album cover for Saved proves beyond doubt that Bob Dylan was serious with his Christian period. The songs were serious as well: “Covenant Woman”, “Pressing On”, “Saving Grace”, “Are You Ready”, etc. The opening track, “A Satisfied Mind” is a rare cover by Dylan of someone else’s song; “A Satisfied Mind” dates from the mid-1950’s and was first recorded by Porter Wagoner. (Interestingly, the debut solo album by folksinger Hamilton Camp, Paths of Victory – which, at the insistence of Elektra Records, has seven covers of mostly obscure Bob Dylan songs – also includes a cover of “A Satisfied Mind”). The album art is by a veteran in that field, Tony Wright; two of his designs – for Traffic’s The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971) and Steve Winwood’s Arc of a Diver (1980) – were named among the 100 Greatest Album Covers by Rolling Stone magazine.
In order to downplay the Christian message in the Saved album (if that’s possible), the cover painting was later replaced with a painting of Dylan in performance.
Saved was the middle album of Dylan’s so-called Christian trilogy (the three albums were released within a two-year period); but really (as is usual with Dylan), it wasn’t quite that simple.
Following Saved, Shot of Love reintroduced secular themes into his music; but “Property of Jesus” is the center song on the first side.
* * *
For a time, Bob Dylan only sang his gospel songs in concert; he was often heckled, but that certainly wasn’t the first time that happened to him. When his older material was brought back into the performances, there were changes in the lyrics in some cases. In “Tangled up in Blue”, the mysterious woman who originally quoted “an Italian poet from the 13th Century” began quoting from the Bible; sometimes it was the Book of Matthew, but eventually Dylan settled on Jeremiah 31:31 – “Behold, the days come, sayeth the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.” This Biblical quotation was included in the liner notes for Saved.
* * *
There was a noticeable dip in the ratings given by rock critics of Bob Dylan’s Christian recordings. That was not true so much for Slow Train Coming – Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave the album a B+ and wrote: “The lyrics are indifferently crafted. Nevertheless, this is his best album since Blood on the Tracks. The singing is passionate and detailed.” Allmusic and Rolling Stone both rated the album ***.
For Saved, the Rolling Stone rating stood, but Allmusic gave the album only **, and Christgau scored it as C+. Entertainment Weekly showed a C–. Shot of Love had ** from both Rolling Stone and Allmusic; Christgau and Entertainment Weekly showed B–.
With Infidels though, all was forgiven: Rolling Stone and Allmusic were both at ****.
* * *
To put these ratings in context, Self Portrait (1970) is the only Bob Dylan album to get just ** before Saved, other than some live albums (Allmusic shows low ratings for most of the Rolling Stones live albums also). To this day, no one seems to understand Self Portrait – I certainly don’t. The music seems as off-putting as the splashes of color in the cover art. The first few times I played it, I really only enjoyed the live version of “Like a Rolling Stone”; I have heard several others since that I enjoy more. Some years later, the opening track “All the Tired Horses” stood out, but probably only because I couldn’t discern a hint of Bob Dylan anywhere in the song.
(August 2014)
* * *
Items: Saved
