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Knocked Out Loaded (1986)
(6 votes)
Tracks (Click song title for lyrics)
Album Info
You Wanna Ramble
Bob Dylan -- Guitar
T. Bone Burnett -- Guitar
James Jamerson Jr. -- Bass
Al Kooper -- Keyboards
Raymond Lee Pounds -- Drums
Background Vocals -- Carol Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Muffy Hendrix, Annette May Thomas
They Killed Him
Bob Dylan -- Guitar
Jack Sherman -- Guitar
Vito San Filippo -- Bass
Raymond Lee Pounds -- drums
Al Kooper -- Keyboards
Steve Douglas -- Saxophone
Steve Madaio -- Trumpet
Background Vocals -- Carol Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Muffy Hendrix, Annette May Thomas
The Children's Choir -- Damien Turnbough, Majason Bracy, Keysha Gwin, Crystal Pounds, Lara Firestone, Tiffany Wright, Chyna Wright, Angel Newell, Herbert Newell, Larry Mayhand, April Hendrix-Haberlin, Dewey B. Jones II, Medena Smith, Daina Smith, Maia Smith
Driftin' Too Far From Shore
Bob Dylan -- Keyboards
Ron Wood -- Guitar
Anton Fig -- Drums
John Paris -- Bass
Background Vocals -- Peggi Blu, Annette May Thomas, Madelyn Quebec, Carol Dennis, Muffy Hendrix,
Precious Memories
Bob Dylan -- Guitar
Raymond Lee Pounds -- Drums
James Jamerson Jr. -- Bass
Larry Meyers -- Mandolin
Al Perkins -- Steel Guitar
Milton Gabriel, Mike Berment & Brian Parris -- Steel Drums
Background Vocals -- Queen Esther Marrow, Carol Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Muffy Hendrix, Annette May Thomas
Maybe Someday
Bob Dylan -- Guitar
Mike Campbell -- Guitar
Howie Epstein -- Bass
Don Heffington-Drums
Steve Douglas -- Saxophone
Steve Madaio -- Trumpet
Background Vocals -- Annette May Thomas, Carol Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Elisecia Wright, Queen Esther Marrow, Peggi Blu
Brownsville Girl
Bob Dylan -- Guitar
Don Heffington -- Drums
Carl Sealove -- Bass
Vince Melamed -- Keyboards
Ira Ingber -- Guitar
Steve Douglas -- Saxophone
Steve Madaio -- Trumpet
Background Vocals -- Elisecia Wright, Queen Esther Marrow, Muffy Hendrix, Carol Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Peggi Blu
Got My Mind Made Up
Bob Dylan -- Vocals
Tom petty -- Guitar
Mike Campbell -- Guitar
Benmont Tench -- Keyboards
Stan Lynch -- Drums
Howie Epstein -- Bass
Philip Lyn Jones -- Conga
Background Vocals -- Carol Dennis, Queen Esther Marrow, Elisecia Wright, Madelyn Quebec
Under Your Spell
Bob Dylan -- Guitar
Dave Stewart -- Guitar
Clem Burke -- Drums
Patrick Seymour -- Keyboards
John McKenzie -- Bass
Background Vocals -- Muffy Hendrix, Carol Dennis, Queen Esther Marrow, Elisecia Wright, Madelyn Quebec
Recorded at Skyline Studios, The Church, Delta Studios, Cherokee Studios, Sound City.
The Engineers -- Don Smith, Britt Bacon, George Tutko, Judy Feltus
Album Art -- Charles Sappington
Special Thanks To:
Tony Goodstone
Norm's Guitars
Britt Bacon
Susies Pullen
Tony Dimitriades
Jeff Rosen
Jeff Jones
Sid Fernandez
Steve Howe
Rita & Britta
Harry Dean Stanton
Frank Zappa
Gay Austin
Sam Shepard
Ben Saltzman
Naomi Saltzman
David Geffen
Carole Childs
Jackson Browne
Margarita
Diane
Vicki
Irene
Mike Campbell
Howie Epstein
Tom Petty
Benmont Tench
Stan Lynch
John Trudell
Claudia Lanier
Mildred & Charlotte
Mattie
Ludella
Bommu Kingsley
Sharon
Carol
Randy Newman
Capitol Records
David
Keith
Willie
Bob
Ahmet
Eric
George
Martin Sheen
Paul Rappaport
Andre
Zusha
Annette
Baby Boo Boo
Vanessa
Clara
Jesse Ed Davis
The Baroness
The Duchess
Helena
Narette
Reggae Queen
Louie & Corrine
Rabbi Spector
Buggs Weidel
Charles Rook
Musicland
Joey & Louie
Rev. T. Alexander
Mark Knopfler
Stage Deli
Baghdad Restaurant
Something Fishy
Zucky's
Lil & Mel
Peter Takiff
Bob Meyes
Marshall Gelfland
Bill Graham
Pammie
peachy
Chrissie Hynde
Sarah Wells
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson
Highway Blues Girls
Ronnie Wood
Lulu Belle
Walter Yetnikoff
Ruben Blades
Miami Steve
Carol
Yvonne
Michael Mann
Elliot Roberts
Alan Rudolph
Iron Mike
Bill Walton
Chaim Guttenberg
Lou Reed
Stevie Wonder
Gal Shaped Just Like A Frog
Martine
Harriette Blaze
Diamentina
Danny
Tommy
Kate
Lanie
Stan & Huey
Desiree
Nicole
Arma Andon
Josh Abbey
Don Smith
Ruthie
Sly & Robbie
Richie Havens
David Kearny
Chris Bowman
Marty Feldman
Nick Egan
Dave Stewart
Jack Nicholson
Clydie King
Comments
Better
I personally like this better than the previous Empire Burlesque because I like the sound better. But despite working with so many quality musicians, something just doesn't seem to work here.
Dave
his worst
No Rating
to me Knocked Out is his weakest album. I dont even like Brownsville Girl. To my ears the best things on it are the opening track and Precious Memories.
after Knocked Out, I think his worst album is Modern Times.
Okay
I think my problem with Dylan in the 80s is that he seems to be almost trying to quit. The intro to his concerts these days pokes fun by the phrase "has-been". With records like this, it's easy to see why. Proceed with caution.
I didn't want to buy Knocked
I didn't want to buy Knocked Out Loaded at first because I read nothing but negative reviews about it. In fact, they were so terrible that I was ashamed when I finally broke down to buy it to complete my Dylan collection. At first, I hated the album and was convinced that the reviews were right-on. But now that I've been able to get a grasp of the lyrics I have to admit that it not only isn't a terrible album, it's actually a pretty good one.
And, to be honest, I don't like "Brownsville Girl" that much. "Driftin' Too Far from Shore", "Maybe Someday", "Got My Mind Made Up", and "Under Your Spell" are the songs that make this album. "Brownsville Girl" and "Precious Memories" feel like filler. And "They Killed Him", while not a good song, is used by Bob to once again declare Jesus Christ 'The Son of God Almighty'.
I'm not saying KOL is another Blood on the Tracks. But if you haven't heard it yet, don't make the mistake of overlooking it.
I recently came across a website by a guy that shares my enthusiasm for Knocked Out Loaded. You might want to check it out: http://knockedoutloaded.weebly.com/index.html
Knocked Out Loaded isn't Bob's worst by any stretch. That title should be assigned to 'Down in the Groove'... But in my book, even the worst Dylan albums are a cut above just about anything else pop music has pumped out in the past 20 years. (Gosh... I sound like an old fogey and, man, I ain't even 25).
Brownsville girl
I think there's much to do about this album than feeling it's the long Brownsville girl single. The song makes the album worth and there's much more to hear in it. Only Under your spell is something similar to listenable. The rest, only for huge fans.It' okay thanks to Brownsville girl.
Knocked Out Loaded
While Empire Burlesque wasn’t a failure in my mind, it was not a success commercially – which is what it seemed like what it was aiming for. So for the next two albums Bob gives up on trying to record an album as a single entity. Both Knocked Out Loaded and Down In The Groove are more like of compilations of various recording sessions from a broad time period, rather than one group musicians recording one album in one week. Not even Shot Of Love (which at least kept a consistent core of musicians even as it rotated through the studios of L.A.) sounds this patchwork. But like the deliberately bootleg sounding Self-Portrait, it was definitely intentional, and it works (although not nearly as well). Of the two albums, Knocked Out Loaded receives the most scorn – with the biggest exception. Everybody likes to think of Knocked Out Loaded as nothing more than a really long single for “Brownsville Girl” with a lot of really bad B-sides to ignore. Which is too bad, because personally, “Brownsville Girl” is the worst moment on the album (other than the children’s choir that pops up on “They Killed Him”). Much as the solo acoustic guitar of “Dark Eyes” undermined the rest of Empire Burlesque, so does the epic length of “Brownsville Girl” remind fans of Dylan’s earlier style and works against the rest of the album. Only, where “Dark Eyes” merely tainted as an added on tag, “Brownsville Girl” dominates, consisting of nearly a third of Knocked Out Loaded’s thirty-five minute running time. Frankly I find “Brownsville Girl” not only lacks the musical sophistication to justify its eleven minute length, but the lyrics themselves seem to be over a dozen verses about a guy trying to remember the name of some movie. But people focus on that song and erroneously compare the rest of the album to it. When in fact the rest of the album holds up quite well on it’s own. Not that the album’s great, but it’s nowhere near as bad as everyone makes it out to be. “You Wanna Ramble” and “Got My Mind Made Up” are my two favorite songs on here. Shuffling up-tempo rockers of the kind that Bob really should record more of. Sure, “They Killed Him” deserves it horrible reputation. If Kris Kristofferson only wrote three verses there is no need to have Bob and the back-up singer and that eardrum-splitting children’s choir each take a turn to sing all of them in various combinations. This album features the highest number of co-authors of any album since his collaboration with Jacques Levi on Desire. Not only did he write songs on here with Tom Petty, Carole Bayer Sager, and playwright Sam Shepard, but Bob also wrote “Steel Bars” with Michael Bolton, “Heartland” with Willie Nelson, and “Waiting For The Morning Light” with Kiss’s Gene Simmons around this time, none of which he ever recorded. Clearly Bob was hoping to find someone new to write with, but the two solo originals (“Maybe Someday” and “Driftin’ Too Far From Shore”) though are truly forgotten gems that would not have embarrassed Empire Burlesque or Infidels. “Under Your Spell” is still a little unformed, but the mandolin and steel drum arrangement of “Precious Memories” gives it a very nice feel without specifying any genre (Appalachian-Caribbean?). Give Knocked Out Loaded another listen, this time skipping “Brownsville Girl” and see if there isn’t something there.