On this day in 1974 Bob Dylan began recording sessions for what would become Blood on the Tracks.

"BLOOD ON THE TRACKS"     

His fifteenth studio album, the record marked Dylan's return to Columbia Records after a two-album stint with Asylum Records. 

The musicians at the Sept. 16 session quickly realized that Dylan was taking a "spontaneous" approach to recording. The session engineer, Phil Ramone, later said that Dylan transitioned from one song to another as if they were part of a medley.

Ramone noted: “Sometimes he will have several bars, and in the next version, he will change his mind about how many bars there should be in between a verse. Or eliminate a verse. Or add a chorus when you don't expect it.” 

Eric Weissberg and his band, Deliverance, originally recruited as session men, were rejected after two days of recording because they could not keep up with Dylan's pace. Dylan retained bassist Tony Brown from the band, and soon added organist Paul Griffin (who had also worked on Highway 61 Revisited) and steel guitarist Buddy Cage. 

After ten days and four sessions with the current lineup, Dylan had finished recording and mixing, and, by November, had cut a test pressing of the album. Columbia began to prepare to release the album before Christmas. 

Dylan played the test recording for his brother, David Zimmerman, who persuaded Dylan the album would not sell because the overall sound was too stark. 

In December, shortly before the scheduled release, Dylan abruptly re-recorded much of the material in a studio in Minneapolis. The final album contains five tracks from New York and five from Minneapolis. The album was released on Jan. 20, 1975.

Blood on the Tracks was initially received with mixed reviews, but has subsequently been acclaimed as one of Dylan's greatest albums by critics and fans.

The songs have been linked to tensions in Dylan's personal life, including estrangement from his then-wife, Sara. One of their children, Jakob Dylan, has described the songs as "my parents talking.” 

The album has been viewed as an outstanding example of the confessional singer-songwriter's craft, and it has been called "the truest, most honest account of a love affair from tip to stern ever put down on magnetic tape.

Probably my favourite go to Bob Dylan album of all time, there are other moods met by other fine fine albus that may suit a particular mood but if I want something to think about and put on to enjoy it is THIS 

This interestingly (well to me!) also adjoins to my favourite bootleg in the Blood on The Tapes double back boot and it never fails to make me smile and think again . . . . . . .