Robert Allen Zimmerman was born on May 24, 1941 in Duluth,
Minnesota. He put out his self-titled
debut album in 1962 and became known for his folk and protest songs such as
‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’’ and ‘Like a Rolling Stone’. Bob Dylan became a born-again Christian in
the late 1970’s. He released his first
gospel album SLOW TRAIN COMING (1979, Columbia Records) not long after. It reached No 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200
chart. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) is
one of the guitarists. Carolyn Dennis,
Helena Springs, and Regina Havis provide great backing vocals. The album was produced by Jerry Wexler
(Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield) and Barry Beckett (Paul Simon, Lynyrd
Skynyrd).
The song ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’
kicks things off. It won a Grammy for
Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male.
It doesn’t mince any words when it comes to the spiritual realm: “You
may be an ambassador to England or France/You may like to gamble, you might
like to dance/You may be the heavyweight champion of the world/You may be a
socialite with a long string of pearls/But you’re gonna have to serve somebody,
yes indeed/You’re gonna have to serve somebody/Well, it may be the devil or it
may be the Lord/But you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. ‘Precious Angel’ has an old country music
feel to it. It is again direct
lyrically: “Now there’s spiritual warfare, flesh and blood breaking down/Ya
either got faith or ya got unbelief and there ain’t no neutral ground/The enemy
is subtle, how be it we are deceived/When the truth’s in our hearts and we
still don’t believe?” ‘I Believe in You’
is a ballad of great resolve: “I believe in you when winter turns to summer/I
believe in you when white turn to black/I believe in you even though I be
outnumbered/Oh, though the earth may shake me/Oh, though my friends forsake
me/Oh, even that couldn’t make me go back/Don’t let me change my heart/Keep me
set apart”.
‘Slow Train’ has a slow R&B
groove and a nice electric guitar solo.
It points out that there will be a day of reckoning for us all: “People
starving and thirsting, grain elevators are bursting/Oh, you know it costs more
to store the food than it do to give it/They say lose your inhibition/Follow
your own ambition/They talk about a life of brotherly love/Show me someone who
knows how to live it/There’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the
bend”. ‘Gonna Change My Way of Thinking’
is an adult rock number that includes the talents of the Muscle Shoals Horns. It urges us to live our lives intentionally: “Jesus
said ‘Be ready for you know not the hour which I come’/Jesus said ‘Be ready for
you know not the hour which I come’/He said ‘He who is not for Me is against
Me’/Just so you know where He’s coming from/There’s a kingdom called Heaven/A
place where there is no pain of birth.../Well, the Lord created it,
mister/About the same time He made the earth”.
‘Do Right to me Baby (Do Unto
Others)’ begins with these words of wisdom: “Don’t wanna judge nobody, don’t
wanna be judged/Don’t wanna touch nobody, don’t wanna be touched/Don’t wanna
hurt nobody, don’t wanna be hurt/Don’t wanna treat nobody like they was
dirt/But if you do right to me, baby/I’ll do right to you, too/Gotta do unto
others/Like you’d have them, like you’d have them, do unto you”. “When You Gonna Wake Up’ includes these
lyrics that sound like something from Steve Taylor’s pen: “Counterfeit
philosophies have polluted all of your thoughts/Karl Marx has got ya by the
throat, Henry Kissinger’s got you tied up into knots/When you gonna wake up? (2X)/When
you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?/You got innocent men
in jail, your insane asylums are filled/You got unrighteous doctors dealing
drugs that’ll never cure your ills”.
‘Man Gave Names to all the
Animals’ is a slow R&B song. It did
well on the charts in France and Belgium.
It was turned into a children’s book in 1999. The Wiggles even covered it in 2013! It includes these humorous lyrics: “He saw an
animal that liked to growl/Big furry paws and he liked to howl/Great big furry
back and furry hair/’Ah, think I’ll call it a bear’.../He saw an animal up on a
hill/Chewing up so much grass until she was filled/He saw milk comin’ out, but
he didn’t know how/’Ah, I think I’ll call it a cow’”. ‘When He Returns’ is a splendid keyboard
based gospel song that reminds us of God’s sovereignty: “Surrender your crown
on this blood-stained ground, take off your mask/He sees your deeds, He knows
your needs even before you ask/How long can you falsify and deny what is
real?/How long can you hate yourself for the weakness you conceal?/Of every
earthly plan that be known to man, He is unconcerned/He’s got plans of His own
to set up His throne/When He returns”.
In 2001 CCM Magazine named SLOW
TRAIN COMING as the 16th greatest album in Christian music. Bob Dylan’s singing voice is such that it
polarizes folks. You either love it or
hate it! I quite enjoy its uniqueness. This is an album of nine new songs from a new
believer in Christ. They are passionate
and pointed. These are songs urging people
to convert to Christianity and make major lifestyle changes. I’m rating SLOW TRAIN COMING 90% and
recommending it to fans of Larry Norman and Keith Green. For more info visit: www.bobdylan.com.