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Keyboards - Barry Beckett
Drums - Pick Withers
Bass - Tim Drummond
Guitars - Mark Knopfler, Bob Dylan
Horns - Muscle Shoals Horns
Arrangements by Harrison Calloway
Background Vocals - Carolyn Dennis, Helena Springs, Regina
Havis
Percussion - Barry Beckett, Mickey Buckins
Produced by Jerry Wexler & Barry Beckett
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Of
all the pitstops made by the nomadically creative Dylan,
none was more unusual than his brief conversion to
Christianity in the late '70s. SLOW TRAIN COMING was the
first of two records (SAVED being the other) that found
Zimmerman exploring his newfound faith. Recorded at
Memphis' famed Muscle Shoals Studios and produced by soul
vets Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, SLOW TRAIN's
supporting cast includes Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler on
guitar and Pick Withers on drums, along with a handful of
studio musicians.
Knopfler's crisp guitar playing is surrounded by a punchy
horn section and a phalanx of female background singers
who are a perfect compliment to Dylan's revitalized
vocals. Songs such as "When He Returns" and
"Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking" reverberate
with the conviction of Dylan's new faith whereas
"When You Gonna Wake Up" simultaneously
celebrates America's greatness as a country and warns of
the need to seek a new set of values. Dylan eventually won
a Best Rock Vocal Grammy for "Gotta Serve
Somebody," but the enigmatic one renounced his
conversion to Christianity by 1983.
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