As with many of Dylan's albums in the 21st century, the packaging features minimal credits and no printed lyrics.īob Dylan in the film noir-inspired music video for 'The Night We Called It a Day' Their appearance may allude to the 1966 Black and White Ball, a masked ball attended by Frank Sinatra and his wife Mia Farrow, both of whom wore masks at the event. The back cover photo shows Dylan and a masked woman, both in formal wear, sitting at a small nightclub table looking at a seven-inch Sun Records single. The front cover incorporates a photo of Dylan in a thoughtful pose in formal attire, presented in shadow behind a vertical-bar design that emulates the cover of jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's 1962 Blue Note album Hub-Tones. The cover art for Shadows in the Night presents images and a design that evoke the early 1960s. Ī total of 23 songs were recorded, from which ten were chosen for the album. He'd just learn what the song was about and whatever. Then he would only do two or three takes on each tune, but he would make it his own. He would listen to the songs over and over and get Sinatra's intention on what he was doing with the song. Dylan prepared each session by listening to the Sinatra recordings, according to Schmitt, who noted: They worked Monday through Friday with weekends off. Īccording to Schmitt, recording sessions typically were held from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, and then after a two-hour break, an evening session was held from 8:00 pm to around 10:30 pm. For the electric guitar and pedal steel, Schmitt placed the microphones close to the amplifiers, which were set off to the side. The acoustic bass microphone was eight feet from the bass, and set down and away so it could not be seen the same approach was taken for the acoustic guitar. Dylan did not want to see any microphones other than the one he was using for his vocals, so Schmitt had to set up the rest of the microphones away from the instruments. According to the album's recording engineer, Al Schmitt, the songs on Shadows were recorded live with Dylan singing and his five-man touring band performing the songs in the same room at the same time without headphones. Shadows in the Night was recorded in 2014 at Capitol Studios in studio B, where Frank Sinatra often recorded his albums. The arrangements center on Dylan's vocals supported throughout by Donny Herron's gliding pedal-steel guitar and Tony Garnier's bass. Most of the songs are Tin Pan Alley standards, delivered in a slow to mid-tempo pace, that 'often luxuriate in melancholy' and communicate a sense of loneliness. The songs were selected from that period of Sinatra's career when he was recording thematic albums that explored emotions of separation and heartache-albums such as Where Are You? (1957), which includes four of the songs on Shadows, No One Cares (1959), and All Alone (1962). Shadows in the Night consists of ten ballads that were recorded by Frank Sinatra in the late 1950s and early 1960s. At the 2016 Grammys, it was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

The album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, making Dylan the oldest male solo artist to chart at No. 1 in the UK.

The album garnered acclaim from critics, who praised its song selections as well as Dylan and his band's performance and arrangements.

Lifting them out of the grave and bringing them into the light of day. What me and my band are basically doing is uncovering them. I don't see myself as covering these songs in any way. Speaking of his intention behind the album, Dylan stated: Like most of his 21st century output, Dylan produced the album himself under the pseudonym Jack Frost. The album consists of covers of traditional pop standards made famous by Frank Sinatra, chosen by Dylan. Shadows in the Night is the 36th studio album by Bob Dylan, released by Columbia Records on February 3, 2015.

Studio ambience at night