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62-592: Accompanied by multiple session musicians —including members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , and Howie Epstein —the album has a distinct "80s style" aesthetic. Fans and critics continue to debate the album's merits, especially when compared to his 1960s and 1970s output. Before embarking on a European tour in the summer of 1984, Dylan had spent a substantial amount of time recording demos of new songs in his Malibu home, accompanied at times by other musicians. In rehearsals for

124-540: A Star Trek episode, 'Squire of Gothos'." Some say this line was originally used in the Humphrey Bogart movie Sahara , though this is erroneous. Upon its release, Empire Burlesque received generally positive reviews, most notably a full-page review in Time magazine, but a number of critics demurred on the production, reservations that presaged Empire Burlesque' s poor reputation in later years. Members of

186-595: A musical ensemble or band. Many session musicians specialize in playing common rhythm section instruments such as guitar , piano , bass , or drums . Others are specialists, and play brass , woodwinds , and strings . Many session musicians play multiple instruments, which lets them play in a wider range of musical situations, genres, and styles. Examples of "doubling" include double bass and electric bass , acoustic guitar and mandolin , piano and accordion , and saxophone and other woodwind instruments. Session musicians are used when musical skills are needed on

248-431: A bunch of stuff all over the place, and then when it was time to put this record together, I brought it all to him and he made it sound like a record." The opening track, " Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love) ", was originally recorded for 1983's Infidels under the title "Someone's Got a Hold of My Heart" (eventually released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 ). It

310-434: A few days old. Recorded live -to- tape with no editing, overdubbing or embellishment, "Dark Eyes" was also sequenced as the last song of the album. Some further overdubbing was scheduled, but with recording essentially finished, Arthur Baker was left to mix the album. "I'm not too experienced at having records sound good," said Dylan. "I don't know how to go about doing that. With Arthur Baker...I just went out and recorded

372-825: A good bunch of songs. Hence, his best album since Blood on the Tracks . I wish that was a bigger compliment." As promotion for Empire Burlesque , music videos for "Tight Connection to My Heart", "When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky", and "Emotionally Yours" were produced and broadcast on MTV, with Paul Schrader (best known for his work with Martin Scorsese ) directing the video for "Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)". However, album sales remained fairly modest. All tracks are written by Bob Dylan Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of

434-595: A large tracking space that can hold up to 40 string players comfortably. Of the new studio and location, it has been said the new location is a continuation of the Cherokee tradition while going above and beyond. Acts that recorded at M.G.M. Recording Studios include: Count Basie , Ella Fitzgerald , Judy Garland , Oscar Peterson , Lou Rawls , The Sylvers , Elvis Presley and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra . Petty recorded his third album Damn

496-437: A lot of stuff that I keep," Dylan said at the time. "I just put down the songs that I felt as I wanted to put them down. Then I'd listen and decide if I liked them. And if I didn't like them I'd either rerecord them or change something about them." In November, Dylan returned to Los Angeles and began recording there. An early session at Ocean Way Studios produced little if any work that was used for Empire Burlesque . Much time

558-532: A nuanced sense of the playing styles and idioms used in different genres. For example, a sax player who mainly plays jazz needs to know the R&;B style if they are asked to improvise a solo in an R&B song. Similarly, a bass player asked to improvise a walking bassline in a rockabilly song needs to know the stock lines and cliches used in this genre. Regardless of the styles of music session musicians play, some qualities are universal: punctuality in arriving at

620-519: A part to fill a last-minute time slot. In the 1960s, Los Angeles was considered the top recording destination in the United States — consequently studios were constantly booked around the clock, and session time was highly sought after and expensive. Songs had to be recorded quickly in the fewest possible takes. In this environment, Los Angeles producers and record executives had little patience for needless expense or wasted time and depended on

682-399: A short-term basis. Typically, session musicians are used by recording studios to provide backing tracks for other musicians for recording sessions and live performances, recording music for advertising , film, television, and theatre . In the 2000s, the terms "session musician" and "studio musician" were synonymous, though in past decades, "studio musician" meant a musician associated with

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744-588: A single record company , recording studio or entertainment agency . Session musicians rarely achieve mainstream fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders . However, top session musicians are well-known within the music industry . Some have become publicly recognized, such as the Wrecking Crew , the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and The Funk Brothers who worked with Motown Records . Session musicians may play in

806-519: A terminally ill Warren Zevon came to Cherokee Studios to record what would be his final album, The Wind . Nick Read filmed Zevon's final recordings at Cherokee for the documentary, Warren Zevon: Keep Me In Your Heart . Bruce Springsteen joined Zevon at Cherokee for the single "Disorder in the House," Cherokee owner Bruce Robb provided lead guitar on the first track of The Wind and support vocals on two other tracks. Michael Jackson 's 1979 album Off

868-438: A wide range of genres or specialize in a specific genre (e.g., country music or jazz ). Some session musicians with a classical music background may focus on film score recordings. Even within a specific genre specialization, there may be even more focused sub-specializations. For example, a sub-specialization within trumpet session players is "high note specialist." The working schedule for session musicians often depends on

930-460: The Infidels sessions "Someone's Got a Hold of My Heart". "A song about being torn apart by irreconcilable demands," according to Clinton Heylin, in revision it was stripped of "just about every religious allusion from the original." Dylan retitled it "Tight Connection to My Heart" and set it aside for further overdubbing. One final song was recorded on March 3, a brand-new composition no more than

992-542: The Sinatra Christmas Album at Cherokee in 1975. While he was recording Stop and Smell the Roses at Cherokee Studios in 1980, Ringo Starr invited George Harrison , Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney to guest on the album; Paul McCartney and Harrison also produced some of the tracks. Starr had approached John Lennon to help out as well, had received two demos of songs which eventually wound up on

1054-566: The Vietnam War . Village Voice critic Robert Christgau praised it as "the toughest Vietnam-vet song yet." When members of the press, as well as Dylan's own fans, dubbed Empire Burlesque as 'Disco Dylan', it was mainly for the song "When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky". An evocative song filled with apocalyptic imagery, it was originally an upbeat, piledriving rocker recorded with Steven Van Zandt and Roy Bittan , both members of Bruce Springsteen 's E Street Band . Unsatisfied with

1116-468: The Action Is . By 1969 the band, now signed to ABC/Dunhill , had changed their sound to a more country rock orientation and changed its name to Cherokee. ABC/Dunhill's studios were booked solid at the time, and the studio's chief technical engineer, Roger Nichols , was spending a lot of time at the band's ranch in rural Chatsworth . Nichols suggested the band buy some recording gear and set it up in

1178-814: The Heartbreakers , Hall and Oates , Devo , Queens of the Stone Age , X , Mötley Crüe , "Weird Al" Yankovic , Dokken , John Mellencamp , Melissa Etheridge , and The Replacements . At the peak of its success, Cherokee operated eight studios in two locations. In his autobiography, Beatles producer George Martin dubbed Cherokee Studios the best studio in America. The studio was founded by members of The Robbs , an American pop band from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin centered on three brothers who all adopted pseudonyms: Robert Donaldson (" Bruce Robb "), George Donaldson ("Joe Robb"), David Donaldson ("Dee Robb"), and family friend Craig Krampf ("Craig Robb"). Dick Clark discovered

1240-646: The M.G.'s . The benefit of having a regular group, an approach which typified Southern soul , is that the group has much more experience playing together, which enables them to get a better sense of ensemble. Cherokee Studios Cherokee Studios is a recording studio facility in Hollywood founded in 1972 by members of 1960s pop band The Robbs . Cherokee has been the location of many notable recordings by such artists as Steely Dan , David Bowie , Journey , Toto , Michael Jackson , Van Halen , Guns N' Roses , The Cars , Foreigner , Pat Benatar , Tom Petty and

1302-421: The Night Comes Falling from the Sky", but Bittan and Van Zandt would not return for the remainder of the sessions. The following day, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, better known as reggae recording artists Sly & Robbie , joined the sessions. They had previously worked with Dylan on Infidels . Along with female vocalists Queen Esther Marrow, Debra Byrd and Carolyn Dennis, the group recorded "Never Gonna Be

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1364-547: The Same Again". On February 23, Dylan returned to the Power Station with Sly & Robbie, his back-up singers and a number of session players, including Al Kooper , who filled in on guitar. The day’s work produced a significantly different version of "When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky", which was ultimately chosen over the "Van Zandt version" from a few days before. Around this time, Dylan also revived from

1426-746: The Torpedoes and fourth Hard Promises at both Sound City Studios and Cherokee Studios respectively. During the recording of Hard Promises , John Lennon was scheduled to be in the recording studio at the same time as Petty and the Heartbreakers. However, the meeting never occurred due to the murder of Lennon in New York in December 1980. Both Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises were mixed at Cherokee Studios. English musician David Bowie recorded his tenth studio album Station to Station at Cherokee in late 1975. Co-produced by Harry Maslin , it

1488-438: The United States. Focused on making the recording studio a creative space designed for musicians and engineers, Cherokee's new studio featured five live rooms, 24-track mixing consoles, 24-hour session times, and a lounge bar, and quickly became one of the city's busiest studios, attracting such notable artists as David Bowie , Frank Sinatra , and Rod Stewart . Cherokee's Fairfax Avenue location closed on August 31, 2007, with

1550-446: The album. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Session musicians A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician ) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance . The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a tour. Session musicians are usually not permanent or official members of

1612-567: The band in 1962 when they were the opening act at the “Summer Caravan of Stars” in Wisconsin and invited them to continue on with the “Caravan” tour as essentially the house band. At the 1964 “Young World's Fair” in Chicago, the band won Clark's “Battle of the Bands”. The band was signed to Mercury Records in 1966, and moved to California to appear as regular performers on Clark's show Where

1674-562: The barn. Eventually, the band evolved from recording their own music to producing and engineering for other artists, including longtime friend Del Shannon and Steely Dan , who recorded overdubs for and mixed their 1974 album Pretzel Logic at "Cherokee's Ranch." The studio was even the location of the first demo recording by the Van Halen lineup of David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, and Michael Anthony. After being threatened to be evicted for running an "illegal home studio,"

1736-401: The bizarre sources of inspiration behind some of the songs. As mentioned, some lines were lifted from old Humphrey Bogart pictures, but at least a few were taken from the sci-fi television show Star Trek . Author Clinton Heylin wrote that "one of the best couplets—'I'll go along with the charade / Until I can think my way out' (from "Tight Connection to My Heart")—actually comes verbatim from

1798-431: The case of guitar, bass, woodwinds, and brass. It is expected that studio musicians will have well-maintained professional-tier instruments. In some cases, larger or heavier instruments may be provided by the recording studio, such as a grand piano or Hammond organ and Leslie speaker . In certain cases, a session musicians may bring some instruments or musical gear and use them with larger instruments that are provided by

1860-472: The drummer for David Letterman 's house band), and John Paris was held at Delta Sound Studios on July 26. The Delta session produced two notable tracks: "Driftin' Too Far from Shore" and "Clean Cut Kid". The former was set aside and would not be finished until 1986, when Dylan recorded his next album, Knocked Out Loaded . The latter had originally been recorded during the Infidels sessions in 1983, but

1922-584: The drums?!' But there would be something going on in the back of his head which didn't allow him to interfere. And yet if he'd have gone into the control room with the dominance that he had while we were cutting the stuff, it could have been mind-bending." During one session between July and September 1984 (at the Power Station), Dylan demoed a song called "Go 'Way Little Boy", with Ron Wood and "cowpunk" rockers Lone Justice . Dylan and Wood also played on Lone Justice 's version of "Go 'Way Little Boy", which

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1984-554: The early December sessions, Dylan recorded an ambitious song he had co-written with playwright Sam Shepard , titled "New Danville Girl", as well as another song. Acceptable takes were recorded for both songs, though, despite positive feedback from his peers, Dylan ultimately omitted "New Danville Girl" from Empire Burlesque . Regardless, he also found success on the next song, "Something's Burning, Baby", recorded at Cherokee on December 14. Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell and Howie Epstein, from Tom Petty 's Heartbreakers, joined Heffington for

2046-678: The era, the two groups of musicians in Memphis, both the Memphis Boys and the musicians who backed Stax/Volt recordings, and the Funk Brothers in Detroit, who played on many Motown recordings. At the time, multi-tracking equipment, though common, was less elaborate, and instrumental backing tracks were often recorded "hot" with an ensemble playing live in the studio. Musicians had to be available "on call" when producers needed

2108-589: The exception of the "We Are the World" session, all of these songs were recorded with Heffington, the three Heartbreakers and a few other session players at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood. Between February 14 and 19, Dylan returned to New York City, resuming work at the Power Station. On February 19, he held a session with Roy Bittan on piano and Steve Van Zandt on guitar, both members of Bruce Springsteen 's E Street Band. They recorded at least one usable take of "When

2170-583: The idea of closing the album with a stark, acoustic track, particularly when the rest of the album was so heavily produced. However, Dylan didn't have an appropriate song. He returned to his hotel in Manhattan after midnight, and according to Dylan: "As I stepped out of the elevator, a call girl was coming toward me in the hallway—pale yellow hair wearing a fox coat—high heeled shoes that could pierce your heart. She had blue circles around her eyes, black eyeliner, dark eyes. She looked like she'd been beaten up and

2232-713: The last album recorded at that location being the Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise album Out of the Wilderness (2008). The studio closed to make way for a new building. Under the direction of a leading green developer, the site was to become the Lofts @ Cherokee Studios – a Green LEED Platinum Live/Work complex offering professional recording studios in select units designed by Cherokee owner Bruce Robb , but those plans did not come to fruition. The original developers went into foreclosure in 2008. New owners purchased

2294-673: The posthumous Lennon album Milk and Honey , and reportedly, Lennon had agreed to come to Los Angeles in January 1981 and take part in the recording; the album then would have been a modest Beatles reunion. The assassination of Lennon prevented those plans from coming to fruition. Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones also collaborated with Starr on the album at Cherokee, adding guitar, bass, saxophone, keyboards, and back-up vocals. Weird Al Yankovic recorded his first album at Cherokee in 1982. The album sold over 500,000 copies. In 2002,

2356-430: The press claimed Dylan was trying to achieve a then-contemporary sound on Empire Burlesque ; Dylan jokingly replied that he didn't know anything about new music, adding "I still listen to Charley Patton ." In his Consumer Guide column for The Village Voice , critic Robert Christgau wrote, "At best [Dylan]'s achieved the professionalism he's always claimed as his goal...he's certainly talented enough to come up with

2418-409: The production work would actually be Dylan's. One of his first decisions was to forgo the use of a stable set of musicians. Instead, Dylan recorded with an eclectic mix of studio professionals. An aborted session with Al Green 's band was held at Intergalactic Studios on July 24, 1984. A session with Ronnie Wood (formerly of Faces and currently with The Rolling Stones ), Anton Fig (best known as

2480-505: The property and have had no contact or relationship with Bruce Robb and or Cherokee Studios. In late August 2011, Cherokee Studio's website announced "New Studio Coming to Hollywood", and in 2020 Cherokee Studios opened a recording studio on Melrose Avenue across the street from Paramount Film Studios. Built in collaboration with George Augsberger and Bruce Robb, the new studio features Cherokee Studio's original Trident A-Range 48-channel, 24-bus, 24 monitor channel mixing console, as well as

2542-406: The recording, Dylan and Baker radically recast the song as a contemporary dance track. (The earlier version was later released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991 .) The penultimate song, "Something's Burning, Baby", is another song filled with apocalyptic imagery. A slow-building march accented with synthesizers, it was singled out by biographer Clinton Heylin as

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2604-477: The remuneration terms. Some musicians may get the minimum scale rate set out by the union. Heavily in-demand session musicians may earn much more. The union rates may vary based on whether it is a music recording versus a film/television recording. While the film/television rates may be lower, there may also be residual payments to compensate them for reruns, DVD sales, streaming usage, and so on. Session musicians often have to bring their own instruments, such as in

2666-427: The service of reliable standby musicians who could be counted on to record in a variety of styles with minimal practice or takes, and deliver hits on short order. A studio band is a musical ensemble that is in the employ of a recording studio for the purpose of accompanying recording artists who are customers of the studio. The use of studio bands was more common during the 1960s with groups such Booker T. &

2728-737: The session. Over the rest of the winter, Dylan recorded most of the tracks that were ultimately used for Empire Burlesque . On January 28, 1985, another session at Cherokee produced the master take for "Seeing the Real You at Last". This was followed by a brief stop at A&M Studios on January 28 and/or 29 to record his contribution to " We Are the World ". On February 5, Dylan recorded master takes for two more tracks: "Trust Yourself" and "I'll Remember You". On February 14—Valentine's Day—Dylan recorded love songs, including Johnny Cash 's "Straight A's in Love", but also one of his own, "Emotionally Yours". With

2790-683: The session; rhythmic and intonation precision; ability to play with good ensemble and excellent blending with the other performers; willingness to take direction from bandleaders , music directors , and music producers ; and having good musical taste in regards to choices with musical ornaments and musical phrasing . During the 1950s and 1960s, session players were usually active in local recording scenes concentrated in places such as Los Angeles , New York City , Nashville , Memphis , Detroit , and Muscle Shoals . Each local scene had its circle of "A-list" session musicians, such as The Nashville A-Team that played on numerous country and rock hits of

2852-425: The strongest track on Empire Burlesque : "An ominous tale set to a slow march beat, [it] was a welcome reminder of his ongoing preoccupations with that dreadful day." " Dark Eyes " features only Dylan on guitar and harmonica. According to earlier interviews and Dylan's autobiography Chronicles , it was written virtually on demand when Arthur Baker suggested something simpler for the album's final track. Dylan liked

2914-403: The studio's owners began looking for a bigger facility. In January 1975, Cherokee purchased the former location of MGM Studios at 751 N. Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood, including its large 35 x 58 foot live room (known as "Frank Sinatra's string room") and five isolation booths. The brothers approached Trident Studios to build a custom 80-input A-Range mixing console - one of the first in

2976-428: The studio, such as a synthesizer player, who might bring rack-mounted synth modules and connect them to the studio's MIDI controller stage piano . Similarly, if the studio has a selection of well-known bass amplifiers , and speaker cabinets, a bass player may only have to bring basses and effect units . The requirement to read different types of music notation, improvise and/or " play by ear " varies according to

3038-639: The studio." Harry Nilsson recorded his final album Flash Harry at Cherokee Studios between 1978 and 1980. Produced by Steve Cropper and engineered by Bruce Robb , the album has a very clean, soulful sound and features a who's-who of collaborators including Ringo Starr , Paul Stallworth , Eric Idle and Mac Rebennack . While living in one of the West Hollywood apartment complexes directly behind Cherokee Studios, Bonnie Raitt would pick up backup singing recording gigs with music producers Bruce Robb and Steve Cropper . Frank Sinatra recorded

3100-406: The terms set out by musicians' unions or associations, as these organizations typically set out rules on performance schedules (e.g., regarding the length of sessions and breaks). The length of employment may be as short as a single day, in the case of recording a brief demo song, or as long as several weeks if an album or film score is being recorded. Musicians' associations and unions often set out

3162-406: The tour, Dylan attempted at least three of these new songs, and he occasionally found time to polish their lyrics during the tour. When the tour was over, Dylan returned to New York and began work on his next studio album. As Clinton Heylin reports, Dylan recorded in sporadic sessions, as had become his norm, rather than "block-booking studio time" and recording in one concentrated period. The result

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3224-570: The type of recording session and the genres of music being performed. Classical musicians and many jazz and popular music musicians are expected to read music notation and do sight-reading . In jazz, rock, and many popular music genres, performers may be expected to read chord charts and improvise accompaniment and solos. In country music, performers may be expected to read Nashville Number System charts and improvise accompaniment and solos. In many traditional and folk music styles, performers are expected to be able to play by ear. Session musicians need

3286-422: Was "an unprecedented expenditure of" time for recording a Dylan album, from July 1984 to March 1985 (although The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan had been recorded over a similarly long period). To accommodate the casual nature of this process, Dylan chose to produce the sessions himself. Arthur Baker , who had previously worked with New Order and Afrika Bambaataa , was later recruited for these sessions, but much of

3348-474: Was afraid that she'd get beat up again. In her hand, crimson purple wine in a glass. 'I'm just dying for a drink,' she said as she passed me in the hall. She had a beautifulness, but not for this kind of world." The brief, chance encounter inspired Dylan to write "Dark Eyes", which was quickly recorded without any studio embellishment. It is often quoted for its last chorus: "A million faces at my feet, but all I see are dark eyes." A number of critics have noted

3410-446: Was also chosen as the first single for Empire Burlesque . Clinton Heylin describes "Seeing the Real You at Last" as "a compendium of images half remembered from Hollywood movies", as many of the lyrics made "allusions to Humphrey Bogart movies, Shane , even Clint Eastwood 's Bronco Billy ." The love ballad "I'll Remember You" was still played in concert until 2005, more so than all but one other song from Empire Burlesque . It

3472-412: Was also featured, in an acoustic version, in the movie Masked & Anonymous , though not included on the released soundtrack. A Baker-produced version of the song was recorded by Grayson Hugh for the closing credits of the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes . "Clean-Cut Kid" was another song recorded during the Infidels sessions. The lyrics weren't finished until much later, and the finished result

3534-496: Was included on Empire Burlesque . In the interim Bob gave the song to Carla Olson of the Textones as a thank you for her appearing in his first-ever video, for Sweetheart Like You . She included it on the Textones' debut album Midnight Mission and Ry Cooder was featured on slide guitar. A novelty song wrapped around sharp political commentary, the 'clean-cut kid' is an average American kid who's radically altered by his experience in

3596-405: Was not completed until now. Wood later described his surprise at Dylan's lack of authority during the mixing process. "[The engineers would] say, 'Hey Bob, we don't need this,' and he'd say, 'Oh, okay.' And they'd make a mix to their ears, and he'd just stand outside and let them do it. And I'd be saying, 'Hey! You can't let these guys...Look!! They've left off the background vocals!' or 'What about

3658-425: Was re-written and re-recorded several times before finding its way on to Empire Burlesque . A lushly produced pop song riding a reggae groove courtesy of Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar (better known as Sly & Robbie ), the love song was singled out as the best track on the album by the most recent edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide . The track, which features Mick Taylor on guitar (from Dylan's 84 Tour),

3720-515: Was recorded at the same session and was ultimately released as a B-side to their single "Sweet Sweet Baby (I'm Falling)". A blues number entitled "Oh Baby" was also recorded with the same lineup but has never surfaced. In terms of his own album, the New York sessions had so far been fairly unproductive. After six months of work, Dylan had only a few recordings that were deemed acceptable, and only two of these would eventually appear on Empire Burlesque . "Sometimes nothing comes out, and other times I get

3782-457: Was released in January 1976 and was a massive commercial success. Mötley Crüe recorded the platinum selling albums Theatre of Pain and Shout at the Devil at Cherokee Studios. Technicians working on Shout at the Devil noted that the members of Mötley Crüe would "stay up for three days straight making music and not even think we were working hard, with girls were streaming in and out of

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3844-524: Was spent covering other artists’ songs, including “In the Summertime” by Ray Dorset (not to be confused with Dylan's own song of the same name), "Freedom for the Stallion" by Allen Toussaint and “Help Me Make It Through The Night” by Kris Kristofferson. Work became much more productive when Dylan started recording at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood . Recruiting Lone Justice drummer Don Heffington for

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