The Bob Dylan songs that left Jim Keltner crying “like a baby”
It’s safe to say that working closely with the enigmatic and unpredictable Bob Dylan likely felt just as uncertain, though exhilarating all the more. The brooding troubadour has a process that many musicians adhere to, which prioritises immersion, intuition, and efficiency, treating musical ideas as if they were feathers floating in the air, waiting to be caught and placed with delicacy. For Jim Keltner, it was this inexplicable brilliance that moved him to tears.
In broader lists of the world’s greatest percussionists, it’s somewhat odd that Keltner’s name rarely appears, considering his incredibly impressive and expansive resume. Not every session drummer can say they have worked with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Traveling Wilburys, Steely Dan, Elton John, and Dylan, but perhaps it’s his nuance and versatility that makes him less globally hailed as the rest, with a brilliance that lurks in more subtle and unsuspecting spaces.
Still, Keltner has worked with some of the greatest names in history and had already worked up quite a portfolio by the time he started working with Dylan on Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid in 1973. By this time, although Keltner likely didn’t know what to expect, he had worked alongside some of the more tumultuous outfits to know how to show up and get the job done without much distraction.
This time, however, Keltner was faced with a new reality, one that opened an emotional door that only Dylan would prove to hold the key to. During the sessions for ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’, Keltner was moved to tears. “[It was a] monumental session for me because it was such a touching song, it was the first time I actually cried when I was playing,” he said, which makes complete sense. Many people find the song emotionally overwhelming, but imagining becoming immersed in its spine-tingling atmosphere adds a poignancy that’s difficult to put your finger on.
Moreover, that wasn’t the only time Dylan moved Keltner to tears. He also experienced similar emotional intensity when listening to an early iteration of Slow Train Coming, which occurred before he had even approached his drum set or presented any additional ideas to the singer himself. On this occasion, Dylan instructed Keltner to listen to the record before returning to his office afterwards to offer some ideas.
He wasn’t sure what to make of it at first but soon felt an overwhelming connection to the music that instilled in him a passion for supporting Dylan in any way possible. As he recalled during an interview with Mojo: “With Slow Train Coming, the instructions were for me to listen to the record, and then come up and see Bob in his office afterward.”
He added: “I sat down and started listening. There were all these songs about Jesus. It’s like, ‘What? What is he saying? What’s happened here?'”
Discussing the moment it all clicked, he continued: “Suddenly, I was crying like a baby. Crying uncontrollably listening to these songs. There was a box of Kleenex sitting there – I don’t know if Bob knew I’d need it, but I went through that whole box. Later on, some real Christian friends of mine called it the anointing: ‘The anointing was on you.'”
Afterwards, he went into Dylan’s office, overcome with the sudden urge to be a part of something huge: “Wherever you’re going or whatever you’re going to do, I want to go do it with you,” he told the singer.
Slow Train Coming was Dylan’s first release as a born-again Christian, and this experience influenced many of the record’s songs. Keltner, who had become exposed to Dylan’s emotional depth years prior, likely related to the singer’s experience with faith and felt connected to the idea of belonging to something fulfilling, even if it didn’t yet make complete sense. Although it was a daring move on Dylan’s part and resulted in him losing significant chunks of fans, the gap was filled with a new surge of religious music lovers who related to his newfound sense of purpose.
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