Bob Dylan in conversation with Martin Keller (1983)
KELLER: Are you satisfied with most of the records you make? DYLAN: No, no. It’s unbearable to hear some of them, for me. I hear them, and I want to shut them off. … It’s not like I sit around and listen to Bob Dylan stuff. I like “Freewheelin’,” and I like my first album. “Shot of Love” is my favourite, actually. Bob Dylan to Cameron Crowe (1985) People didn’t listen to [“Shot of Love”] in a realistic way. … Clydie King and I sound pretty close to what’s all the best of every traditional style, so how could anybody complain about that? And the record had something that, I don’t know, could have been made in the ’40s or maybe the ’50s. There was a cross element of songs on it. The critics wouldn’t allow the people to make up their own minds. All they talked about was Jesus this and Jesus that, like it was some kind of Methodist record. I don’t know what was happening, maybe Boy George or something, but “Shot of Love” didn’t fit into the current formula. It probably never will. Anyway, people were always looking for some excuse to write me off and this was as good as any. I can’t say if being “non-commercial” is a put-down or a compliment.
