Bob Dylan / 4:38
SINGLE
DATE OF RELEASE
Band of the Hand (It’s Hell Time, Man!) (Bob Dylan) / Theme from Joe’s Death (Michel Rubini)
April 21, 1986
on MCA Records
(REFERENCE MCA-52811)
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals
Tom Petty: guitar, vocals
Mike Campbell: guitar
Benmont Tench: keyboards
Howie Epstein: bass
Stan Lynch: drums
Philip Lyn Jones: congas
Stevie Nicks, Madelyn Quebec, Elisecia Wright, Queen Esther Marrow, and Debra Byrd: backup vocals
Recording Studio
Festival Studios, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: February 8–9, 1986
Technical Team
Producer: Tom Petty
Sound Engineer: (?)
Band of the Hand is a 1986 crime film directed by Paul Michael Glaser. The plot recounts the story of a group of juvenile delinquents from the poor neighborhoods of Miami’s inner city who attend a commando training course in the Everglades under the supervision of a social worker named Joe, a former Vietnam veteran and a Native American. Upon completing the course, the group returns to Miami to fight the criminal activities of a drug dealer.
Bob Dylan wrote the eponymous song based on this synopsis. He speaks of daily violence, a corrupt system, and witchcraft that transforms children into crooks and slaves. He adds, “For all of my brothers from Vietnam / And my uncles from World War II / I’ve got to say that it’s countdown time now / We’re gonna do what the law should do.”
Dylan recorded “Band of the Hand (It’s Hell Time Man!)” at the beginning of the True Confessions Tour on February 8 and 9, 1986. The lyrics were laid down between two concerts, one in Auckland, New Zealand, and the other in Sydney, Australia. Dylan recorded the song at Festival Studios, a subsidiary of Festival Records in the United States, located in Sydney. Accompanied by Tom Petty, the Heartbreakers, and backup vocalists, Dylan recorded a rhythm ’n’ blues song highlighting the energetic interpretation of the vocalists, including Stevie Nicks, a member of Fleetwood Mac.
Few of the Knocked Out Loaded songs sounded as good. Tom Petty as producer worked wonders, and Dylan is backed by an outstanding, unified, and highly talented group. While he is rarely as good as he is in a blues-rock atmosphere, this record has more impact and strength than his next album, Down in the Groove, which is definitely sterile and unfocused, even if he was just following the style of his time.
The single was released under the name “Bob Dylan with the Heartbreakers,” with “Theme from Joe’s Death,” an instrumental by Michael Rubini on the soundtrack to the movie, on the B-side. The single hit number 28 on the Billboard charts.