“DANIEL, DO WE HAVE A RECORD?”
From Uncut’s archives, producer Daniel Lanois recalls making Time Out Of Mind
Daniel Lanois
FOR Time Out Of Mind, Bob and I got together in New York City. We didn’t even have any instruments or any songs to listen to. He just had a stack of lyrics. He read me the lyrics and said: “What do you think, Daniel, do we have a record?” I said yes. I could hear a record, even though I hadn’t heard a note. A lot of philosophical exchanges happened then, about what kind of sound Bob loved. It was clear he loved records that were made at the birth of a medium. There’s always something fantastic about the beginning of a medium, there’s a vibrant tone to early works. Bob wanted that vitality. I did a lot of preparation with Pretty Tony [Mangurian] in New York. We played along to the records Bob had recommended, then I built loops of what Tony and I did, and then abandoned the sources; a hip-hop technique. Then I brought those loops to Bob at the Teatro, and he loved that there was a good vibe on those.