Studio Album · No. 28
Love and Theft Songwriting Credits by Bob Dylan
Holds writing credit on 12 of 12 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 12 / 12 documented
Scored across the 12 tracks with documented writers, by whether Bob Dylan carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 12 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Awards & Recognition 1
All twelve tracks on Love and Theft are credited to Bob Dylan, who also produced the album under his Jack Frost pseudonym. The record blends rockabilly, blues, jazz, and Tin Pan Alley styles, and it drew some attention for lyrical phrases echoing Junichi Saga's book Confessions of a Yakuza. It was released on September 11, 2001.
Released September 11, 2001, Love and Theft was the first Dylan studio album recorded with his Never Ending Tour band, establishing a template he carried through eight subsequent studio records. Dylan self-produced under the pseudonym Jack Frost, recording all twelve tracks in just twelve days in May 2001 at Clinton Recording in New York City. All songs are credited to Dylan, though the album drew controversy for lines in "Floater" that closely echo passages from Japanese author Junichi Saga's memoir Confessions of a Yakuza; the album title itself is borrowed from historian Eric Lott's 1993 study of blackface minstrelsy. Musically it blends jump blues, rockabilly, Tin Pan Alley balladry, country swing, and jazz in a loose, playful style that critics found revelatory. It earned a Metacritic score of 93, the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album, topped the Pazz & Jop critics' poll, and charted at number 5 in the US and number 3 in the UK.