Street Legal cover art

  Studio Album · No. 15

Street Legal Songwriting Credits by Bob Dylan

1978 Columbia Records 9 tracks 50 min
Columbia Records Rock
100%
Authorship
Complete Artist

Holds writing credit on 9 of 9 tracks

Authorship Breakdown 9 / 9 documented

Who wrote the songs?

Scored across the 9 tracks with documented writers, by whether Bob Dylan carries a lyricist or composer credit.

100%
9 trackswritten by Bob Dylan 0 tracksoutside writers
Bob Dylan's roles on this album

Share of the 9 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.

Lyricist100%
Composer100%
Producer0%
Performer100%

By the Numbers

9
Tracks
1
Lyricists
1
Producers
1978
Released
Data Insight

Every one of the nine songs on Street-Legal was written solely by Bob Dylan. The album marked a fuller, band-driven sound built around saxophone, organ, and female backing vocals, a shift from his sparser mid-1970s records. Producer Don DeVito oversaw the sessions at Rundown Studios in Santa Monica.

Released June 15, 1978, Street Legal followed the critical success of Desire (1977) and was recorded in just four days at Rundown Studios in Santa Monica, California, making it one of Dylan's fastest-tracked albums. Don DeVito produced all nine tracks, which were entirely written by Dylan, though three co-writes recorded during the sessions were left off the final release. The album represented a significant stylistic departure: Dylan assembled a large pop-rock ensemble featuring female backing vocalists, saxophones, and keyboards, drawing on adult contemporary production aesthetics far removed from his prior folk and rock work. American critics dismissed it on release, but it performed strongly commercially, going gold in the US (peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard 200) and platinum in the UK (reaching No. 2). A 1999 remix and remaster substantially rehabilitated its critical standing, with Q Magazine ultimately awarding it five stars.

Track Listing & Credits 9 tracks

Written by the artist Written by outside writers
#TitleLyricist(s)Composer(s)Producer(s)Performers
1
Changing of the Guards
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
2
New Pony
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
3
No Time to Think
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
4
Baby, Stop Crying #13
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
5
Is Your Love in Vain?
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
6
Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
7
True Love Tends to Forget
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
8
We Better Talk This Over
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
9
Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)
Robert Allen Zimmermann Robert Allen Zimmermann Don DeVito Bob Dylan (Lead Vocals, Guitar)

Songwriter & Credit Spotlight 3 contributors

More from Bob Dylan

1962 15%
Bob Dylan
Columbia Records
13 tracks
1963 100%
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Columbia Records
13 tracksProd. Tom Wilson
1964 100%
The Times They Are a-Changin'
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1964 100%
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Columbia Records
11 tracks
1965 100%
Bringing It All Back Home
Columbia Records
11 tracks
1965 100%
Highway 61 Revisited
Columbia Records
9 tracksProd. Bob Johnston
1966 100%
Blonde on Blonde
Columbia Records
14 tracks
1967 100%
John Wesley Harding
Columbia Records
12 tracks
1969 100%
Nashville Skyline
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1970 33%
Self Portrait
Columbia Records
24 tracks
1970 100%
New Morning
Columbia Records
12 tracks
1973 100%
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1974 100%
Planet Waves
Asylum Records
11 tracks
1975 100%
Blood on the Tracks
Columbia Records
10 tracksProd. Bob Dylan
1976 100%
Desire
Columbia Records
9 tracksProd. Don DeVito
1979 100%
Slow Train Coming
Columbia Records
9 tracks
1980 89%
Saved
Columbia Records
9 tracks
1981 100%
Shot of Love
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1983 100%
Infidels
Columbia Records
8 tracks
1985 100%
Empire Burlesque
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1986 63%
Knocked Out Loaded
Columbia Records
8 tracks
1988 40%
Down in the Groove
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1989 100%
Oh Mercy
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1990 100%
Under the Red Sky
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1992 0%
Good as I Been to You
Columbia Records
13 tracks
1993 0%
World Gone Wrong
Columbia Records
10 tracks
1997 100%
Time Out of Mind
Columbia Records
11 tracks
2001 100%
Love and Theft
Columbia Records
12 tracks
2006 100%
Modern Times
Columbia Records
10 tracks
2009 100%
Together Through Life
Columbia Records
10 tracks
2012 100%
Tempest
Columbia Records
10 tracks
2015 0%
Shadows in the Night
Columbia Records
10 tracks
2016 0%
Fallen Angels
Columbia Records
12 tracks
2017 0%
Triplicate
Columbia Records
18 tracks
2020 100%
Rough and Rowdy Ways
Columbia Records
10 tracks
2023 100%
Shadow Kingdom
Columbia Records
14 tracks

Frequently Asked Questions Street Legal

Did Bob Dylan write all the songs on Street-Legal?
Yes. All nine tracks on Street-Legal were written solely by Bob Dylan. The album was released in 1978 on Columbia Records.
Who produced Bob Dylan's Street-Legal?
Don DeVito produced Street-Legal. The album was recorded in late April and early May 1978 at Rundown Studios in Santa Monica, California.
What single from Street-Legal charted, and how high did it reach?
Baby, Stop Crying was the album's biggest single, reaching number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. Changing of the Guards was also issued as a single but did not reach the US top 100.
What genre is Street-Legal by Bob Dylan?
Street-Legal is a rock album. It features a larger ensemble sound with saxophone, organ, and female backing vocals.
Is the song Changing of the Guards on Street-Legal a Bob Dylan original?
Yes. Changing of the Guards was written by Bob Dylan and opens the album. It was released as a single in October 1978.
Did Street-Legal earn any certifications?
Yes. Street-Legal was certified Gold in the United States and Platinum in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
How long is Bob Dylan's Street-Legal album?
Street-Legal runs about 50 minutes across nine tracks. It was Dylan's studio album before his Christian-era trilogy began with Slow Train Coming.

Sources