Dylan details the composition of songs at his Malibu home and the album recording in New Orleans in the "Oh Mercy" chapter of his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One. Engineer Mark Howard mentioned that Dylan had previously recorded the songs with Ronnie Wood but was dissatisfied: "There’s a whole version of Oh Mercy that was recorded with Ron Wood already. But I think Dylan had maybe decided he didn’t like what had happened." In spring or summer of 1988, U2's Bono connected Dylan with producer Daniel Lanois, leading to their collaboration, although recording sessions began in early 1989. Biographer Clinton Heylin notes that Dylan completed the basic tracks on March 29, 1989, but added new vocals and overdubs for nearly all tracks the following month.
