Bob Dylan All the Songs
Page 18
Bob Dylan, however, got around this censorship by recording a new version of “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” for the Witmark label at the end of 1963. He followed the same style and construction of his other talking blues, including “Talking World War III Blues,” which replaced “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. He performed it in concert several times, including at Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963, and New York’s Philharmonic Hall on October 31, 1964. Both performances were released, respectively, on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 and The Bootleg Series Volume 6: Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall.
THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group. In the 1960s the organization opposed the civil rights movement and communism, and advocated an end to US membership in the United Nations. A group of twelve, led by Robert W. Welch Jr., established the society on December 9, 1958, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization took the name of John Birch, an American Baptist missionary and military officer, killed in China on August 1945 at the age of twenty-seven. Welch claimed that Birch was the first American casualty of the Cold War. The organization is described as ultra-conservative and highlights Judeo-Christian values to the point of extremism. Since the death of its founder in 1985, its influence has declined.
Ballad For A Friend
Bob Dylan / 2:24
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica / Recording Studio: Leeds Music Offices, New York: January 1962 / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 1) Release Date: October 19, 2010
An old steam train takes a friend far away… the implacable reality of life and death. Bob Dylan expressed in this song the sadness he felt after the loss of a loved one.
“Ballad for a Friend” is one of the unexpected surprises of Dylan’s immense body of work. The song was recorded at Leeds Music offices in January 1962 and fully shows the strength of his talent. Strumming his guitar in open D tuning, using his foot for the tempo, he leads us through this poignant blues song. Did Lou Levy, who had just signed him, see the potential of this young artist? Dylan comments, “The songs I was recording for him were so unlike the big swinging ballads that he’d been used to.”1 Only a visionary like John Hammond could detect that.
All Over You
Bob Dylan / 3:53
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: Winter 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 1) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
When Dave Van Ronk recorded “If I Had to Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You,” he seemed to recall that Dylan was standing in front of him…
In his book The Mayor of MacDougal Street: A Memoir, folksinger Dave Van Ronk recounts that Bob Dylan wrote “All Over You” after a bet in 1963. The challenge was to play with the word over, which has many meanings, such as “too much” or “more than.” “A bunch of us were sitting at a table, and this guy came in and walked up to us, and he looks down at Bob and snarls, ‘So you’re the hotshot songwriter, huh? All right…’ And he reaches into his pocket and slaps a twenty-dollar bill on the table, and says, ‘I’ll bet you can’t write me a song called “If I Had to Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You.”’… [Bob] looks the guy in the eye, and says, ‘Oh, yes I can.’… The next evening the guy comes in again, and Bobby reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sheaf of paper, and he has not only written a song to the title, it has six long verses.”21 In 1964 Dave Van Ronk did an amazing and wonderful adaptation in New Orleans style (for the In the Tradition LP), accompanied by the Red Onion Jazz Band. He was probably the first to cover Dylan!
The song is about the end of a relationship with someone who had shared his life. In the third verse he sings, “Well, I tell you little lover that you better run for cover.” In some verses, there is an excess of misogyny, which may explain why Dylan kept “All Over You” as a demo. The song is mostly excluded from his repertoire. He performed it only twice onstage, at Gerde’s on February 8, 1963, and at Town Hall in New York on April 12, 1963.
Ain’t Gonna Grieve
Bob Dylan / 1:29
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: August 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 2) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
This demo recorded for Witmark in August 1963 reflects the influence of gospel on the young Dylan. This song about reconciliation and happiness recovered is based on an American traditional, “Ain’t Gonna Grieve My Lord No More.” With this spiritual, Dylan distanced himself from his traditional sound, probably to fulfill his obligations as a songwriter to Albert Grossman. He demonstrates at the same time his ability to imbibe the spirit of diverse and varied musical styles, and often to transcend them.
Farewell
Bob Dylan/ 3:58
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: March 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 1) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
“Farewell” carries the seeds of inspiration for the melody of “Mary Ann,” recorded for the 1973 album Dylan. The first line is almost the same as “Farewell”: “Oh it’s fare thee well my darlin’ true” becomes “Oh, fare thee well, my own true love.”
Bob Dylan wrote “Farewell” during his stay in London in December 1962 or shortly after his return to New York in January 1963. This song is inspired by the British folk ballad “Leaving of Liverpool,” also known as “Fare Thee Well, My Own True Love.” In the British version, the narrator is forced to leave Liverpool for California, leaving behind his loved ones, especially his mistress. In Dylan’s version, the narrator laments his sailing trip (“I’m bound off for the bay of Mexico / Or maybe the coast of Californ”) hoping to see his true love again (“We’ll meet another day, another time”).
At that time, Bob Dylan was using the folk-song repertoire in order to nourish his own creativity. Only his talent allowed him to create an original work. In 1985, Pat Clancy of the Clancy Brothers said that Albert Grossman offered a tape recorder to one of the employees of a folk club in London to record every performing artist, and that the tapes were subsequently forwarded to Bob. Liam Clancy added, “[W]hen [Dylan] wrote his version, he wrote it to the harmony not the melody line…”52
According to Clinton Heylin, Bob Dylan recorded the first version of “Farewell” on January 21, 1963, but it was on February 8, 1963, according to Dylan’s official website.3 The recording session did not take place at Gerde’s Folk City or the Gaslight Cafe, as he wrote, but at the apartment of Gil Turner in the East Village. Gil Turner was a member of the editorial team of Broadside. Happy Traum of the New World Singers, who accompanied Dylan on the banjo and backing vocals, confirmed the session location a couple of years later.
On March 1963, Dylan completed a new version for Witmark and another one in April for Broadside, which published the text in its May issue. Finally, on August 6, 1963, there were four takes of the same song at Columbia’s Studio A for the album The Times They Are A-Changin’, but none was completed. Even though Dylan did not perform this song very often, “Farewell” was covered magnificently by many artists, including Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, and the Hillmen (the bluegrass band, led by future Byrds member Chris Hillman).
I’d Hate To Be You On That Dreadful Day
Bob Dylan / 2:01
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: Winter 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 1) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
What did this woman do to be refused entrance to paradise by St. Peter and condemned to live
forever in her nightmare? Bob Dylan did not know. He just focused on a now forgotten powerful figure suspiciously like “Miss Lonely” in the song “Like a Rolling Stone.” In the last verse before the final chorus, he sings, “You’re gonna hear out a voice say / Shoulda listened when you heard the word down there.”
Dylan interprets “I’d Hate to Be You on That Dreadful Day” with humor and irony. Singing in a tone close to a talking blues song, he projects a vitality and vigor in contradiction to the lyrics. We hear him having fun as he concludes the record by proclaiming, “That’s my calypso tap number!” Dylan played this song in public only once, at the opening of his concert at the Folkways studio in New York sometime between October 1962 and January 1963 (the date is uncertain).
Walkin’ Down The Line
Bob Dylan / 3:24
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: March 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 2) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
One recording of “Walkin’ Down the Line” was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3.
“Walkin’ Down the Line” was written in the fall of 1962. Dylan recorded a version of it for Broadside magazine in November along with “Oxford Town,” “I Shall Be Free” (which would later appear on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan) and “Paths of Victory” (on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3). He recorded the song again for Witmark in March 1963. The lyrics tell the troubles of a hobo walking along the railroad tracks, a typical folk story. Since 1963, many artists have covered this song, including Jackie De Shannon, Glen Campbell, the Dillards, Odetta, Joe & Eddie, Ricky Nelson, and Joan Baez in the 1960s. Arlo Guthrie made “Walkin’ Down the Line” one of Woodstock’s hymns.
With three chords, a harmonica part, and clever text, Dylan wrote the song with ease. According to John Bauldie, it is “a neat piece of work with a jaunty melody and a clever turn of phrase.”8 In three years of collaboration with Witmark & Sons, Bob Dylan recorded no less than 237 songs. Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman was eager to sell some of them to other artists.
Hero Blues
Bob Dylan / 1:36
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: May 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 2) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
The first known version of “Hero Blues” dates from the fall of 1962. Dylan recorded four takes on December 6, 1962, during the sessions for the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. He provided an exquisite performance on his Gibson J-50 and an excellent harmonica part under the leadership of John Hammond. He did three other takes on August 12, 1963, during the sessions for the album The Times They Are A-Changin’. Producer Tom Wilson replaced John Hammond for the sessions. Dylan accompanied himself on piano, providing an utterly convincing performance. One of these two versions could have easily found a place on either album. Since the song was not released on an official album, the version recorded for Witmark in May 1963 only appeared on The Bootleg Series Volume 9 in 2010.
Dylan explores a theme that he treated masterfully a few months later in “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” released on the album Another Side of Bob Dylan. The narrator is not, as his girlfriend would like him to be, a hero who has somebody to fight: “She wants me to go out / And find somebody to fight.” He complains, “She reads too many books / She got movies inside her head.”
As its title suggests, “Hero Blues” borrows heavily from the African-American idiom. Dylan is under the benevolent influence of Texas blues pioneers, including Henry “Ragtime Texas” Thomas and Blind Lemon Jefferson, and the Mississippi blues master Robert Johnson. Dylan sang “Hero Blues” live for the first time at New York’s Town Hall on April 12, 1963, and the last time at Chicago Stadium on January 4, 1974.
Long Time Gone
Bob Dylan / 3:47
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: March 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 1) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
“Long Time Gone” is another song about a young man’s journey away from his family. The narrator, a disciple of Jack Kerouac and other Beat writers, travels through Texas where he has a love affair with a barmaid.
The demo for Witmark is dated March 1963, a few months after a first attempt in Minneapolis at Dave Whitaker’s home. “Long Time Gone” is also among the nine songs recorded on November 8, 1962, at the apartment of Mac and Eve McKenzie in Greenwich Village. This couple was passionate about folk music and were among Woody and Marjorie Guthrie’s closest friends.
The song is built primarily around two chords. “Long Time Gone” has the characteristics of many folk songs: simple harmony, guitar strumming, and inspiration taken from a heritage available to all. Dylan modeled both lyrics and melody of his song after “Maggie Walker Blues,” a song credited to Clarence “Tom” Ashley and popularized by Doc Watson.
Whatcha Gonna Do?
Bob Dylan / 3:36
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: August 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 2) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
Bob Dylan recorded “Whatcha Gonna Do?” during the sessions for the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan at Columbia’s Studio A. The first successful take was cut on November 14, 1962, when Dylan was accompanied by Bruce Langhorne on solo guitar. The atmosphere is intimate. The result a triumph. Another attempt was made on December 6 with Dylan solo, providing a more nervous and faster version. The song was excluded from the track listing for the album. In August 1963, it was recorded again under the Witmark label. The version is nearly identical to the version recorded on December 6. In this gospel blues song, the narrator speaks directly to the Lord. Dylan has never performed it live.
Only A Hobo
Bob Dylan / 2:26
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: August 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 2) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
The nickname Blind Boy Grunt dated from the recording of “Only a Hobo” for Broadside magazine in February 1963. At the end of the take, someone asked him for some more words. “The fellow says, ‘If you can’t sing, GRUNT.’ So I said, ‘Grunt?’ Then someone else sitting at a desk to my left says, ‘What name shall I put down on this record?’ and I said ‘Grunt.’ She said, ‘Just Grunt?’ Somebody came in the door then and said, ‘Was that Blind Boy Grunt?’ And the lady at the desk said, ‘Yes, it was.’”25
Dylan wrote “Only a Hobo” by the end of 1962 or early in 1963. The song is strongly influenced by Woody Guthrie, his spiritual father. The lonely hobo lying on the corner, whose death nobody will lament, closely resembles the antiheros dear to the author of Bound for Glory. “Only a Hobo” is a reworking of the subject of the earlier “Man on the Street,” recorded in 1961. With simple but universal lyrics, Dylan asks us to take responsibility in the face of adversity.
The melody is taken from folk music. “Only a Hobo” is an adaptation of Aunt Molly Jackson’s “Poor Miner’s Farewell.” Dylan first recorded it under the pseudonym of Blind Boy Grunt in the offices of Broadside magazine in February 1963. Later, on August 12, he recorded two takes at Columbia’s Studio A during sessions for The Times They Are A-Changin’. This version remained as an outtake and was officially released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3. In August, he also made a version in a faster tempo for guitar tuned in D for Witmark & Sons. For Columbia’s version his guitar had been tuned in G. On September 24, 1971, Dylan and Happy Traum recorded some duets, including “Only a Hobo,” at Columbia’s Studio B.
They recorded five takes, although Traum said in an interview in 1996, “I only remember two (or maybe three?) complete takes of this, but none of them were very good in our (Bob’s and mine) opinion.”36 Unfortunately, these versions remain in an archive.
John Brown
Bob Dylan / 4:20
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Witmark Studio, New York: August 1963 / Sound Engineer: Ivan Augenblink / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (CD 2) / Release Date: October 19, 2010
John Brown, a businessman from Connecticut, was convinced that he was a representative of God on earth and became a leader in the fight against slavery. A fierce abolitionist, in 1859 he lead a raid on the arsenal in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, with the aim of starting a war to free slaves. He was arrested, charged with treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, and hung. This event contributed to increasing tensions, leading a year later to the outbreak of the American Civil War. Bob Dylan used John Brown’s name to compose a highly militaristic manifesto. When he wrote this protest song in 1962, he was only twenty-one and had little life experience.