The Instruments
Nashville Skyline was the second album where the cover shows Bob Dylan holding a guitar. The first time was in 1962, on the cover of his very first work, Bob Dylan—he was timidly smiling, clutching the famous Gibson J-50 that launched his career. Here, apart from his honest, warm smile, there was a Gibson guitar of another caliber: it was a superb J-200, which was supposedly a gift from his friend George Harrison. Did he use it in the studio? No one could tell. He was seen playing a Martin 000-18 on the Johnny Cash Show on May 1, 1969, slightly more than two months after the end of the recording sessions. And what about the Martin 0-18 from John Wesley Harding? And the Nick Lucas? Unfortunately, many of these questions cannot be answered. As for the harmonicas, he only used two of them, in the same song: in F and C on “Nashville Skyline Rag.”
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
According to Derek Taylor, the press agent of the Beatles, George Harrison and Ringo Starr supposedly attended a recording session of Bob Dylan’s in December 1968. However, there was no witness to this session.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
Pete Drake, the excellent pedal steel guitar player, produced Ringo Starr’s second solo album, Beaucoups of Blues, in 1970, which showed traces of the musical influence of Nashville Skyline.
Girl From The North Country
Bob Dylan / 3:44
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar (?)
Johnny Cash: vocals, guitar (?)
Kenneth Buttrey: drums (?)
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: February 18, 1969
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineers: Charlie Bragg and Neil Wilburn
Genesis and Lyrics
Bob Dylan recorded a first version of “Girl from the North Country” on October 23, 1963, which was released on his second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. He had recorded a second version of the song as a duet with Johnny Cash, which became the first track on his ninth album, Nashville Skyline. Dylan: “Of course, I knew of [Cash] before he ever heard of me. In ’55 or ’56, ‘I Walk the Line’ played all summer on the radio, and it was different from anything else you had ever heard. The record sounded like a voice from the middle of the earth. It was so powerful and moving.”86
Johnny Cash, a country music icon, was one of the first to recognize Dylan’s talent. He defended Dylan as a peer and a brilliant songwriter. In 1961, he supported Hammond’s decision to sign the young singer to Columbia Records, where he himself was under contract. Cash was impressed by Dylan’s first album, and even more by his second album. “I had a portable record player I’d take along on the road, and I’d put on Freewheelin’ backstage, then go out and do my show, then listen again as soon as I came off.”87 Cash recorded some of Dylan’s songs. The two artists corresponded regularly starting in 1963 and forged a reciprocal and lasting friendship. They met for the first time in 1964 at the Newport Folk Festival. In October 1968 Dylan participated in Cash’s concert at Carnegie Hall.
The Dylan-Cash Sessions
A few months later, in February 1969, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan were both recording in Nashville at Columbia Studios. Cash was working on his thirty-third album, Hello, I’m Johnny Cash, released in January 1970. During the night of February 17, Cash was recording in the studio next to Dylan. After a pause, he dropped in as Dylan was recording “Nashville Skyline Rag” and “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You.” They sang “One Too Many Mornings,” “I Still Miss Someone,” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” together. The results were encouraging. They considered recording an album together. On February 18, while they were out for dinner, Bob Johnston transformed the studio. “So they went out and got some dinner, and while they were gone, I built a night club out in the studio, with lights and glass and their guitars and all that s***. They came back in, looked out there, saw that, looked at each other, looked at me, went out there, and started playin’. They played thirty-two songs. Dylan said, ‘We’re done.’ They never released it. It’s been recorded since 1969, and they never released it.”88 They recorded about a dozen duets, but only the country version of “Girl from the North Country” was released on the album Nashville Skyline. The other titles, belonging to Dylan, Cash, Jimmie Rodgers, and even Sun Records, were never officially released but circulated as bootlegs.
Production
The first version is structurally folk, inspired by British ballads. By contrast, the second version is a country-folk mix. There are two surprises. The first is that the harmony is slightly different from the original version and curiously reminiscent of the Band’s “The Weight” on their album Music from Big Pink, released in 1968. The second surprise is Dylan’s voice. Although this song was the last one recorded, it is the opening track on Nashville Skyline, and it is hard to recognize Dylan’s voice. Cash dominated as the lead vocal, and because of this it is difficult to find Dylan’s part. The song may appeal more to Cash’s fans than to Dylan’s. Although this version has its charms, more rhythmic rigor would have improved the piece. Bob, on lead guitar, plays arpeggios, and Johnny rhythm. In the third verse, they are backed by a discrete drum part, presumably played by Kenneth Buttrey. The two voices, reverberating strongly, complement each other rather well. A wobbly harmonization, especially in the last line, almost creates a disaster (3:10). Three takes were recorded; either the first or the last was selected as the master.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
There is a bootleg of Dylan-Cash sessions, including the songs recorded on February 17 and 18, 1969; three Dylan performances from the Johnny Cash Show (May 1, 1969), and five quadraphonic mixes of Nashville Skyline songs.
FIRST DUET
The second version of “Girl from the North Country” with Johnny Cash marked the first official Dylan duet.
Nashville Skyline Rag
Bob Dylan / 3:15
Musicians
Bob Dylan: guitar (?), harmonica
Charlie Daniels: guitar
Norman Blake: guitar
Pete Drake: pedal steel guitar
Bob Wilson: piano (?)
Hargus Robbins: piano (?)
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: February 17, 1969
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineers: Charlie Bragg and Neil Wilburn
Genesis
“Nashville Skyline Rag” was the first instrumental to come out on an official Dylan record. In fact, it was the second one he recorded, the first during the sessions for The Times They Are A-Changin’ in October 1963, with “Suze (The Cough Song),” which resurfaced in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3. Placed as the second track of the album, this piece sounds like the true introduction to Nashville Skyline. Bob Dylan, as the master of ceremonies, introduces his musicians in a series of joyful and rhythmic presentations: Pete Drake, Charlie Daniels, Norman Blake, and Bob Wilson (or Hargus Robbins) did solo after solo, supported by the rhythm section made up of Charlie McCoy (bass) and Kenneth Buttrey (drums).
As its title indicates, “Nashville Skyline Rag” was a ragtime piece, a genre that was created in the 1880s as a blend of the polyrhythms of African styles and European classical music, especially Chopin’s mazurkas and Mozart’s minuets. It fit into the bluegrass tradition, a variation of country music that borrowed as much from blues as from Anglo-Saxon ballads.
Production
Dylan could not have pleased country musicians more than by providing them with “Nashville Skyline Rag.” This piece with bluegrass flavor made it possible for each one of them to play a solo in the purest tradition of this style. Right from the intro, Dylan expresses himself on his harmonica. He seems to be accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Then the excellent Pete Drake leaps forward, much more comfortable with his pedal steel guitar than on “Down Along the Cove�
�� on John Wesley Harding. Then Charlie Daniels and Norman Blake follow suit on guitar and dobro, though it is impossible to tell who is playing what. Bob Wilson, or more likely Hargus “Pig” Robbins, comes next with a feverish piano chorus (although he was not credited on the record, his name appeared on the studio sheets, and his style was similar to the piece). Finally, Dylan concludes this series of brilliant solos with a new part on harmonica. If his goal was to tell listeners that the album would be country, he succeeded. As with most of the recordings for Nashville Skyline, the number of takes remains undetermined because of lack of documentation.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
“Nashville Skyline Rag” was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Country Music Instrumental.” Dylan later said he recorded “just for the fun of it!”
To Be Alone With You
Bob Dylan / 2:10
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Charlie Daniels: guitar
Norman Blake: guitar (?)
Kelton D. Herston: guitar (?)
Bob Wilson: piano
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: February 13, 1969
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineers: Charlie Bragg and Neil Wilburn
Genesis and Lyrics
“To Be Alone with You” is one of four songs Dylan wrote before the recording sessions for the album Nashville Skyline. The tune is a simple love song, far from the enigmatic metaphors of earlier songs, such as “Visions of Johanna” (Blonde on Blonde) and the numerous literary references in “Love Minus Zero, No Limit” (Bringing It All Back Home). Dylan addresses his love in the most direct way possible. He tells her that happiness is “To hold each other tight / The whole night through,” “To be alone with you / At the close of the day.” The song combines religious lyrics; in conclusion, Dylan sings, “I’ll always thank the Lord.” The bridge begins with the line, “They say that nighttime is the right time,” a blues line used thousands of times.
Production
“To Be Alone with You” was the first song recorded for Nashville Skyline on February 13, 1969. On the album, Dylan is heard asking his producer Bob Johnston, “Is it rolling, Bob?”
The melody is like the lyrics, somewhat innocent, but at the same time extremely efficient. This country rock would have pleased Elvis Presley. The excellent piano part played by Bob Wilson gives it a Jerry Lee Lewis–style, as Andy Gill rightly pointed out. Dylan would later say, “I was trying to grasp something that would lead me on to where I thought I should be, and it didn’t go anywhere.”66 Dylan is backed by an excellent rhythm section, including Charley McCoy’s bass. He sang with a new vocal intonation, unrecognizable but ultimately rather pleasant. Only two guitars are audible: undoubtedly Dylan’s, but also Charlie Daniels on the electric. The latter claimed that he had played on each song on the album except for “Girl from the North Country.” Although mentioned in the studio recording notes, Kelton D. Herston’s guitar does not seem to be present in the mix. Finally, Dylan reintroduced a bridge in the structure of this song, something that he had more or less abandoned after Blonde on Blonde.
Dylan first performed this song live at a concert in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, as part of the Never Ending Tour on October 15, 1989, some twenty years after recording it. Since then, he has performed it live more than 120 times. In the early 2000s, the song was frequently a show opener.
COVERS
“To Be Alone with You” was recorded by Marshall Chapman for her album Take It on Home, released in 1982, and by others including Sufjan Stevens (Seven Swans, 2004), Maria Muldaur (Heart of Mine: Love Songs of Bob Dylan, 2006), and Chris Jagger, Mick’s brother (Whatever Colors You Have in Your Mind: A Tribute to Bob Dylan, 2011).
I Threw It All Away
Bob Dylan / 2:26
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Charlie Daniels: guitar
Norman Blake: guitar
Kelton D. Herston: guitar (?)
Bob Wilson: organ
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: February 13, 1969
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineers: Charlie Bragg and Neil Wilburn
Genesis and Lyrics
Bob Dylan wrote this song a few months before recording Nashville Skyline. In it, he reveals a new side of his personality. He may have already recognized being the cause of breakups, but unlike the other songs, this is the first time he admits regrets. In the second verse, he sings, “Once I had mountains in the palm of my hand / And rivers that ran through ev’ry day / I must have been mad / I never knew what I had.” There is speculation about the identity of his old love. It could be Suze Rotolo, Joan Baez, or Edie Sedgwick—a mystery!
Production
“I Threw It All Away” is a slow rock song, but not really country in style. Dylan’s voice is reverberant with an intonation expressing emotion and nostalgia. The sound curiously lacks treble, which gives the impression of sweetness. Bob Wilson’s organ part underscores the emotion. Musician Nick Cave is charmed: “This is my favorite Dylan song. The production is so clean, fluid and uncluttered, and there is an ease and innocence to Dylan’s voice in its phrasing, in its tone that is in no Dylan recording before or after. There is a perfectly measured emotional pull to the singing. This a guy doing the job God put him on Earth to do, and doing it well.”76 Besides Dylan’s Martin 0-18, two or three other guitars are heard in the mix: a classic nylon string played solo, an acoustic played in arpeggios, and probably a fourth guitar mixed with the acoustic guitar. But who played each of the six-strings? It is difficult to know. However, the lead guitar is reminiscent of Charlie McCoy in “Desolation Row” on Highway 61 Revisited. McCoy played bass, backed by Kenneth Buttrey on the drums, whose tom breaks (1:29) are close to saturation level.
Later that year, “I Threw It All Away” was released as a single with “Drifter’s Escape” on the B-side. It reached number 85 in the United States, number 30 in the United Kingdom, and number 29 in France in July 1969. Dylan performed it live for the first time on the Johnny Cash Show, broadcast from the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, on May 1, 1969. The song was part of Dylan’s setlist with the Band at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969. He performed it during the Rolling Thunder Revue in 1976, and in 2002 he played an acoustic version on his Never Ending Tour.
JAMMING WITH A BEATLE
On May 1, 1970, Bob Dylan and George Harrison entered Columbia’s Studio B in New York City and recorded some twenty songs, later released as a bootleg simply titled Session at Columbia Studio.
Peggy Day
Bob Dylan / 2:05
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Charlie Daniels: guitar
Norman Blake: guitar, dobro
Kelton D. Herston: guitar (?)
Pete Drake: pedal steel guitar
Bob Wilson: piano (?)
Hargus Robbins: piano (?)
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: February 14, 1969
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineers: Charlie Bragg and Neil Wilburn
Genesis and Lyrics
Bob Dylan wrote “Peggy Day” just before or possibly during the Nashville Skyline sessions. The songwriter said he wrote it while thinking of the Mills Brothers, an African-American vocal jazz and pop group that was famous during the 1940s for their sumptuous vocal harmonies. The mood of the song is light, revealing the state of mind of the composer at this time. “Peggy Day” or “Peggy Night,” whatever… The narrator wants to spend his days and nights with thi
s young woman, gifted in the art of love, even though she stole his heart. Dylan was amusing himself, giving the impression of taking a break after all the years of intense creation.
Production
“Peggy Day” was the first song to be recorded on February 14, 1969. After a jazzy introduction on acoustic guitar by Charlie Daniels, Dylan launches into this pleasant, middle-of-the-road ballad that is halfway between doo-wop and country. A Mills Brothers reply on the choruses would have been great, but instead it is Norman Blake on his dobro. Dylan’s singing is relaxed and he delivers a good vocal, especially at the end of the song. The rhythm section is provided by the guitars of Dylan, Blake, Herston (?), the bass of McCoy, Buttrey on drums, and the very efficient but spare piano part by Wilson. Dylan doesn’t avoid the clichés of this genre, with a pedal steel guitar solo and a rhythm break at the end of the piece—in other words, the group is having fun. While the music is simple and light, the songwriter surprises with a new writing style.
Bob Dylan All the Songs Page 41
