Sam Peckinpah’s Western came out in American theaters on May 23, 1973, and was blasted by the critics (mainly because of cutbacks required by MGM).
Dylan’s record (his first soundtrack but twelfth studio album) was available in stores two months later, on July 13. The album’s songs are somewhat different than those heard in the film and those of the director’s cut. Although most rock critics appreciated the fact that Dylan could sing again, just as many of them found the work of no great interest, Jon Landau from Rolling Stone even comparing it to Self Portrait. One thing was for sure: the album did nothing to fix the relationship between CBS and the songwriter (who went on to record two albums with Asylum), nor between CBS and Clive Davis, the boss of the music division, who was fired for having renewed Dylan’s contract with a very advantageous clause for the songwriter. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid nevertheless reached sixteenth and twenty-ninth place on the US and UK charts, respectively, saved by the global success of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Dylan was nominated at the BAFTA Awards and the Grammy Awards in 1974 for his music.
The Album Cover
The cover of Bob Dylan’s twelfth studio album was very conservative. On the front, one could read “Bob Dylan Soundtrack” in sepia-tone letters against a white background, with the title of the film in black. The back cover showed a still from the movie: Billy the Kid on his knees, with Pat Garrett pointing his pistol at the outlaw’s chest. The design of this cover was done by famous graphic designer John Van Hamersveld, who had created the American version of the cover for the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and for Exile on Main Street, one of the masterpieces of the Rolling Stones.
Technical Details
The sound engineer who produced this album was Dan Wallin, who worked with many artists, such as Stanley Clarke and Willie Nelson, and also in the movies. In 2007 he earned an Academy Award that he shared with Michael Giacchino for best soundtrack for the movie Ratatouille.
Main Title Theme (Billy)
Bob Dylan / 6:05
Musicians: Bob Dylan: guitar; Bruce Langhorne: guitar; Booker T. Jones: bass; Russ Kunkel: tambourine / Recording Studio: Burbank Studios, Burbank, California: February 1973 / Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
Genesis and Production
The core of Peckinpah’s film is found directly in the heart of the Western myth. Throughout these six minutes, Dylan sets up, despite some tension, a nostalgic, almost serene atmosphere. While strumming his guitar, Bruce Langhorne, who had helped make a hit with “Mr. Tambourine Man” in 1965, is back improvising his guitar part with a slight mariachi color. From 1:20, Booker T. Jones’s bass part is somehow heard in the mix. At 2:40, it suddenly becomes very present and strengthens the piece. Finally, Russ Kunkel’s tambourine performance never varies the tempo. “Main Title Theme (Billy)” is an improvisation, far from the usual standards of American cinema at the time. Dylan has never played the song in public.
Cantina Theme (Workin’ For The Law)
Bob Dylan / 2:56
Musicians: Bob Dylan: guitar; Bruce Langhorne: guitar; Roger McGuinn: guitar; Booker T. Jones: bass; Russ Kunkel: bongos / Recording Studio: Burbank Studios, Burbank, California, February 1973 / Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
Three guitar chords repeated incessantly contribute to the drama of the movie. This is the first appearance of Roger McGuinn at the electric, but certainly not playing the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar that made his reputation. The tone is mainly due to Russ Kunkel’s reverb-heavy bongo performance. The piece has, to date, never been performed onstage.
Billy 1
Bob Dylan / 3:55
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Bruce Langhorne: guitar; Booker T. Jones: bass / Recording Studio: Burbank Studios, Burbank, California, February 1973 / Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
James Coburn remembers the night that Bob Dylan sang the theme of “Billy” for the first time. It was at the director’s house around a bottle of tequila. “Sam said, ‘Okay kid, let’s see what you got. You bring your guitar with you?’ They went in this little alcove. Sam had a rocking chair. Bobby sat down on a stool in front of this rocking chair. There was just the two of them in there… And Bobby played three or four tunes. And Sam came out with his handkerchief in his eye: ‘Goddam kid! Who the hell is he? Who is that kid? Sign him up!’”66 “Billy 1” was among the songs played that day. The Mexican tone of Dylan’s music fits perfectly with the theme. The instrumental introduction to the song is worth hearing. After a long solo on the harmonica (in G), Dylan starts singing at 1:34. If the lyrics include ten verses, he sings only the first three, which describe the life of the outlaw Billy, wanted by sheriffs and bounty hunters. Dylan has played this song only once onstage, at Berns Club in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 22, 2009.
Bunkhouse Theme
Bob Dylan / 2:16
Musicians: Bob Dylan: guitar; Carol Hunter: guitar Recording Studio: Burbank Studios, Burbank, California: February 1973 / Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
This piece showcases two guitars, Dylan and the excellent Carol Hunter, who had recorded with Neil Diamond, among others. She later declined Dylan’s offer to play lead with the Rolling Thunder Revue. “Bunkhouse Theme” is an instrumental close to the mariachi style (even if there is no trumpet). No audience has heard it live.
IN YOUR HEADPHONES
At 0:32, we hear someone coughing in the back of the studio.
River Theme
Bob Dylan / 1:28
Musicians: Bob Dylan: backup vocals, guitar; Bruce Langhorne: guitar; Booker T. Jones: bass; Donna Weiss, Priscilla Jones and Byron Berline: chorus / Recording Studio: Burbank Studios, Burbank, California: February 1973 Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
Dylan asked his friends to accompany him singing “la la la.” In the chorus is Donna Weiss, who sang with Joe Cocker and Jackie DeShannon and co-wrote “Bette Davis Eyes” with Kim Carnes in 1998. Also singing is Priscilla Jones, who had performed with Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Pretenders, and Byron Berline, who set aside his violin. “River Theme” seems like a demo, which is not unpleasant. The song was never performed live.
Turkey Chase
Bob Dylan / 3:34
Musicians: Bob Dylan: guitar; Bruce Langhorne: guitar; Booker T. Jones: bass; Byron Berline: fiddle; Jolly Roger: banjo Recording Studio: Burbank Studios, Burbank, California: February 1973 / Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
“Turkey Chase” is the most country song on the entire soundtrack. It even belongs to the bluegrass tradition, which explains the role of Byron Berline’s fiddle and Jolly Roger’s banjo. All five musicians are in perfect harmony, providing a great interpretation and music that moves the audience, even if the musicians never performed the piece in public.
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
Bob Dylan / 2:33
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Roger McGuinn: guitar
Terry Paul: bass
Jim Keltner: drums
Gary Foster: flute
Carl Fortina: harmonium
Carol Hunter, Donna Weiss, and Brenda Patterson: chorus
Recording Studio
Burbank Studios, Burbank, California: February 1973
Technical Team
Producer: Gordon Carroll
Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
Genesis and Lyrics
Among the theme songs recorded in the CBS Discos Studios in Mexico on January 20, 1973, there was “Goodbye Holly,” which, along with “Billy,” was the only noninstrumental song of the soundtrack written by Dylan at this stage of the production. Jerry Fielding, the musical arranger for Sam Peckinpah, did not like it; as Clinton Heylin has written, he “was used to working with people who could read music, not those who liked to reinvent it”66 and he later regretted that “Dylan never understood what I wanted.” Dylan himself commented, “[T]his guy
Fielding’s gonna go nuts when he hears this!”66
Therefore Dylan had to get back to work. While the movie was being filmed in Mexico, he wrote “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” The first two lines occurred to him at once, “Mama, take this badge off of me / I can’t use it anymore.” These were the words of Sheriff Colin Baker (Slim Pickens), who had been fatally injured by the gang of Billy the Kid before the eyes of his wife (Katy Jurado). In 1985, Dylan confided to Cameron Crowe, “I wrote it for Slim Pickens and Katy Jurardo. I just had to do it.”12 But above and beyond the need to musically illustrate this scene, Dylan also sent a message of peace to America, which was traumatized both by the outcome of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. In this context, the main character of the song suddenly becomes a soldier who is on his deathbed, questioning the value of his actions and seeming to reject any kind of glory. “It’s gettin’ dark, too dark for me to see / I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.” Judgment Day is approaching. He is asking his mother to lay down his weapons because “that long black cloud” is descending on him. Is he worthy of entering the pearly gates? This song has an extraordinary mystical dimension that is typical of Dylan.
Production
Four chords, a refrain that sounds like a nursery rhyme, and two very simple couplets and Dylan had his most irresistible hit since “Lay, Lady, Lay.” This gospel-rock song was built very simply: the electric guitar of McGuinn playing arpeggios, Dylan strumming on acoustic guitar, Fortina’s harmonium, Paul’s bass-playing fundamentals, and Keltner’s drums remaining very discrete, with rim-shots and a brief delay on the first couplet. Everything was accompanied by the great chorus and a lot of reverb on Dylan’s voice. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” was a success, a comet in the sky that must have surprised the film producers with its quality, which was far superior to the rest of the soundtrack. Jim Keltner remembered, “In those days you were on a big soundstage, and you had a massive screen that you can see on the wall [with] the scene… running when you’re playing. I cried through that whole take.”15
COVERS
In 1975, Eric Clapton recorded “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” using Arthur Louis’s arrangement, reaching number 29 in France. In 1987, Guns N’ Roses started including the song in their repertoire. The song peaked at number 2 on the UK singles chart in May 1992. Many other artists covered the song, including the Grateful Dead, Avril Lavigne, Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen, and U2.
There were several versions of this song. Sam Peckinpah first wanted an instrumental, with which Dylan acquiesced. Then a variation, with the voice. Then a sung and orchestrated version that was kept for the soundtrack. Another version was used to produce a single (with “Turkey Chase” on side B). This single, which came out on July 13, 1973, reached number 12 and 14 on the US and UK charts, respectively, on September 29 and October 6. From the concert at the Chicago Stadium on January 4, 1974, through 2004, Bob Dylan performed “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” on a regular basis. He also played it during the concert to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his career.
Final Theme
Bob Dylan / 5:23
Musicians: Bob Dylan: guitar; Roger McGuinn: guitar; Carol Hunter: guitar; Terry Paul: bass, chorus; Jim Keltner: drums; Gary Foster: flute; Carl Fortina: harmonium; Fred Katz, Ted Michel: cello; Donna Weiss and Brenda Patterson: chorus / Recording Studio: Burbank Studios, Burbank, California: February 1973 / Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
Genesis and Production
This is one of the best pieces on the album. The flute part performed by Gary Foster is subtle but great. Foster was and is an excellent musician on the West Coast jazz scene, and he has also played with musicians such as Paul McCartney, Dr. John, Quincy Jones, and Prince. Curiously, the introduction of “Final Theme” is reminiscent of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” before the orchestration wipes away this first impression. Sadly, both cellos are lost in the mix.
Billy 4
Bob Dylan / 5:03
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Terry Paul: guitar / Recording Studio: CBS Discos Studios, Mexico City, Mexico: January 20, 1973 / Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
Genesis and Production
A new arrangement of “Billy the Kid,” this is the only song retained from the Mexican recording session. Dylan follows the adventures of the outlaw Billy the Kid as described in the ballad of the same name. In the traditional song, as performed by Woody Guthrie, the text is “Fair Mexican maidens play guitars and sing / A song about Billy, the boy bandit king.” In Dylan’s lyrics, the Mexican maidens are replaced by “Gypsy queens [who] will play your grand finale.” The instrumental arrangement has only two guitars and one harmonica. “Billy 4” is certainly the most Dylanesque song on the album.
Billy 7
Bob Dylan / 2:08
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; Roger McGuinn: guitar; Terry Paul: guitar; Jim Keltner: drums / Recording Studio: Burbank Studios, Burbank, California: February 1973 Producer: Gordon Carroll / Sound Engineer: Dan Wallin
Genesis and Production
“Billy 7” is the last song on the soundtrack for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. The outlaw spends the night with a dear sweet señorita and drinks in saloons to hide his pain. Behind the lead vocal and guitar, the snare drum evokes thunder and gunfire. The Kid was killed by Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881, at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This is a typical Dylan song in style, backed by three musicians who do not have to push themselves too much to best serve Dylan. You can hear a few guitar notes played with a bottleneck or on a pedal steel guitar, undoubtedly an overdub. (Is it McGuinn playing?)
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
“Billy 7” was recorded during the Mexican session on January 20, 1973, and excluded from the album of the soundtrack of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. Chet Flippo wrote in Rolling Stone on March 15, 1973, “Dylan and Terry Paul started a hypnotic ‘la la’ lyric that grew more manic as they stood head to head and urged each other on. They jammed for four minutes and then lurched to a stuttering finish.”89
Dylan
Lily Of The West
Can’t Help Falling In Love
Sarah Jane
The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
Mr. Bojangles
Mary Ann
Big Yellow Taxi
A Fool Such As I
Spanish Is The Loving Tongue
DATE OF RELEASE
November 16, 1973
on Columbia Records
(REFERENCE COLUMBIA PC32747)
Dylan:
The Revenge of Columbia
The “Revenge of Columbia” is a nickname given the thirteenth studio album by Bob Dylan, which says it all. The album was released with no input from Dylan himself. In fact, it was issued by the record company against his will. Dylan is the result of a dispute. The album contains no original Dylan songs, but traditional or pop music hits that would probably never have been released if Dylan had stayed in the Columbia stable.
The facts: In 1972, a few months after the release of [att1]Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II, Dylan renewed his contract with Columbia. In it Clive Davis, director of the music division, included a particularly generous clause: $400,000 guaranteed minimum for the soundtrack of Sam Peckinpah’s film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid and for each of the following two albums.
But even though the soundtrack sold fairly well, reaching number 13 on the US charts, it received very negative reviews. Hence, the relationship between Columbia and Dylan turned sour, even more so after Clive Davis was laid off by CBS on May 29, 1973. CBS canceled the $400,000 clause, and Dylan immediately signed with another label. At the end of 1973 at Columbia’s annual sales meeting, Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia, hit the nail on the head in saying, “I don’t doubt that there were times when record companies exploited artists, but it [has] come to the point where the artists [are] exploiting the record companies.”7 Lieberson and his colleagues soon regretted
Dylan’s departure and his signing with David Geffen’s fledgling Los Angeles–based label Asylum Records (the Eagles, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, the Byrds), which, according to some sources, was under the unofficial auspices of Clive Davis.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
“Runnin’” and “Alligator Man” were two other outtakes from, respectively, Self Portrait and New Morning that appeared on the first track listing of the album before being replaced.
Dylan without Dylan
For now, however, Columbia had to do without Bob Dylan or, more accurately, without his consent. On November 16, 1973, a month and a half before the release of Planet Waves (Dylan’s first album for Asylum Records) and the beginning of his first major tour with the Band since 1966, Columbia released the new Dylan album, called Dylan in the United States and Dylan—A Fool Such as I in Europe. The album is not a compilation, but consists of outtakes from old sessions: with the exception of “A Fool Such as I” and “Spanish Is the Loving Tongue” from the sessions for Self Portrait, all seven other songs are from New Morning.
Bob Dylan All the Songs Page 51
