ENCYCLOPEDIA NEWS: THE PAPERBACK!
I'm happy to say that Continuum has clinched its plans for the paperback of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, and that this will be published simultaneously in New York and London on April 15th (2008).
This gives me a brief chance to incorporate updates and a few corrections to the text, and I should like to ask each interested blog reader this: please let me know of anything essential you think needs adding or altering.
Obviously I am adding entries on Modern Times, The Drawn Blank Series, the Dylan 3-CD set and I'm Not There, and to mention the Cadillac ads, the re-mix of 'Most Likely' and the 2nd series of Theme Time Radio Hour, and to add in the deaths of Tommy Makem, Mark Spoelstra and Ian Wallace. (Paul Nelson's death, and some correction, is already included in the revised reprint of the hardback issued in the UK on Sept 24th 2006.)
BUT there will inevitably be other things it would be good to include if possible, and I shall be grateful if you can suggest any.
(In the case of living musicians, they may well have issued new albums since early 2006, but we don't have the capacity to add all these in - though it should be possible to mention any that really are significant in that artist's career. Joni Mitchell's Shine is an example, I think, since it represents her first album of substantially new material in some years.) So if anything strikes you, let me know, and before January 1st please!
This gives me a brief chance to incorporate updates and a few corrections to the text, and I should like to ask each interested blog reader this: please let me know of anything essential you think needs adding or altering.
Obviously I am adding entries on Modern Times, The Drawn Blank Series, the Dylan 3-CD set and I'm Not There, and to mention the Cadillac ads, the re-mix of 'Most Likely' and the 2nd series of Theme Time Radio Hour, and to add in the deaths of Tommy Makem, Mark Spoelstra and Ian Wallace. (Paul Nelson's death, and some correction, is already included in the revised reprint of the hardback issued in the UK on Sept 24th 2006.)
BUT there will inevitably be other things it would be good to include if possible, and I shall be grateful if you can suggest any.
(In the case of living musicians, they may well have issued new albums since early 2006, but we don't have the capacity to add all these in - though it should be possible to mention any that really are significant in that artist's career. Joni Mitchell's Shine is an example, I think, since it represents her first album of substantially new material in some years.) So if anything strikes you, let me know, and before January 1st please!
posted by Michael Gray | 5:57 pm
28 Comments:
Michael,
In your entry on Howlin' Wolf I believe that the lyrics that you have for the song "Tail Dragger" are not quite correct.
You have a verse as, "The 'cuda drags his tail in the sand / A fish wiggles his tail in the water / When the mighty wolf come along, draggin' his tail / He done stole somebody’s dog."
I suggest that Wolf does not sing "'cuda," but that he sings "cooter." Cooter is a slang term for snapping turtles used in the southern United States.
Also, I don't believe he stole "somebody's dog," but that he stole "somebody's daughter," which rhymes with "water" from the previous line in the verse and also ties in with the other verse, with its line about "stealin' chicks."
Looking forward to the paperback,
Scott Warmuth
Albuquerque, NM
His recent spell with Jack White, if not already included?
Thanks to both of you for these comments. I hope for lots more from people between now and the end of the year.
Scott, I thank you particularly for clearing up the Howlin' Wolf lyric. I'm sure you're absolutely right. I'll make sure it gets changed in my book.
Maybe along with Makem, Spoelstra, and Wallace, mention Eric Von Schmidt's death on Feb 2, 2007?
Can't wait for the paperback!
-Sean McBrien
Michael,
Has anyone else pointed out that in your entry about John Bauldie you are incorrect about something to do with his fatal helicopter crash? He was actually returning from a match between Chelsea and Bolton. I don't know which team John supported but he was obviously with Matthew Harding, one of Chelsea's most famous supporters at the time. It's especially tragic that John didn't live to see the resurgence of Dylan and Matthew Harding never saw Chelsea achieve their success of recent years.
Dear Sean and Keith
Actually the John Bauldie error was corrected in the reprint of the hardback, I'm glad to say - but thanks for these comments. It's appreciated.
Hello from Belgium, Michael !
(sorry for my bad english)
For the updates of the new edition of your Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, here are informations about some Modern Times tunes. It’s a rough draft of an article never published.
There were numerous discussions on internet about alleged plagiarism by Bob on Modern Times. So, I have made a thorough searching in the rich collections of the public media library of my town, and on internet.
You can find below the result of my nice journey through the blues, country and crooners worlds !
Kind regards.
Jean-Pol Hiernaux
Namur (Belgium)
_______________________________
Maybe Dylan should have titled Modern Times CD « It Ain’t Me, Babe »
(headline on SouthFlorida.com, 27 October 2006)
Indeed ?
The Modern Times album (released 28/29 August 2006) state « All songs written by Bob Dylan », but various accusations of masked borrowings, or even plagiarisms, are going round.
Here is the restatement of the question, with further informations about the original sources that are evoked.
A) The three songs most in question are : Rollin’ And Tumblin’ (track # 3), Someday Baby (track # 5) and The Leeve’s Gonna Break (track # 9).
1. Rollin’ And Tumblin’ (track # 3)
The music of Bob’s Rollin’ And Tumblin’ is exactly the same as Muddy Waters Rollin’ And Tumblin’, but not the lyrics : only the 3 lines of the chorus are similar :
- Muddy :
Well, I rolled and I Tumbled, cried the whole night long. [repeat]
Well, I woke up this mornin’, didn’t know right from wrong.
- Bob :
I rolled and I tumbled, I cried the whole night long. [repeat]
Woke up this mornin’, I must have bet my money wrong.
Rollin’ And Tumblin’ was first recorded by Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield, vocal, guitar) in :
- January 1950 in Chicago during an extra-contractual session for Parkway label, under the name « Baby Face Leroy Trio » with « Baby Face » Leroy Foster (vocal, drums) and Little Walter (vocal, harmonica).
The song was released in 2 parts on 78 RPM single Parkway 501. But unlike most such releases divided into parts, Rollin’ And Tumblin’ was not one song, but rather two takes of the song, the first with sung lyrics and the second with wordless moaning. Oddly, the original Parkway release listed the moaning take (numbered H 513) as Part 1 (2:53) and the lyrics take (numbered H 514) as Part 2 (2:44).
It is released that way on CD The Chronological Leroy Foster 1948-1952 (Classics 5137, 2005, France) or as bonus tracks on CD Muddy Waters – First Recording Sessions 1941-1946 In Chronological Order (Document Records DOCD-5146, 1993, reissue 2001, Austria).
- February 1950 in Chicago for his label Aristocrat Records (first label of the Chess brothers), with Ernest « Big » Crawford (bass).
The song was released in 2 parts (U 7235 & U 7236) on 78 RPM single Aristocrat 412. This time too, it was two takes of the song ; for the second take, Muddy recycled lyrics from Kind Hearted Woman (Robert Johnson) and Down South Blues (1948 Muddy’s song, with the same music as Rollin’ And Tumblin’).
These Part 1 (2:59) and Part 2 (2:31) can be heard on CD The Chronological Muddy Waters 1948-1950 (Classics 2029, 2002, France).
Rollin’ And Tumblin’ (particulary the first version, more « explosive ») is held to be a turning-point of the history of the blues : it demonstrates the conversion of Delta blues to post war Chicago blues.
The genuine complete 2-takes recordings from January 1950 session (5:58) and from February 1950 session (5:28) are both available on the following 2CD sets : Muddy Waters – The Blues – Rolling Stone 1941-1950 (Frémeaux & Associés FA 266, 2001, France) or Muddy Waters – Screamin’ And Cryin’ (Chess Masters) (Universe UC 119/2, 2004, Italy).
The splitted tunes are available on various compilations CD, sometimes with mistakes concerning the number of the parts, or with omission of it (for example the Rollin’ And Tumblin’ track listed on the compilation CD Rollin’ & Tumblin’ [Charly Records RED 17, 1990, UK] is actually the Part 1 from February 1950).
The composer credit for the song on the two original 78 RPM releases is « Muddy Waters » but Muddy stated that he had in fact learned the number from Hambone Wille Newbern’s 1929 recording entitled Roll And Tumble Blues.
Hambone Willie Newbern (about 1899 – about 1947, obscure songster sometimes mispelled Newburn) had recorded Roll And Tumble Blues on 14 March 1929 in Atlanta (Ga.) (take 402306-B), during his only recording session (13 & 14 March 1929). It was released on 78 RPM single OKEH 8679 ; the composer credit is « Newbern ».
The music of Roll And Tumble Blues had inspired various tunes in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s : The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair (22 April 1929) and Brownsville Blues (1938) by Sleepy John Estes, Dough Roller Blues (1930) by Garfield Akers, ’34 Blues (1934) by Charley Patton, If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day (1936, first release 1961 ; this tune with a part of the lyrics from Roll And Tumble Blues) and Travelling Riverside Blues (1937, first release 1961) by Robert Johnson, Down South Blues (1948) by Muddy Waters, …
The practice of using established musical patterns and even lyrics was then fairly common.
The Newbern’s Roll And Tumble Blues had been covered by Memphis Slim, Sunnyland Slim, Stefan Grossman, Keri Leigh & The Blue Devils, and the Finnish bluesman Pepe Ahlqvist & The Rolling Tumbleweed.
The Muddy Waters Rollin’ And Tumblin’ had been covered by Memphis Slim, Elmore James, Big Joe Williams, Dr. Feelgood, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Cream, Canned Heat, Johnny Winter, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, …
2. & 3. Someday Baby (track # 5) and The Leeve’s Gonna Break (track # 9)
The music of Bob’s Someday Baby and The Leeve’s Gonna Break is just similar (with important rearrangements) to respectively Someday Baby Blues by Sleepy John Estes (1935) and When The Levee Breaks by Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie (1929). The lyrics are different : just some lines are similar.
2. Someday Baby Blues was recorded by Sleepy John Estes (John Adam Estes, 1899-1977 ; vocal and guitar) on 9 July 1935 in Chicago (take 90096-A), with Hammie Nixon (harmonica) and released on 78 RPM single Champion 50068 (and later Decca 7279) ; the composer credit is « Nixon – Estes ».
Sleepy John Estes had recorded a new version, New Someday Baby, on 22 April 1938 in New York City, with a second guitarist (Son Bonds or Charlie Pickett), released on 78 RPM single Decca 7491.
The first and the second versions are available on various compilation CD : for example, Sleepy John Estes - Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, respectively Vol. 1: 24 September 1929 to 2 August 1937 (Document Records DOCD-5015, 1991, Austria) and Vol. 2: 2 August 1937 to 24 September 1941 (Document Records DOCD-5016, 1991, Austria), or 2CD set Sleepy John Estes – The Blues – From Memphis To Chicago 1929-1941 (Frémeaux & Associés FA 258, 2002, France), or CD Someday Baby – The Essential Recordings of Sleepy John Estes (Indigo Records, IGOCD 2041, 1996, UK).
Someday Baby Blues had inspired the music and the lyrics of two famous blues songs :
- Worried Life Blues, recorded by Big Maceo (Maceo Merriweather, vocal and piano) on 24 June 1941 in Chicago (released on 78 RPM single Bluebird B 8827 ; composer credit : « Maceo Merriweather ») (note : despite its title, Maceo’s Worried Life Blues n° 2, recorded in 1950, released on Fortune 805 78 RPM single, is not a new version of the theme) ;
- Trouble No More recorded by Muddy Waters on 3 November 1955 in Chicago (released on 78 RPM and 45 RPM singles Chess 1612 ; composer credit : « Morganfield »).
These 3 songs were covered by various artists, sometimes with a double title, often with numerous variations in the music, the rhythm and the lyrics : Big Joe Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, B.B. King, Memphis Slim, Jimmy Burns, Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Rodgers, Junior Wells, Freddie King, Ottis Spann, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Canned Heat, The Animals, Eric Clapton, … and of course the two fantastic covers of Trouble No More by The Allman Brothers Band (first album, eponymous, 1969, and live at Fillmore East 1971 on Eat A Peach, 1972).
Bob had covered Trouble No More (with altered lyrics) live at Toad’s Place, New Haven (Connecticut) on 12 January 1990 (unreleased but circulating amongst collectors).
Here are the lyrics of the 2 first verses and the chorus of the following 5 versions :
- Someday Baby Blues by Sleepy John Estes (1935) :
I don’t care how long you’re gone, I don’t care how long you stay
But that good kind treatment bring you back home someday.
Someday, Baby, you ain’t gonna worry my mind anymore.
- New Someday Baby by Sleepy John Estes (1938) :
When trouble first started down in my front door
Seem like I had more trouble than my life before.
Someday, Baby, you ain’t gonna trouble my mind anymore.
- Worried Life Blues by Big Maceo (1941) :
Oh lordy lord, oh lordy lord,
It hurts me so bad for us to part,
But someday Baby, I ain’t gonna worry my life anymore.
- Trouble No More by Muddy Waters (1955) :
I don’t care how long you’re gone, I don’t care how long you stay
But good kind treatment gon’ bring you home someday,
But someday Baby, you ain’t gonna trouble poor me any more.
- Someday Baby by Bob Dylan (2006) :
I don’t care what you do, I don’t care what you say
I don’t care where you go or how long you stay.
Someday Baby, you ain’t gonna worry po’ me any more.
3. When The Levee Breaks was recorded by Kansas Joe (Joe McCoy, vocal & guitar) and his wife Memphis Minnie (Lizzie Douglas, guitar) on 18 June 1929 in New York City (take 148711-1) and released on 78 RPM single Columbia 14439-D.
The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, subject of numerous Delta blues songs (for example : High Water Everywhere by Charlie Patton, 1930).
Here are the similar lyrics :
- Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie :
(1) If it keeps on raining, levee's going to break,
If it keeps on raining, levee's going to break,
And the water going to come and we'll have no place to stay.
(5) I worked on the levee mama, both night and day,
I worked on the levee mama, both night and day,
I ain't got nobody to keep the water away.
- Bob :
(1) If it keep on rainin' the levee gonna break,
If it keep on rainin' the levee gonna break,
Everybody saying this is a day only The Lord could make.
(2) Well I worked on the levee Mama, both night and day,
Well I worked on the levee Mama, both night and day,
I got to the river and I threw my clothes away.
The cover of When The Levee Breaks (completely reworked) by Led Zeppelin on his 4th album (1971) remains famous.
[End of "Modern Times" sources : 3/3]
B) Musical critics and bloggers have also pointed out some borrowings for the other tunes of the album.
4. When The Deal Goes Down (track # 4)
Actually, the melody of When The Deal Goes Down is vaguely similar to Where The Blue Of The Night (Meets The Gold Of The Day), Bing Crosby’s hit since 1932.
This tune was composed by Roy Turk, Bing Crosby and Fred. E. Ahlert, first recorded in New York City on 23 November 1931 and released in January 1932 on 78 RPM single Brunswick 6226 (3:00). There will be three other commercial recordings.
Two versions (the first and the third, I think, 1945/48) are available on 4CD set Bing Crosby – His Legendary Years : 1931-1957, MCA MCAD4-10887, 1993, USA.
In a live talk on 29 September 2004 (MSNBC), David Gates, who interviewed Bob Dylan for Newsweek after Chronicles came out, answered a question from the audience about the next Bob’s album : « Did Bob share any details with you regarding the songs for his next album ? What’s the scoop ? – Really only that he’s working on them. He did say he’s written a song based on melody from a Bing Crosby song, Where The Blue Of The Night Meets The Gold Of The Day. How much it’ll actually sound like that is anybody’s guess. ».
According to Eyolf Østrem, « We now know the answer to the last question : not much, actually. Although the song structure and the chords are identical, the phrasing, the melody line, and the pace in Dylan’s version are all very different from Crosby’s slow, insinuating crooning. »
It’s funny to note that in the 1990s British critics have pointed out the Crosby’s song’s similarity to the Willow, Tit-Willow (On A Tree By A River) aria in The Mikado, the famous comic opera of Arthur Sullivan (music) and William Schwenck Gilbert (libretto), created in London in 1885 (one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history).
5. Workingman’s Blues # 2 (track # 6)
Musically, Workingman’s Blues # 2 is not a blues and is a personal Bob’s composition.
But it refers to the blues song Working Man Blues by Sleepy John Estes (recorded in Chicago on 24 September 1941 and released on 78 RPM single Bluebird B-8950-A) and to the country song Working Man’s Blues by Merle Haggard (A Portrait Of Merle Haggard, 1969, Capitol ST 319).
There is also the blues song Cash Talkin' (The Workingman's Blues) composed by Doug MacLeod and covered by Albert Collins in 1986 (first track, uncredited, of Cold Snap, Aligator ALCD4752). The Doug MacLeod Band has released the song with the title Working Man Blues (track #2 on Woman In The Street album, Stomp, 1988). Doug MacLeod has recorded an acoustic version of The Working Man Blues for XM Satellite Radio in Washington on 5 September 2006, released on Live At XM Satellite EP, available only via digital download services (iTunes, February 2007).
The Bob’s verse Sing a little bit of these workingman’s blues (4 time repeated) is borrowed from Merle Haggard’s tune.
6. Beyond The Horizon (track # 7)
The melody of Beyond The Horizon is similar to Red Sails In The Sunset (and the music of the chorus is exactly the same).
This popular song, written by Jimmy Kennedy (lyrics) and Hugh Williams aka Wilhelm Grosz (music), was covered in 1935 by four stars of mood music : Jack Jackson and his Orchestra, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, Mantovani and his Tipica Orchestra, Al Bowlly with Ray Noble and his Orchestra.
It was also covered by Bing Crosby (recorded in Hollywood on 12 Novembre 1935 and released on 78 RPM single Decca 616), Louis Armstrong (recorded on 13 December 1935 and released in 1936 on 78 RPM single Decca 648), Nat King Cole (1951), The Platters (1960), Fats Domino (1963), … and also The Beatles (live at Star Club in Hamburg on 31 December 1962)
7. Nettie Moore (track # 8)
The chorus structure and the first two lines (Oh, I miss you Nettie Moore / And my happiness is o'er) of Nettie Moore are identical with The Little White Cottage, or Gentle Nettie Moore, a ballad published in 1857 in Boston, by Marshall S. Pike (poetry), G.S.P. (melody) and James S. Pierpont (chorus and piano accompaniment) (James S. Pierpont is the composer of Jingle Bells).
This song was covered in August 1934 for Standard Radio (Los Angeles) by the Sons Of The Pioneers (Leonard « Roy Rogers » Slye : vocal, guitar ; Bob Nolan : vocal, string bass ; Verne « Tim » Spencer : vocal ; Hugh Farr : fiddle) and released on a 33 RPM radio disc (EE Master 1720). It was reissued on the CD # 4 of the 5CD set Songs Of The Prairies - The Standard Transcriptions - Part. 1 - 1934-1935 (Bear Family, BCD 15710 EI, 1998, Germany).
On Theme Time Radio Hour (XM Radio), Bob had choosen two songs covered by the Sons Of The Pioneers (on 14 June 2006 : My Daddy, 1934, from the same 5CD set compilation ; on 4 October 2006 : Cool Clear Water, 1941).
8. Ain’t Talkin’ (track # 10)
Two chorus lines (# 1 and # 3) are borrowed from the Stanley Brothers’ song Highway Of Regret : Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’ / Heart burnin’, still yearnin’.
But musically, there are very different : Ain’t Talkin’ is a slow ballad (typically Dylanesque) and Highway Of Regret a fast country tune.
Hello from Belgium, Michael !
(sorry for my bad english)
For the updates of the new edition of your Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, here are informations about some MODERN TIMES tunes. It’s a rough draft of an article never published.
There were numerous discussions on internet about alleged plagiarism by Bob on Modern Times. So, I have made a thorough searching in the rich collections of the public media library of my town, and on internet.
You can find below the result of my nice journey through the blues, country and crooners worlds !
Kind regards.
Jean-Pol Hiernaux
Namur (Belgium)
___________________________
MAYBE DYLAN SHOULD HAVE TITLED MODERN TIMES CD « IT AIN’T ME, BABE »
(headline on SouthFlorida.com, 27 October 2006)
Indeed ?
The Modern Times album (released 28/29 August 2006) state « All songs written by Bob Dylan », but various accusations of masked borrowings, or even plagiarisms, are going round.
Here is the restatement of the question, with further informations about the original sources that are evoked.
A) The three songs most in question are : ROLLIN’ AND TUMBLIN’ (track # 3), SOMEDAY BABY (track # 5) and THE LEEVE’S GONNA BREAK (track # 9).
1. ROLLIN’ AND TUMBLIN’ (track # 3)
The music of Bob’s Rollin’ And Tumblin’ is exactly the same as Muddy Waters Rollin’ And Tumblin’, but not the lyrics : only the 3 lines of the chorus are similar :
- Muddy :
Well, I rolled and I Tumbled, cried the whole night long. [repeat]
Well, I woke up this mornin’, didn’t know right from wrong.
- Bob :
I rolled and I tumbled, I cried the whole night long. [repeat]
Woke up this mornin’, I must have bet my money wrong.
Rollin’ And Tumblin’ was first recorded by Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield, vocal, guitar) in :
- January 1950 in Chicago during an extra-contractual session for Parkway label, under the name « Baby Face Leroy Trio » with « Baby Face » Leroy Foster (vocal, drums) and Little Walter (vocal, harmonica).
The song was released in 2 parts on 78 RPM single Parkway 501. But unlike most such releases divided into parts, Rollin’ And Tumblin’ was not one song, but rather two takes of the song, the first with sung lyrics and the second with wordless moaning. Oddly, the original Parkway release listed the moaning take (numbered H 513) as Part 1 (2:53) and the lyrics take (numbered H 514) as Part 2 (2:44).
It is released that way on CD The Chronological Leroy Foster 1948-1952 (Classics 5137, 2005, France) or as bonus tracks on CD Muddy Waters – First Recording Sessions 1941-1946 In Chronological Order (Document Records DOCD-5146, 1993, reissue 2001, Austria).
- February 1950 in Chicago for his label Aristocrat Records (first label of the Chess brothers), with Ernest « Big » Crawford (bass).
The song was released in 2 parts (U 7235 & U 7236) on 78 RPM single Aristocrat 412. This time too, it was two takes of the song ; for the second take, Muddy recycled lyrics from Kind Hearted Woman (Robert Johnson) and Down South Blues (1948 Muddy’s song, with the same music as Rollin’ And Tumblin’).
These Part 1 (2:59) and Part 2 (2:31) can be heard on CD The Chronological Muddy Waters 1948-1950 (Classics 2029, 2002, France).
Rollin’ And Tumblin’ (particulary the first version, more « explosive ») is held to be a turning-point of the history of the blues : it demonstrates the conversion of Delta blues to post war Chicago blues.
The genuine complete 2-takes recordings from January 1950 session (5:58) and from February 1950 session (5:28) are both available on the following 2CD sets : Muddy Waters – The Blues – Rolling Stone 1941-1950 (Frémeaux & Associés FA 266, 2001, France) or Muddy Waters – Screamin’ And Cryin’ (Chess Masters) (Universe UC 119/2, 2004, Italy).
The splitted tunes are available on various compilations CD, sometimes with mistakes concerning the number of the parts, or with omission of it (for example the Rollin’ And Tumblin’ track listed on the compilation CD Rollin’ & Tumblin’ [Charly Records RED 17, 1990, UK] is actually the Part 1 from February 1950).
The composer credit for the song on the two original 78 RPM releases is « Muddy Waters » but Muddy stated that he had in fact learned the number from Hambone Wille Newbern’s 1929 recording entitled Roll And Tumble Blues.
Hambone Willie Newbern (about 1899 – about 1947, obscure songster sometimes mispelled Newburn) had recorded ROLL AND TUMBLE BLUES on 14 March 1929 in Atlanta (Ga.) (take 402306-B), during his only recording session (13 & 14 March 1929). It was released on 78 RPM single OKEH 8679 ; the composer credit is « Newbern ».
The music of Roll And Tumble Blues had inspired various tunes in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s : The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair (22 April 1929) and Brownsville Blues (1938) by Sleepy John Estes, Dough Roller Blues (1930) by Garfield Akers, ’34 Blues (1934) by Charley Patton, If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day (1936, first release 1961 ; this tune with a part of the lyrics from Roll And Tumble Blues) and Travelling Riverside Blues (1937, first release 1961) by Robert Johnson, Down South Blues (1948) by Muddy Waters, …
The practice of using established musical patterns and even lyrics was then fairly common.
The Newbern’s Roll And Tumble Blues had been covered by Memphis Slim, Sunnyland Slim, Stefan Grossman, Keri Leigh & The Blue Devils, and the Finnish bluesman Pepe Ahlqvist & The Rolling Tumbleweed.
The Muddy Waters Rollin’ And Tumblin’ had been covered by Memphis Slim, Elmore James, Big Joe Williams, Dr. Feelgood, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Cream, Canned Heat, Johnny Winter, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, …
2. & 3. SOMEDAY BABY (track # 5) and THE LEEVE’S GONNA BREAK (track # 9)
The music of Bob’s Someday Baby and The Leeve’s Gonna Break is just similar (with important rearrangements) to respectively Someday Baby Blues by Sleepy John Estes (1935) and When The Levee Breaks by Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie (1929). The lyrics are different : just some lines are similar.
2. SOMEDAY BABY BLUES was recorded by Sleepy John Estes (John Adam Estes, 1899-1977 ; vocal and guitar) on 9 July 1935 in Chicago (take 90096-A), with Hammie Nixon (harmonica) and released on 78 RPM single Champion 50068 (and later Decca 7279) ; the composer credit is « Nixon – Estes ».
Sleepy John Estes had recorded a new version, New Someday Baby, on 22 April 1938 in New York City, with a second guitarist (Son Bonds or Charlie Pickett), released on 78 RPM single Decca 7491.
The first and the second versions are available on various compilation CD : for example, Sleepy John Estes - Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, respectively Vol. 1: 24 September 1929 to 2 August 1937 (Document Records DOCD-5015, 1991, Austria) and Vol. 2: 2 August 1937 to 24 September 1941 (Document Records DOCD-5016, 1991, Austria), or 2CD set Sleepy John Estes – The Blues – From Memphis To Chicago 1929-1941 (Frémeaux & Associés FA 258, 2002, France), or CD Someday Baby – The Essential Recordings of Sleepy John Estes (Indigo Records, IGOCD 2041, 1996, UK).
Someday Baby Blues had inspired the music and the lyrics of two famous blues songs :
- WORRIED LIFE BLUES, recorded by Big Maceo (Maceo Merriweather, vocal and piano) on 24 June 1941 in Chicago (released on 78 RPM single Bluebird B 8827 ; composer credit : « Maceo Merriweather ») (note : despite its title, Maceo’s Worried Life Blues n° 2, recorded in 1950, released on Fortune 805 78 RPM single, is not a new version of the theme) ;
- TROUBLE NO MORE recorded by Muddy Waters on 3 November 1955 in Chicago (released on 78 RPM and 45 RPM singles Chess 1612 ; composer credit : « Morganfield »).
These 3 songs were covered by various artists, sometimes with a double title, often with numerous variations in the music, the rhythm and the lyrics : Big Joe Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, B.B. King, Memphis Slim, Jimmy Burns, Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Rodgers, Junior Wells, Freddie King, Ottis Spann, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Canned Heat, The Animals, Eric Clapton, … and of course the two fantastic covers of Trouble No More by The Allman Brothers Band (first album, eponymous, 1969, and live at Fillmore East 1971 on Eat A Peach, 1972).
Bob had covered Trouble No More (with altered lyrics) live at Toad’s Place, New Haven (Connecticut) on 12 January 1990 (unreleased but circulating amongst collectors).
Here are the lyrics of the 2 first verses and the chorus of the following 5 versions :
- Someday Baby Blues by Sleepy John Estes (1935) :
I don’t care how long you’re gone, I don’t care how long you stay
But that good kind treatment bring you back home someday.
Someday, Baby, you ain’t gonna worry my mind anymore.
- New Someday Baby by Sleepy John Estes (1938) :
When trouble first started down in my front door
Seem like I had more trouble than my life before.
Someday, Baby, you ain’t gonna trouble my mind anymore.
- Worried Life Blues by Big Maceo (1941) :
Oh lordy lord, oh lordy lord,
It hurts me so bad for us to part,
But someday Baby, I ain’t gonna worry my life anymore.
- Trouble No More by Muddy Waters (1955) :
I don’t care how long you’re gone, I don’t care how long you stay
But good kind treatment gon’ bring you home someday,
But someday Baby, you ain’t gonna trouble poor me any more.
- Someday Baby by Bob Dylan (2006) :
I don’t care what you do, I don’t care what you say
I don’t care where you go or how long you stay.
Someday Baby, you ain’t gonna worry po’ me any more.
3. WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS was recorded by Kansas Joe (Joe McCoy, vocal & guitar) and his wife Memphis Minnie (Lizzie Douglas, guitar) on 18 June 1929 in New York City (take 148711-1) and released on 78 RPM single Columbia 14439-D.
The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, subject of numerous Delta blues songs (for example : High Water Everywhere by Charlie Patton, 1930).
Here are the similar lyrics :
- Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie :
(1) If it keeps on raining, levee's going to break,
If it keeps on raining, levee's going to break,
And the water going to come and we'll have no place to stay.
(5) I worked on the levee mama, both night and day,
I worked on the levee mama, both night and day,
I ain't got nobody to keep the water away.
- Bob :
(1) If it keep on rainin' the levee gonna break,
If it keep on rainin' the levee gonna break,
Everybody saying this is a day only The Lord could make.
(2) Well I worked on the levee Mama, both night and day,
Well I worked on the levee Mama, both night and day,
I got to the river and I threw my clothes away.
The cover of When The Levee Breaks (completely reworked) by Led Zeppelin on his 4th album (1971) remains famous.
______________
B) Musical critics and bloggers have also pointed out some borrowings for the other tunes of the album.
4. WHEN THE DEAL GOES DOWN (track # 4)
Actually, the melody of When The Deal Goes Down is vaguely similar to Where The Blue Of The Night (Meets The Gold Of The Day), Bing Crosby’s hit since 1932.
This tune was composed by Roy Turk, Bing Crosby and Fred. E. Ahlert, first recorded in New York City on 23 November 1931 and released in January 1932 on 78 RPM single Brunswick 6226 (3:00). There will be three other commercial recordings.
Two versions (the first and the third, I think, 1945/48) are available on 4CD set Bing Crosby – His Legendary Years : 1931-1957, MCA MCAD4-10887, 1993, USA.
In a live talk on 29 September 2004 (MSNBC), David Gates, who interviewed Bob Dylan for Newsweek after Chronicles came out, answered a question from the audience about the next Bob’s album : « Did Bob share any details with you regarding the songs for his next album ? What’s the scoop ? – Really only that he’s working on them. He did say he’s written a song based on melody from a Bing Crosby song, Where The Blue Of The Night Meets The Gold Of The Day. How much it’ll actually sound like that is anybody’s guess. ».
According to Eyolf Østrem, « We now know the answer to the last question : not much, actually. Although the song structure and the chords are identical, the phrasing, the melody line, and the pace in Dylan’s version are all very different from Crosby’s slow, insinuating crooning. »
It’s funny to note that in the 1990s British critics have pointed out the Crosby’s song’s similarity to the Willow, Tit-Willow (On A Tree By A River) aria in The Mikado, the famous comic opera of Arthur Sullivan (music) and William Schwenck Gilbert (libretto), created in London in 1885 (one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history).
5. WORKINGMAN’S BLUES # 2 (track # 6)
Musically, Workingman’s Blues # 2 is not a blues and is a personal Bob’s composition.
But it refers to the blues song Working Man Blues by Sleepy John Estes (recorded in Chicago on 24 September 1941 and released on 78 RPM single Bluebird B-8950-A) and to the country song Working Man’s Blues by Merle Haggard (A Portrait Of Merle Haggard, 1969, Capitol ST 319).
There is also the blues song Cash Talkin' (The Workingman's Blues) composed by Doug MacLeod and covered by Albert Collins in 1986 (first track, uncredited, of Cold Snap, Aligator ALCD4752). The Doug MacLeod Band has released the song with the title Working Man Blues (track #2 on Woman In The Street album, Stomp, 1988). Doug MacLeod has recorded an acoustic version of The Working Man Blues for XM Satellite Radio in Washington on 5 September 2006, released on Live At XM Satellite EP, available only via digital download services (iTunes, February 2007).
The Bob’s verse Sing a little bit of these workingman’s blues (4 time repeated) is borrowed from Merle Haggard’s tune.
6. BEYOND THE HORIZON (track # 7)
The melody of Beyond The Horizon is similar to Red Sails In The Sunset (and the music of the chorus is exactly the same).
This popular song, written by Jimmy Kennedy (lyrics) and Hugh Williams aka Wilhelm Grosz (music), was covered in 1935 by four stars of mood music : Jack Jackson and his Orchestra, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, Mantovani and his Tipica Orchestra, Al Bowlly with Ray Noble and his Orchestra.
It was also covered by Bing Crosby (recorded in Hollywood on 12 Novembre 1935 and released on 78 RPM single Decca 616), Louis Armstrong (recorded on 13 December 1935 and released in 1936 on 78 RPM single Decca 648), Nat King Cole (1951), The Platters (1960), Fats Domino (1963), … and also The Beatles (live at Star Club in Hamburg on 31 December 1962)
7. NETTIE MOORE (track # 8)
The chorus structure and the first two lines (Oh, I miss you Nettie Moore / And my happiness is o'er) of Nettie Moore are identical with The Little White Cottage, or Gentle Nettie Moore, a ballad published in 1857 in Boston, by Marshall S. Pike (poetry), G.S.P. (melody) and James S. Pierpont (chorus and piano accompaniment) (James S. Pierpont is the composer of Jingle Bells).
This song was covered in August 1934 for Standard Radio (Los Angeles) by the Sons Of The Pioneers (Leonard « Roy Rogers » Slye : vocal, guitar ; Bob Nolan : vocal, string bass ; Verne « Tim » Spencer : vocal ; Hugh Farr : fiddle) and released on a 33 RPM radio disc (EE Master 1720). It was reissued on the CD # 4 of the 5CD set Songs Of The Prairies - The Standard Transcriptions - Part. 1 - 1934-1935 (Bear Family, BCD 15710 EI, 1998, Germany).
On Theme Time Radio Hour (XM Radio), Bob had choosen two songs covered by the Sons Of The Pioneers (on 14 June 2006 : My Daddy, 1934, from the same 5CD set compilation ; on 4 October 2006 : Cool Clear Water, 1941).
8. AIN’T TALKIN’ (track # 10)
Two chorus lines (# 1 and # 3) are borrowed from the Stanley Brothers’ song Highway Of Regret : Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’ / Heart burnin’, still yearnin’.
But musically, there are very different : Ain’t Talkin’ is a slow ballad (typically Dylanesque) and Highway Of Regret a fast country tune.
Michael,
I've got two more suggestions for the paperback.
The first is just a typo. In your entry on Clydie King it says, "In 1972, backed by a 31-piece Quincy Jones orchestra, Clydie followed the double-act of CAROLE KING & James Taylor and preceded Barbra Streisand at a lavish, star-packed ‘Four for McGovern’ fundraiser at the LA Forum, the nature of which is indicated by the fact that Warren Beattie and Goldie Hawn acted as ushers."
Of course Warren's last name is spelled "Beatty."
In your entry on Warren Smith you write, "Perhaps ‘Uranium Rock’, with the repeat line ‘rock ’em dead’, wasn't his most tactful song choice for the concerts in Japan..."
I don't agree with that assessment. I contend that the song that Dylan was performing on that tour was not "Uranium Rock" at all. While Dylan is clearly using the music of "Uranium Rock" he was singing completely different lyrics with the exception of the words "money, money, money." Smith's song has no "rock 'em dead" repeat line at all and the song Dylan was singing has no uranium content.
Even if Dylan had been singing "Uranium Rock" I think that it is doubtful that anyone in the Japanese audience would have felt that it was a lapse of tact.
"Uranium Rock" is not about the bomb or war or destruction, it is a get rich quick song. When placed in the context of the times in which it was recorded the inspiration for such an odd sounding money making scheme becomes more apparent.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium:
The largest single source of uranium ore in the United States was the Colorado Plateau located in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. The U.S. federal government paid discovery bonuses and guaranteed purchase prices to anyone who found and delivered uranium ore, and was the sole legal purchaser of the uranium. The economic incentives resulted in a frenzy of exploration and mining activity throughout the Colorado Plateau from 1947 through 1959 that left thousands of miles of crudely graded roads spider-webbing the remote deserts of the Colorado Plateau, and thousands of abandoned uranium mines, exploratory shafts, and tailings piles. The frenzy ended as suddenly as it had begun, when the U.S. government stopped purchasing the uranium.
Warren Smith was inspired by the uranium rush.
Now if Dylan had decided to sing "Fujiyama Mama" or "The Great Atomic Power" in Japan I'd agree that those would not be the most tactful song choices, but in this case I suggest that the notion that he was playing "Uranium Rock" on that tour is just convenient shorthand and that an examination of the recordings from that period bears this out. One recording I'll point out is from 2/11/86 when Dylan introduced the song by saying "This is a song I wanna play for you now called 'Money Money Money It's So Hard To Get, Money Money Money It's Faster Spent, Roll 'Em Over Baby And Rock 'Em Dead."
Still looking forward to the paperback,
Scott Warmuth
Albuquerque, NM
Michael,
Perhaps you could add a reference to the great Martin Carthy? I respect your scholarship & can only guess that this was an oversight, or there is something that I don't know?
Apart from being an associate of Bob's in the early sixties when he was here in England, there are the links to Scarborough Fair & Lord Franklin?
Keep up the good work.
Danny Lopez.
Hi Michael
One tiny footnote to the whole 'movie dialogue in Dylan lyrics' thing: In 'Can't Wait', from Time Out Of Mind, Dylan (surely?) alludes to The Maltese Falcon when he uses the phrase 'mighty funny'. This phrase is used by Gutman (the great Sydney Greenstreet) to describe Bogart's proposal that they make Elisha Cook Jr's 'gunsel' the fall guy.
Speaking of Time Out Of Mind, has it already been pointed out that this phrase occurs very near the start of Dickens's 'Bleak House'?
Looking forward to the paperback,
John Carvill
Again, I thank all of you who have taken the time and trouble to list these facts and suggestions. Very special thanks must go to Jean-Pol Hiernaux for his towering efforts here - I fear my entry on Modern Times is likely to disappoint you with its brevity, Jean-Pol - and my apologies for having somehow listing this learned and very detailed contribution twice.
Dear Michael,
Happy new year.
I would like to thank you for the song and dance man(I'm the chap who bought it twice). I have been discovering a lot of songs that I may have passed over quickly before, your thoughts really do help to lead the less well sighted, through the bizarre array of language and reference that make up BD's music. Sadly I am becoming a little too enthusiastic, and have now been sampling some of the bootlegs; where will it end.
Again many thanks for holding my hand,
Ruby Red (my, neverendingpool handle)
I know that it is past your January 1st deadline, but I thought this might be useful to you: in the Tom Petty entry you wrote, "Reportedly, Petty has said that his interest in music was first created at age 11 by the visit of ELVIS PRESLEY to his hometown: which is odd, really, since Presley never did play a concert in Gainesville, Florida, and played no concerts at all in 1961–62."
Actually it is not odd (or perhaps it is still odd, but in a different way). Indeed Petty did not see Elvis in concert. What sparked Petty was meeting Elvis on the set of the film "Follow That Dream," which was shot on location in Florida when Tom was 11 and hit theaters in the Spring of 1962. Petty's uncle Earl Jernigan worked on the film and brokered an introduction between Elvis and his nephew.
Incidentally this blind spot in relation to Martin Carthy also applies to Song & Dance Man, in which his name again does not appear.
There is also a discussion of "Bob Dylan's dream' in that book, which refers to its dream structure, but does not acknowledge that this is, in fact, lifted from the earler song.
It is also the case that Carthy's version of 'Lord Franklin' actually holds up much better than does "Bob Dylan's Dream'. As you point out, that song is weighed down by its 'ponderous nostalgia.'
There is also a slighting refrence to Bert Jansch in 'Song & Dance Man' which indicats some prejudices against English folkies on your part.
by contrast, I would argue that the artistic leap that Dylan makes on "Freewhelin' owes a great deal to the contact that he had at that time with these twoo great musicians.
I've already conceded that I was in error in omitting Martin Carthy from The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia and am happy to agree that he is under-attended to in Song & Dance Man III. As for Bert Jansch, well you don't say what influence he had on Bob Dylan, let alone explain why you feel Jansch was a significant figure in Dylan's apparently exponential growth as a songwriter between albums one and two. This is not a theory I've seen advanced before, and while I don't rush to discount it or dismiss what you're saying, I do think you need to explain it.
As for my own comments on Jansch, well his version of 'Weeping Willow Blues' IS dreary, and he WAS a favourite of Black Sobranie-smoking Eng. Lit. students with Mary Travers hair. I knew a number of them. It was a tiny recollection from a long-gone era, the social history of which remains of interest to a great many people - and no wonder. It was one of the great eras (like the 1920s or the 1890s).
Michael
Let's say at this point that I am prepared to accept both of your contentions about Bert Jansch...
Nevertheless, I think they do him less than justice as an artist - who, as an interpreter of folk songs (say, in particular on an album like 'Rosemary Lane'), is one of the very few who comes close to being Dylan's equal.
I would argue that the direct influence of English folk music is shown clearly on tracks like 'Bob Dylan's Dream' and 'Girl from the North Country' on 'Freewheeling' and that this influence enriched his music considerably.
While it's obvious there is a very direct influence from Martin Carthy, I am probably on less secure grounds with Bert Jansch.
It is true, however, that the two spent a good deal of time together during Dylan's time in London. See, for example, the Jansch quote from a recent interview:
'Jansch got to know Bob Dylan when he arrived in London to check out the folk scene, and he counts Dylan as another important inspiration, alongside the American blues singer Big Bill Broonzy and the folk legend Woody Guthrie. "I met Dylan early on," says Jansch. "Bill Leader was supposed to show him the folk clubs and he asked me if I would come along to give him support. We picked Dylan up at the Savoy Hotel. When we got there he bundled into the car with two other guys, and they were so stoned that there was no communication whatsoever. Gradually we went round all the clubs - the Roundhouse and so on - and I remember we got thrown out of one club for being noisy while someone was singing. He was very nice, really."
And I doubt if this influence was all one way.
Speaking of Martin Carthy, I have been listening to his superb version of 'Prince Heathen' recently and it seems clear to me that this strongly influenced Dylan's great version of 'Love Henry' on World Gone Wrong..
By the way, there is a good version of 'When the Blue of the Night' with some great singing by Bing on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvtqGBPb96E
Have been reading this very fine book. It seems to me it succeeds in showing that, in his early years, Bing revolutionised popular music in America. It also paves the way for a re-assessment of his influence on people like Evis, Sam Cooke and Bob.
Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams-the Early Years, 1903-1940 (2002)
Jazz critic Giddins's latest subject will probably surprise those who think of Bing Crosby (1903-1977) as "a square old man who made orange-juice commercials" and sang "White Christmas" every year on TV. Giddins reminds us that, in the 1920s and '30s, Crosby was a very jazzy singer indeed: "the first white performer to appreciate and assimilate the genius of Louis Armstrong." It's a perceptive portrait of Crosby as a man, a singer, a radio personality and a budding movie star in the loose, creative years before he hardened into a monument. Giddins's account of Crosby's middle-class, Irish-American youth in Washington State astutely stresses this singer's years of Jesuit schooling, which made him unusually well educated for a performer and grounded him in values that contributed to the modesty, reserve and self-confidence American audiences found so appealing. Tracing Crosby's rise through vaudeville, Paul Whiteman's band, short films and radio shows, Giddins also offers a mini-history of technology's impact on popular music, most notably Crosby's famous ability to use a microphone to create a more intimate singing style.
Think the line about Crosby having 'hardened into a monument' has resonances for Dylan's later career.
Have also been listening a lot recently to Crosby's brilliant 'Buddy, can you spare a dime?' which to my mind is one of the greatest protest songs ever written & is delivered with an understated restraint & quiet passion which adds to its impact...
Bob played it on one of the Radio Hours - cant remember which
From this quote, it also seems to me that Dylan has also read the Giddins book on Bing:
Q: Are you surprised by the return of so much placid pop -- which was one of the original targets of rock'n'roll ?
BOB: I don't think what we call pop music today is any worse than it was. We never liked pop It never occurred to me (in the 50s) that Bing Crosby was on the cutting edge 20years before I was listening to him. I never heard that Bing Crosby. The Louis Armstrong I heard was the guy who sang Hello, Dolly! -- I never heard him do West End Blues."
It also seems to me that Bing was a clear influence on Dylan's 'sweet' voice on 'Nashville Skyline"
A quote from Bing about Elvis (from 1972);
"He helped to kill off the influence of me and my contemporaries, but I respect him for that. Because music always has to progress, and no-one could have opened the door to the future like he did."
A few more of the borrowings on Modern Times pointed out by Wilkipedia:
* "Ain't Talkin'" derives its chorus from the more up-tempo "Highway of Regret" by The Stanley Brothers. The lyrics of the first verse seem to be derived from the first verse of "As I Roved Out", a traditional Irish song.
[edit] Additional sources
Two other sources of the album's lyrics were cited in the latter half of 2006. In September, The New York Times ran an article exploring similarities between some of the lyrics in Modern Times and the work of 19th century poet Henry Timrod. Albuquerque disc jockey Scott Warmuth is credited as the first to discover at least ten substantial lines and phrases that can be clearly traced to the Civil War poet across several songs. Dylan and Sony have declined to comment on the matter, and Timrod's name is nowhere to be found on the liner notes.[13][14][15] Robert Polito of the Poetry Foundation wrote a detailed defense of Dylan's usage of old lines in creating new work, saying that calls of plagiarism confuse "art with a term paper".[16]
In October 2006, The Nelson Mail ran an article by New Zealand poet Cliff Fell exploring similarities between some of the lyrics in Modern Times and the works of the first-century Roman poet Ovid. Fell cited numerous direct parallels between lines from Ovid and those in four of Dylan's songs.[17] A sampling of these included:
Song Concerned line Possilble Source Text
Workingman's Blues #2 no one can claim that I ever took up arms against you. No one can ever claim/ That I took up arms against you. Ovid (Tristia, Book 2, Lines 51-53)[18]
Ain't Talkin' every nook and corner had its tears. Every nook and cranny has its tears. Ovid (Tristia, Book 1, Section 3, Line 24)[18]
The Levee's Gonna Break there's barely enough skin to cover my bones. Some people got barely enough skin to cover their bones. Ovid (Tristia, Book 4, Section 7, Line 51)[18]
Spirit on the Water I cannot believe these things could fade from your mind. Can’t believe these things would ever fade from your mind. Ovid (Black Sea Letters, Book 2, Section 4, Line 24)[18]
Fell considered the borrowings an homage and not plagiarism, noting Dylan's direct reference to Ovid in the album's first song, "Thunder on the Mountain", with the line "I've been sitting down and studying The Art of Love." The Art of Love was one of the great poet's most famous works.
By the way, the line about the 'pure crystal fountain' in "Aint Talkin" probably comes from the Clancy Brothers version of "Will You Go, Lassie Go" (sometimes known as "Wild Mountain Thyme"}
Dont know if anyone else has pointed out here that 'Bye and Bye' (as in "Love and Theft) is also the title of a song by Rogers and Hart - which appeared in their stage show "Dearest Enemy.'
Don't know if anyone here has pointed out that the lines:
Keeping away from the women
I’m givin’ ’em lots of room
from 'High Water' are very close to the opening lines from the song "Stay away from the Girls' from Paul Clayton's album Unholy matrimony.
I think Dylan has been listening to Clayton's albums quite a lot in recent times and there are many traces from his fine body of work still apparent in Bob's.
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