Bob Dylan's Carnival Jukebox: Musical Textures of Blonde on Blonde (1966)

Thanks very much for that correction, and yes, I also think that Bob wins this one, although Manfred Mann did have some nice versions of Dylan songs.

Also: I've been digging around trying to determine which guitarist played the iconic Spanish guitar licks on Just Like A Woman, which Dylan recorded as kind of a slow waltz, and the evidence seems to be pointing to Jerry Kennedy.

Blonde on Blonde session leader Charlie McCoy had previously accompanied Dylan on Desolation Row, the closing track on Highway 61, employing what was known as the "Grady Martin guitar sound," in reference to the revered session player who added the iconic flamenco guitar sounds to El Paso, by Marty Robbins, and also worked with Elvis, Roy Orbison, and so many other artists.

That same Spanish guitar sound was later often used by Jerry Kennedy, who also played with many of Nashville's biggest stars, and became a producer for Smash Records, where he worked with Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller and SH Forum favorite Charlie Rich. (Jerry Kennedy went on to other great musical achievements, including playing the beautiful electric guitar fills on Brook Benton's Rainy Night In Georgia, as I just learned.)

A good example of Kennedy's evocative "Grady Martin-style" acoustic picking can be found on Lefty Frizzell's 1964 hit, Saginaw, Michigan.

The Blonde on Blonde session logs accessed and transcribed by Michael Krogsaard list half a dozen guitarists who played on the album, but it's difficult to figure out who played what on which track, apart from most of Robbie Robertson's stinging electric leads. Other than a few vague references here and there, I found no evidence of any of the pickers stepping forward to take credit for the beautiful acoustic figures used in Just Like A Woman. But I suspect it was Jerry Kennedy (who is now officially retired, but remains fairly active -- see link below).

Is this the guitar that he used on the song? Possibly. If anyone knows more about this topic, please chime in.

Jerry Kennedy's 1962 Sobrinos De Domingo Esteso flamenco guitar. He acquired it from Roy Orbison, who brought it back from Spain.


http://www.vintageguitar.com/3698/jerry-and-gordon-kennedy/

 

According to Robbie Robertson, Dylan wanted Otis Redding to record Just Like A Woman, and Otis checked it out, but found the lyrical structure of the song to be too complicated (including the line: "With your fog, your amphetamines and your pearls.")

I think that perhaps the sound and feel of this Redding classic, released as a single and included on the Otis Blue album in 1965 (which also contained the version of Rock Me Baby that I posted earlier) may have been what Dylan had in mind. It would have been great to hear Otis sing Just Like A Woman, but apparently it never happened.

 

Agree.

I was the one who wanted this thread to be all about the music but now I can't resist breaking the rule myself. Just Like A Woman is like a template for a large chunk of Elvis Costello's catalog of songs - all those put-downs and even the self-loathing exhibited in the final verse. (BTW I am a fan of EC's work - up to about Mighty Like A Rose)

 

"She's Your Lover Now" and "I Hope You're Happy Now" seem to share quite a bit, thematically. And surely Elvis must have had a decent Dylan bootleg collection.

 

I agree about the connection, and I think that at some point RayS and/or DeeThomaz should do a thread: Bob Dylan's Influence on Elvis Costello.

 

Anybody else think "She's Always A Woman" owes a lyrical debt to "Just Like A Woman"?

 

Yes, lyrically, even a tad musically.

 

So, Billy's songwriting was, ummm, influenced by Bob, Jackson, and Mick and Keith.

 

Well, not to move too far away from the topic of the thread, but Billy's "Shades of Grey" covers much the same territory as "My Back Pages".

"Shades of grey wherever I go
The more I find out the less that I know
Black and white is how it should be
But shades of grey are the colors I see"

Billy also released covers of "The Times They Are A-Changin'", "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Make You Feel My Love".

 

BLONDE ON BLONDE: Side 3./Track 1.

MOST LIKELY YOU GO YOUR WAY (AND I'LL GO MINE)


The second march-tempo song on Blonde (the other being Rainy Day Women), which features the infamous musical ambidextrousness of Charlie McCoy, who managed to play the electric bass with one hand while doing the trumpet parts all through the track, quite a feat. Rat-a-tat drumming, jangly electric rhythm guitars, high-spirited organ and harmonica, and a Dylan vocal that seems perfect for the material, another "farewell, see ya 'round"-type song, in the vein of One of Us Must Know ("I really did try to get close to you") or Just Like A Woman ("when we meet again"), or even going back to I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met.)

Regarding the "musical textures," I came up with no close cousins to this track, although I always assumed that McCoy's trumpet parts may have been a mild spoof of all the Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass records from that era, which were ever-present on the radio and in the music charts, and which even out-sold The Beatles for awhile. (For the record, I love the TJB, and many of those other '60s instrumental sounds.) Other hits from that era, such as Wishin' and Hopin' by Dusty Springfield (1964), also featured trumpet interludes. Another possible influence on the sound of Most Likely may have been Nancy Sinatra's breakout single, These Boots Are Made For Walkin', a huge hit during the early months of 1966.

Since we're on the topic of this song, and I don't know when it will come up again in the Dylan threads, I feel compelled to once again pull out my brag book and boast that I heard the live debut of Most Likely You Go Your Way, at the Chicago Stadium back on January 3, 1974. No horns, and a more galloping arrangement of the song, but I thought it was wonderful. Another Blonde track he played that night was Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat, the first time it had been heard since Albert Hall in May of '66, and once again it had Robbie doing the honors on lead guitar. (BTW: I also heard Dylan's first-ever live performance of All Along The Watchtower that same night, and the premieres of Nobody 'Cept You and three Planet Waves tracks, but I'll boast about those songs in other threads as the opportunity arises.)

One final note: I've always referred to this song as Most Likely You'll Go Your Way, but apparently it's Most Likely You Go Your Way. Just noticed that small detail...

 

What would you think of this one as a possible influence?

 

This is the first, and possibly the only, time that I will ever use this shorthand online, but "OMG"

When I saw your post, I was wearing my guitar-player hat, and thought Geez, the chords to Dylan's song switch back and forth between major and minor, so there couldn't be any similarities, but then I caught it, right after "...cry the whole night long..." (slide guitar: ba-domp-ba-DOMP-a-dum-dum) and the light bulb went on. With just a tiny variation, that's the same musical lick they used on Most Likely. I couldn't find the live '74 version on YT, but here's a sample from Amazon, which might illustrate your point more clearly for some people.

I would have never picked up on that in a million years, but I think you're absolutely right. Not to mention the fact that Dylan later recorded Rollin' and Tumblin' himself, on Modern Times.

 

Yes , another "kiss off" song from Bob, one of many from this period.

So much so, I think it's safe to say they are to be taken not just on a literal level- but metaphorically and symbolically towards his old folk music, that scene and some of the people and relationships from those days.

Bob was barreling along the path of a rock star - of course with incredible literary chops and musical invention - at a pace where the Byrds - "So You Want To Be A Rock and Roll Star" could have been the soundtrack of his rapid trailblazing.

I bet Bob liked this song and remembered it on some level when he wrote Most Likely You Go Your Way

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Oooo, don't mention any Lieber & Stoller songs to Bob Dylan -- he slammed them in his recent MusiCares speech. But I think I know what you mean.

 

LOL, no worries, I'm obviously not one of his 5 believers, so I'm free to disagree with Bob without all damnation.
( Of course I believe .he's an incredible, genius artist and icon to be treasured)

I'll check that out again, curious why after all these years, out of EVRYTHING he knows, has experienced and has created he said - THAT! LOL

 

Re-read the speech. GREAT speech!

He is adamant, in my opinion, that all music be of the highest quality , have words of meaningful lyrics and with true sense of heart and soul.
I say it's nice to balance that all out, a little, with some lightness and humor at times - makes the heavy and serious mean more.

On the downside, the man kept score - since forever - still holds on to some bitterness, sounds like Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech.

Regarding previous discussions here about "Joan" as subject or inspiration of various lyrics, this may be the most comprehensive, serious comments he's ever made regarding her:

"Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Joan Baez. She was the queen of folk music then and now. She took a liking to my songs and brought me with her to play concerts, where she had crowds of thousands of people enthralled with her beauty and voice.

People would say, "What are you doing with that ragtag scrubby little waif?" And she'd tell everybody in no uncertain terms, "Now you better be quiet and listen to the songs." We even played a few of them together. Joan Baez is as tough-minded as they come. Love. And she's a free, independent spirit. Nobody can tell her what to do if she doesn't want to do it. I learned a lot of things from her. A woman with devastating honesty. And for her kind of love and devotion, I could never pay that back. "

CASE CLOSED. LOL

 

Here's the Mark Ronson remix of Most Likely that Dylan okayed a few years back:


Note: The original single of the song, as the B-side to Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat, released in 1967, offered an alternate mono mix, with Buttrey's drums more upfront. That may have served as a template for Ronson's remix.

 

Before moving forward to Temporary Like Achilles, here's a classic, classic, classic Charlie Rich song:

 

...and Ray Charles doing the Buck Owens weeper, Crying Time (single first charted Dec. 1965)

 

And an obvious forefather of Achilles:

 

...with a sketchy prequel to Achilles from the preliminary Blonde sessions in NY:

 

BLONDE ON BLONDE: Side 3./Track 2.

TEMPORARY LIKE ACHILLES

 

re: Temporary Like Achilles

Apart from Dylan's smoky, weary-sounding 3 a.m. vocal, and his trademark harmonica wails, I think that the gorgeous piano work of Hargus "Pig" Robbins is the most prominent musical element in this track. Robbins was a major Nashville session player in the 1960s, right alongside Floyd Cramer, who achieved greater recognition as a recording artist in his own right, though their styles were fairly similar.

In the liner notes to the No Direction Home CD, Al Kooper relates the following:
"Hargus 'Pig' Robbins was a genial gent and played wonderful piano. He looked like a plumber or an electrician, except for the fact that he was completely blind. Bob would whisper to me from time to time, and say stuff like 'Tell the piano player to come in on the first verse and not play on the intro.' At first I said to Bob, 'Why don't YOU tell him? I'm sure he'd like to interact with you.' Dylan looked at me and whispered in my ear, 'You do it. I just can't call that guy "pig."' And so, for the duration, I would relay Bob's requests to Mr. Robbins."

Dylan's piano-centric finished recording also reminds me of some of the classic works of Fats Domino and several of the slower ballads recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis. There's an electric guitar playing some reverb-laden "wang-wang" chords in the background, similar to those heard on It Takes A Lot To Laugh, but it's difficult to isolate any additional guitars or Kooper's organ in the density of the song's sound mix.

Overall, I like this recording very much. Once again, opinions differ about the stereo/mono mixes, but I prefer the stereo one.

EDIT: I almost forgot to mention: I think that the Ray Charles version of Crying Time, posted above, which was a big hit on the singles chart during early 1966, may have crept into Dylan's consciousness. To my ears, it shares a certain "feel" with Achilles. No surprise, but I also hear a strong Charlie Rich influence at work.

 

A little bit on Hargus 'Pig' Robbins from the book Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen by Jimmy McDonough--

[Pig] said his left-handed style came via the Carter Family: "I stole it from Mother Maybelle and the way she bent notes together."

In the book McCoy calls Pig "the greatest session man I've ever known. He's played the same set of chord changes so many times, because a lot of country music is very similar, but he always comes up with somethin' different, somethin' new. When Pig's on a session everybody plays better."
What exactly did Pig add to the music? "Taste," said Bob Moore. "Pig put taste all around the room."

Pig plays the piano on Jerry Lee's "I'll Find It Where I Can." Something about the piano part threw Jerry Lee, if you can imagine that.

When I'd see him live he did that number standing up and piano-less, an odd spectacle to say the least.

 

I can't imagine that! Thanks so much for all the extra insight about Mr. Robbins (I can't call him 'Pig' either).