Like a Rolling Stone

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“Like a Rolling Stone”
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Highway 61 Revisited
B-side "Gates of Eden"
Released July 20, 1965
Format 7" single
Recorded June 15, 1965
Genre Rock
Length 6:09
Label Columbia
Producer Tom Wilson
Bob Dylan singles chronology
"Maggie's Farm"
(1965)		 "Like a Rolling Stone"
(1965)		 "Positively 4th Street"
(1965)
Highway 61 Revisited track listing
"Like a Rolling Stone"
(1)		 "Tombstone Blues"
(2)
 Music sample:

Bob Dylan - "Like a Rolling Stone"

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"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by American songwriter Bob Dylan. One of his best-known and most influential works, it began life as a short story Dylan had written before developing it as a song and recording it in 1965.

The track was released as a single in July 1965, and also appeared on Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited. At over six minutes in length, it was only tentatively played in its entirety on the radio, yet still reached #2 in the charts. It received criticism by Dylan fans for its harder rock sound, a noticeable difference from the artist's earlier folk music. This dramatic change in style was particularly apparent when the song was played live; it was at one of these events that "Judas" was yelled by a crowd member.

The song dramatically affected the music world and popular culture, as well as Dylan's image and iconic status. It has been covered by a number of artists, including a notable version by Jimi Hendrix. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the greatest song of all time. In his 1988 speech inducting Dylan into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Bruce Springsteen recalled, "The first time I heard Bob Dylan, I was in the car with my mother listening to WMCA, and on came that snare shot that sounded like somebody had kicked open the door to your mind".[1]

Contents

[edit] Recording

The basis of "Like a Rolling Stone" was a twenty-page story written by Dylan. It was, according to him, "just a rhythm thing on paper all about my steady hatred, directed at some point that was honest."[2] From the story, Dylan wrote four verses and one chorus in Woodstock, New York.[3] The song was written on an upright piano in the key of G sharp; it was changed to C on the guitar when recorded.[4] The song was originally written in 3/4 (waltz) time, and with a length of 1:36, was much shorter than the released 4/4 version.[5]

The song was recorded by Dylan on June 15, 1965, and concluded the next day.[6] The recording took place in Studio A of Columbia Records in New York City,[7] and was produced by Tom Wilson.[8]

The musicians included Mike Bloomfield on guitar, Al Kooper on organ, Paul Griffin on piano, Josef Mack on bass, and Bobby Gregg on drums.[8] Kooper, a teenage guitarist, was originally not supposed to play at all, but was a guest of Tom Wilson.[9] However, Wilson was not present at the time when Kooper sat down with his guitar with the other musicians. By the time Wilson returned, Kooper was away in the control room. Wilson moved Griffin from hammond organ to piano. Kooper then went to Wilson, saying that he had a good part for the organ. Wilson belittled Kooper's organ abilities but, as Kooper later said, "He just sort of scoffed at me....He didn't say no—so I went out there." Wilson agreed when he saw Kooper on the organ.[10]

On the first day of recording, five takes of the song were done; however, the song was never completed in its entirety. There was no sheet music; the recording was utter chaos.[2] Instead, the song was played by ear; its essence was found as it went along. In take four, the chorus was reached. This take would appear on the bootleg series, volumes 1-3 [rare and unleased] in 1991 and in James Marshs's film Highway 61 Revisited. In this take, Dylan reached the chorus and plays a harmonica solo, after which Dylan interrupts the take.[11]

On day two of recording, two rehearsal takes and fifteen takes were completed. Take four would be the master take, the take that would appear on the Highway 61 Revisited album. Take four was the only time that the song was ever "found". After this take was completed, Wilson said happily, "That sounds good to me."[12] In the last take, the musicians lost the beat after "tricks for you", and poorly finished the rest of the song, ending the session. During the playback, Dylan asked Wilson to turn up the organ in the mix. Wilson replied, "Hey man, that cat's not an organ player." Dylan was beginning to tire of Wilson: "Hey, now don't tell me who's an organ player and who's not . . . Just turn the organ up," he ordered.[13] According to Kooper, "that was the moment I became an organ player!"[14]

[edit] Release and live performances

"Like a Rolling Stone" was released as a 45 rpm single on July 20, 1965.[15][16] The song's six-minute length caused Columbia Records to reject its release as a single. Bob Johnston, Dylan's new producer, released the song anyway. Despite its length, it became Dylan's biggest hit to that date,[14] remaining in the U.S. charts for twelve weeks and rising to #2 behind The Beatles' song "Help!".[2][17] When released, the first two verses and two refrains were put on one side of the vinyl, while the rest of the song was put on the other side. That way, if an emcee wanted to play the whole song, he or she could simply flip the vinyl over.[18]

Dylan first performed the song live at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25, 1965.[19] Mike Bloomfield, Dylan's guitarist, said that the singer wore "rock'n'roll clothes". The audience denounced Dylan for his use of electric guitars; they felt that it marked his entry into the world of, as Bloomfield puts it, "greasers, heads, dancers, people who got drunk and boogied."[16] Dylan stumbled through the song, and it fell back to a 3/4 waltz by the end of the performance.[16]

On May 17, 1966, Dylan and his band performed the song at Manchester Free Trade Hall. Before "Like A Rolling Stone" began, a member of the crowd infamously yelled "Judas!" at Dylan, symbolizing how Dylan "betrayed" the purists by using electric instruments. Dylan responded, "I don't believe you. You're a liar!" and told his band to "play it fucking loud".[19] Highway 61 Revisited was issued at the end of August, and when Dylan went on tour that fall, "Like a Rolling Stone" took the closing slot on his playlist and held it, with rare exceptions, through the end of his 1966 "world tour," as well as during his return to touring in 1974 with The Band.

In addition to its inclusion on Highway 61 Revisited, the standard studio recording of the song can be found on four other official albums: Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits,[20] Biograph,[21] The Essential Bob Dylan,[22] and Dylan.[23] An early, incomplete studio recording was included on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991.[11] The following albums feature live performances of the song: Self Portrait, Before the Flood, Bob Dylan at Budokan, MTV Unplugged, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert,[22] The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack,[24] and The Band's Rock of Ages.[25]

[edit] Theme

The song's lyrics do not clearly identify the subject; one common school of thought centers on Edie Sedgwick, an actress and model. Sedgwick is often identified as a figure in other Dylan songs of the time, particularly "Just Like a Woman" from Blonde on Blonde. However, Dylan is believed to have begun an association with Sedgwick in the autumn of 1965, after "Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded,[26] while other sources claim that the meeting was in December of 1964.[27] Joan Baez has also been considered a possible target of Dylan's words.[14]

Others have claimed to see a deeper meaning. Mike Marqusee has written at length on the conflicts in Dylan's life at this time, with its deepening alienation from his old folk-revival audience and clear-cut leftist causes. He suggests that the song is probably self-referential. Thus: "The song only attains full poignancy when one realises it is sung, at least in part, to the singer himself: he's the one 'with no direction home.'"[28]

[edit] Cover versions

Many artists have covered "Like a Rolling Stone", among them Johnny Thunders,[29] The Four Seasons,[30] The Rascals,[31] Cher,[32] Judy Collins,[33] The Rolling Stones,[34] and Jimi Hendrix, who played a version live at the Monterey Pop Festival. Hendrix was an avid fan of Bob Dylan, and especially liked "Like a Rolling Stone." "It made me feel that I wasn't the only one who'd ever felt so low..." Hendrix said.[35] After the first verse, Hendrix skipped to the fourth. Hendrix played his version with an electric guitar, and is described thus:

Huge chords ride over the beginning of each verse like rain clouds; the tune is taken very slowly, with Hendrix’s thick, street-talk drawl sounding nothing at all like Dylan’s Midwestern dust storm.”[36]

The song has also been covered in various languages. Lars Winnerbäck did a performance of the song in Swedish called "Som en hemlös själ", literally "Like a Homeless Soul".[37] Articolo 31 covered an Italian version called "Come una Pietra Scalciata",[38] which is in fact a cover of the 1993 cover of "Like a Rolling Stone" by the Mystery Tramps. A hip-hop song, Articolo 31's version contains overdubs of a confused girl's voice and a rap. This version contains only three of the verses of the song, and is only four and a half minutes long, but contains four and a half times more words than Dylan's song.[39]

[edit] Legacy

The song has influenced popular culture and pop music across the U.S. The success of the single's release, following other successful Dylan singles and covers, made Dylan a pop icon, in addition to his status as a folk singer.

Dylan had been famous, had been the center of attention, for a long time. But now the ante was being upped again. He'd become a pop star as well as a folk star...and was, even more than the Beatles, a public symbol of the vast cultural, political, generational changes taking place in the United States and Europe. He was perceived as, and in many ways functioned as, a leader.[40]

Many aspects of the song influenced music that followed. Dylan's raw voice, which is compared to Muddy Waters',[41] displays the "personal accusation"[2] of the song. Kooper's "apocalyptic charge"[2] on the organ accompanied with Dylan's singing "keep [the song] from being just another icy hipster bitch session...."[41] Dylan's voice has an edge that nears "heartbreak".[41]

The six-minute length, considered too long to be put on a single at the time, has also influenced music. It gave more opportunities for future songs to be singles, without the time constraint that was previously an issue.[2] The length of "Like a Rolling Stone" also challenged radio airings. The song, though it was not always flipped to the B-side for the second half, still challenged the average three-minute length of songs that aired on the radio.[42]

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine declared "Like a Rolling Stone" the greatest song of all time, declaring, "No other pop song has so thoroughly challenged and transformed the commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time."[2] When asked about the accolade in his 2004 interview with Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes, Dylan was bemused, saying he never paid attention to such polls, as they changed frequently:

Bradley: "But as a pat on the back, Bob..."
Dylan: "This week it is. But, you know, who's to say how long that's gonna last?"[43]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Corliss, Richard (24 May 2006). Bob Dylan at 65. TIME. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Like A Rolling Stone: Greatest Song of All Time. Rolling Stone (09 Dec 2004). Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  3. ^ Shelton (1986), p.319–320
  4. ^ Creswell (2006), p.534
  5. ^ Heylin (2003), p.203
  6. ^ Considine, Shaune (3 Dec 2004). The Hit We Almost Missed. New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  7. ^ Marcus (2006), p.203
  8. ^ a b Greil Marcus on Recording 'Like A Rolling Stone'. NPR (11 April 2005). Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  9. ^ Marcus (2006), p.104
  10. ^ Marcus (2006), p.110–111
  11. ^ a b Marcus (2006), p.203–210
  12. ^ Marcus (2006), p.211–225
  13. ^ Sounes (2001), p.217–218
  14. ^ a b c Gill (1998), p.82–83
  15. ^ Jacobs, Ron (12 Apr 2005). Exploring the Unmapped Country. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  16. ^ a b c How does it feel?. Guardian News and Media, Ltd. (13 May 2005). Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  17. ^ Help!. Rolling Stone (09 Dec 2004). Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  18. ^ Marcus (2006), p.3
  19. ^ a b Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone. IPC Media. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  20. ^ Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits. Columbia Records. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
  21. ^ Bob Dylan: Biograph. Columbia Records. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  22. ^ a b Bob Dylan: Like a Rolling Stone. Columbia Records. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  23. ^ Dylan: The Album. Columbia Records. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
  24. ^ The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7: No Direction Home. MTV Studios. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  25. ^ The Band: Rock of Ages. Rolling Stone (21 October 1972). Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  26. ^ Gill (1998), p.103
  27. ^ No Direction Home. BBC (20 June 2007). Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
  28. ^ Marqusee (2003), p.157
  29. ^ Jungle Records - Johnny Thunders - Born Too Loose. Jungle Records. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  30. ^ The 4 Seasons Sing Big Hits by Burt Bacharach...Hal David...Bob Dylan. MTV. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  31. ^ The Rascals: The Young Rascals. Artistdirect, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  32. ^ Cher. MTV Networks. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  33. ^ Judy Collins: Judy Sings Dylan...Like A Woman. Artistdirect.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  34. ^ Stripped (CD) By the Rolling Stones. Tower.com, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  35. ^ Lawrence (2005), p.32
  36. ^ Marcus (2005), p.89
  37. ^ Bjorner, Olof. Coversongs. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  38. ^ Come Una Pietra Scalciata. Yahoo!, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  39. ^ Marcus (2005), p.81–82
  40. ^ Williams, Paul (2004). Bob Dylan: Performing Artist. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711935548. 
  41. ^ a b c Marsh (1999), p.9
  42. ^ Marcus (2005), p.145
  43. ^ "Dylan Looks Back". 60 Minutes. 2004-12-05.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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