Lay Lady Lay

"Lay Lady Lay" is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his Nashville Skyline album.^[1] Like many of the tracks on the album, Dylan sings the song in a low croon, rather than in the high nasal singing style associated with his earlier recordings.^[2] The song has gone on to become a standard and has been covered by numerous bands and artists over the years, including The Byrds, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, The Everly Brothers, Melanie, The Isley Brothers, Duran Duran, Magnet, Hoyt Axton and Ministry, amongst others.^[1][3]

Bob Dylan's version

"Lay Lady Lay" was originally written for the soundtrack of the movie Midnight Cowboy, but wasn't submitted in time to be included in the finished film.^[4][5] Dylan's recording was released as a single in July 1969 and quickly became one of his top U.S. hits, peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[6] The single did even better in the United Kingdom where it reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart.^[7] Like many of the tracks on Nashville Skyline, the song is sung by Dylan in a warm, relatively low sounding voice, rather than the more abrasive nasal singing style with which he had become famous.^[2] Dylan attributed his "new" voice to having quit smoking before recording the album, but some unreleased bootleg recordings from the early 1960s reveal that, in fact, Dylan had used a similar singing style before.^[1]

Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers has stated in interview that Dylan offered the song to them backstage after an appearance by the duo at the Bottom Line in New York. Phil asked Dylan if he had any new songs that they might record, and answering "yes", Dylan picked up a guitar and proceeded to sing the song so quietly that the Everlys thought they heard Dylan sing "Lay lady lay, lay across my big breasts, babe." Thinking it was a song about lesbians, Don Everly declined the song, saying "thank you, it's a great song, but I don't think we could get away with that." Dylan did not question them about it and went on to record the track himself. Months later, they heard Dylan's version on the radio and realized they'd misunderstood the words. The Everlys felt they'd missed a big opportunity and later recorded the song on their EB 84 album.

Music and lyrics

Written in the key of A major, the song's chord progression features a descending chromatic line and Dylan's voice occupies a range from F#₃ to D₅.^[9][8] The chief hook in "Lay Lady Lay", a song with far more hooks than is typical for Dylan, is a recurring four-note pedal steel guitar riff.^[1] The song's distinctive drum part is performed by Kenny Buttrey, who regarded his contribution to the song as one of his best performances on a record.^[10] Lyrically the song speaks of romantic and sexual anticipation as the singer beseeches his lover to spend the night with him.^[1]

The song is often performed live by Dylan and as a result, was included on the Hard Rain and Before the Flood live albums.^[1] It also appears on his quintuple-platinum Greatest Hits, Volume II album, as well as on the Masterpieces, Biograph, The Best of Bob Dylan, Vol. 1, and The Essential Bob Dylan compilation albums.^[11][1]

Personnel

• Bob Dylan - guitar, harmonica, keyboards, vocals
• Pete Drake - pedal steel guitar
• Charlie Daniels - guitar
• Charlie McCoy - bass
• Kenneth A. Buttrey - drums
• Bob Wilson - organ, piano
• Charlie Bragg - engineer
• Neil Wilburn - engineer

Covers

The Byrds' version

The Byrds' recording of "Lay Lady Lay" was released as a single on May 2, 1969 and reached #132 on the Billboard chart but failed to break into the UK Singles Chart.^[12][13] The song was recorded as a non-album single shortly after the release of The Byrds' seventh studio album, Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde.^[14] The Byrds decided to cover the song after Bob Dylan played the band his newly recorded Nashville Skyline album at band leader Roger McGuinn's house.^[15] The Byrds recorded "Lay Lady Lay" on March 27, 1969 but producer Bob Johnston overdubbed a female choir on to the recording on April 18, 1969 without The Byrds' consent.^[16] The single was then released and it was only after it had been issued that the band became aware of the addition of the female choir.^[15][16] The group were incensed, feeling that the choral overdub was incongruous and an embarrassment.^[17] The Byrds were so upset at Johnston's tampering with the song behind their backs, that they never again worked with him.^[15]

Despite the band's displeasure with the finished single, many critics felt that the precence of the female choir added a dramatic touch which heightened the song's emotional appeal.^[15] Journalist Derek Johnson, writing in the NME, commented "The harmonic support behind the solo vocal is really outstanding, largely because The Byrds have been augmented by a girl chorus. This, plus the familiar acoustic guitars, the attractive melody and the obstructive beat, makes it one of the group's best discs in ages."^[15] When "Lay Lady Lay" was released on The Byrds box set in 1990, it was presented without its choral overdub at McGuinn's insistence.^[18][17] This alternate version, without the female choir, was included as a bonus track on the remastered Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde CD in 1997.^[17] It was also included on the 2002 reissue of The Byrds Play Dylan and the 2006 box set, There Is a Season.^[19][20]

Duran Duran's version

Duran Duran recorded a version of the song, appearing as track five on their 1995 covers album, Thank You.^[21] The band released the song as a single in Italy to promote the album.^[22] Nick Rhodes has stated on the band's official website (answering an Ask Katy question in 2008 about the second single taken from Thank You) "I seem to remember my concern at that time was, in fact, our record label's - Capitol in America and EMI for the rest of the world - deciding to split their decision on their choice for the first single, "White Lines" in the US and "Perfect Day" for the rest of the world. Hence, there was no worldwide focus and both territories forced to use the other track as their second single, so it didn't really work out to be an ideal situation for anyone. I'm not sure what I would've chosen for a second single, possibly "Lay Lady Lay", but then I am still very happy with the way "Perfect Day" turned out."^[23]

Ministry's version

The American band Ministry released a version of the song as a single and as part of their 1996 album, Filth Pig.^[24][25] The song also appears on the band's 2008 covers album, Cover Up.^[26] The single release included two versions of "Lay Lady Lay"; one being the standard album version and the other being a shorter edited version.^[24] The single also included the song "Paisley", which appeared on the Escape from L.A. soundtrack album, and a live recording of "Scarecrow", which had originally appeared in a studio version on the band's Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs album.^[24][27][28]

CD single track listing

Other covers

Many other cover versions of the song have been recorded by numerous performers, including: ^[3]

• Made in Sweden, on the 1969 album Snakes in a Hole
• Mike Melvoin, on the 1969 album The Plastic Cow Goes Moooooog
• Cher, on the 1969 album 3614 Jackson Highway
• Keith Jarrett, in a 1969 performance in Aarhus, Denmark.
• Ben E. King, on the 1970 album Rough Edges
• The Isley Brothers, on the 1971 album Givin' it Back
• Melanie, on the 1972 album Garden in the City
• Della Reese, on the 1973 album Let Me in Your Life
• Hoyt Axton, on the 1976 album Fearless
• Neil Diamond, on the 1978 album Stages: Performances 1970-2002
• Kevin Ayers covered the song on his 1983 album Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain and his 1984 album Deià...Vu.
• The Everly Brothers, on the 1984 album EB 84
• Richie Havens, on the 1986 album Sings Beatles and Dylan
• Booker T. & the MG's, on the 1992 album Time is Tight
• Isaac Hayes, on the 1999 album Tangled Up in Blues: Songs of Bob Dylan
• Steve Howe, on the 1999 album Portraits of Bob Dylan
• Eddie & Ernie, on the 2002 album Lost Friends
• Cassandra Wilson, on the 2003 album Glamoured
• US Maple, on the 2003 album "Purple on Time"
• Magnet and Gemma Hayes, on the 2003 album On Your Side, also featured in the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
• Buddy Guy (featuring Anthony Hamilton), on the 2005 album Bring 'Em In
• The Stands, for the 2005 compilation album, Acoustic 05
• Maria Muldaur, on the 2006 album Heart of Mine: Love Songs of Bob Dylan
• Sparta on a tribute album entitled "My Favorite Song Writers"
• Deana Carter, on the 2007 album The Chain
• Roch Voisine on the 2008 album "Americana"
• Rapper Kid Cudi used the music as a sample on his song "I Be", found on the mixtape Space Odyssey. The track was renamed "High's N Lows" on the CuderIsBack mixtape.

References

External links

• Official site: "Lay Lady Lay" lyrics
• Dylan Covers DataBase: Lay Lady Lay