Episode 38: A Tribute to Clydie King

Definitely Dylan is back with its first episode in 2019. This week, the hour is dedicated to the memory of Clydie King, the woman who Bob Dylan has called his “ultimate singing partner”.

Ms. King passed away on the 7th of January, 2019 at age 75, and left behind an impressive body of work which began when she was just 13 years old in 1956 and included numerous releases under her own name as well as session work for a veritable “who’s-who” of popular music acts of the 60s and 70s.

After joining Dylan’s band in 1980 during the so-called “gospel years”, Ms. King soon took on a more prominent collaborative role and helped define Dylan’s early 80s sound with her velveteen harmonies and her intuitive understanding of Dylan’s approach to phrasing and melody. 

This hour features some of Ms. King’s many duets with Dylan, as well as recordings from her earlier career, both as solo artist and session singer. Join Laura as she celebrates the life and work of Clydie King.

A small correction - on the song Mary From The Wild Moor, Dylan was accompanied by Regina McCrary, not Clydie King (sorry, the bootleg version I have isn’t the best sound quality).

Edit: I’ve decided to add a few songs by or featuring Ms. King that I really like, in case you’d like to check them out:

Here are the three videos of her singing Let’s Begin with Bob Dylan: 1, 2, 3.
And if you still haven’t seen the video of her singing Abraham, Martin & John that I talk about in the episode, here you go, you’re welcome!
Also, here’s a great different version of the two singing this song, and here’s a great alternative version of Rise Again, with Dylan on piano!

Our Romance - Clydie King (1958)
Who Do You Love - Clydie King & Mel Carter (1962)
The Thrill Is Gone - Clydie King (1965) - this is a cool video, too.
One Of Those Good For Crying Over You Days - Clydie King (1967)
Kidnapped - The Blackberries (1970?) - this is an incredibly catchy song that was recorded for Motown
Mockingbird - Barry Goldberg & Clydie King (1972) (the sound quality here isn’t great, but it’s a cool song)
The Long Goodbye - Clydie King (1973) - this is Ms. King singing the title song to Robert Altman’s film The Long Goodbye in a decidedly more jazzy style than we normally hear her. Do I hear her channelling Billie Holiday?
You’re No Good - Linda Ronstadt (1974?) - This video from the Midnight Special is 100% more fun to watch because of Clydie King!

Playlist:

1. Let’s Begin - Bob Dylan and Clydie King (Trouble No More)

2. By Now - Clydie King & The Sweet Things

3. Sweet Memories - Ray Charles feat. Clydie King

4. Abraham, Martin & John - Bob Dylan & Clydie King

5. All Along The Watchtower - The Brothers and Sisters

6. Let It Be Me - Bob Dylan & Clydie King

7. Woman - Clydie King

8. Rise Again - Bob Dylan & Clydie King

Episode 37: Bob Dylan and the Beatles in the 1960s

The other week I received a message asking me if I’d consider doing an episode about Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Ringo Starr had just been to see Dylan live in concert at the Beacon Theatre in NYC, and as I was thinking about it, the idea for this episode took shape pretty rapidly.

Fun fact: long before I was a Bob Dylan fan, I was a nine year old Beatles geek who wouldn’t shut up about her favourite musicians. Some things don’t change…

So in this hour, we examine the different roles the Beatles and Bob Dylan played in popular culture at the beginning of the 60s, and we’ll discuss the fateful meeting at a hotel in New York, where Dylan introduced the Beatles to cannabis, and singlehandedly changed the trajectory of music. Or did he?

The music in this hour reflects some of the ways in which these seminal artists influenced one another and served as artistic foils throughout their respective careers.

Please note that I’ve decided to narrow this episode down to just the decade of the 1960s. There is a lot more to be said about Dylan’s friendship and rivalry with the individual members after the band broke up. I’m saving that for another episode, so there will be a Part 2!

The clips that I played in the episode of Starr and McCartney talking about their meeting with Bob Dylan come from the Beatles Anthology documentary. Here’s a longer clip where all four are talking about their relationship with Bob Dylan.

Here’s the beautiful George Harrison cover of Dylan’s Mama You Been On My Mind.

Here’s the Beatles jamming to Rainy Day Women No 12&35 - what a perfect song to cover by the artist that introduced the to marijuana.

Also, here’s a cool version of Bob Dylan playing the Beatles song Come Together at a 1985 rehearsal!

Playlist:

1. Corrina Corrina - Bob Dylan

2. My Back Pages - Bob Dylan

3. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away - The Beatles

4. Norwegian Wood - The Beatles

5. Fourth Time Around - Bob Dylan

6. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine - Bob Dylan

7. Yer Blues - The Beatles

8. Things We Said Today - Bob Dylan (Beatles cover)

Full disclaimer: the image I used for this episode seems to be photoshopped. I just really wanted it to be real, so I might keep it up there anyway, but just so you know, it’s not an actual photo of Dylan and Lennon together!

Episode 36: The Emotional World Of Blood On The Tracks

In the third episode since the release of More Blood, More Tracks we take a step back and reflect on the songs themselves and what they tell us about the emotional world of the album Blood On The Tracks.

As Laura talks about the themes and motifs that run through the lyrics, we explore the way Dylan evokes intimacy and heartbreak on one of his finest collections of songs. We discover the subtle interplay between different songs on the record, and the way emotions shift, reflect, and echo one another, from track to bloody track.

Playlist:

1. Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (Take 1)

2. Buckets Of Rain (Take 4, Remake 2)

3. You're A Big Girl Now (Take 2, Remake)

4. If You See Her, Say Hello (Remixed Minneapolis version)

5. Up To Me (Take 2, Remake)

Episode 35: More Blood, More Tracks Pt. II

This week’s episode is Part II of the discussion surrounding the recently released Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks!

In this hour, Laura muses what role exactly Anton Chekhov might have played in the creation of Blood On The Tracks, and what that tells us about the reaction to this release in the media.

The majority of the episode is dedicated to exploring the executive decisions made in the creation of this Bootleg Series. It’s getting a bit nerdy, as we explore muted bass mistakes, vocal edits, and wonder why the hell the Dylan camp doesn’t want to release the test pressing version of Idiot Wind??

Playlist:

1. Shelter From The Storm (album version, snippet)

2. Shelter From The Storm (MBMT, Take 4)

3. Idiot Wind (Bootleg Series 1-3 version, snippet)

4. Idiot Wind (MBMT, Take 6, snippet)

5. Idiot Wind (MBMT, Take 6, snippet)

6. Idiot Wind (MBMT Take 4, Remake with Organ Overdub)

7. Meet Me In The Morning (Take 1, Remake)

Episode 34: More Blood, More Tracks Pt. I

This week Laura dives into More Blood, More Tracks, the highly anticipated Vol. 14 in Bob Dylan’s ongoing Bootleg Series, which was released at the beginning of November! The collection is entirely dedicated to the recording sessions of Dylan’s seminal 1975 album Blood On The Tracks, with particular focus on the sessions Dylan initially recorded in New York over the course of four days, before he decided to re-record half the record in Minneapolis a few months later.

For decades, fans have been circulating a bootleg version of the album’s test pressing comprised of only tracks from the New York Sessions, speculating what could have led Dylan to reconsider the album’s aesthetic.

In this hour, Laura talks about the allure of the New York Sessions, while also trying to discern what’s behind the seemingly frequent criticism of the Minneapolis takes among Dylan fans. We also explore the record’s status as one of the most famous “confessional” songwriter albums, as well as the fascination with Dylan’s real-life heartbreak and its impact on the songs.

The episodes includes a shortened version of a great Dylan quote regarding what his songs are about from a 1985 interview with Bill Flanagan. The full exchange, which is relevant to the discussion of meaning in songs, went like this:

BILL FLANAGAN: “Anything you’ve ever tried to write about and been unable to do?”

BOB DYLAN: “Yeah. Anything I try to write about, I can’t do it. If I try to write about something - "I want to write about horses" or "I want to write about Central Park" or "I want to write about the Cocaine industry" - I can’t get anywhere with that. I have to always take it out. It’s like that "Hurricane" song. I wanted to write a song about Hurricane Carter, I wanted to spread the message. It really doesn’t come out about Hurricane. Really, the essence of it is never what it’s about. It’s really about you. Unless you’re standing in somebody else’s shoes you just don’t know what it feels like. You don’t know what it’s about.

You can go to a movie and say, "What’s this about?" A movie is something that gives the illusion of stopping time. You go someplace and you sit there for a while. you’re looking at something. You’re trapped. It’s all happening in your brain and it seems like nothing else is going on in the world. Time has stopped. The world could be coming to an end outside, but for you time has stopped. Then someone says, "What was it about?" "Well, I don’t know. It was about two guys who were after the same girl." Or, "It was about the Russian Revolution." Well, yeah, that was what it was about, but that wasn’t *it*. That’s not what made you stay there and stare at the screen, at a light on the wall. In another way you could say, "What’s life about?" It’s just going by like a movie all the time. It doesn’t matter if you’re here for a hundred years, it still goes by. You can’t stop it.

So you can’t say what it’s about. But what you can do is try to give the illusion of the moment of it. And even that’s not what it’s about. That’s just proof that you existed.

What’s anything about? It’s not about anything. It is what it is.”

—

The entire interview is interesting and can be found here.

Playlist:

1. Simple Twist Of Fate (Take 1A)

2. Tangled Up In Blue (SNIPPET - remixed Minneapolis version)

3. Tangled Up In Blue (Take 3, Remake 3)

4. Call Letter Blues (Take 1)

5. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Take 5)