Wikipedia

Tombstone Blues

"Tombstone Blues"is a song by American singer-songwriterBob Dylan,which was released as the second track on his sixth studio albumHighway 61 Revisited(1965). The song was written by Dylan, and produced byBob Johnston.Critical interpretations of the song have suggested that the song references theVietnam Warand US PresidentLyndon Baines Johnson.

"Tombstone Blues"
SongbyBob Dylan
from the albumHighway 61 Revisited
ReleasedAugust 30, 1965(1965-08-30)
RecordedJuly 29, 1965
StudioColumbiaA, 799 Seventh Avenue, New York
Genre
Length5:58
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Bob Johnston
Official audio
"Tombstone Blues"onYouTube

Twelve takes of "Tombstone Blues" were recorded on July 29, 1965. The last of these takes was released onHighway 61 Revisitedthe following month. The song received acclaim frommusic critics,with critics praising the lyrics, music, and delivery. The album version, and out-takes, have been included on several later compilations. Dylan's official website lists 169 concert performances, from 1965 to 2006. Live versions have appeared on the albumsReal Live(1984),MTV Unplugged(1995), andShadow Kingdom(2023).

Background and recording

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Bob Dylanrecorded "Like a Rolling Stone"in mid-June 1965, withTom Wilsonas producer.[1]Wilson had produced Dylan's albumsThe Times They Are a-Changin'(1964),Another Side of Bob Dylan(1964), andBringing It All Back Home(1965); the last of these had been Dylan's first album with electric instruments.[2][3]Following clashes between Dylan and Wilson in 1965,Bob Johnstonreplaced Wilson as Dylan's producer.[4]After recording "Like a Rolling Stone", Dylan wrote a number of songs, including "Tombstone Blues", at his newly-purchased house inByrdcliffe.[5]

"Tombstone Blues" has been described asfolk rock.[6]At this press conference in December 1965, Bob Dylan(pictured left)denied playingfolk-rockand said "I like to think of it more in terms of vision music – it's mathematical music."[7]

Twelve takes were recorded on July 29, 1965, atColumbiaStudio A, 799 Seventh Avenue, New York.[8]Dylan sang and playedguitarandharmonica,accompanied byMike Bloomfieldon guitar,Paul Griffinonpiano,Al Kooperonorgan,Joe Macho, Jr. onbass,andBobby Greggondrums.[9][1]The last of these takes, lasting five minutes and 58 seconds, was included as the second track (following the opener "Like a Rolling Stone" ) on Dylan's sixth studio album,Highway 61 Revisited,which was released on August 30, 1965.[10][1][11]It was later included on his compilation albumsBiograph(1985),The Original Mono Recordings,andThe Best of the Original Mono Recordings(2010).[12]Alternate takes were included onThe Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack(2005) andThe Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966(2015).[12]Backing vocals byThe Chambers Brotherswere recorded on August 3, and a version including them was eventually released on the Bloomfield retrospectiveFrom His Head to His Heart to His Hands(2014).[1][10]

In the sleeve notes toBiograph,Dylan commented how he had felt that he had "broken through with this song, that nothing like it had been done before".[5]He added that he had been inspired by overheard bar-room conversations between police officers about the death of criminals.[13]

The critic Andy Gill describes the structure of the song as "paired four-line stanzas to the rhyme-scheme a/a/a/b, c/c/c/b".[14]The album take has six choruses, five of which have identical words while the other differs slightly. In the first take, all of the choruses are unique, with the characters "Mama" and "Daddy" in different combinations of situations.[15]The Dylan biographerRobert Sheltondetails the basic chords in the verse as "C, C7, F, and back to C", with amiddle eightin which "F and C chords alternate".[16]

"Tombstone Blues" has been described asfolk rock,[6]a term Dylan detested.[17][7]Gill characterizes the music as a "fastblues shuffle",[18]whileStephen Thomas ErlewineofAllMusicconsiders it to begarage rock.[19]The Dylan scholarMichael GrayregardsChuck Berryas an important influence on Dylan,[20]and argues that "Dylan could never have written 'Tombstone Blues' without Chuck Berry".[21]Gill also detects the influence of Berry on the song, as well as theWoody GuthrieandPete Seegersong "Taking It Easy", which has a repetitive chorus about a mother in the kitchen that is emulated by Dylan's song.[14]

Lyrics and interpretation

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The authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon assert that the title of the song refers toTombstone, Arizona,[10]but literature scholar Richard Brown is more equivocal, suggesting that the title could represent "a rather doomy or morbid joke, an existential melancholy produced by an awareness of the inescapable condition of human mortality".[22]The song contains several direct and indirect allusions to historical and characters and events.[14]Paul Revere's horse,Belle Starr,Jack the Ripper,Galileo,Cecil B. DeMille,Ma Rainey,andBeethovenare all mentioned in the lyrics.[23][24]

Dylan's biographer Robert Shelton writes that the song references the Vietnam War throughout, especially the title and the third and fourth verses.[16]This interpretation is shared by other critics.[25]In an early version, the song refers to a "blacksmith with freckles"; as the song develops in later takes, this becomes "John the blacksmith" and eventually "John the Baptist".[26]The third verse includes:

John the Baptist after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, "Tell me great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in? "[12][27]

The fourth verse includes:

The king of the Philistines his soldiers to save
Put jawbones on their tombstones and flatters their graves
Puts the pied piper in prison and fattens the slaves
Then sends them out to the jungle.[12][28]

Shelton sees PresidentLyndon Baines Johnsonas the subject of the phrase "King of the Philistines".[16]The political scholar Andrew Gamble remarked that this verse is "often been taken to be a direct reference to the escalating war in Vietnam".[25]

David Boucher, an international relations scholar, describes the song as "not a narrative but instead a series of metaphors whose inspiration happens to be the Vietnam war".[29]Political science scholar Jeff Taylor and historian Chad Israelson suggest that although "Tombstone Blues" is not overtly political, its theme is the mockery of authority.[30]For the criticMike Marqusee,the repetitive and routine lives of the narrator's parents[31]in the choruses contrast with the "cruel antics of the rich and powerful" laid out in the verses.[32]

The scholar of English Neil Corcoran reasons that asJohn the Baptist's commander-in-chief isJesus Christ,the song isblasphemous;[33]the same description was applied byRecord Mirrorreviewer Norman Jopling in his 1965 review.[34]

Critical comments

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Shelton finds the song funny, commenting on the outlandish juxtapositions, and praises both the lyrics and the musical performances, particularly the guitar playing.[16]John Nogowski also extols the humor, and gives the album version an A rating, suggesting that it could only have been written by Dylan.[35]In 2012, Jim Beviglia included the song at 36th place in his ranking of Dylan's "finest" songs,[36]commending the memorable phrases from the lyrics and the song's "glorious anarchy".[37]Another critic to highlight Bloomfield's contribution on guitar was Joe Levy ofRolling Stone.[38]Bill Janovitzof AllMusic, despite remarking that the musicians seem to be out of time with each other, gave a positive assessment, and argued that with songs like "Tombstone Blues", Dylan opened up new possibilities for other artists.[39]

Stephen King,who has spoken of his admiration for Dylan's work, quotes from "Tombstone Blues" at the end of hisfirst published novelCarrie.[40]

Live performances

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Dylan's official website lists a total of 169 live performances of "Tombstone Blues", the most recent being in October 2006; after 1965 he did not perform the song live again until 1984.[12]Although the website lists the first performance as being atForest Hills Tennis Stadiumon August 28, 1965,[41]he actually debuted the song, in an acoustic version, at a Newport Folk Festival song workshop on July 24.[42][43][1]The Forest Hills performance was heckled by a section of the crowd who resented his new musical direction.[6]Performances later that year, atCarnegie Halland theMosque Theater,were more enthusiastically received by audiences, with the song being cheered as it started at the latter venue.[44]A recording of the song from theNewcastleshow of theBob Dylan/Santana European Tour 1984,which featuredCarlos Santanaon guitar was included on Dylan'sReal Live(1984).[45]InRolling Stone,Kurt Loder criticized the "formless arrangement" of the performance.[46]

In 1994, Dylan recorded the song for hisMTV Unpluggedepisode,[47]and it was included on hisMTV Unpluggedalbum and video release of the show in 1995.[12][48]The 2021concert filmShadow Kingdom: The Early Songs of Bob Dylanincludes a slower (and abridged) version of the song, which also appears on the related albumShadow Kingdom(2023).Rolling Stonereviewer Michaelangelo Matos wrote that the "mordant, mortality-steeped feeling doesn't bring the music down a bit".[49]

Personnel

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Musical credits adapted from the details for take 1 onThe Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: Bob Dylan 1965–1966, The Best of the Cutting Edge,and fromOlof Björner's website.[9][1]Technical credits adapted from theBob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Trackbook.[50]

Musicians

Technical personnel

References

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  1. ^abcdefBjörner, Olof."Still On The Road: 1965 Concerts, Interviews & Recording Sessions".About Bob.Archivedfrom the original on August 22, 2022.RetrievedSeptember 8,2023.
  2. ^Polizzotti 2006,p. 46.
  3. ^Williams 2004,pp. 283–284.
  4. ^Polizzotti 2006,pp. 47, 78.
  5. ^abPolizzotti 2006,p. 75.
  6. ^abcShelton, Robert(August 30, 1965)."Folk Singer Offers Works in 'New Mood' at Forest Hills".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on April 19, 2022.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  7. ^abGleason, Ralph J.(December 14, 1967)."Bob Dylan Gives Press Conference in San Francisco".Rolling Stone.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  8. ^Heylin 2009,p. 246.
  9. ^abThe Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: Bob Dylan 1965–1966, The Best of the Cutting Edge(booklet).Bob Dylan.Columbia/Legacy.2015. p. 56. 88875124422.{{cite AV media notes}}:CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^abcMargotin & Guesdon 2022,p. 190.
  11. ^Williams 2004,p. 284.
  12. ^abcdef"Tombstone Blues".Bob Dylan's official website.Archivedfrom the original on June 28, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 8,2023.
  13. ^Crowe, Cameron(1985).Biograph(Side 3 sleeve notes). Bob Dylan.Columbia Records.C5X 38830.
  14. ^abcGill 2011,p. 118.
  15. ^Flanagan, Bill(2015).The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: Bob Dylan 1965–1966, The Best of the Cutting Edge(booklet).Bob Dylan.Columbia/Legacy.pp. 12–13. 88875124422.
  16. ^abcdShelton 1987,p. 279.
  17. ^Polizzotti 2006,p. 69.
  18. ^Gill 2011,p. 117.
  19. ^Erlewine, Stephen Thomas."Highway 61 Revisited Review".AllMusic.Archivedfrom the original on November 22, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 13,2023.
  20. ^Gray 2000,pp. 95–97.
  21. ^Gray 2000,p. 97.
  22. ^Brown 2003,p. 207.
  23. ^Corcoran 2003,p. 163.
  24. ^Trager 2004,p. 629.
  25. ^abGamble 2004,p. 24.
  26. ^Flanagan, Bill(2015).The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: Bob Dylan 1965–1966, The Best of the Cutting Edge(booklet).Bob Dylan.Columbia/Legacy.p. 25. 88875124422.
  27. ^Gamble 2004,p. 23.
  28. ^Boucher 2004,pp. 164–165.
  29. ^Boucher 2004,p. 164.
  30. ^Taylor & Israelson 2015,p. 111.
  31. ^In the initial chorus, "Daddy is in the alley looking for food"; in later versions Daddy is "looking for the fuse". (This was presumably to get a word to rhyme with "shoes" and "bues" ).
  32. ^Marqusee 2005,pp. 177–178.
  33. ^Corcoran 2003,p. 164.
  34. ^Jopling, Norman (September 23, 1965). "Dylan's New LP in Depth".Record Mirror.p. 8.
  35. ^Nogowski 2022,p. 54.
  36. ^Beviglia 2012,p. 120.
  37. ^Beviglia 2012,p. 121.
  38. ^Levy, Joe."How Bob Dylan Made Rock History on 'Highway 61 Revisited'".Rolling Stone.RetrievedJune 23,2020.
  39. ^Janovitz, Bill."Tombstone Blues".AllMusic.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2022.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  40. ^Starkey, Arun (May 21, 2021)."How Bob Dylan inspired Stephen King's 'Carrie'".Far Out.Archivedfrom the original on August 10, 2022.RetrievedSeptember 12,2023.
  41. ^"Setlists that contain Tombstone Blues".Bob Dylan's official website.Archivedfrom the original on June 8, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 8,2023.
  42. ^Heylin 2009,p. 235.
  43. ^Heylin 2011,p. 207.
  44. ^Heylin 2016,1104.
  45. ^Williamson 2021,pp. 247–248.
  46. ^Loder, Kurt (February 14, 1985)."Real Live".Rolling Stone.RetrievedSeptember 13,2023.
  47. ^Nogowski 2022,p. 189.
  48. ^"MTV Unplugged [Video]".AllMusic.Archivedfrom the original on September 5, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 8,2023.
  49. ^Matos, Michaelangelo (June 1, 2023)."Bob Dylan Makes His Classic Songs Seem Stunningly Brand-New on 'Shadow Kingdom'".Rolling Stone.RetrievedSeptember 12,2023.
  50. ^Margotin & Guesdon 2022,pp. 190–191.

Books

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