Who

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link

 

By MOTOKO RICH

Published: September 14, 2006

 

Perhaps you

[solace]

not a big deal, a mention in the liner notes would prolly be the proper thing to do imo

[bobbob1313]

This is by far the worst thing that has ever happened.

[solace]

lol

[embiggen]

This is by far the worst thing that has ever happened.

 

are you crying "JUDAS!@"

[bjorn_skurj]

Dylan's not so hot a motorcyclist either, they say in Woodstock.

[bobbob1313]

are you crying "JUDAS!@"

 

When Jeff Conine came back to Florida as a member of the Phillies I yelled "Judas" at him. Nobody got the Bob Dylan reference.

[Atticus]

from the allmusic.com review:

 

"Dylan's singing style in these songs comes from the great blues and jazzman Lonnie Johnson (whose version of the Grosz and Coslow standard "Tomorrow Night" he's been playing for years in his live set). If you need further proof, look to Johnson's last recordings done in the late '50s and early '60s ("I Found a Dream" and "I'll Get Along Somehow"), or go all the way back to the early years for "Secret Emotions," and "In Love Again," cut in 1940. It is in these songs where you will find the heart of Dylan's sweet song ambition and also that unique phrasing that makes him one of the greatest blues singers and interpreters ever. Dylan evokes Muddy Waters in "Rollin' and Tumblin." He swipes the riff, the title, the tune itself, and uses some of the words and adds a whole bunch of his own. Same with his use of Sleepy John Estes in "Someday Baby".. Those who think Dylan merely plagiarizes miss the point. Dylan is a folk musician; he uses American folk forms such as blues, rock, gospel, and R&B as well as lyrics, licks, and/or whatever else he can to get a song across. This tradition of borrowing and retelling goes back to the beginning of song and story. Even the title of Modern Times is a wink-eye reference to a film by Charlie Chaplin. It doesn't make Dylan less; it makes him more, because he contains all of these songs within himself. By his use of them, he adds to their secret histories and labyrinthine legends. Besides, he's been around long enough to do anything he damn well pleases and has been doing so since the beginning."

[Sir Stewart]

When Jeff Conine came back to Florida as a member of the Phillies I yelled "Judas" at him. Nobody got the Bob Dylan reference.

Was Conine trying to bat as DH? Cuz that would have really called for it.

[ction]

Was Conine trying to bat as DH? Cuz that would have really called for it.

 

I think he had switched to an aluminum bat...

[bobbob1313]

Was Conine trying to bat as DH? Cuz that would have really called for it.

 

No, it was just me trying to make a funny. I failed.

[LouieB]

Sleepy John Estes in "Someday Baby"

 

I am glad someone posted this because I have been wracking my brain for weeks trying to remember who did this originally.

 

This obscure poet may have botten pinched for some lyrics, but clearly there are more references per square inch to other people's work than ever. None the less, this is an album that gets better with each listen.

 

LouieB

[caliber66]

Dylan has been "borrowing" song lyrics (sometimes entire songs, even) for his entire career. Doesn't bother me.

[LouieB]

Dylan has been "borrowing" song lyrics (sometimes entire songs, even) for his entire career. Doesn't bother me.

This is true. If other artists did it as artistically as he does, there would never be a problem. At least he actually sings this stuff rather than sampling it to enhance a peice of music that would be totally mediocre without a decent sample.

 

LouieB

[Atticus]

At least he actually sings this stuff rather than sampling it to enhance a peice of music that would be totally mediocre without a decent sample.

 

Exactly!!

 

It's amazing to me that so many modern listeners to Dylan's music seem to think this is an issue. Part of the "folk tradition" is the retelling of stories and the singing and re-working of old standards in one's own style is it not?

 

I would think Dylan would be the last artist in the world to scream "infringement" if someone paid tribute to him by infusing a few of his great lines...

 

the bottom line is that the album works. The first Dylan album in years, for me, that I haven't been able to stop listening to, and which I enjoy more upon every take. (the way he sings "orphanages," right after "sons of bitches" in the first track just gets me everytime, for instance)

[LouieB]

It's amazing to me that so many modern listeners to Dylan's music seem to think this is an issue. Part of the "folk tradition" is the retelling of stories and the singing and re-working of old standards in one's own style is it not?

 

the bottom line is that the album works. The first Dylan album in years, for me, that I haven't been able to stop listening to, and which I enjoy more upon every take. (the way he sings "orphanages," right after "sons of bitches" in the first track just gets me everytime, for instance)

I agree entirely. this album not only sounds great, but I hear new stuff with each listen. Certainly it is part of the folk tradition.

 

By the same token, people have been borrowing Dylan's words for years as well. Its all part of the game.

 

LouieB

[Sir Stewart]

I agree entirely. this album not only sounds great, but I hear new stuff with each listen.

I'm amazed that he got that sound from these band members; they're so loud live, and I was not expecting the lush, gorgeous sound.

As far as the controversy goes, if I had a problem with Dylan thieving from other poets, I'd have to have a problem with all the hip-hop I love so much.

[Skian]

No big deal. I'll give him a pass on this one too.

I recall the same thing came out about a song(s) from the last two albums.

 

Also of note: The album Empire Burlesque has several songs with lines from

old classic movies. The album Under the Red Sky has several songs with borrowed

lines from children's stories (fairy tales). Some earlier Dylan songs have borrowed lines from actual newspaper articles.

 

 

Then there is this Tweedy guy who apparently borrows lines from other

Tweedy songs. (the nerve!)

 

 

"I said, you know they refused Jesus too,

he said, you're not him"

(115th Dream)

[nettles]

There's quite a few one liners of Robert Johnson's on his sixties record, but who knows where RObert Johnson got them, it's just simply the tradition of the music that Dylan likes to make.

[LouieB]

There's quite a few one liners of Robert Johnson's on his sixties record, but who knows where RObert Johnson got them, it's just simply the tradition of the music that Dylan likes to make.

This book has a pretty comprehensive overview of all the places Robert Johnson got his material.

 

LouieB

[TheMaker]

I would think Dylan would be the last artist in the world to scream "infringement" if someone paid tribute to him by infusing a few of his great lines...

 

Yeah, you'd think that. Hmm. Tell it to Hootie and the Blowfish, from whom Dylan won a large out-of-court settlement a little over a decade ago (this was over their use of lyrics from Idiot Wind in one of their interminably ubiquitous hits).

[Atticus]

Yeah, you'd think that. Hmm. Tell it to Hootie and the Blowfish, from whom Dylan won a large out-of-court settlement a little over a decade ago (this was over their use of lyrics from Idiot Wind in one of their interminably ubiquitous hits).

 

Doesn't he get a pass for Hootie and the Blowfish though?

 

That's kind of like John Grisham borrowing from Hemingway.

[Atticus]

Further evidence of my "pass" theory:

 

You and me

We come from different worlds

You like to laugh at me

When I look at other girls

 

Sometimes you're crazy

And you wonder why

I'm such a baby

Cause the Dolphins make me cry

 

Well there's nothing I can do

I've been looking for a girl like you

 

You look at me

You've got nothing left to say

I'll only pout at you until I get my way

I won't dance

You won't sing

I just want to love you but you want to wear my ring.

 

Chorus:

Well there's nothing I can do

I only wanna be with you

You can call me your fool

Only wanna be with you

 

Put on a little Dylan

Sitting on a fence

I say that line is great

You ask me what I meant by

Said I shot a man named Gray

Took his wife to italy

She inherited a million bucks

And when she died it came to me

I can't help it if I'm lucky

 

Only wanna be with you

Ain't Bobby so cool

Only wanna be with you

 

(solo)

 

Yeah I'm tangled up in blue

Only wanna be with you

You can call me your fool

Only wanna be with you

 

Sometimes I wonder

If it will ever end

You get so mad at me

When I go out with my friends

Sometimes you're crazy

And you wonder why

I'm such a baby yeah

The Dolphins make me cry

 

Well there's nothing I can do

Only wanna be with you

You can call me your fool

Only wanna be with you

Yeah I'm tangled up in blue

Only wanna be with you

[froggie]

Yeah, you'd think that. Hmm. Tell it to Hootie and the Blowfish, from whom Dylan won a large out-of-court settlement a little over a decade ago (this was over their use of lyrics from Idiot Wind in one of their interminably ubiquitous hits).

 

i've always liked this song. i first heard it back in 1994 and i didnt hear idiot wind till a year later.

 

as well as ripping the lines out isis, he also mentions tangled up in blue. also, that fence hootie's sitting on in the song could be a barbed wire one

[P Dub]

Sleepy John Estes in "Someday Baby"

 

I am glad someone posted this because I have been wracking my brain for weeks trying to remember who did this originally.

 

This obscure poet may have botten pinched for some lyrics, but clearly there are more references per square inch to other people's work than ever. None the less, this is an album that gets better with each listen.

 

LouieB

 

I don't think Sleepy John wrote this song. I pulled a couple cd's and an lp with Sleepy doing this song and he does not take credit for it. Some of the other songs had Sleepy as the author or trad. arranged by Sleepy, but neither was noted on this song each time. Bob def. borrows from Sleepy's version though.

 

Bob's mind is like the whole world's public library. I seriously doubt he had Timrod's work in front of him. He may have had those words in his head for 45 years and it just so happened that recalled them this year.