Blonde on Blonde is thus the result of a fusion between musicians, engineers, and producers, made possible by a simple, warm, and relaxed atmosphere. Al Kooper attributed the success of the album to the excellence of each player and the exceptional quality of the songs. The mono mix, the standard at the time, was prepared in Nashville under Dylan’s direct supervision, and then the stereo mix was created in Los Angeles in early April. Bob Dylan’s seventh album was released on May 16, although there is some speculation about the exact date. After Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde is the third panel in the American songwriter’s rock triptych. With this album, Dylan elevated himself as the new icon that the American public had been waiting for since Elvis Presley, but also and primarily as a songwriter who moved in a kind of psychedelic maelstrom that mixed Rimbaud and Ginsberg, Robert Johnson and Little Richard. This was “the new tone,” defined by the critic Greil Marcus as “the sound of a man trying to stand up in a drunken boat, and, for the moment, succeeding. His tone was sardonic, scared, threatening, as if he’d awakened after paying all his debts to find that nothing was settled.”60
Since its release the album has reached number 9 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” number 8 in the British newspaper Mojo, and number 2 for NME (another British newspaper).
Technical Details
“One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)” is the only title on the album that was recorded in New York, using a four-track tape recorder like the previous album. It has often been argued that the other songs were recorded on eight tracks in Nashville. Bob Johnston confirmed this in Mix magazine in 1983, but Michael Krogsgaard, who has referenced and identified almost all of Bob Dylan’s recording sessions and who has worked on the archives of Blonde on Blonde, found that all these tapes are in four tracks. What to believe? If this is indeed a four-track, this restriction, which now seems like a technical handicap, proves that mythical works like Blonde on Blonde or the Beatles’ 1967 masterpiece Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band were not affected in any way by technological limitations. Doubt still persists.
Beginning with Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Johnston recorded Dylan with three microphones so that he could capture Dylan’s vocals without losing any segment. In Nashville he had to wrestle with Studio A’s homemade recording console. As he explains: “There was a custom console with EQ that could be switched between ‘pop’ and ‘country.’”61 Since the monitor speakers did not face the control room window, he had to turn his head to listen. In addition, three assistants relayed the order to start the tape recorder, which was located in another room. Johnston soon moved the machine into the control room and positioned the two speakers facing him. He also removed many acoustic baffles to allow musicians to stay in visual contact in the huge studio. Dylan stood in the middle of the room and was the only one with an acoustic baffle. “Then, in the center of the room, I had this glass booth built for Dylan, and he was in there with a table and chair—it was like his study.”61 He created an interaction between all the musicians and explained that overdubs were not on the agenda. “I just told everyone not to play anything that they didn’t want to be heard, because I wouldn’t be allowing them to come back in for overdubs and screw up the record. We were only gonna use what they did during the actual take.”61 The final result proved him right. The seventh Dylan album is a major success, both in content and in terms of execution. None of the sound engineers in Nashville are identified.
Instruments
There is no information on the guitars used by Bob Dylan during the sessions for Blonde on Blonde, and there are no photos of the sessions. Bob had lost his 1965 Stratocaster Sunburst and he played a Fender Telecaster in concerts at this time, a sunburst yellow color and another one in black. Were they used for the recordings? While he played acoustics on his Gibson Nick Lucas Special, he probably also borrowed instruments of other musicians in the studio. He played harmonica for each title, with the exception of “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” and “Obviously 5 Believers.” In this latter song, Charlie McCoy played harmonica. The tones are in C, D, E, F, A, and B-flat.
EAT THE DOCUMENT
Bob Dylan’s 1966 tour with the Hawks in Scandinavia, Great Britain, and France, was commissioned by the ABC Television Network. The documentary of the tour was directed by D. A. Pennebaker, who had already directed Dont Look Back about Dylan’s 1965 tour of England. The “rockumentary” titled Eat the Document includes footage from the Manchester Free Trade Hall concert on May 7, 1965 during which the audience shouted “Judas!” at Dylan during his electric performance. The documentary also shows a duet with Johnny Cash performing “I Still Miss Someone” and Dylan’s meeting with John Lennon on May 27. ABC never broadcast the “rockumentary,” judging it too incomprehensible for a general audience.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
The mono mix of Blonde on Blonde was released in France in September 1966. Sides 1 and 4 of the album are the original American mix, and sides 2 and 3 have a different mix, unique in style.
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Bob Dylan / 4:37
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, harmonica
Mac Gayden: guitar (?)
Wayne Moss: guitar
Hargus Robbins: piano
Wayne Butler: trombone
Charlie McCoy: trumpet
Henry Strzelecki: Hammond organ pedals
Al Kooper: tambourine
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: March 9 and 10, 1966
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
Although guitarist Robbie Robertson is mentioned on the studio recording sheets, he did not play on “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” because the recording of the song went too quickly. He said, “I think I went out to get some cigarettes or something, and they’d recorded it by the time I returned!”24
Genesis and Lyrics
The inspiration for “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” came when Phil Spector and Dylan heard Ray Charles’s “Let’s Go Get Stoned” on a jukebox in Los Angeles. The song was written by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Josephine Armstead, and first recorded by the Coasters in May 1965. Ray Charles’s single reached number 1 on the “Hot R&B” singles charts in June 1966.
This song has divided scholars of Dylan’s work. For some it is about drug use (as a means of escaping material world); others see instead evidence of Dylan’s talent for double meaning. To “stone” is simply to throw rocks at someone until they are dead. “To get stoned,” however, means not only to be hit by rocks but also to get drunk and also to get high on drugs. In May 1966, Dylan responded to the controversy by announcing during his performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, “I never have and never will write a ‘drug song.’ I don’t know how to. It’s not a ‘drug song,’ it’s just vulgar.”24 Did he tell the truth? On the recording, there is laughing in the background, and Dylan laughs while singing. An article in Time on July 1, 1966, stated by mistake that in the jargon of drug addicts, a “rainy-day woman” was a marijuana cigarette: “In the shifting, multi-level jargon of teenagers, to ‘get stoned’ does not mean to get drunk, but to get high on drugs… a ‘rainy-day woman,’ as any junkie knows, is a marijuana cigarette.”
Production
The opening song of the album, “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” was recorded during the last recording session for the album and contrasts from a musical point of view with what Dylan had previously recorded. This is the first Dylan song recorded with brass instruments, which gives the piece its singular atmosphere, as do the circumstances of the actual recording. Bob Johnston recalls, “He played me the song and I said, ‘That sounds like it’s for a damn Salvation Army band.’ He [Dylan] said, ‘Can you get one?’ and I told him, ‘Probably not, but I can try.’”61 Dylan needed the sound of brass. Johnston asked McCoy to find brass players quickly. He call
ed his friend Wayne Butler, a trombone player. Al Kooper remembers, “They called him in the middle of the night, and in half an hour he was there, in a shirt and tie and suit, immaculately groomed! He played twenty or thirty minutes, and then graciously left.”24 To smooth out the sound of the trombone, McCoy played trumpet and Dylan harmonica. For the rhythm, Johnston asked Kenneth Buttrey to dismantle his drum kit. “I put a drum around Kenneth Buttrey’s neck and had him bang it while marching around the studio. That was the first time I ever heard Dylan truly laugh.”61 On the recording, cymbals (hi-hat) and a bass drum are heard. Who played—Buttrey—or other musicians? Al Kooper switched from keyboard to tambourine, Wayne Moss played bass, and Henry Strzelecki lay on the floor with his hands playing Kooper’s organ! The main harmonic support of the song comes from the extraordinary piano part played by the legendary blind pianist Hargus Robbins, known as “Pig.” Dylan was too embarrassed to use his nickname. Kooper recalls that to overcome this embarrassment, he asked someone else to tell him his comments. Producer Bob Johnston recalled “all of us walking around, yelling, playing, and singing.”
COVERS
The song was recorded by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (Nashville Airplane, 1968), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, 1993), the Black Crowes (as a B-side single in 1995), and Lenny Kravitz (Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 2012).
By listening to “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” it is difficult to say whether or not other instruments also give color to this piece. No guitar is heard, although guitarist Mac Gayden claims to have been present, but there seem to be two trombone parts: one plays a melodic riff, and the second trombone overdubs the bass line playing “the pump.” Finally, at his request, Dylan was accompanied by all musicians laughing and shouting in the background to create a festive atmosphere. Satisfied with this unorthodox performance, Dylan laughs at 0:48 and 1:32. There has been some speculation that musicians were “under the influence.” However, Al Kooper later insisted that none of the musicians were stoned. In 2012 at a conference at Belmont University in Nashville, he stated, “These were really professional people, and they wouldn’t do anything like that.”18
“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” was recorded in one take on the night of March 9–10, 1966, initially under the working title “A Long-Haired Mule and a Porcupine Here.” The song follows the harmonic structure of a simple blues song. A shorter version of the song was released as a single a month later, omitting the third and fourth verses, and with “Pledging My Time” on the B-side. “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” banned by some American and British stations because of the line in the chorus, “Everybody must get stoned,” reached number 2 on the US Billboard singles chart, and number 7 on the UK singles chart. The live performance at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31, 1969, with the Band was released on the The Bootleg Series Volume 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971) in 2013. Bob Dylan has performed “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” nearly a thousand times.
Pledging My Time
Bob Dylan / 3:50
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, harmonica
Robbie Robertson: guitar
Charlie McCoy: guitar (?)
Joe South: guitar (?)
Wayne Moss: guitar (?)
Al Kooper: organ
Hargus Robbins: piano
Henry Strzelecki: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: March 8, 1966
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Genesis and Lyrics
Dylan continued his journey in blues country with “Pledging My Time,” a Chicago blues song with a totally different atmosphere from “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” Dylan gives a nod not only to the marching bands of the Vieux Carré in New Orleans but also to the creators of the legendary country and modern blues. Even if Mike Marqusee24 puts Dylan’s song on the same level as “Come On in My Kitchen” by Robert Johnson, “Pledging My Time” sounds above all like a tribute to the electric blues legend Elmore James and his version of “It Hurts Me Too.” The harmonica and Dylan’s voice are plaintive—the narrator tells of a strange love story full of contradictory feelings: “I got a poison headache / But I feel all right.” The song proceeds in this somber, melancholy style, with Robbie Robertson’s guitar and Hargus “Pig” Robbins’s piano creating its heavy atmosphere. Andy Gill wrote of the song’s “smoky, late-night club ambiance whose few remaining patrons have slipped beyond tipsy to the sour, sore-headed aftermath of drunk.”21
Production
The major surprise of the second track of Blonde on Blonde comes from Dylan’s extraordinary harmonica part in D. Bob has perfectly digested the lessons of his masters, and each of his interventions is imbued with their spirit. Progress is evident, especially in the long chorus at the end of the song. There is a mystery to the sound of the harmonica that gradually takes over the song, starting at 3:13. It may not be a drop, since Bob holds the same note for several measures during this change of key. The sound engineer may have saturated the sound input while recording, or this saturation may result from the mix. Whatever the explanation, the effect is typical of a Chicago blues song and a real success. Besides Dylan’s harmonica, the other instruments include a rhythmic guitar by an unidentified guitarist and a solo run by Robbie Robertson. Kenneth Buttrey provides an excellent introduction on snare drum, backed by Strzelecki’s bass. Finally, Al Kooper’s organ and Hargus “Pig” Robbins’s piano support the entire song discreetly but successfully.
“Pledging My Time” was probably recorded during the second session on March 8, 1966, between 6 and 9 p.m. Only one take was necessary. This cut was the B-side of “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” In April 1966, this single was a hit record in the United States and the United Kingdom. Three months later, Bob Dylan had a very serious motorcycle accident just outside Woodstock, New York. The last lines of “Pledging My Time” appear eerily prophetic: “Well, they sent for the ambulance / And one was sent / Somebody got lucky / But it was an accident.” Bob Dylan performed “Pledging My Time” live for the first time on September 12, 1987, in Modena, Italy.
Visions Of Johanna
Bob Dylan / 7:33
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Wayne Moss: guitar
Charlie McCoy: guitar
Al Kooper: organ
Bill Aikins: piano (?)
Joe South: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: February 14, 1966
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Genesis and Lyrics
Joan Baez was very surprised. “He’d just written ‘Visions of Johanna,’ which sounded very suspicious to me, as though it had images of me in it.” She added, “But certain images in there did sound very strange.”12 Bob Dylan never confirmed her impression. Admittedly, Dylan’s prose is universal and cannot be ascribed to one single woman. According to Clinton Heylin, “Visions of Johanna” was written in the fall of 1965, when Dylan was living with his wife Sara in the Chelsea Hotel on West Twenty-Third Street in Manhattan. Greil Marcus is even more specific, stating that the song had been written during the East Coast blackout of November 9, 1965, which paralyzed eight states, including New York City, for half a day.
It is futile to try to give a rational explanation for the song. The narrator observes the world through a distorting mirror. More precisely it is a bit like Alice, Lewis Carroll’s heroine, who passes through a mirror to discover another reality, another poetry. What does the narrator of the song see? A young woman named Louise, who “holds a handful of rain” and is entwined with her lover “in the empty lot where the ladies play blindman’s buff with the key chain”; and a “little boy lost, [who] takes himself so seriously / He brags of his misery, he likes to live dangerously.” The narrator se
es other strange characters, like the night watchman, the peddler speaking to the countess, the violinist, and, finally, “these visions of Johanna, they kept me up past the dawn.”
An Enigmatic Poem on the Pursuit of Happiness
Even if the song “Visions of Johanna” could be considered a poetic enigma, the pictorial and literary references in it are actually quite real. Thus, the Mona Lisa with a mustache evokes the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, revised by Marcel Duchamp, the precursor of pop art and the father of ready-made art. The text itself is characteristic of the cut-up technique employed by the writers of the Beat generation, in particular William S. Burroughs. Finally, as pointed out by Robert Shelton in No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan (basing his claim on Bill King’s doctoral thesis, “Bob Dylan: The Artist in the Marketplace”), the similarity between Dylan’s surreal musical ballad and the poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats is obvious. Shelton states, “Bill King’s doctoral thesis, ‘The Artist in the Marketplace,’ calls ‘Johanna’ Dylan’s most haunting and complex love song and his ‘finest poem.’ He finds that the writer constantly seeks to transcend the physical world, to reach the ideal where visions of Johanna became real. That can never be, and yet life without the quest is worthless: this is the paradox at the heart of ‘Visions,’ the same paradox that Keats explored in his ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn.’”7 This song reflects Dylan’s continual, but hopeless, quest for happiness and perfection.
Bob Dylan All the Songs Page 29