The Ceremonies of the Horsemen
The Album
Bob Dylan decided not to renew his contract with Columbia, the record company that had supported him since his debut in 1961. Not only had the clauses of his contract been altered to his detriment, but the songwriter was annoyed with the lack of interest that the management of CBS expressed in his music. “[I] suspected they (CBS) were doing more talk than action. Just released ’em and that’s all. Got a feeling they didn’t care whether I stayed there or not.”101
At the end of the summer of 1973, a few months after moving to Malibu, California, with his family, Dylan signed an agreement with Asylum Records. David Geffen, the charismatic founder of the company, managed to convince him to jump ship. “Come with me. I’ll show you what you can really do. I’ll sell records you never dreamed you could sell.”101
Also, Geffen promised to release the first record at the same time as Dylan’s tour with the Band, which was planned for January 1974. But on the recommendation of the songwriter’s lawyer David Braun, the new contract only dealt with a single studio record.
Dylan was contemplating a new tour after hearing the Band at the Summer Jam Festival in Watkins Glen, New York, on July 28, 1973. At the same time, he also decided to record his first official album with the Band with Asylum. He told journalist Maureen Orth, “What I do is direct contact between me and the people who hear the songs… It doesn’t need a translator.”66 While that was true, in order to establish this contact with the public, Dylan needed support for Planet Waves. This support was none other than the Band, who had worked with Dylan for years.
First titled Love Songs, then Ceremonies of the Horse-men, and finally Planet Waves, Bob Dylan’s fourteenth studio record was produced quickly, without anything fancy, in what appeared to be the group’s desire to get down to the essentials. Yet Dylan’s poetic analysis of themes was still deep. There were love songs, or rather songs about love, including “On a Night Like This” and “Wedding Song,” but, more often than not, a quite dark philosophy. “Going, Going, Gone” seemed to deal with the question of suicide, and “Dirge” was certainly about self-hatred, while other songs, from “Hazel” to “Never Say Goodbye” (by way of “Something There Is About You”), evoked bittersweet nostalgia for the songwriter’s childhood in Minnesota. As for “Forever Young,” one of Dylan’s most famous songs, it was addressed to parents, urging them to guide their children on the way to truth. As Dylan scholar Paul Williams wrote, “Planet Waves marks Dylan’s return as a committed artist, the first time since John Wesley Harding.”102
The Cover
The cover was designed by Dylan himself. It shows three faces painted in black, with the caption “cast-iron songs & torch ballads” on the right, which could be a description of the album, and on the left, “Moonglow.” Also, as for some of his preceding albums, his name is not mentioned. On the back of the cover there is text written by Dylan, including some passages that were deemed to be obscene. Consequently, when it was released in early 1974, the album was sheathed in a sleeve for the sake of sensitivity.
The Recording
In June 1973, Dylan recorded a demo of “Forever Young,” “Nobody ’Cept You,” and “Never Say Goodbye” in the offices of the editors of Ram’s Horn Music in New York City. He got down to business five months later, when the Band joined the songwriter at the Village Recorder studio, 1616 Butler Avenue in Los Angeles. The sound engineer was Rob Fraboni, who had just recorded “Sail On, Sailor” by the Beach Boys. His assistant was Nat Jeffrey. The recordings seemed to spread over six sessions, but the dates do not coincide with the different sources indicated on the album cover. However, the most logical dates are those provided by Michael Krogsgaard, who accessed the archives of Sony: November 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 14, 1973. The recording was done almost live, with both Dylan and the Band preferring spontaneity. No one assumed the producer role. Rob Fraboni confirmed this in 1974: “There was no producer on this record. Everybody was the producer.”103 The musicians knew each other well, from tours and recordings, and they had been playing together for years. The results were extremely efficient. Rob Fraboni added: “The record was really a performance, as far as I’m concerned. It wasn’t like we were ‘making a record’… and Bob wanted it to sound right, to come across… Bob would just run it down, and they’d play it once. Then they’d come in to the control room and listen. That’s another thing that really astounded me. Nobody was saying, ‘You ought to be doing this,’ or ‘You ought to be playing that.’ They just all came in and listened to hear what they should do, and then they’d go out into the studio.”104
Eagerly awaited, since the last real album by the songwriter went back to October 1970, Planet Waves came out in record stores on January 17, 1974, fifteen days after the beginning of Dylan’s tour with the Band. Exclusively made up of original songs, this fourteenth studio album was generally well received by the press. It contained personal and introspective work, and, as Ellen Willis noted in the New Yorker, “Planet Waves is unlike all other Dylan albums: it is openly personal… I think the subject of Planet Waves is what it appears to be—Dylan’s aesthetic and practical dilemma, and his immense emotional debt to Sara.” However, it was only a moderate success commercially: some 600,000 fans preordered the record, granted, but in a whole year, it only sold 100,000 more copies. By comparison, the tour with the Band was estimated to generate $92 million. This was no doubt one of the reasons why Bob Dylan did not stay with Asylum.
Technical Details
After the session at the Blue Rock Studio in New York (1971), it was the second time in his career that the songwriter had left Columbia Recording Studios. Beyond Dylan’s breakup with the major New York company, Rob Fraboni explained why Dylan and the Band chose the Village Recorder: “One thing, the room was right for them. As far as the size, they really liked that. And as far as the control room is concerned, they just wanted something that sounded good. It could have been done at a number of places, but we had a combination of things: the room, the security, and the location. They liked the idea of being out of town (the Village Recorder is situated in West Los Angeles, about ten miles from Hollywood). When we actually got down to the mixing, Robbie was comfortable with what he was hearing, and that was the really important thing.” Fraboni, who in 1975 assumed the responsibility of remixing The Basement Tapes for their official release, proposed that he should be the sound engineer, considering himself to be familiar with the work of Dylan and the Band. He used approximately twenty-eight mics for all the takes, including a Sennheiser 421 for Dylan’s voice. The singer caused problems for the sound engineers from the start because he refused to use a windscreen (he made an exception in “Dirge”).
Because Robbie Robertson insisted that there be no overdubs, the musicians mainly recorded without using headphones, occasionally using Sennheiser 414s. Robertson mixed the record with Rob Fraboni, with advice from Dylan. It took them three or four days to complete it. They could be considered the three real producers of the album.
The Instruments
The Band played many instruments, including a Hammond A100 organ by Leslie, a Lowrey organ, a clavinet, a pianet, and an accordion, among others.
Nobody was sure about Dylan’s acoustic guitars. He may have used his Martin 0-18 or his D-28, the one he had in 1971 during the Concert for Bangladesh, or even another Martin, the 00-21, the one he played at the end of January 1974 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. As far as electric guitars go, he seemed to play his Fender Telecaster Butterscotch Blonde, as can be seen on the inside cover of the CD. Finally, he played harmonicas in different keys: C, D, E, F, and G.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
Planet Waves was released in 1974 in quadraphonic sound.
HUGO’S HOME
In his censored text, Dylan mentioned the house of Victor Hugo in Paris. It was an apartment located at 5 place des Vosges, where the author of Les Misérables lived for sixteen years, from 1832 to 1848.
On A Night Like Th
is
Bob Dylan / 2:58
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Robbie Robertson: guitar
Richard Manuel: keyboard
Garth Hudson: accordion
Rick Danko: bass
Levon Helm: drums
Recording Studio
The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California / Studio B: November 6 and 8, 1973
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, and Rob Fraboni
Sound Engineer: Rob Fraboni
Genesis and Lyrics
“On a Night Like This” was composed in New York, one month before Bob Dylan and the Band held their first recording session at the Village Recorder. At the release of the album in 1974, many Dylanophiles were relieved to discover, after the disappointing Self Portrait, New Morning, and Dylan, that Dylan had returned to the sure values of rock and to incisive writing. This return is strongly reflected in the first song of the album. In the third verse, Dylan was inspired by a famous line from On the Road by Jack Kerouac: “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who… burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” Dylan writes, “Build a fire, throw on logs / And listen to it hiss / And let it burn, burn, burn, burn.” In 1985 he said of this song that the lyrics came to him “as sort of like a drunk man who’s temporarily sober.”12 In his text, he might be happy to share his bed with a loved one, but he asks her not to get too close to avoid elbowing him. He concluded, “This is not my type of song, I think I just did it to do it.”12
Production
“On a Night Like This” is the opening track of the album. It is a very good rock song, supported by an excellent rhythm and accordion part, giving the piece a nice Cajun flair. Dylan abandons his intonations as a crooner and provides a mature vocal. He performs an amazing harmonica solo (in F) that mixes well with the accordion part. Dylan and the Band are at their best. After seven takes in different tempos on November 6, the master was recorded two days later (third attempt). The song was released as a single with “You Angel You” on the B-side in 1974, and reached a very modest number 44 on the charts.
Going, Going, Gone
Bob Dylan / 3:27
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Robbie Robertson: guitar
Richard Manuel: piano, backup vocals (?)
Garth Hudson: keyboards
Rick Danko: bass, backup vocals (?)
Levon Helm: drums
Recording Studio
The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California / Studio B: November 5, 1973
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, and Rob Fraboni
Sound Engineer: Rob Fraboni
Genesis and Lyrics
“Going, going, gone” is the expression used by an auctioneer to indicate that he is about to accept the final bid for an item at auction. In this song, Dylan shows his sense of humor: it is about a departure. The main protagonist of the song closes the book on his own story and mocks what may happen next: “Now, I’ve just got to cut loose / Before it gets late.” In the final chorus, the dark overtone of the lyrics may suggest a final departure, even suicide: “Now, I’ve just got to go / Before I get to the ledge.” Later on, when he performed this song in concert at the Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida, in 1976, and at Richfield Coliseum in Ohio in 1978, he sought to remove this ambiguity by modifying the words to refer simply to the end of a love affair.
Production
“Going, Going, Gone” was recorded on November 5, 1973. Three days later, three new takes were made, and Rob Fraboni convinced Dylan to overdub a vocal part. Fraboni recalls, “After trying one overdub he just stopped and said, ‘I could do this all day long and I don’t even know if it’s the right thing to do.’”105 The take recorded on November 5 was selected for the album.
The interpretation of the song is simply excellent, each musician doing his best. Dylan’s vocal has precision and emotion, and his intonation is bursting with feeling and warmth. The songwriter has fully mastered his subject. Robbie Robertson provides a remarkable guitar part throughout the song. He uses a flanger effect pedal, which gives a “floating” sound. The vocal harmonies on the bridge are played by either Manuel or Danko.
Tough Mama
Bob Dylan / 4:17
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Robbie Robertson: guitar
Richard Manuel: clavinet
Garth Hudson: organ
Rick Danko: bass
Levon Helm: drums
Recording Studio
The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California / Studio B: November 6, 1973
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, and Rob Fraboni
Sound Engineer: Rob Fraboni
Genesis and Lyrics
This song could be Dylan’s confession, a reflection on his status as an artist. In the first four verses, he talks to his muse, to whom he gives four different names, “tough mama,” “dark beauty,” “sweet goddess,” and “silver angel.” In the last verse he refers to his entire audience who brought him to the top. Was it worth the effort? He gives the answer in the line, “I’ve gained some recognition but I lost my appetite.” The struggle is bitter, cruel, even pathetic: “I ain’t a-haulin’ any of my lambs to the marketplace anymore / The prison walls are crumblin’, there is no end in sight.” But “Tough Mama” may be viewed from a more esoteric perspective, as Dylan explained in 1978 to Jonathan Cott when asked the meaning of “Sweet Goddess / Born of a blinding light and a changing wind.” The songwriter responded in an enigmatic way, “That’s the mother and father, the yin and the yang. That’s the coming together of destiny and the fulfillment of destiny.”20
Production
“Tough Mama” is a mid-tempo rock song, during which the Band displays group cohesion. Robbie Robertson provides excellent rhythm on his guitar, a bit funky but perfectly mastered, which interweaves nicely with Richard Manuel’s clavinet. Bass, drums, and organ are in unison; only Dylan’s rhythm part on his Telecaster lacks rigor. The song suffers slightly, but in Dylan’s defense, he is simultaneously singing and playing harmonica (in D). “Tough Mama” was recorded in seven takes on November 6, 1973, the fifth being selected. Dylan performed the song onstage for the first time on January 3, 1974, at Chicago Stadium, accompanied by the Band.
Hazel
Bob Dylan / 2:50
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Robbie Robertson: guitar; Richard Manuel: piano; Garth Hudson: organ; Rick Danko: bass; Levon Helm: drums / Recording Studio: The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California / Studio B: November 6, 1973 / Producers: Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, and Rob Fraboni / Sound Engineer: Rob Fraboni
“Hazel” is one of those sentimental ballads that Bob Dylan has regularly written since the beginning of his career. Perhaps he is remembering his own childhood, an adolescent with a tender heart. Robert Shelton has suggested that Echo Helstrom, Dylan’s girlfriend during his Hibbing years, may be hiding behind “Hazel.”
There were eight takes of “Hazel,” all recorded during the session on November 6, 1973. The final take was selected for Planet Waves. But why so many takes for such a simple piece? Probably because the vocal line is not as obvious as it seems. Dylan must push his voice in the treble on the bridge, and it lacks accuracy in some places, especially on really care at 1:22 and blinder and blinder at 1:30. But he still gives a very emotional vocal, full of nostalgia. The Band provides seamless support for this slow blues-rock song, similar to those performed by Ray Charles. During the last harmonica solo (in E), Robbie Robertson turns on his wah-wah pedal (from 2:18).
Dylan performed this song for the first time at the Unplugged concert at the Sony Music Studios on November 17 and 18, 1994. “Hazel,” however, is absent from the track listing of MTV Unplugged, releas
ed the following year. Since then he has only performed the song six times.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
Because of a weak performance at the Band’s farewell concert at Bill Graham’s Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco in 1976 (filmed by Martin Scorsese), “Hazel” was excluded from the triple album The Last Waltz (1978).
Something There Is About You
Bob Dylan / 4:45
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Robbie Robertson: guitar; Richard Manuel: piano; Garth Hudson: organ; Rick Danko: bass; Levon Helm: drums / Recording Studio: The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California / Studio B: November 6, 1973 / Producers: Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, and Rob Fraboni / Sound Engineer: Rob Fraboni
Genesis and Lyrics
“Something There Is About You” is the logical continuation of “Hazel.” Once again, Dylan goes back to his teen years in Minnesota. He remembers “Rainy days on the Great Lakes, walkin’ the hills of old Duluth,” with Danny Lopez and Ruth. Everything about this song is poetic, an evocation of youth with the typical Dylanesque line “the spirit in me sings.” Who is Ruth? Dylan’s first love of his teenager years or the “ghost” of Echo Helstrom? Clinton Heylin has another hypothesis, based on an interview with the British journalist Don Short of London’s Daily Mirror in which Dylan explains, “Sara and I grew up as kids together in Minnesota. Then some years back we met again in a New York restaurant where Sara was working as a waitress. We fell in love—although it was not love at first sight, and five years ago we were married in New York State.”7 So the young woman may be none other than Sara. In this case, one of the last lines of the song takes on a special meaning: “Something there is about you that moves with style and grace / I was in a whirlwind, now I’m in some better place.”
Bob Dylan All the Songs Page 53