The radio host's name was Cynthia Gooding. She wasn't just some generic DJ, but someone Dylan probably had a lot of respect for. She had a music career of her own, releasing nine albums of folk music from 1951 to 1962. So I'm sure she knew much about Dylan and he knew much about her, back at a time when Dylan was unheard of outside New York City, shortly before his first album was released.
When this was recorded, Gooding hosted this episode of a WBAI radio show called "Folksinger's Choice." What's great is that unlike most radio station appearances which are short, this one seemed to have no time pressure at all. This recording lasts an hour and eleven minutes. Gooding asked good questions and got good answers, while keeping the mood light and playful. It really is a one-of-a-kind recording in Dylan's long career.
For the most part, Dylan played covers, but there are some exceptions. The originals are: "The Death of Emmett Till," "Standing on the Highway," "Hard Times in New York Town," and "The Ballad of Donald White." Although they're not entirely originals, because Dylan was still in the habit of adding his own lyrics to traditional folk tunes. Still, even at this early date, it was clear that there was something very special about him. Consider for instance how Gooding is (understandably) floored by Dylan's new racial injustice song "The Ballad of Emmett Till," calling it "one of the greatest contemporary ballads I've ever heard."
At the time, Dylan had so many cover songs in his repertoire that there isn't much overlap between the songs here and the songs from the other albums I've posted from around this time, like "Carnegie Chapter Hall" and "The Hotel Tape," both recorded just a few months earlier. For many of these songs, these are the only high-quality recordings that survive. Surprisingly, none of the performances have ever been officially released, although parts of the interview have been released on the CD-ROM "Highway 61 Interactive" and the DVD "No Direction Home."
By the way, it seems that only the first 21 tracks here were played on the radio at the time. The remaining eight tracks appear to be the parts that got cut due to time restrictions. You'd never know from listening to it though, since the flow is seamless, including Gooding signing off at the very end. On a couple of those cut songs, "Wichita Blues" and "Acne," you can hear additional voices singing along. I don't know who those voices are, but apparently several other people were at the taping of the show who otherwise stayed totally quiet and unmentioned: Dylan's friends Mel and Lillian Bailey, Dylan's long-term girlfriend Suze Rotolo, and Gooding's daughters Leyla and Ayshe. So it could be any combination of them, as well as maybe Cynthia Gooding too.
Now, I have to admit that I made two drastic edits that some people might object to. I cut out sections of Dylan's comments in tracks 12 and 16. The reason for this is because Dylan made up some outrageous lies, and it pains me to hear them, so I cut all the lying. In short, when Dylan started his music career, he made up an outrageous backstory to his life in order to help draw attention to himself. In this interview, he claimed to have left school early and that he worked in a traveling carnival for six years, when in fact he did no such things. He didn't drop out of school until the end of his first year in college. So yeah, I have trouble listening to those bits, and edited them out. Sorry.
01 [I Heard That] Lonesome Whistle (Bob Dylan)
02 talk (Bob Dylan)
03 Fixin' to Die (Bob Dylan)
04 talk (Bob Dylan)
05 Smokestack Lightning (Bob Dylan)
06 talk (Bob Dylan)
07 Hard Travelin' (Bob Dylan)
08 talk (Bob Dylan)
09 The Death of Emmett Till (Bob Dylan)
10 talk (Bob Dylan)
11 Standing on the Highway (Bob Dylan)
12 talk [Edit] (Bob Dylan)
13 Roll On, John (Bob Dylan)
14 talk (Bob Dylan)
15 Stealin' (Bob Dylan)
16 talk [Edit] (Bob Dylan)
17 [It Makes A] Long Time Man Feel Bad (Bob Dylan)
18 talk (Bob Dylan)
19 Baby, Please Don't Go (Bob Dylan)
20 talk (Bob Dylan)
21 Hard Times in New York Town (Bob Dylan)
22 The Ballad of Donald White (Bob Dylan)
23 Wichita Blues [Going to Louisiana] (Bob Dylan)
24 talk (Bob Dylan)
25 Acne [Teenager in Love] (Bob Dylan)
26 talk (Bob Dylan)
27 Rocks and Gravel [Solid Road - Alabama Woman] (Bob Dylan)
28 Long Time Man (Bob Dylan)
29 talk (Bob Dylan)
I'm pleased at how the cover art turned out here. I wish I was able to find a photo of Dylan and Gooding together, but I couldn't find one (if any such photo exists). However, I did find a photo from around this time period when Dylan was in a recording studio with his girlfriend mentioned above, Suze Rotolo. I cropped it so all you can see are some of Rotolo's legs. Hopefully, if you didn't read this paragraph, you'd assume the photo come from this very recording session. The only snag was that this color was in black and white, and I hate that, so I colorized it.
I also was keen to have a photo of Dylan wearing a black cap. That was kind of his trademark look at the time, and Gooding teased him about it multiple times during the recording, so you know he was wearing it then.
Thanks, Paul. I find Dylan's tall tales about his youth kind of endearing now. He was trying to "find himself" and reinvent himself in the romantic image of his heroes, especially Woody Guthrie. One of the funniest moments of this show (IIRC) is when Gooding reminds him that when she first met him, he was playing rock'n'roll songs and he gets really flustered and tries to bluff his way out of it. To me, the "lies" are just a marker of his youth.
ReplyDeleteI see your perspective. But from my perspective, I cringe every time I hear his outrageous lies on this recording, so I cut them out. I don't like cringing. ;)
DeleteI like the tall tales too. They give us an entertaining insight into the young Dylan, and I would prefer them to be included.
ReplyDeleteThis is just one version. The bootleg is widely available elsewhere if you want those bits. I probably cut out two or three minutes in total.
DeleteAccording to the amazing Still on the Road database (http://www.bjorner.com/still.htm), songs 1-21 were recorded at WBAI radio studios for a show hosted by Cynthia Gooding and the others were recorded at her apartment about a month later. Since Suze Rotolo was at the party where the second group was taped, that picture could be from the original session.
ReplyDeleteI consulted Still on the Road before posting. Actually, if you look at that closely, it says the "first session" took place in "Early February" and the "second session" took place in "February or March." So it's possible the "second session" took place at the same time and is the cut bits, or it could even have been a practice session recorded shortly before. Either of those options makes more sense than it being a party later. Consider that the talking between songs is exactly the same interview format as before. They would just be having fun, not carrying on exactly as if they were thinking it was going to be played on the radio.
DeleteMany thanks!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like.
Delete