Bob Dylan song about JFK assassination

[Pamela Brown]

The first Murder Most Foul...

https://theothermozart.wordpress.com/2021/12/05/on-the-230th-anniversary-of-the-death-of-wolfgang-mozart/

BTW, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated in their limo on this day in 1914. This tragic event led to the outbreak of WWI.  I see this as another Murder Most Foul...

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand,_June_1914_Q79761.jpg

[Pamela Brown]

Looks like Bob's buddy "Zeus" (of Zeus News fame) might have written this press release...

https://nypost.com/2022/07/28/woman-drops-sham-sex-assault-suit-against-bob-dylan-lawyer/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alert&utm_content=20220728&lctg=6079ac247030294703924bca&utm_term=NYP - News Alerts

Sounds to me like LARS, part deux...

(Or maybe this woman was actually 'Johanna', and Bob owes her a fortune...)

[Pamela Brown]

One reason I have been fascinated with MMF is that, after the murder of George Floyd, on Dylan's birthday (actually, the night of the next day) I began to wonder if the song itself was somehow intended to create a "MMF"...which it did. The aftermath of this murder in the Twin Cities still has me reeling. 

And then, oddly, I realized that someone whom I consider a true Dylan insider (there are fanatic fans that I consider wanna-be's) bore a distinct resemblance to George Floyd.  This person, who also happens to be a Mason,  had been pointing me to things I had not considered.  This person happened to go to my high school (not at the same time as me).

Maybe it was just a coincidence...but when this person invited me to coffee, and  I realized I was not comfortable doing that, for their safety, my questioning began in earnest... 

 

[Pamela Brown]

https://dylagence.wordpress.com/2022/09/25/the-corona-typewriter-plague-of-pilfered-lyrics/

[Pamela Brown]

Updated, after Pres. Biden's "Armageddon" statement...

https://dylagence.wordpress.com/2022/09/25/the-corona-typewriter-plague-of-pilfered-lyrics/

[W. Niederhut]

This is not about JFK or Murder Most Foul, per se, but it's an interesting read for those of us who are Dylan fans, written by an English professor from the University of Maryland.

How Bob Dylan used the ancient practice of 'imitatio' to craft some of the most original songs of his time (theconversation.com)

October 17, 2022

[John Cotter]

On 10/17/2022 at 6:37 PM, W. Niederhut said:

This is not about JFK or Murder Most Foul, per se, but it's an interesting read for those of us who are Dylan fans, written by an English professor from the University of Maryland.

How Bob Dylan used the ancient practice of 'imitatio' to craft some of the most original songs of his time (theconversation.com)

October 17, 2022

That’s interesting. One could argue that all lyric poetry involves some degree of imitation, going back to the poetry of Sappho in 500 BC, the influence of which one can see even in modern pop songs.

Bob Dylan implied as much when he called himself after Dylan Thomas, especially in view of the “stream of consciousness” effect his lyrics share with Dylan Thomas’s poetry. He also implied it when he said, “The world don’t need any more songs” (interview with Paul Zollo in Zollo’s book, Song-writers on Song-writing).

Maybe that’s why Samuel Beckett whittled his output down to the bare and sometimes barely intelligible minimum as his career “progressed”.

Is there anything new left to be said?

[Pete Mellor]

On 10/17/2022 at 6:37 PM, W. Niederhut said:

This is not about JFK or Murder Most Foul, per se, but it's an interesting read for those of us who are Dylan fans, written by an English professor from the University of Maryland.

How Bob Dylan used the ancient practice of 'imitatio' to craft some of the most original songs of his time (theconversation.com)

October 17, 2022

A professor of English rather than an English professor.  Interesting article Bill.  I do think that Bob was into 'imitatio' in his Greenwich Village days with his Guthriesque image.  I have always marvelled at Dylan more as a 'sponge' than a direct imitator.  It has been written that Bob could listen to a song just once and pick up the whole thing but maybe make it his own, as the example of 'Hard Rain' in Falco's piece.

His sponge has soaked up traditional English folk roots and American Folk/Country/Blues etc., as anyone can hear who has tuned into his 'Radio Hour' broadcasts. Yet, he remains unique. I would love to delve through his recorded music collection!  He has tipped his hat to many artists to acknowledge their influence, from Guthrie to "nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell" and his latest album 'Rough & Rowdy Ways' has that photograph of Jimmie Rogers on the cover.  The Rogers tribute continues with various artists covering Rogers's songs on Dylan's own record label Egyptian Records.

I'm not one to argue with the learned prof., & his 'imitatio', but Zimmy for me is a unique musical artist, just one of a kind. Sure, it's all been done before, it's all been written in the book, but (getting back on topic) who else in the music world would release a single like 'Murder Most Foul'? 

Just another 14 days to go before I watch him play 'live' in a 7th continuous decade!

[W. Niederhut]

6 hours ago, Pete Mellor said:

A professor of English rather than an English professor.  Interesting article Bill.  I do think that Bob was into 'imitatio' in his Greenwich Village days with his Guthriesque image.  I have always marvelled at Dylan more as a 'sponge' than a direct imitator.  It has been written that Bob could listen to a song just once and pick up the whole thing but maybe make it his own, as the example of 'Hard Rain' in Falco's piece.

His sponge has soaked up traditional English folk roots and American Folk/Country/Blues etc., as anyone can hear who has tuned into his 'Radio Hour' broadcasts. Yet, he remains unique. I would love to delve through his recorded music collection!  He has tipped his hat to many artists to acknowledge their influence, from Guthrie to "nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell" and his latest album 'Rough & Rowdy Ways' has that photograph of Jimmie Rogers on the cover.  The Rogers tribute continues with various artists covering Rogers's songs on Dylan's own record label Egyptian Records.

I'm not one to argue with the learned prof., & his 'imitatio', but Zimmy for me is a unique musical artist, just one of a kind. Sure, it's all been done before, it's all been written in the book, but (getting back on topic) who else in the music world would release a single like 'Murder Most Foul'? 

Just another 14 days to go before I watch him play 'live' in a 7th continuous decade!

Pete,

     I remember when Dylan was criticized by some critics for lifting a lot of lines from black folk blues classics on the Love and Theft album-- "Well, I'm getting up in the morning, I believe I'll dust my broom/ I'm keeping away from the women, I'm giving 'em lots of room." -- but I have always loved that album.   It's a kind of anthology of black blues folklore, one of my favorites.  In fact, borrowing/stealing black folklore was a deliberate theme of that album, back in the years before Dylan was recognized as a literary genius by the Nobel establishment.

Edited October 19, 2022 by W. Niederhut

[Pamela Brown]

Update...

https://dylagence.wordpress.com/2022/09/25/the-corona-typewriter-plague-of-pilfered-lyrics/

[W. Niederhut]

Dylan has published his first book since Chronicles.

I'll probably read this, despite the negative review here at Slate.

I noticed that U2 singer/songwriter Bono has also just published a book about his songs, which I will, most definitely, read.

 

Bob Dylan’s Philosophy of Modern Song is by turns brilliant, nonsensical, and misogynistic. (slate.com)

November 1, 2022

Edited November 2, 2022 by W. Niederhut

[Pete Mellor]

12 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

I'll probably read this, despite the negative review here at Slate.

I'll probably give this a miss.  Rather see a 'Chronicles II'.

Was in the presence of the man last night.  A lot less 'rocky' set, but maybe understandable for a man over 80y.o.

A mix of the 'Rough & Rowdy' album with old songs re-worked such as :- "Watching the River Flow", "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine", "When I Paint My Masterpiece", "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", "To Be Alone With You", "Gotta Serve Somebody" and finishing with "Every Grain of Sand".  We also got the old standard "That Old Black Magic".

 

[W. Niederhut]

6 hours ago, Pete Mellor said:

I'll probably give this a miss.  Rather see a 'Chronicles II'.

Was in the presence of the man last night.  A lot less 'rocky' set, but maybe understandable for a man over 80y.o.

A mix of the 'Rough & Rowdy' album with old songs re-worked such as :- "Watching the River Flow", "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine", "When I Paint My Masterpiece", "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", "To Be Alone With You", "Gotta Serve Somebody" and finishing with "Every Grain of Sand".  We also got the old standard "That Old Black Magic".

 

Pete,

I've been waiting a long time for Chronicles II.  Dylan has an unusual prose style which I enjoy reading.  I would liken it to what psychiatrists describe as a "flight of ideas" in manic thought and speech.  It's colorful and often quite profound, as in the case of his historical collage/word salad in Murder Most Foul.

So, I just ordered a hardback copy of Dylan's new book.  The eclectic list of songs/chapter titles intrigued me, including a chapter on one of my all-time favorite songs-- the 1957 Eurovision hit from Italy, Volare.

As for I'll Be Your Baby, Tonight, it's a terrific, s-h-i-t-kicking, strangely Freudian, country western song from Dylan's 1967 John Wesley Hardin album, which has been covered by almost everyone over the years.

I made my own basement studio recording of the song years ago, using my cheap lap steel guitar to try to simulate Dylan's original pedal steel guitar accompaniment.

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight by Guillermo Ambrose | SoundClick

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by W. Niederhut

[John Cotter]

4 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

Pete,

I've been waiting a long time for Chronicles II.  Dylan has an unusual prose style which I enjoy reading.  I would liken it to what psychiatrists describe as a "flight of ideas" in manic thought and speech.  It's colorful and often quite profound, as in the case of his historical collage/word salad in Murder Most Foul.

So, I just ordered a hardback copy of Dylan's new book.  The eclectic list of songs/chapter titles intrigued me, including a chapter on one of my all-time favorite songs-- the 1957 Eurovision hit from Italy, Volare.

As for I'll Be Your Baby, Tonight, it's a terrific, s-h-i-t-kicking, strangely Freudian, country western song from Dylan's 1967 John Wesley Hardin album, which has been covered by almost everyone over the years.

I made my own basement studio recording of the song years ago, using my cheap lap steel guitar to try to simulate Dylan's original pedal steel guitar accompaniment.

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight by Guillermo Ambrose | SoundClick

 

Nice rendition, William. Yes, it's another terrific Dylan song.

I've always been fascinated as to the springs of that kind of creativity. I read some of Dylan's autobiography, Chronicles, but gave up about halfways through because I felt he was very cleverly not giving anything away.

That's okay with song lyrics because, as I understand it, art is about symbolic, not literal, representation, so it's more concerned with the archetypal than the personal.

But when you read an artist's autobiography or memoir you want to learn about the person behind the art. I didn't get any of that from Chronicles, whereas I did get it from, say, the memoirs of Keith Richards and Morrissey.

Edited November 3, 2022 by John Cotter

[Pete Mellor]

16 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

Pete,

I've been waiting a long time for Chronicles II.  Dylan has an unusual prose style which I enjoy reading.  I would liken it to what psychiatrists describe as a "flight of ideas" in manic thought and speech.  It's colorful and often quite profound, as in the case of his historical collage/word salad in Murder Most Foul.

So, I just ordered a hardback copy of Dylan's new book.  The eclectic list of songs/chapter titles intrigued me, including a chapter on one of my all-time favorite songs-- the 1957 Eurovision hit from Italy, Volare.

As for I'll Be Your Baby, Tonight, it's a terrific, s-h-i-t-kicking, strangely Freudian, country western song from Dylan's 1967 John Wesley Hardin album, which has been covered by almost everyone over the years.

I made my own basement studio recording of the song years ago, using my cheap lap steel guitar to try to simulate Dylan's original pedal steel guitar accompaniment.

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight by Guillermo Ambrose | SoundClick

 

W.  Great rendition of 'IBYBT'.  True to the original.  Bobby's performances of all the 'Rough & Rowdy' songs were true to the album.  It was his usual re-arrangements of old stuff that had me struggling to catch what song he was singing until he hit the song title line, so different were his new interpretations of old stuff.  But he's been doing that for years!

Getting back 'on-topic' I was wishing for 'Murder Most Foul' to be in the set list.  Sadly, not included.