Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues from Tour 66

The next song from my archives is Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues from Dylan's World Tour 66. Recorded in Liverpool on May 14, 1966, it was the b-side of the single release of I Want You.

For most Dylan fans, this song was the first hint of the power and the magic of the music from the 66 Tour. Released long before any bootleg, it is a recording filled with the sound of Bob and the band that shocked the audiences across the world in 1966. From all accounts, these shows were so loud that many in the audience were freaked out.

Well before I knew anything about this tour, I was blown away by the sound of Bob playing this song live. Once I got this 45, I played it to death. Listen to the desperation in Bob's voice and the playing of the band as he barks out the famous line in the last verse: I started out on Burgundy, but soon hit the harder stuffffffffff:

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

Always one of my favorites from Highway 61 Revisited, this song features Dylan's surreal lyrics at their best. The story of Dylan's characters in Juarez, Mexico is told backed by the excellent playing of the band. This version reveals the power and weariness of that tour.

This particular track was taken from the essential box set of the tour called Genuine Live 66. If you like the music from this part of Bob's amazing career, you should own a copy. It is often available on eBay under the Bob Dylan listings.

Songs from my archives: My Babe by Little Walter

This post is the start of a weekly series on songs from my archives. I plan to feature music and artists you may not be familiar with. I hope you like what you hear.

The first song is classic Chicago blues from the great Little Walter. My Babe was written by Willie Dixon for Walter in 1955. Recorded with Robert Lockwood, Jr (guitar), Willie Dixon (bass), and Fred Bellow (drums), it features Walter's killer harp and vocals. This version went to number 1 on the R and B charts in March 0f 1955. It was later covered by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, The Animals, and many others.

My Babe

Little Walter is considered by blues fans to be one of the best players ever to pick up a harmonica. His unique style and tone came from playing through a microphone and amplifier. He was one of the first to distort his sound in this way. Besides his own records, he can be heard on many of the Chess records of that era.

If you like what you hear, there are several Little Walter collections available. The Best of Little Walter and Little Walter: The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection are on iTunes or Amazon.

Guitar Whispering: Robert Earl Keen

I really enjoyed this article from The New Yorker about Robert Earl Keen. It is well written and really captures Robert's personality and sly wit. I am happy that the new album, The Rose Hotel, has been very well received by critics and fans. It is nice to see Robert getting the kind of recognition he deserves.

Click here to read full article

Robert has been busy the last two months. After attending the Malta bird hunt and reverse wine tasting with notables such as Tequila Bob and Perry S., he went out on tour with Todd Snider and Bruce Robison. The tour was a departure for Robert. He left the band at home to play solo with these two great songwriters. It was REK unplugged, if you will.

Although I didn't see the show myself, I have gotten several reports. Tony from Freer said the show in Wilmington was excellent. He did wonder why there wasn't a 4th stool on the stage. Wait for the show in Hebbronville, Bump. Scott F*g*n was in the audience at Town Hall in New York with some friends. He said: "The show was good."

After that show, Robert and the band were on Imus in the Morning. They played three songs including The Man Behind the Drums. The music sounded great and Imus was quite enthusiastic.

If you don't own The Rose Hotel, you need to pick it up. It is available on iTunes and from Amazon.

Bob Dylan at Bonnaroo 2004

I have been flying around a lot in the last few weeks. This has given me a chance to listen to my iPod rather than my satellite radio. I rediscovered this classic bootleg from Bob's performance at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on July 11, 2004. I got these tracks a while back from BobCat Numero Uno, who is the king of the bootlegs. Thanks for the loan.

The show had a great set list and the recording has good sound for a bootleg. Larry Campbell was still in the band. He does a great job on guitar, particularly the pedal steel on Pancho and Lefty

Bob did two great covers as part of his set. First up was Merle Haggard's Sing Me Back Home, which has always been one of my favorite Haggard songs. Next, Bob took on the classic Townes Van Zandt song that Merle and Willie made famous: Pancho and Lefty.

There has always been a connection in my mind between Bob and Merle. This may be because they are two of the best songwriters touring today or it may be because I have seen Merle open for Bob on two occasions (see my post from Feb 2, 2009). Have a listen to these two tunes:

Sing Me Back Home

Pancho and Lefty

I was also blown away by this song from the 1997 Grammy winning album Time Out of Mind. This is my favorite song from the album and one that Bob doesn't play live very often. I have never been lucky enough to hear it live. Have a listen:

Trying to Get to Heaven

Much has been made of Bob's reduced singing capabilities. On this song, he sounds better than usual. Of course, I am a fan regardless of his singing. It is just good to have him still out there on the Never Ending Tour.

Phillies Baseball, Dock Ellis and LSD

Although the Yankees have been raining on our parade the last few nights, this lifelong Phillies fan is still very excited about the World Series. It is great to have the Phillies back in the Series after winning it all last year.

All Philadelphia sports fans can be described as long suffering and I can testify to that pain. At the tender age of 12 years old in 1964, I was in 6th grade when the Gene Mauch coached team blew a 6 1/2 game lead with 12 games to go and lost NL pennant on the last day of the season. You talk about painful. At the time, I thought my young life was over.

I still can remember listening on my AM radio to the game that began the slump of all slumps. We were playing the Cincinnati Reds when Chico Ruiz stole home in a 1-0 loss. It was the beginning of the end.

Years later after the Phillies had won the World Series 1980, I ran into Mike Schmidt at a golf event. In front of my good friend George Smith, I launched into a long story to Mike about how the '64 collapse had scared my childhood, but he and the 1980 team had made it up to me. Mike looked a little surprised by all this and afterward all F**ty could say to me was: "What the hell was that all about?"

Until I head the song about Dock Ellis on the latest Todd Snider album, I had forgotten about Dock's amazing feat. On June 12, 1970, thinking that he had the night off, Dock Ellis arrived at the ballpark under the influence of LSD. Much to his surprise, he was actually the starting pitcher. He then proceeded to throw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres.

As Dock later recounted the night, he wrote:

"I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria. I started having a crazy idea in the fourth inning that Richard Nixon was the home plate umpire, and once I thought I was pitching a baseball to Jimi Hendrix, who to me was holding a guitar and swinging it over the plate."

Have a listen to this great song by Todd Snider:

America's Favorite Pastime

GO PHILLIES!

STEALIN': Bootlegs and My Life Part 3

By the time Stealin' was released in the fall of 1969, bootlegs had come to the suburbs. To purchase my first copy of The Great White Wonder (see post from April 23, 2009), I had to navigate the wilds of downtown Philadelphia. This time, I was able to pick up a copy of Stealin' at my local record store next to the train station in Bryn Mawr. That was very convenient.

My copy, which can be seen in the photo, is an original blue label Har-Kub copy. The funny thing is that I can remember clearly buying it 40 years ago this month. In those long ago days, a trip to the record store after school would sometimes be rewarded with the latest Dylan bootleg. It is hard to describe the excitement that came from each of these new releases. By late 1969, I had played the regular albums to death, so it was a big deal to have some new material to enjoy. In those early days of bootlegs, no one had any idea of the vast amount of Dylan's music that would surface over the next few years.

Stealin' was the next glimpse into Dylan's unreleased catalogue after The Great White Wonder. As you can see from the photo, there was not any improvement in the packaging. The difference was that the sound quality was excellent and the material was very well chosen. Most of the songs were outtakes from the albums that were recorded at the height of Dylan's early creativity. For these reasons, it is thought to be one of the very best of all Dylan bootlegs.

The album kicks off with Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window, which is one of my favorite Dylan tunes from 1965. Even though this song was released as a single, at the time it slipped through the cracks, probably because it was never on an album. This is one of the two different versions from the Highway 61 Revisited sessions. The single version was recorded later with The Band and has the distinctive cowbell percussion and Garth's swirling organ. Have a listen here to the Highway 61 outtake, which is the high spot of Stealin': Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window

Side one continues with two more cuts from the same sessions. There is an alternate version of It Takes a Lot to Laugh and a little throwaway riff, that has been widely bootlegged, called Sitting on a Barb Wire Fence. The rest of the side contains one outtake and two alternate versions from the Bringing It All Back Home sessions: If You Gotta Go, Go Now, She Belongs To Me and Love Minus Zero/No Limit.

Side two begins with another outtake from Bringing It All Back Home: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, as well as three songs from The Times They Are A-Changin' sessions: The Cough Song, New Orleans Rag and That's All Right, Mama. These are followed by four songs from the 1961 Minneapolis tape, which was featured on The Great White Wonder. They are Hard Times in New York, Stealin', Wade in the Water and Cocaine.

My second favorite cut on the record at the time was That's All Right, Mama. Bob's piano playing on the track is great and it was cool to hear him covering a song that was the first single released by Elvis Presley. In the dark days before Self Portrait, no one knew that Bob would ever record anything other than his own material. Have a listen to this:

That's All Right, Mama

Even after thousands of bootlegs have been released, Stealin' stands out as one of the best of all. If you owned it in those early days, you know why I am writing about it.

Levon Helm: The Man Behind the Drums by Robert Earl Keen

One of the best songs on The Rose Hotel, which is the great new album from Robert Earl Keen, is his tribute to Levon Helm called The Man Behind the Drums. All of the songs on the album are excellent, but this one has special meaning for me. As anyone who reads this blog can tell, I am a huge fan of The Band (see posts from Sept 20, 2009 and April 14, 2009). It is treat for me to hear Robert singing about my favorite drummer Levon Helm.

The song was written by Robert and his bass player Bill Whitbeck about the night they played at Levon's Midnight Ramble. Hope you enjoy it. Listen here to The Man Behind the Drums

I know a little bit about the origins of this song. In September of 2008, Robert played two dates in New York. The first was in the City and I was lucky to be in attendance that night. The next night, they played in Woodstock as the opening act at Levon's Midnight Ramble. I had planned to go, but changed my mind at the last minute. Robert and his band had a great time that night. They even got to join Levon on stage for the ultimate camp fire sing-a-long The Weight. As you can imagine, I am still regretting not tagging along.

If you like what you hear on this track, check out the rest of the music on The Rose Hotel.