Number 491 - Bob Dylan

Number 491

Bob Dylan

"Lay Lady Lay"

(1969)

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Genre: Folk Rock

art & print available @ soheir

If you want to play with knives ..... be prepared to be stabbed. That's what I tell myself every time I write about Bob Dylan. You see, I don't see him as an institution as .... oh say 304 million Americans and just for icing, 60 million Britt's and not to mention the countless handful of people outside those countries. (Excuse me while I change into my bulletproof ninja outfit) Right where was I? Oh yea .... Bob bashing. Anyway, and this is only my opinion, Bob has sung (sang?) about 5 decent songs that would be considered world chart worthy. "The Hurricane" ~ 1975 (definitely), "I Want You" ~ 1966 (brilliantly honest),"Subterranean Homesick Blues" ~ 1965 (the video to this song was decades ahead of its time), "The Times They Are a-Changin" ~ 1965 (classic folk music), & lastly "Lay Lady Lay" ~ 1969 (Its nice, yanno?). But those 5 songs, well that's all I could stomach in one listen.

As a songwriter? Bob is excellent, he's right up there with Neil Sedaka. As a poet? Well, he would be easily one of America's best. As a singing artist? Ah, I'll say say a B- (this is my way of trying to be pleasant). Let just say .... he would never make an American Idol season.

17 million units sold

The best way I can surmise Bob Dylan is like this: Bob Dylan has never had a Number 1 single. (However, oddly, Bob had had 4 Number 1 Albums). Rolling Stone rated "Like A Rolling Stone" the Number One Song of All Time (which is criminal) but also rated Mr Dylan the 2nd Greatest/Important Immortal of Rock & Roll! How could that happen? He's never had one single Number 1 hit! Hell, Ricky Martin sold 17 million copies of his Number 1 hit "Livin la Vida Loca" (and no, I don't like that song either), 17 million sales from one single that outsold all Bob Dylan singles put together in 50 years! (Go data gatherers, prove me wrong) but my point is ... does that make Ricky Martin the Number One Immortal* ?? Of course not, don't be ludicrous.

I seriously question the validity of Bob Dylan on both counts, I'm sorry Rolling Stone (and America) ... But I'm just not buying it, I just love rock n roll to much not to care ~ crowbarred (crowbarred will be taking a 6 month vacation so he can get a new identity & name and to be relocated ... and no, not the USA)

* Phew, Rolling Stone got one right, Number One indeed was The Beatles

Lay Lady Lay

art by artume2-4
"Lay Lady Lay" is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his Nashville Skyline album. The words of the song are sung by Dylan in a low, soft-sounding voice instead of his familiar high-pitched nasal-sounding voice. Dylan credited his "new" voice to quitting smoking before recording the song, but some unreleased bootleg tapes from the early '60s reveal that this was an aspect of his vocal persona that he had actually possessed since at least that time. Released as a single in July of 1969, it became one of Dylan's biggest US Pop chart hits, peaking at number seven. The single did even better on the UK Singles Chart, reaching the number five spot. It is often performed live by Dylan, and was included on the Hard Rain and Before the Flood albums. It also appears on his quintuple-platinum Greatest Hits, Volume II album, as well as on compilations Biograph and The Essential Bob Dylan. The song was originally written for the soundtrack of the movie Midnight Cowboy, but wasn't submitted in time to make the final cut.

art by DizzyEmotions

Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers has been quoted that Dylan offered them the song to record in the following way. The Everlys were appearing at the Bottom Line in New York, and after the show, Dylan went backstage to visit with them. Phil asked if Bob had any new songs they might record, and he said yes, there was one they could have. He picked up a guitar and sang, but so quietly that the Everlys could not clearly make out all the words, and thought they heard "lay lady lay, lay across my big breasts, babe." Thinking it was a song about lesbians, Don Everly said "thank you, it's a great song, but I don't think we could get away with that", and declined to record it. Dylan did not question them about it and went on to cut the track himself. Months later, they heard Dylan's version on the radio and realized they'd misunderstood the words. The Everlys felt they'd missed a big opportunity and later recorded the song on their album, "EB 84". ~ [Source:Wikipedia] {that's one of the funnier music stories I have heard in a while}

For more Bob Dylan see Number 841 & Number 929

For Ricky Martin see Number 903 & Number 948

For the Beatles see Number 587, #894 & #947

What does Rolling Stone think of Bob (Like we don't know)

For over 40 years, Bob Dylan has remained, along with James Brown, the most influential American musician rock and roll has ever produced and the most important of the ’60s. Inscrutable and unpredictable, Dylan has been both deified and denounced for every shift of interest, while whole schools of musicians took up his ideas. His lyrics — the first in rock to be seriously regarded as literature — became so well known that politicians from Jimmy Carter to Vaclav Havel have cited them as an influence. By personalizing folk songs, Dylan reinvented the singer-songwriter genre; by performing his allusive, poetic songs in his nasal, spontaneous vocal style with an electric band, he enlarged pop’s range and vocabulary while creating a widely imitated sound. By recording with Nashville veterans, he reconnected rock and country, hinting at the country rock of the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, although he often seemed to flounder (particularly in the 1980s), he still had the ability to challenge, influence, and surprise listener — something he did more reliably from the late-1990s forward than at any time since early in his career. ~ [[very shortend 2000 pg review] Updated from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll - Simon & Schuster, 2001]] Good grief .... self ranting worship at its best ~ crowbarred

For James Brown see Number 741

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '491st Song of all Time' was "You Dont Have To Say You Love Me" by Dusty Springfeild. Dusty Springfield has not appeared in The Definitive 1000.

Other songs with reference to Bob Dylan #515, #518, #530, #541, #543, #559, #565, #569, #585, #591, #601, #610, #612, #616, #623, #633, #637, #664, #677, #685, #690, #742, #758, #783, #784, #790, #795, #802, #907, #958, #969

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Out of 500 songs we chose 400 of Dylans .. but this one didnt make it- Ha!) the Album ranked at Number (Same as above ... God we love Dylan)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 75.7 out of 108

Bob Dylan - Lay Lady Lay (Live 1976 Miami)
Uploaded by alexandru2006. - See the latest featured music videos.

Lyrics to the song . Please report broken vid

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