Your Weekly Dylan Cover [#14]

Leon Russell
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"
Original Dylan version found on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)

A native Oklahoman, Claude Russell Bridges suddenly found himself an in-demand studio musician in California in the mid-1960s. He was part of the famous "Wall of Sound" on some Phil Spector records and played on songs by artists as diverse as The Byrds, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.

By 1967, the man now billing himself as Leon Russell had a studio built for himself in the Sooner State. With partner Marc Benno, he cut his first solo album, Look Inside The Asylum Choir.

Russell's major breakthrough was his production (with collaborator Denny Cordell) of Joe Cocker!, released in 1969. The album was a hit and contained two Russell-penned compositions, "Hello, Little Friend" and a song that was to become a signature for Cocker: "Delta Lady." A highly successful - and very raucous - tour followed, resulting in the double live LP Mad Dogs & Englishmen.

In late 1970, Russell's second album, released on Shelter Records, was cut in the studio. Leon Russell and the Shelter People remains a great effort worthy of any record collection. Along with a group of stellar originals, Russell tried his hand at a number of Bob Dylan selections during the Shelter People sessions: "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" (which made the cut), "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and "She Belongs To Me" (which all didn't).

And one notable other Dylan gem: "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," the chilling and daunting number that electrified the folk community upon its introduction back in 1962. I still love the way that Russell put his stamp on this cover. His rolling New Orleans-style piano is perfectly accented by the deft slide guitar of Jesse Ed Davis and the ace drumming of Jim Keltner. The vocal is quintessentially Midwestern American - just like the original - except the geographic tone is obviously turned more to the south.

Cocker had also recorded two Beatles' tunes during the Joe Cocker! sessions. This, as well as his studio playing and production prowess, brought Russell to the attention of the Fab Four's Apple Records. Along with George Harrison and Klaus Voorman, Russell was an uncredited musician on Badfinger's Straight Up (1971), an album that spawned two big singles that remain staples on classic rock radio to this day: "Baby Blue" and "Day After Day."

By March 1971 Russell found himself in a small studio in New York's Greenwich Village, playing on and producing some new songs written by Dylan. "Watching The River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece" were included on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.

And on August 1 of that same year, Leon Russell would be standing on stage playing bass with Harrison and Dylan at the Concert For Bangla Desh in New York City. The selection? "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."

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Reams of paper have been devoted to analysis of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." We'll leave you with two quotes.

One from Dylan himself, in a 1963 interview with Studs Turkel on Chicago radio (courtesy transcript in Jonathan Cott's compilation Dylan On Dylan: The Essential Interviews): "No, it's not atomic rain, it's just a hard rain. It isn't the fallout rain. I mean some sort of end that's just gotta happen . . . In the last verse, when I say, 'the pellets of poison are flooding the waters', that means all the lies that people get told on their radios and in their newspapers."

The second is from an emotional Allen Ginsberg, from the Martin Scorsese film No Direction Home:



Original Listening: Bob Dylan, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"

Live Listening: Bob Dylan, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (The Concert For Bangla Desh, 1971; with George Harrison, Leon Russell)

Other Cover Versions: Bryan Ferry, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (These Foolish Things, 1973); Pete Seeger, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (Live in Australia, 1963)

There Will Be News

TNOP stays on top of the latest doings in music for your reading, viewing and listening pleasure. And we promise no one-hour specials for announcements that take all of 15 seconds to make. So without further ado, this news . . .

MIA, The-Dream, Wavves and Ariel Pink are featured in this month's "Summer Music" issue of The Fader.

Express Night Out interviews Wilco's guitar-slinger Nels Cline, who reveals that the band's contract with Nonesuch is over. Recording for the next Wilco (The Album) will commence later this month. "Jeff [Tweedy] was basically not wanting to be on a record label for a while — he didn't renew his contract with Nonesuch — so we're striking out on our own, our own label," Cline said. While Cline added that Wilco might first release a "souvenir" 7" single through their nascent label to coincide with the Wilco-curated Solid Sound Festival, a band rep told Rolling Stone, "It has not yet been determined who will release the next Wilco record, but forming their own label and releasing future albums through it is definitely a potential scenario."

Hard to believe Metro opened in Chicago way back in 1982, but the concert venue is still chugging along. Pitchfork reports that on 22 July a compilation titled Metro: The Official Bootleg Series, Vol. 1 will be for sale, with proceeds benefiting charity Rock For Kids, a non-profit that centers its efforts on providing music lessons to underprivileged children. Tracks from The Flamings Lips, The Decemberists and Alejandro Escovedo are included.

Elton John has recorded an album with the assistance of one of his chief influences, the under appreciated Leon Russell. Called The Union and produced by T-Bone Burnett, it is set for release on 19 October in the US and 25 October in the UK. Russell began his career as a session musician in Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" productions, then went on to produce Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, George Harrison and other notables. "I remember when Leon lost his publishing," Elton told MOJO. "I was so distraught at the time. That was in the '70s. Now his music is with EMI Records and we are hoping to relaunch his catalogue when this album comes out. There's no point in doing this record and not bringing all his great work to light at the same time. It's the old story; you sign your life away when you're young so when you hit 70 you've got nothing left. Look at Nina Simone. We're trying to repair that damage." Musical heavyweights abound on the record: Marc Ribot on guitar, Jim Keltner on drums and guest appearances by Neil Young and Booker T. Jones.

Who discovered America? Ozomatli wants you to remember the Latin contribution to our melting pot. In anticipation of the band's appearance at Celebrate Brooklyn! tonight, they talk to The Village Voice.

Richard Starkey, MBE turned 70 this week. So Paul McCartney sang "Birthday" to him in New York. Before thousands of fans, naturally.

Mark Bowen, the co-founder of Wichita Recordings, talks to The Guardian about his favorite recordings for the label over the first ten years. In addition, Bowen and Dick Green provide The Quietus with a great Spotify playlist.

Dawes contributed a new Daytrotter session this week.

The Oxegen Music Festival, just southwest of Dublin, opens today and continues through the weekend. Headliners this year are Arcade Fire, Muse and Eminem, but the undercards are loaded with great acts. Celtic Ray says don't forget your wellies. And if you can't make it, the next best thing is listening to Nialler9's Oxegen mixtape.

Giving West coast baseball its due (uber-Red Sox fan Stephen King represents the Eastern seaboard above), No Depression brings us this tidbit: On Monday August 9, the San Francisco Giants will pay tribute to Jerry Garcia on the 15th anniversary of his passing. Jerry Garcia Tribute Night will see Garcia’s daughter Annabelle will throw out the first pitch while Bob Weir will perform the National Anthem. Later, during the seventh inning stretch, Mickey Hart will attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest kazoo ensemble, leading more than 7,000 fans in “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.” Fans who purchase special event tickets will receive a seat in the Jerry Garcia designated section at AT&T Park along with a limited edition Jerry Garcia/Giants themed bobblehead, portraying Garcia’s National Anthem performance at Candlestick Park back on 4/12/93. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Rex Foundation.

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are gearing up to tour next spring. Apparently, the hook this time would be performances of the rock opera Quadrophenia, which the duo took on recently at London's Royal Albert Hall with the help of Pearl Jam and Kasabian. Daltrey tells Billboard.com “We definitely don’t want to stop. We feel it’s the role of the artist to go all the way through life ’til you can’t do it anymore.”

That's it from the news desk. Stay cool and listen with us to The Lovin' Spoonful . . .

Your Weekly Dylan Cover [#9]

"When I Paint My Masterpiece"
Elliott Smith
Original Dylan version found on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (1971)

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith often expressed an admiration for Bob Dylan. Asked about early musical influences, Smith commented: "Probably the Beatles, and then Dylan. My father taught me how to play 'Don't Think Twice, It's All Right.' I love Dylan's words, but even more than that, I love the fact that he loves words. That's my favorite thing with him. Sometimes we play 'When I Paint My Masterpiece' in concert." (He also played "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," dedicated to his father in some performances; and, in Minneapolis, Elliott played "Ballad of A Thin Man" in an October 1998 concert. )

"I like folk songs but it is a very defined genre and I think it's not really what I play," said Smith. "For me, the difference between folk and pop is that in folk there is a clear message in every song and there is usually a moral to the story. That's fine but it's not how I write. I like more 'impressionistic' things, word pastings. Pop is broader, more things can be in it together."

His simple take on "When I Paint My Masterpiece" above is from an impromptu performance at Boston's Newbury Comics on 5 October 1998.

Elliott Smith would appear on Saturday Night Live 12 days later. And despite having been nominated for an Academy Award and solid album successes Either/Or, XO and Figure 8, Smith - plagued by harrowing mental illness most of his life - would be dead less than five years later.

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I remember receiving Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 for Christmas in 1971 on a new fangled format: cassette tape. Two LPs could fit on one compact cartridge! The player that I had was the equivalent of a cassette "Close 'N Play": an orange plastic contraption with one tin speaker, an exposed area to pop in the tape and a single pushdown bar to start or stop the music (yep - no rewind, forward or record, just the Neanderthal basics).

The new Dylan songs were the curiosity on Vol. 2. One of the new originals, "When I Paint My Masterpiece," immediately starts abruptly following applause from the 1963 Town Hall live recording of "Tomorrow Is A Long Time." The tune is another playful Dylan ramble, indirectly commenting on the pleasures and bothers of the road for a particular musician. It is one of two songs on the LP produced by the under-appreciated Leon Russell, who was starting to make his mark with both Joe Cocker (Mad Dogs & Englishmen) and as a solo artist (Leon Russell & The Shelter People).

Original Listening: Bob Dylan, "When I Paint My Masterpiece"

Other Cover Version: The Band, "When I Paint My Masterpiece" (Cahoots, 1971)