He thanked people who had played a key role in his early career, ranging from talent scout John Hammond to music publisher Lou Levy, as well as artists who recorded his songs early on, such as Peter, Paul & Mary. “They took a song of mine that was buried,” he said, alluding to “Blowin’ in the Wind.” “They straightened it out. It’s not the way I would have recorded it (but they made it a smash).”
He also thanked the Byrds, the Turtles, and Sonny & Cher. “Their versions of my songs were like commercials,” he said. He also singled out the Staple Singers, Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, and Joan Baez. (“She was the queen of folk music then, and she’s the queen of folk music now,” he said of Baez. “…I learned a lot from her.”)
Dylan says "Sonny & Cher," but if you look closely at that video, you'll see Cher is singing the "Sonny" voice too.
ADDED: More from Bob's speech here. Don't miss the part about Tom T. Hall's song "I Love" being "a little over-cooked." As for what he said about Merle Haggard, well, Merle Haggard responds here: "Bob Dylan I've admired your songs since 1964. 'Don't Think Twice' Bob, Willie and I just recorded it on our new album."
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35 comments:
Is there anything more thankful than thanks?
Cher looks like Edith Ann in that video freeze frame.
Any one who helped Dylan's career should be shot at dawn, for crimes against humanity.
The Byrds version is so much better than this.
Did Dylan thank Pete Seeger who threatened to cut the umbilical cord of his nascent electric sound?
AReasonableMan said...Any one who helped Dylan's career should be shot at dawn, for crimes against humanity.
That's just callous and mean.
She's not singing any of it, not live, anyway. The last few seconds betray the crappy lip-sync.
Did he thank Bobby Vee?
Bob Ellison wrote:
She's not singing any of it, not live, anyway. The last few seconds betray the crappy lip-sync
Even moreso that he isn't even pretending his lines at all. Half of the voices are actually Sonny. And he's walking around yawning. Meanwhile she's lip syching his parts.
Did he thank Buddy Holly, who he saw in concert 3 days before the plane crash?
Ann Althouse said...Cher looks like Edith Ann in that video freeze frame.
Wrong link, I think. But from that video, Cher did vastly improve her looks with age.
What's her secret?
"The Byrds version is so much better than this."
I agree. I love The Byrds. First concert I ever saw was The Byrds. Newark Symphony Hall. March 27, 1966.
I got to Bob Dylan through The Byrds, so the "commercial" worked on me.
I did love Sonny & Cher from the moment I first heard "It Ain't Me Babe" on the radio (late at night, when I was able to pick up a great Fort Wayne, Indiana station from my home in Wayne, New Jersey). But I agree that her "All I Really Want to Do" isn't better than The Byrds.
There harder question is whether The Turtles bested The Byrds on "It Ain't Me Babe." I think they did.
Sorry about the Edith Ann link. It should go here.
There is no "Sonny voice" in the song. Cher recorded "All I Really Want To Do" in 1965 as a solo artist, not as "Sonny and Cher". When she gets nasally she is probably trying to imitate Dylan, not her then-husband.
I don't know why Bob Dylan's speech seems surprising to anyone. It sounds very much like the way he talked on "Theme Time Radio." Especially the lines about Joan Baez, "She was the queen of folk music then, and she’s the queen of folk music now... I learned a lot from her."
"There is no "Sonny voice" in the song. Cher recorded "All I Really Want To Do" in 1965 as a solo artist, not as "Sonny and Cher."
I know. What I'm trying to express is that she sang in the "Sonny voice"... both on TV and on the record.
It's clear to me that Sonny figured out how to do the song and she imitated him.
Did he have to accept the award from Carter? Yuck.
Gary Rosen wrote:
There is no "Sonny voice" in the song. Cher recorded "All I Really Want To Do" in 1965 as a solo artist, not as "Sonny and Cher". When she gets nasally she is probably trying to imitate Dylan, not her then-husband.
I could be wrong about this. But that sounds EXACTLY like Sonny singing the alternate lines, and not Cher doing a nasal imitation of Sonny.,
After the original link ended I watched a clip from the Sonny and Cher show where they sing the same song. Cher is stunning. She is so likeable and funny, yum!
And the 5 min of banter they have doesn't appear to be from Cue cards or teleprompter.
I don't think she comes across sounding like Dylan. She sounds like Sonny. That thing of singing in a dialogue way, between 2 voices, is typical of Sonny & Cher arrangements.
But Dylan's version does weirdly change from a middle to a low voice in a screwy way (and goes very high in a near yodel), so maybe it is just a straight out attempt to copy him.
If so, I still believe she got the arrangement through Sonny. It's not that good.
When they sing this on Sonny and Cher they alternate the lines and he sings the "Sonny" parts.
"I still belief she got the arrangement through Sonny."
Well, duh. Sonny was an experienced hand in the record industry and she was a teenager barely off the streets.
"After the original link ended I watched a clip from the Sonny and Cher show where they sing the same song. Cher is stunning. She is so likeable and funny, yum!"
She was a great comedienne on that show. Of course, later, she won an Oscar.
She also excelled at wearing costumes. That was a super-power of hers. No one else could wear costumes like that. She could show a lot of flesh without seeming out of control or messy or like she was trying to hard or cared too much about being sexy.
At the time, I didn't like that she'd shed the hippie style, which had a big impact on me when I was 14 and she was 20.
Sonny definitely produced the album. I wont' bet money on it, but I'm convinced he sang the alternate lines, and they just billed it as as Cher song.
It was well known that Cher sang that. Cher had the better voice, with a greater range, and I think it's oft noted that she could sing lower than he could.
Hmmm, in listening to another version, it may actually be Cher doing both parts. Mind blown.
I recently had another instance of my mind being blown when hearing music.
Happened to hear Wooden Ships on the radio and realized I could hear Stephen Stills, and Crosby, but wasn't sure what Nash's role was when it came to the harmonies. Then I saw a live version on You Tube and realized that the high parts I though were sung by crosby (because he sang the high parts in the Byrds) were actually Nash.
Ann Althouse said... "when I was able to pick up a great Fort Wayne, Indiana station from my home in Wayne, New Jersey)."
Had to be WOWO?
I was amazed years ago when I moved to Tennessee from northern Indiana how many people my age brought up their fond teenage memories of listening to WOWO.
Sonny & Cher have endured better than Peter, Paul, & Mary. You'd have thought that they would be the more ephemeral and dated group........If Johnny Cash covered it, pick the Cash version.
@kirk
I don't remember the call letters, but that station, available only late at night, meant a lot to me. I would write down names of things I heard and liked and the wait for the NYC stations to play them.
Bob still hearts Joan B. Cool.
Mary Travers voice (and her sexy personna) were perfect for Blowing in the Wind. Every young man I knew fell in love with Mary over that song. So did the young women. Mostly with her haircut.
David said...
Every young man I knew fell in love with Mary over that song.
Mary was a much better singer than Michelle Phillips, but I always loved the one song that Michelle made her own.
"Dedicated to the One I Love"
PS: The only music worth hearing was made between 1580 and 1980 :)
I like Cher's version better than the Byrds'. They smoothed it out too much, while Cher maintains a bit of Dylan's jumps in pitch in the melody line.
Blame where due.
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