The Bob Dylan Top 125 Countdown (#117-115)

Here we are again with our Bob Dylan Top 125 Countdown. Fasten your seat belts and away we go!

Would Dylan, the master of words, record a song without them? Not only he would, but he would also release it as a single. Which would go on to reach the Top 10 in several countries worldwide. In the US it stalled at #41, which is not without merit, since Dylan wasn't really a singles' artist. We're talking about Wigwam, from his much maligned 1970 album Self Portrait (currently being re-appreciated). Critical appraisal of Wigwam however has been mostly positive since then, and reviewers have called it a highlight of Self Portrait. It is found at #117 in our list.

Here's a cover by Brazilian singer/songwriter Ze Ramalho:

At #116, here's one of his recent gems: Mississippi is the second song on Dylan's 2001 album Love and Theft. The song was originally recorded during the Time Out of Mind sessions, but it was ultimately left off the album. Dylan rerecorded the song for Love and Theft in May 2001. Described as having beauty and gravitas, the song features a pop chord progression and with a riff and lyrical theme similar to Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.

There's no fat in the song – every line has a purpose. He said that he liked every line of his songs to have the possibility of being the first line of a new song. That's certainly the case with Mississippi. He gets very philosophical about aging, telling a story about redemption and resolution for the Everyman in a way that's almost biblical: "Well, my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinkin' fast/I'm drownin' in the poison, got no future, got no past/But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free."

Here's a live version:

And here's Sheryl Crow's version: the song was offered to her by Dylan himself. She actually recorded it first, for her album The Globe Sessions.

At #115 is a Dylan song that he never released himself. He wrote it in 1965 and offered it to his sometime friend and sometime lover Joan Baez, who has recorded it numerous times, and performed it throughout her career. Baez first included the song on Any Day Now, her 1968 album of Dylan covers. It was also released as a single in 1969. It only made #86 in the US, but that doesn't diminish its importance at all.

Since we're on the subject on Baez, I cannot not include one of my favorite songs of hers, 1975's Diamond And Rust, a song that she wrote with Dylan in mind. It's a beautiful song.

Now here's the answer to the quiz from the other day. It went like this: there are 3 songs that include laughter: not just any kind of laughter, but a discreet, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of laughter. They’re not obscure album tracks either, they are three of the most well known, I’d say legendary, songs by three of the biggest Rock groups of all time and they were all recorded and released at Rock music’s best period ever, from the mid 60s to the mid 70s.

Our good friend Record Man found one: it's the Led Zeppelin monster hit Whole Lotta Love. A Top 5 hit in all major markets except for the UK, where Led Zep famously never released any singles. Right in the beginning of the song, before the music sets in, there's a snippet of laughter, so faint that it's almost like a sigh. Here's the studio version:

Here's a live version from New York in 1973, as it appeared on the film The Song Remains The Same:

The second song is one of Pink Floyd's best: Shine On You Crazy Diamond was the centerpiece of Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. A monumental multi-part song, it was dedicated to their former member Syd Barrett, whose experimentation with mind-altering drugs triggered the manifestation of a psychosis. There is a really long instrumental buildup before the vocals kick in (but it's oh so heavenly). So, after an introduction of 8 minutes and 40 seconds come the vocals with the line "remember when you were young". Right after this and before "you shone like the sun" there is a short laughter. Enjoy the song:

This version is live at Knebworth, 1990, Hertfordshire, England:

Finally, the third song belongs to an American group, the band that introduced Jazz Rock to the mainstream even before Chicago did. They released their excellent first album, Child Is Father to the Man in 1968 (Al Kooper hadn't left the group yet). There was an Overture and right after came this masterpiece: I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know. At around 2:45, Al Kooper sings "I could be president of General Motors, baby" and then he lets out a small laugh, as if to underline the impossibility of it all. Here's the song:

The late great Donny Hathaway also had a great version of the song. He replaces the phrase "I could be president of General Motors" with "I can be king of everything". It would probably be more credible to aim for "king of everything" rather than "president of General Motors"!

See you tomorrow, with another gay actor/singer.