Trust me #58
Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
'Play it fucking loud!'
Bob Dylan's instruction to his band The Hawks (later to become the Band) was simple, firm and crystal clear. And The Band responded. They played Like A Rolling Stone fucking loud and Dylan, seeming to relish the confrontation that generated his instruction, bends and twists his melodies to suit. His voice rises even louder for the chorus, he hollers it with all his heart.
How does it feel?
How does it feel?
Dylan's sense of urgency came on the back of what must be the most (in)famous heckle in musical history. It resulted in a legendary performance of Like A Rolling Stone at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in 1966 that still causes spines to tingle and jaws to drop all these years down the line.
'Judas' was the cry from someone in the crowd, frustrated and annoyed that Dylan had given up his folk roots to 'go electric'. Dylan split his sets on this tour, opening with an acoustic half before bringing on his band for the second half. It's crazy to look back on this now, but a lot of people didn't want to see or hear him play electric.
Dylan's transformation from acoustic to electric was swifter and easier than The Beatles transformation from Mop Tops to psychedelic studio boffins! But, almost 60-years later, we're still talking about it
And no wonder. This Manchester Free Trade Hall performance documents it perfectly. One simple heckle generates an incredibly powerful response. No wonder music boffins keep writing about it, debating it and glorifying it.
There is actually a small cheer from the crowd following the heckle. Then Dylan responds; I don't believe you, he starts strumming his guitar, turns to his band who gradually start up, Dylan then says You're a liar into his microphone before turning to his band urging them to Play it fucking loud.
Photo by Mark Makin
Mark (from the 4th row) took the only known photos that night
The way Dylan then turns back to the audience and hits his guitar just as the drum kicks in is one of the coolest things you'll ever see. The basic spotlight shining on his curls gives him a Readybrek glow. And then he's off, tumbling into the flowing lyrics of Like A Rolling Stone.
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
Through the bums a dime in your prime
Didn't you?
Dylan and The Band deliver an astonishing performance over the next 8-minutes. The urgency and energy are absolutely electrifying. I love when he turns to face a young Robbie Robertson to jam on guitars and then back to his mic and his mouth organ for a furious finale.
The song finishes to cheers, but remarkably there is still a booooo when they end. Guess you can't please everyone!
1966 Manchester - the glorious performance of Like A Rolling Stone in full
Fan account - Mark Makin - BBC interview with Mark who attended as a 16 year old
No Direction Home - Trailer - Martin Scorsese's incredible documentary of Dylan's early years up until his 1966 tour, taking in the 'electric' storm.
But Bob Dylan has only ever been interested in pleasing one person - himself. And that has led to him releasing (at the time of writing) a remarkable 40 studio albums, 96 singles plus all kinds of volumes of bootlegs and live albums. Not to mention his never ending tour where he reinterprets everything to keep his band and audience on their toes.
Like A Rolling Stone remains Dylan's biggest hit and his most famous song. In fact, it is arguably the most important song in rock/popular music. Countless books, essays and thesis' have been written about this song, debating the characters mentioned, Dylan's mindset and so much more. So I'm not going to go crazy with this blog!
Released in the summer of 1965, Like A Rolling Stone was like a hurricane, the song blew everyone and everything away. A 24-year old Dylan hollering and questioning how does it feel? sounds electrifying now. What must it have sounded and felt like in 1965?
Well, thanks to the wonder of YouTube you can check it out. Dylan played his first electric concert at The Newport Folk Festival that year. The folkies had already criticised him for abandoning his political acoustic songs that had led to him being labelled the spokesperson for a generation.
Dylan looks sensational and completely in the zone, dressed in a leather jacket, shirt buttoned up, mouth organ round his neck. The band (the Paul Butterfield Blues Band) jam Like A Rolling Stone into life, there is some lovely jangly guitar and then Dylan finds the groove and they are off. The hammond organ sound is glorious. The sight of Dylan playing and singing his heart out against a dark background, illuminated by a single spotlight and occasional flashes from cameras, is stunning.
Dylan wrote the song, "a long piece of vomit, 20 pages long", from frustration. He was allegedly ready to give up singing as he didn't dig anything he was doing. All of a sudden he had something he dug in a big way.
Al Kooper was invited to jam on hammond organ and his improvised riff became a key part of the song. Dylan and his band capture something magical. It did take time, at least 15 takes, but they sure did get there.
Al Kooper's story of recording the song
Just enjoy the Manchester 66 and Newport 65 live videos above and check the original recording below. Do me a favour though. PLAY IT FUCKING LOUD.
