Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35

Infobox Single
Name = Rainy Day Women #12 & 35


Artist = Bob Dylan
from Album = Blonde on Blonde
B-side = "Pledging My Time"
Released = April, 1966
Format = 7"
Recorded = March 10, 1966
Genre = Folk rock
Length = 4:36 (album version)
2:26 (single edit)
Label = CBS
Writer = Bob Dylan
Producer = Bob Johnston
Chart position = * #2 (Billboard Hot 100)
* #7 (UK)
Last single = "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)"
(1966)
This single = "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
(1966)
Next single = "I Want You"
(1966)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Blonde on Blonde
Type = studio
this_track = "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
track_no = 1
next_track = "Pledging My Time"
next_no = 2"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is a song by Bob Dylan and the opening track of his 1966 album, "Blonde on Blonde".

The song is notable for its unusual instrumentation - it's the only song on "Blonde On Blonde" to feature a brass band - and the somewhat controversial, "They'll stone you" in every line of the verses, plus the refrain of, "Well, I would not feel so all alone--everybody must get stoned!". In Robert Shelton's 1986 biography of Dylan "No Direction Home" (unrelated to the Martin Scorsese documentary "No Direction Home"), it is claimed that the song was banned by many British and American radio stations due to the paranoia about "drug songs".

The music is basically a simple blues chord progression in the key of F. The parts played by the tuba and bass, drums, piano, trombone, and tambourine remain essentially the same in all of the verses, but Dylan's harmonica playing and vocal performance are both wildly varied, and generally not in the same key as other instruments. There can also be heard much laughter and shouting in the background, mixed down to a very low volume level, and Dylan himself laughs several times during his vocal delivery. The song sounds as if it is being played by musicians who are very high on marijuana, and that is possibly intentional. According to Howard Sounes' book "Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan," Dylan refused to play the song "straight," meaning sober, and large amounts of "Leprechaun Cocktails" (normally served in shot glasses) in large Milkshake cartons were brought in for the band which they consumed. Dylan also passed around marijuana before the recording. Dylan did not touch the alcohol but was high on cannabis. [Howard Sounes, "Down the Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan. {Doubleday 2001) ISBN 0-55299929-6, p244] At 4:23 somebody in the background can be heard yelling "Fuck yeah".The song was covered by The Black Crowes, first released as a b-side from the 1992 "Hotel Illness" single. Then in 1995, The Black Crowes version was also added to the "" benefit album for the NORML organization. The numbers 12 and 35, when multiplied will total the number 420 which is a popular code for marijuana usage. However, this may be coincidental, considering it is widely accepted that the term "420" originated about 5 years later.The song was also covered by Sammy Hagar on his 2006 album "Livin' It Up".

The song is a fan favorite at Dylan's concerts to this day. Often the main lyric, "everybody must get stoned", is sung by the audience so loud that Dylan's voice cannot be heard. The song reached #2 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart and #7 in the UK.

References

*Shelton, Robert (1986). "No Direction Home; The Life And Music of Bob Dylan". 27 Wrights Lane, London. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-010296-5

Notes