Blind Willie McTell (song)

Blind Willie McTell (song)

"Blind Willie McTell" is a song by Bob Dylan, titled after the blues singer Blind Willie McTell. It was recorded in 1983 but left off Dylan's album "Infidels" and officially released in 1991 on the "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991". The melody is loosely based on "St. James Infirmary Blues". For the song, Dylan, seated at the piano and accompanied by Mark Knopfler on the acoustic guitar, sings a series of plaintive, heartbreaking verses depicting allegorical scenes which reflect on the history of American music and slavery. Each verse ends with the same negative refrain: "Nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell."

Following three albums with overt Christian themes, "Infidels" struck most major rock critics (perhaps erroneously) as dealing largely with secular concerns, and they therefore hailed it as a comeback. Yet contrasted with Dylan's contemporary live performances, the studio album seemed flat and stagnant to many fans. "Blind Willie McTell" confounds the story further. When bootleggers released the outtakes from "Infidels", the song was recognized as a composition approaching the quality of such classics as "Tangled Up In Blue", "Like a Rolling Stone" and "All Along the Watchtower".

It is unclear why Dylan shelved "Blind Willie McTell" and several other famous outtakes from "Infidels" in favor of songs released on the LP that many fans consider inferior. Unfortunately, it seemed to set the precedent for much of the remainder of his recording career in the 1980s.

According to the Rolling Stone, September 7, 2006 interview "Dylan can't possibly be sorry that the world has had the benefit of hearing, for instance, "Blind Willie McTell", - an outtake from 1983's Infidels that has subsequently risen as high in most people's Dylan pantheon as a song can rise, and that he himself has played live since. Can he? Bob Dylan - "I started playing it live because I heard the Band doing it. Most likely it was a demo, probably showing the musicians how it should go. It was never developed fully, I never got around to completing it. There wouldn't have been any other reason for leaving it off the record. It's like taking a painting by Monet or Picasso - goin' to his house and lookin' at a half-finished painting and grabbing it and selling it to people who are 'Picasso fans.'""

This song has been covered by a large number of artists, some of which are:
* The Respatexans
* The Band
* Scott Holt
* Mick Taylor
* Tom Russell
* Southside Johnny & Little Steven
* Tex Perkins, Don Walker and Charlie Owen
* Einar Stenseng
* Adam Knowles
* Dream Syndicate
* Elliot Murphy & Ian Matthews
* Peter Mulvey & Jeffrey Foucault
* Gazzary BluesBand
* Charlie Parr
* The White Stripes
* Dutch band De Dijk featuring Henk Hofstede (of the The Nits)

External links

* [http://bobdylan.com/songs/mctell.html Lyrics of the song]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Blind Willie McTell — For the Bob Dylan song, see Blind Willie McTell (song). Blind Willie McTell McTell recording for John Lomax in an Atlanta hotel room, November 1940. Photograph by the archivist s wife, Ruby Lomax …   Wikipedia

  • Blind Willie Johnson — Infobox musical artist Name = Blind Willie Johnson Img capt = Img size = Landscape = Background = solo singer Birth name = Alias = Blind Willie Blind Texas Marlin Born = January 22, 1897 near Brenham, Texas, USA Died = September 18, 1945 Origin …   Wikipedia

  • Ralph McTell — Infobox Musical artist Name = Ralph McTell Img capt = Img size = Landscape = Background = solo singer Birth name = Ralph May Alias = Born = birth date and age|1944|12|3 Farnborough, Kent Died = Origin = Croydon, Surrey, UK Instrument = guitar,… …   Wikipedia

  • Kate McTell — Infobox Musical artist Name = Kate McTell Img capt = Img size = Landscape = Background = solo singer Birth name = Ruthy Kate Williams http://bluesnet.hub.org/readings/mctell.html] Alias = Ruth Kate Williams Kate Seabrooks Rhamblin Rhodes: Blind… …   Wikipedia

  • Slow Blind Driveway — (born March 19, 1885 in Jackson, Mississippi – died April 19, 1952 in Deatsville, Alabama) was an influential blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was Clayton Taliaferro Driver or Clinton T. Driver, Jr. according to various sources (see… …   Wikipedia

  • Must Be Santa (song) — Must Be Santa is a Christmas song that was originally recorded in 1961 by Mitch Miller. Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks wrote the song. Although the lyrics are different, it has exactly the same tune as Oh, You Sweet One , written by Moe Jaffe and… …   Wikipedia

  • Dreamin' of You (Bob Dylan song) — Dreamin of you Single by Bob Dylan from the album The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs A side Dreamin of you B side Down Along the Cove (Live at Bonnaroo 2004) …   Wikipedia

  • Salty Dog (song) — Salty Dog Blues is a folk song. It has been performed by Roger McGuinn, Kentucky Faith, Flatt and Scruggs, Ross Nickerson, Jelly Roll Morton, Mississippi John Hurt, The Morris Brothers, Blind Willie McTell, Reverend Gary Davis, Johnny Cash and… …   Wikipedia

  • On a Night Like This (Bob Dylan song) — On a Night Like This Single by Bob Dylan from the album Planet Waves B side …   Wikipedia

  • Blind Blake — Infobox musical artist Name = Blind Blake Img capt = The only known photograph of Blind Blake, circa 1927 Background = solo singer Birth name = Arthur Blake Born = ca. 1893 Died = 1933? Origin = Jacksonville, Florida, USA (uncertain) Instrument …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”