Tag Archives: He Was A Friend Of Mine

Audio: Bob Dylan At The Gaslight, Sept. 1961 – Full Set – ‘Song To Woody,’ ‘Pretty Polly’ & More

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This weekend I’ve been celebrating the 54th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s arrival in New York on January 24, 1961.

Toward the end of that year, after he’d been gigging around, after he’d met John Hammond and been signed to Columbia Records, but prior to recording his first album, on September 6, 1961, Bob Dylan performed at the Gaslight in New York.

His set, which included an appearance by Dave Van Ronk playing guitar and singing harmony vocals on “Car, Car,” was recorded on a reel-to-reel and you can hear it right now.

Some of these songs appeared on the first official Bootleg series set. Others have yet to be officially released.

The order of the songs has apparently been rearranged by whoever put up this YouTube clip.

Set List (apparently the songs have been ordered differently than when they were performed).

He Was A Friend Of Mine
Car, Car
Man On The Street
Song To Woody
Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
Pretty Polly

This is the correct order of the set according to www.BobDylan.com:

Man On The Street
He Was A Friend Of Mine
Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
Song To Woody
Pretty Polly
Car, Car

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[Last August I published my rock ‘n’ roll novel, True Love Scars.” Rolling Stone has a great review of the book. Read it here. There’s info about True Love Scars here.]

Audio: Bob Dylan Releases His Debut Album – March 19, 1962

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Bob Dylan, 1962, via Huffington Post.

Bob Dylan’s remarkable debut album was released on March 19, 1962 — 52 years ago.

I use that word remarkable because Dylan was just 20 years old at the time, and yet his voice sounds like it comes from a man more than twice his age. As they say, a wise soul in a young body.

Although there are only two original compositions on the album (“Song to Woody,” and “Talkin’ New York”), Dylan makes each of the cover songs his own.

The songs on this album sound like they could come from none other than Bob Dylan.

In addition to the 13 songs that are on the album, Dylan recorded four others that didn’t make the cut.

I’ve included three of those recordings – “House Carpenter,” “He Was a Friend of Mine” and ” “Man on the Street” — below, plus an earlier recording of the fourth song, “Ramblin’ Blues (Ramblin Round).”

I’ve also included one of my favorite songs on the album, ”

“House Carpenter”:

House Carpenter by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

“He Was A Friend of Mine”:

House Carpenter by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

“Man on the Street” outtake:

Man on the Street by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

“Ramblin’ Blues (Ramblin Round)” — a version of this song was cut for Bob Dylan’s debut album. This version is from the “Minnesota Tapes”:

Ramblin' Blues (Ramblin Round) by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

“Baby, Let Me Follow You Down”:

Baby, Let Me Follow You Down by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post –

Audio: Bob Dylan Plays ‘He Was A Friend Of Mine,’ & I Think Of Nelson Mandela

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Photo via http://www.bjorner.com/.

I was thinking about Nelson Mandela today as I listened to Bob Dylan’s version of “He Was A Friend Of Mine.”

I first heard that song as recorded by The Byrds for their second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!. Roger McGuinn modified the lyrics to make the song about the late President Kennedy and I’ve always associated the song with President Kennedy’s assassination.

When I eventually heard Dylan’s version on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 many years later I couldn’t help thinking of President Kennedy, and his tragic death.

Dylan had himself had modified the song, creating his own arrangement. The earliest known version of “He Was A Friend Of Mine” was a song called “Shorty George” recorded by Leadbelly (listen to it below) in 1935 for the Library of Congress, according to John Bauldie’s liner notes for The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3.

A Boston folk singer, Eric von Schmidt, adapted the Leadbelly recording and later played the song for Dylan who incorporated it into his repertoire and performed in around New York and elsewhere during the early ’60s.

“I sang [Dylan] a bunch of songs, and, with that spongelike mind of his, he remembered almost all of them when he got back to New York,” von Schmidt told The Boston Globe.

Dylan recorded a version of the song during the sessions for his debut, Bob Dylan. That version is the one on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3.

Unlike President Kennedy, Nelson Mandela wasn’t gunned down. He died of natural causes and he was 95. But he suffered much during his life in holding true to his values. He was a standup man if there ever was one.

In 1985 Dylan appeared on Steve Van Zandt’s all-star anti-apartheid record and in the video, “I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City.”

I wonder if Dylan thought about “He Was A Friend Of Mine” following Mandela’s death. I bet he did.

Bob Dylan, “He Was A Friend Of Mine,” live, New York, 1961
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Leadbelly, “Shorty George”:

Bob Dylan, “He Was A Friend Of Mine,” from the sessions for Bob Dylan, November 20, 1961:

He Was A Friend Of Mine by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

Bob Dylan, “He Was A Friend Of Mine,” live, Finjan Club, Montreal, Quebec, July 2, 1962

He Was A Friend Of Mine by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

The Byrds, “He Was A Friend Of Mine”:

Artists Against Apartheid, “I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City”:

Dave Van Ronk also recorded “He Was A Friend Of Mine.” This is from Inside Dave Van Ronk, 1963.

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-