Tape Trees

Date:    Wed, 12 Apr 1995 08:37:25 EST
From:    poulin@CCMAILPC.CTRON.COM
Subject: (No subject given)

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`______''                                 `_______'

Good car to drive, after a war
Welllll, it usually looks better than this!
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New to the net?  EDLIS Arboreal sets up tape trees.  A tape tree (in a nutshell)
is someone has a tape, makes copies to 5-6 people, who make copies for 5-6 more
people, until all that want it have got it.  As EDLIS Arboreal agent, I simply
handle the distribution of the 1st tape.

New to the net?  DON'T ENCLOSE THIS MESSAGE WHEN REPLYING!  Very annoying! DON'T POST THIS TO R.M.D. when you reply, so double check what email address you're
using!

To sign up for the INFLUENCES tape tree, simply answer these questions, and
email them back to me.  (use cut and paste if you got it!)

YOU MUST SIGN UP BEFORE 4/30 TO GET ON THE TREE!
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A.  If you wish a DAT tape, please write DAT here and on the bottom of the form.
 Surround with a few asterisks, so I don't miss it!

1.      Your name:


2.      Your email address:


2a.     If you don't have email, or want to use it, please provide your
mailing address here:


3.      What State, Country, Province do you live in?


4.      Do you wish to trade other live recordings to receive your copies
of this tape, or will you send a blank?



5.      Are you willing and able to make copies of the tape to distribute
to others?  How many would you be willing to make?

6.      If you are willing and able to make copies, are you also willing
to receive blank tapes in return?


7.     Are you willing to receive tapes by artists other than Bob Dylan?
Name any artists you will accept tapes of.


9.      Do you have a *strong* preference for a particular brand of
tape?

10.     Do you wish to use Dolby noise reduction?

10a.    If yes, what type?

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EDLIS Arboreal - Sprouting Good Things!

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Date:    Wed, 12 Apr 1995 08:37:26 EST
From:    poulin@CCMAILPC.CTRON.COM
Subject: (No subject given)

============================================================================

__________________
_/ ||                ~-_
,/   //       /~-       /  ~-_  ________---------------//
-----------------------------------\-------------------____________  __//
O--------------                  ~~^ |                                 | ~|
}======{--------\____________________|______________________________   |  |
\===== / /~~~\ \ \                   |         ________________________|-~
\----|  \___/ ||--------------------'----------|  \____/ //
`______''                                 `_______'

Good car to drive, after a war
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***Mike Bodner, please contact me ASAP!***

A caring soul of the net has completed the EDLIS Arboreal newest tape. HONEY,
JUST ALLOW ME ONE MORE INFLUENCE features songs that have influenced His
Bobness.  Track listing, and what Dylan songs these influenced follows:

1)  See That My Grave is Kept Clean  (Lightnin' Hopkins)
Released on BOB DYLAN.
2)  See That My Grave is Kept Clean  (Blind Lemon Jefferson)
Released on BOB DYLAN.
3)  The New Frisco Train  (Bukka White)  -> ?? 4)  Fixin to Die Blues  (Bukka
White)
Inspiration for "In My Time of Dyin'" on BOB DYLAN.
5)  Jesus is a Dying Bed Maker  (Charley Patton)
Inspiration for "In My Time of Dyin'" on BOB DYLAN.
6)  Motherless Children  (Mance Lipscomb)
Covered on the 2nd Gaslight tape
7)  Milk Cow Blues  (Kokomo Arnold)
Dylan has performed this tune on Witmark Demos, among others.
A Charlie Patton song called "Poor Me" features the line "Don't the moon look
pretty shining down through the trees" which would go on to become part of
Phantom Engineer (aka It Takes a Lot to Laugh...) so Milk Cow Blues in effect
had some influence on Phantom Engineer.
8)  Pony Blues  (Son House)
9)  Corrina Corrina  (Mississippi John Hurt)
Released on FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN.
10) Frankie  (Mississippi John Hurt)
Released as Frankie and Albert on GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU.
11) Baby Let Me Lay it on You  (Rev. Gary Davis)
Inspiration for Baby Let Me Follow You Down, from BOB DYLAN. Dylan credits the
song to Eric Von Schmidt on his album, the composition of the official live
version on THE LAST WALTZ is credited to Rev. Gary Davis.
12) Cocaine Blues  (Rev. Gary Davis)
Covered on 2nd Gaslight tape.
13) Candyman  (Rev. Gary Davis)
Perhaps covered on Minnesota Hotel tape
14) You Gonna Quit Me Blues  (Blind Blake)
Covered as You're Gonna Quit Me Babe on GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU.
15) Sittin on Top of the World (Mississippi Shieks)
Covered on WORLD GONE WRONG.  Dylan raves about the Shieks in his liner notes.
16) The World is Gone Wrong  (Mississippi Shieks)
Again, covered on WORLD GONE WRONG.
17) I've Got Blood in My Eyes for You (Mississippi Shieks)
Covered on WORLD GONE WRONG.  Original composer my be Lonnie Chatman.
18) Broke Down Engine (Blind Willie McTell)
Covered on WORLD GONE WRONG.  McTell may have picked up the tune from Lonnie
Clark who performed the song in 1929.
19) Weeping Willow  (Blind Boy Fuller)
Covered on GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU.
20) Ragged and Dirty (Willie Brown)
Covered on WORLD GONE WRONG.
21) Delia (Blind Willie McTell)
Covered on WORLD GONE WRONG.  Optionally called "Little Delia" and "All My
Friends are Gone".
22) Dyin' Crapshoot Blues (Blind Willie McTell) -> ?? 23) St. James Infirmary
(Cisco Houston)
Inspiration for "Blind Willie McTell" on THE BOOTLEG SERIES 1-3, originally to
be released on INFIDELS.
24) Diamond Joe  (Cisco Houston)
Covered on GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU.
25) Stack-A-Lee  (Frank Hutchinson)
Covered on WORLD GONE WRONG.
26) Bottle Up and Go (Lightnin' Hopkins)
Leadbelly did a version of this as well.  Dylan renames it "Step it Up and Go"
on GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU.
27) Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance (Henry Thomas)
Covered on FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN.

Track #3 and #22 we are still unsure of what tune these might have influenced.
See next post, 2/2.

EDLIS Arboreal - Sproutin' Good Things!

Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 15:06:54 -0400 From: Barry Chern (bchern@FREENET.COLUMBUS.OH.US) Subject: Re: Influences This looks like it will be a very nice tape. You've done a good job of compiling information here, but there is one assertion I'd question and one simple mistake, and they're both strangely on the same song. Where did you get the information that Penny's Farm may have been from Gus Cannon? Since it sounds like it came out of the minstrel/medicine show tradition it is entirely possible that he did a song like this, but I can't think of anything similar among the records that he made. The immediate source is from white string-band tradition. I should know who recorded it, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. I can hear it in my head. Maybe when I get my records unpacked I can get back to you. And, "Stealin'" was not a Gus Cannon song. It was recorded by the Memphis Jug Band, credited to their leader Will Shade. (who was also a very fine harmonica player.) -- bchern@freenet.columbus.oh.us |"Take my picture,Hang it up in Jackson Wall" 71571.1662@compuserve.com |(http://metro.turnpike.net/bchern/index.html)
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 16:51:00 +0800 From: Matthew Zuckerman (matthew.zuckerman@IAC-ONLINE.COM) Subject: Influences I have made a tape of INFLUENCES -- songs that influenced Dylan in the writing of various songs. As I said in my earlier posting, there is no criticism towards Dylan in this list; such borrowings are a natural part of song writing. Indeed, further research would probably reveal that many of these songs had earlier models. *** No More Auction Blues --))) Blowin' in the Wind The tune of Blown' in the Wind was based loosely (according to Dylan) on the traditional No More Auction Blues, found on The Bootleg Series 1-3. The guitar part is certainly very similar. *** 1913 Massacre --))) Song to Woody The tune of Song to Woody is identical to Woody Guthrie's 1913 Massacre -- clearly intentionally so, as a tribute. This version is sung by Jack Elliott at the Tribute to Guthrie just after his death. *** Penny's Farm --))) Hard Times in New York The words and music of Hard Times in New York (Bootleg Series 1-3) were based on the traditional song Hard Times in the Country/Penny's Farm, recorded (among others) by Happy and Artie Traum. *** Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance --))) same Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance is a rewrite (credited as such) of song by late-19th century songster Henry Thomas. *** Corrina Corrine --))) Corrina Corrina Corrina Corrine is a traditional black American folksong often played by Mississippi John Hurt (as here), Mance Lipscomb, Sleepy John Estes and others. However, Dylan's version is more than just an "arrangement", the melody and whole mood of the song being completely different. *** Jack O'Diamonds --))) same Jack O'Diamonds was one of the Rsome other kind of songsS poems printed on the sleeve of Another Side of Bob Dylan and set to music by Fairport Convention. Fairport's music has no connection with the original Mance Lipscomb version. *** Scarborough Fair --))) Girl From the North Country The words to Girl From the North Country were based on Carthy's arrangement of Scarborough Fair, found on Carthy's debut album Martin Carthy with Dave Swarbrick. Carthy has expressed a lot of bitterness about Paul Simon's lifting of the song, since his own extensive arranging was uncredited, but none towards Dylan for his own more creative adaptation. *** The Patriot Game --))) With God on Our Side Liam Clancy tells the story of this song on the tape. It goes from being a traditional folk song, to a pop song, to The Patriot Game, a political Irish song by Dominic Behan to With God on Our Side by Dylan. *** Lord Franklin --))) Bob DylanUs Dream The tune and some of the words for Bob Dylan's Dream come from Lord Franklin, which he also learnt from Carthy. Dylan mentioned Carthy in the sleeve notes to Freewheelin', and also said in 1984: "Martin Carthy's incredible. I learned a lot of stuff from Martin. Girl From the North Country is based on a song I learned from him." *** Lord Randal --))) A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall The lyrical structure of A Hard RainUs A-Gonna Fall was based on Lord Randal (Child ballad No. 12) which he learnt from Martin Carthy. "Oh, where ha' you been, Lord Randal my son? And where ha' you been, my handsome young man?" "I ha' been at the greenwood, mother, make my bed soon For I'm wearied wi' hunting, and fain was lie down." *** Nottamun Town --))) Masters of War The tune of Masters of War is based on the traditional Nottamun Town, which can be found on Fairport Convention's second album, What We Did On Our Holidays, which also includes a cover of Dylan's I'll Keep It With Mine. If you don't know Fairport, check them out. Richard Thompson was a founder member, and they frequently cover Dylan songs: Jack O'Diamonds on their first album (which also included a song It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft), Million Dollar Bash, Percy's Song and If You Gotta Go (in French!) on their third, and more recently, Country Pie, Forever Young and Open The Door, Homer. *** The Parting Glass --))) Restless Farewell The tune and lyrics to Restless Farewell were both based on The Parting Glass, a traditional Irish song that he probably learnt from The Clancy Brothers. here, itUs sung beautifully by The Voice Squad. *** Come on in My Kitchen --))) Pledging My Time Blues melodies are so interchangeable that you can't often say that this song came from that one. However, Pledging My Time is very similar to Come on in My Kitchen, Dylan is known to be a big Robert Johnson fan (dedicating his collection of complete lyrics to Johnson and Guthrie in 1971) and the two songs also share one connection in their lyrics, both lines being sung to the same melody: "Some joker got lucky, stole her back again." (Kitchen) "Somebody got lucky, but it was an accident." (Pledging) *** Pony Blues --))) New Pony Both Charlie Patton and Son House were famous for Pony Blues, and both of them were also blues singers who were convinced that blues was the "DevilUs music." At some time during their lives, they both gave up blues singing and became lay preachers, though they also both backslid and returned to the blues. New Pony uses this ambiguous relationship, contrasting the deep blues of the song with the gospel chant of "How much longer?" Dylan's song is based on House's version, not Patton's. But the House version was taken from Patton's, and since Charlie Patton's recording of this song is quite possibly the finest country blues performance ever recorded, I thought it worth it's inclusion. *** St. James Infirmary --))) Dying Crapshooter --))) Blind Willie McTell Dying Crapshooter Blues and St. James Infirmary are related songs, and both important influences on Dylan's song Blind Willie McTell. Although there is a St. James Hotel (in Minnesota), the suggestion that the hotel is really an infirmary adds another layer to an already many-layered song. Crapshooter was taped by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress (Delia was also recorded at this session). Armstrong recorded St. James Infirmary a number of times, but this one (with Earl Hines on piano) was the first. *** Smokestack Lightnin' --))) Poor Boy Poor Boy is actually not a Dylan song at all, but Smokestack Lightnin' by Howlin' Wolf. Dylan sang it (and credited it to Wolf) on the Cynthia Gooding show, but for some reason, Poor Boy was included in Writings and Drawings and Lyrics as a Dylan composition. *** Rolling Stone + La Bamba = Like a Rolling Stone (?) Muddy Waters' Rolling Stone may or may not have been an influence on Like a Rolling Stone, but it's too good a song to make that an important issue. Dylan says he based LARS on La Bamba and you can feel it in the chorus, though the Richie Valens influence could not really be called profound! (Of course, La Bamba is a lot older than Valens. See the new Los Lobos release Papa's Dream, from which this version is taken.) Actually, when you listen to Rolling Stone and La Bamba back to back, you really can see Like a Rolling Stone emerging. *** Too Much Monkey Business --))) Subterranean Homesick Blues The line of development from Chuck Berry's Too Much Monkey Business to Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues to Elvis CostelloUs Pump It Up is well-known. *** I Believe to My Soul --))) Ballad of a Thin Man I Believe to My Soul by Ray Charles contributed only the piano phrase between verses to Ballad of a Thin Man, the two songs themselves being completely different, but it is that phrase that really makes the song -- both songs in fact. *** Lord Franklin --))) Widow and the Fairy + Bob Dylan's Dream The Widow and the Fairy is, of course, a recent song which takes the melody of Lord Franklin, just as Dylan did for his Dream. A little light relief from West Country (of England, that is) singer Fred Wedlock. *** Milk Cow Blues --))) From A Buick 6 )))From A Buick 6 took the tune from Milk Cow Blues by Sleepy John Estes, and also in the first verse the phrase "keep it hid." *** Poor Me --))) Milkcow Blues --))) It Takes A Lot To Laugh . . . Interestingly, another Highway 61 Revisited song could have been influenced by another bovine blues song -- It Takes A Lot To Laugh from Kokomo Arnold's Milkcow Blus, though the couplet in question first appeared on Charlie Patton's Poor Me: "DonUt the moon look pretty shinin' down through the tree." This was Patton's last recording, released shortly after his death, and a fitting place to close. In 1985, an interviewer asked Dylan if his Empire Burlesque was an attempt to keep up with the times, and he answered: "What do I know about keeping up with the times? I still listen to Charlie Patton." Matthew Zuckerman matthew.zuckerman@iac-online.com.