Expecting Rain

typo...meant to say 08 NYC^

I've been listening to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast a lot lately and they are constantly referencing Bill Saluga's favorite routine, "You can call me R.J., you can call me ray." This line was referenced in Gotta Serve Somebody of course.

Was Bob a viewer of Bill Saluga and/or the Ace Trucking Company? Or maybe he caught him on the Gong Show or other shows Bill appeared on.

Maybe he caught a series of commercials for Anheuser-Busch Natural Light beer in the late 70's where Saluga appeared alongside comedian/pitchman Norm Crosby reciting the routine. Just wondering.

That commercial was on all the time, especially on the football channel that all red blooded Americans watch. Ubiquitous!

Always found it lyrically and musically cold, as on Slow Train Coming so wasn't particularly looking forward to repeated live versions on Trouble No More. I'm surprised to find how much I enjoy the live versions, from the funk dynamic of the earlier tours to the rock arrangement of '81. Aside from enjoying the sheer swagger of the song, I think something of its message rings truer to me these days, not in a strictly religious sense, but in a more general sense that we are all beholden to the kind of judgments and decisions we make.

Anyways, one of the surprises of Trouble No More--I actually dig this song!

My child's name is Ray and her initials are RJ. I can't believe I'd never spotted this before.

Another reason for me to love this great song. I agree the message is simple. Are you going to do the right thing or wrong thing? We all grapple with it daily throughout our lives.

It's also one of his many "list" songs, it could go on and on and also has plenty of room for improvisation/new lines.

The studio cut is fantastic, and it’s a terrific opener to the album. I introduced my friend to this song the other day, and I loved the response. To him, it didn’t matter to him that Dylan used his newfound beliefs to get a very simple point across: you can try to add something good to the world with your actions, or something bad. Just because Dylan mentions serving the Lord or the devil doesn’t mean it’s a purely religious song. Both forces have often signified good and bad, anyway. I mentioned to him that as you delve deeper into the album, Dylan draws a line in the sand and essentially claims that the Christian way, or the way of God, to be the only way (“you either got faith or you got unbelief, and there ain’t no neutral ground”), but he still considered this song to be a powerful statement.

Of course, I love when Dylan is, for lack of a better term, “wordy” in his songs. But this song proves, I’m my opinion, that he can be direct in his lyrics without sacrificing what makes his songs so important.

It comes from a 70’s comedian who played the part of Raymond J. Johnson, Jr.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qoYsfbq3vMc

This skit was popular on comedy shows maybe like ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In’ or ‘The Smothers Brothers.’
Eventually, it was even used in beer commercials. It was kinda funny at the time.
Even funnier that Bob picked up on it and used it in a Gospel tune!