Down Along the Cove

Last updated
"Down Along the Cove"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album John Wesley Harding
ReleasedDecember 27, 1967 (1967-12-27)
RecordedNovember 29, 1967
Genre Country rock
Length2:23
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Bob Dylan
Producer(s) Bob Johnston

"Down Along the Cove" is a song written and originally performed by Bob Dylan for his album John Wesley Harding . Dylan recorded the song in one take at Columbia's Studio A, Nashville, on November 29, 1967. [1]

Contents

Structure and instrumentation

"Down Along the Cove" features minimal instrumentation and a 12-bar country blues style. The song includes Bob Dylan on piano and Peter Drake on pedal steel guitar. [2]

Live performances

Dylan debuted this song at the EMU Ballroom on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon, on June 14, 1999. [3] Dylan played the song with some regularity beginning in 2003 until the song's last live performance to date in Rome, Italy on June 16, 2006, performing it a total of 83 times. [4] A live version performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2004 was the b-side to Dylan's 2009 single "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'". [5]

Cover versions

"Down Along the Cove" has been covered several times. British folk artist Davey Graham covered the song on his 1969 album, Hat, Epic recording artists West covered it on their 1969 album "Bridges", and Georgie Fame also recorded the song in late 1970s. His version appears on the compilation record Somebody Stole My Summer. The song was also covered by Johnny Jenkins on his critically acclaimed and influential electric blues album Ton-Ton Macoute! in 1970. [6]

Notes

  1. Bjorner. "Ain't Going Nowhere: Bob Dylan's 1967 Calendar". Bjorner's Still on the Road. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  2. Thomas Ward. "Down Along the Cove". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  3. Bjorner. "Euguene Oregon (June 14, 1999)". Bjorner's Still on the Road. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  4. "Down Along the Cove | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  5. "Bob Dylan - Beyond Here Lies Nothin'". Discogs. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  6. Crispell. "Down Along the Cove". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-07-16.

Related Research Articles

<i>Highway 61 Revisited</i> 1965 studio album by Bob Dylan

Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Having until then recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used rock musicians as his backing band on every track of the album, except for the closing track, the 11-minute ballad "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural chaos of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray has argued that, in an important sense, the 1960s "started" with this album.

<i>Blonde on Blonde</i> 1966 studio album by Bob Dylan

Blonde on Blonde is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as a double album on June 20, 1966, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing band, the Hawks. Though sessions continued until January 1966, they yielded only one track that made it onto the final album—"One of Us Must Know ". At producer Bob Johnston's suggestion, Dylan, keyboardist Al Kooper, and guitarist Robbie Robertson moved to the CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee. These sessions, augmented by some of Nashville's top session musicians, were more fruitful, and in February and March all the remaining songs for the album were recorded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Robertson</span> Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist

Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC, is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in 1986, Rick Danko in 1999, and Levon Helm in 2012, Robertson is one of only two living original members of the Band, with the other being Garth Hudson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Along the Watchtower</span> 1967 song by Bob Dylan

"All Along the Watchtower" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his eighth studio album, John Wesley Harding (1967). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. The song's lyrics, which in its original version contain 12 lines, feature a conversation between a joker and a thief. The song has been subject to various interpretations; some reviewers have noted that it echoes lines in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 21, verses 5–9. Dylan has released several different live performances, and versions of the song are included on some of his subsequent greatest hits compilations.

"Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Several critics have acclaimed "Visions of Johanna" as one of Dylan's highest achievements in writing, praising the allusiveness and subtlety of the language. Rolling Stone included "Visions of Johanna" on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1999, Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, listed it as the greatest song lyric ever written.

"Masters of War" is a song by Bob Dylan, written over the winter of 1962–63 and released on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in the spring of 1963. The song's melody was adapted from the traditional "Nottamun Town." Dylan's lyrics are a protest against the Cold War nuclear arms build-up of the early 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues</span> Song written and composed by Bob Dylan

"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965, and released on the album Highway 61 Revisited. The song was later released on the compilation album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II and as two separate live versions recorded at concerts in 1966: the first of which appeared on the B-side of Dylan's "I Want You" single, with the second being released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. The song has been covered by many artists, including Gordon Lightfoot, Nina Simone, Barry McGuire, Judy Collins, Frankie Miller, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The Black Crowes, Townes Van Zandt, and Bryan Ferry. Lightfoot's version was recorded only weeks after Dylan's original had been released and reached #3 on the Canadian RPM singles chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again</span>

"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a song written by Bob Dylan that appears on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. The album version also appears on 1971's Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II. An early studio take, done in a faster tempo, was released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack in 2005. As the recording indicates, Dylan had difficulty fitting the words to the tempo, and evidently this led to its rearrangement, as heard on Blonde on Blonde, in a more "rock"-oriented 4/4 time. The song's refrain likely refers to the Memphis Blues of W.C. Handy.

"Talkin' New York" is the second song on Bob Dylan's eponymous first album, released in 1962. A talking blues, the song describes his feelings on arriving in New York City from Minnesota, his time playing coffee houses in Greenwich Village, and his life as a folksinger without a record deal. The lyrics express the apparent difficulty he had finding gigs as a result of his unique sound, with a character in the song telling Dylan: "You sound like a hillbilly; We want folk singers here."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pledging My Time</span> 1966 single by Bob Dylan

"Pledging My Time" is a blues song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song, written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston, was recorded on March 8, 1966 in Nashville, Tennessee. Dylan is featured on lead vocals, harmonica, and guitar, backed by guitarist Robbie Robertson and an ensemble of veteran Nashville session men.

"Girl from the North Country" is a song written by Bob Dylan. It was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City in April 1963, and released the following month as the second track on Dylan's second studio album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Dylan re-recorded the song as a duet with Johnny Cash in February 1969. That recording became the opening track on Nashville Skyline, Dylan's ninth studio album.

"I'll Keep It with Mine" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1964, first released by folk singer Judy Collins as a single in 1965. Dylan attempted to record the song for his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.

"When I Paint My Masterpiece" is a 1971 song written by Bob Dylan. It was first released by The Band, who recorded the song for their album Cahoots, released on September 15, 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watching the River Flow</span> Song by Bob Dylan

"Watching the River Flow" is a blues rock song by American singer Bob Dylan. Produced by Leon Russell, it was written and recorded during a session in March 1971 at the Blue Rock Studio in New York City. The collaboration with Russell formed in part through Dylan's desire for a new sound—after a period of immersion in country rock music—and for a change from his previous producer. The song was praised by critics for its energy and distinctive vocals, guitar, and piano. It has been interpreted as Dylan's account of his writer's block in the early 1970s, and his wish to deliver less politically engaged material and find a new balance between public and private life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Dylan World Tour 1966</span>

The Bob Dylan World Tour 1966 was a concert tour undertaken by American musician Bob Dylan, from February to May 1966. Dylan's 1966 World Tour was notable as the first tour where Dylan employed an electric band backing him, following him "going electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The musicians Dylan employed as his backing band were known as The Hawks, who later became famous as The Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beyond Here Lies Nothin'</span> 2009 song by Bob Dylan

"Beyond Here Lies Nothin' " is a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and performed by Dylan as the opening track on his 2009 studio album Together Through Life. The title is a quote from the ancient Roman poet Ovid. The track was available as a free download on Dylan's official website from March 30 to March 31, 2009, and a photo montage set to the song premiered on Amazon on April 21. It has been anthologized on every reissue of The Essential Bob Dylan since 2010. Like much of Dylan's 21st century output, he produced the song himself using the pseudonym Jack Frost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big River (Johnny Cash song)</span> 1958 single by Johnny Cash

"Big River" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash. Released as a single by Sun Records in 1958, it went as high as #4 on the Billboard country music charts and stayed on the charts for 14 weeks.

Bob Dylan bootleg recordings are unreleased performances by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, that have been circulated throughout the public without undergoing an official, sanctioned release. It is commonly misconceived that bootlegs are only restricted to audio, but bootleg video performances, such as Dylan's 1966 film Eat the Document, which remains officially unreleased, are considered to be bootlegs. Dylan is generally considered to be the most bootlegged artist in rock history, rivaled only by the Grateful Dead.

"Mama, You Been on My Mind" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Written in 1964 during a trip to Europe, the song dealt with his recent breakup with his girlfriend, Suze Rotolo. Dylan first recorded the song in June of that year during a session for his album Another Side of Bob Dylan. However, the song was not included on the album, and Dylan's version remained unreleased until 1991. In total, in the 1990s and 2000s four versions were put out on Dylan's Bootleg Series of releases, including two live performances with Joan Baez from 1964 and 1975.

"I Pity the Poor Immigrant" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was recorded on November 6, 1967, at Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville, produced by Bob Johnston. The song was released on Dylan's eighth studio album John Wesley Harding on December 27, 1967.