"I Want You" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Bob Dylan | ||||
from the album Blonde on Blonde | ||||
B-side | "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (live version) | |||
Released | June 10, 1966 | |||
Recorded | March 10, 1966 | |||
Studio | Columbia, Nashville | |||
Genre | Folk rock [1] [2] | |||
Length |
| |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan | |||
Producer(s) | Bob Johnston | |||
Bob Dylan singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Official audio | ||||
"I Want You" on YouTube |
"I Want You" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as a single in June 1966, and, later that month, on his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde . The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Bob Johnston. The song has been interpreted as a straightforward expression of lust, although critics have highlighted that the symbolism of the song is complex. It was the last song recorded for Blonde on Blonde, with several takes recorded in the early hours of March 10, 1966. It was included on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (1967). The song has received a largely positive critical reception, with a number of commentators highlighting Dylan's use of imagery, although some of the meanings are obscure.
Dylan has performed the song live 294 times, from its debut in 1976 to his most recent live rendition in 2005. It was presented in the style of a torch song during his 1978 World Tour, as heard on Bob Dylan at Budokan (1978). Dylan also revisited the song in 1987 on a co-tour with the Grateful Dead; their version was released on Dylan & the Dead (1989). The sessions for the original March 1966 recording were released in their entirety on the 18-disc Collector's Edition of The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 in 2015, with the penultimate take of the song also appearing on the 6-disc and 2-disc versions of that album. The single charted in several countries; it reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 16 on the UK charts. The B-side was a live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" recorded in Liverpool, England at the Odeon Theatre in May 1966.
Sophie B. Hawkins recorded what was termed a "breathy techno-MOR"/"quasi hip-hop" [3] [4] version of "I Want You" for Tongues and Tails (1992) and released it as a single which reached No. 49 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1993. [5] Her version received mixed reviews. She performed the song at Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in 1992; the performance was criticised, and was not included on the 1993 double-album and VHS releases of the concert. [6]
American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan started to move away from the contemporary folk music sound that had characterized his early albums with his fourth LP, Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). The 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home included both electric and acoustic tracks, and was followed by the purely electric Highway 61 Revisited later that year. [7] In 1965, Dylan hired the Hawks as his backing group for live shows, [8] but recording sessions in New York for a new album were not productive with them, and he accepted a suggestion from his producer Bob Johnston that the sessions should transfer to Nashville, Tennessee. [9] Dylan went to Nashville in February 1966, with Al Kooper and Robbie Robertson from the New York sessions also making the trip. [9]
The track was recorded at Columbia Studio A in Nashville in the early hours of March 10, 1966, [10] starting as dawn was approaching. [11] Whilst some of the songs on Blonde on Blonde are in the established Tin Pan Alley "A-A-B-A" form, an extra section at the end of "I Want You" gives it an A-A-B-A-A format . [12] Dylan demonstrated the song to his accompanying musicians using an acoustic guitar. [13] After Johnston had announced that recording had started, and confirmed the song's title with Dylan, guitarist Charlie McCoy asked about the song's intro, which had not been established; Dylan played the chord progression of the intro, and after the band had played through the first take, they discussed the arrangement again before the second take. [14] There were three complete takes of "I Want You" and two incomplete ones. [14] The final take was the master. [14] A version called "Take 5b" is marked with "insert, guitar overdub", though all the musicians involved say there was no guitar overdub. [14] It was the last song recorded for Dylan's seventh album, Blonde on Blonde , [15] with the session concluding at around 7:00 a.m. [14]
Sean Wilentz felt that the manuscript indicated some "lyrical experiments that fail", such as "deputies asking him his name... lines about fathers going down hugging one another and about their daughters putting him down because he isn't their brother". [16] However, once recording started, the only notable change between the takes was to the tempo. [17] Clinton Heylin felt that the tune used for the song illustrated the sentiment expressed by Dylan when he told an interviewer in 1966 that he took a holistic view of songs: "It's not just pretty words to a tune or putting tunes to words... [It's] the words and the music [together]—I can hear the sound of what I want to say." [18]
Despite the straightforward title, Mike Marqusee found the song to be "packed with enigmatic imagery and haunted by ambivalent emotions". [19] For literature scholar Richard Brown, "the song shows a mastery of its apparently casual form ... it is neatly balanced between the directness of the repeated refrain and the mystery and interest of the material in the stanzas." [20] Andy Gill observed that the song's tension is achieved through the balance of the "direct address" of the chorus, the repeated phrase "I want you," and a weird cast of characters, including a guilty undertaker, a lonesome organ grinder, weeping fathers, mothers, sleeping saviours, the queen of spades, and "a dancing child with his Chinese suit". [21] [22] Gill reports that "the dancing child" has been interpreted as a reference to Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, and his then girlfriend Anita Pallenberg. [23] Clinton Heylin agrees there may be substance to this interpretation because the dancing child claims that "time was on his side", as an allusion to "Time Is on My Side", the Stones' first U.S. hit. [24]
Noting Dylan's interest in classical literature, English professor Graley Herren hypothesized that the song, which references an undertaker, is about the narrator's failure to accept the death of a loved one, echoing the ancient tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. [25] However, commentators have typically taken the song to be an expression of lust, [13] [26] [27] perhaps for a new love, [28] or someone other than the narrator's current partner. [24] Mellers felt that "The timbre generates an overwhelming erotic compulsion from what on paper is no more than a series of oscillation between two tones." [29]
"I Want You" was released as a single on June 10, 1966. [30] A live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues recorded in Liverpool on May 14, 1966 was included as the B-side. [31] Blonde on Blonde, Dylan's seventh studio album, was issued as a double album on June 20, with "I Want You" as the first track on side two. [32] [33] The album version had a duration of three minutes and eight seconds. [34] It was later included on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (1967). [35] The recording session was released in its entirety on the 18-disc Collector's Edition of The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 in 2015, with the penultimate take of the song also appearing on the 6-disc and 2-disc versions of that album. [36]
The reviewer for Cash Box described the song as a "medium-paced, blues-soaked plea for romance with an infectious, repeating rhythmic riff" that it considered a "sure-fire blockbuster candidate." [37] Billboard magazine recorded the release of "I Want You" in its June 25 issue, and predicted it would reach the Top 20. [38] The track entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts on July 2, 1966, at number 90, and Billboard identified the single as a "star performer"—a side "registering greatest proportionate upward progress this week". [39] It peaked at 20th on July 30. [40] "I Want You" entered the Cash Box charts at number 59 on July 2, and was tipped for strong upward movement. [41] It peaked at number 25 on August 6. [42] It was also a hit in the UK, where it peaked at number 16. [43]
Richard Goldstein of The Village Voice found that despite the "complex" imagery, the song should appeal to teenagers in Dylan's expanding fanbase as it expressed its subject in straightforward phrasing. [44] Not all critics were positive. Craig McGregor of The Sydney Morning Herald found the song unremarkable, [45] and Peter Murray's brief assessment was that the track was "rather disappointing". [46]
In 2013, Jim Beviglia rated it as the 70th-best of Dylan's songs, and praised Dylan's "ingenious poetic techniques". [27] Neil Spencer gave the song a rating of 5/5 stars in an Uncut magazine Dylan supplement in 2015. [47] Highlighting Dylan's harmonica part and Wayne Moss's guitar, Dylan discography author John Nogowski gave the song an "A" rating. [28]
Dylan first performed "I Want You" live in concert in 1973, accompanied by Neil Young and members of the Band, at a benefit concert for Students Need Athletic and Cultural Kicks (SNACK). [48] Three years later, he performed it during the Rolling Thunder Revue, in a manner that journalist Oliver Trager called a "painful dirge." [48] During his 1978 World Tour Dylan performed "I Want You" as a torch song, while in 1981 it appeared in his live performances in a more up-tempo version. [48] After this, he next performed it during the Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead 1987 Tour, with it remaining part of his live repertoire for the 1987 Temples in Flames Tour. [48]
A 1978 performance, featuring Dylan accompanied by Steve Douglas on recorder, was released on the live album Bob Dylan at Budokan (1978). [49] One of the performance with the Grateful Dead was issued on Dylan & the Dead (1989), [50] and an incomplete rehearsal from 1975 was included on Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings (2019). [51] According to his official website, Dylan has performed the song live 294 times, from its debut to his most recent live rendition in 2005. [52]
The track was written by Dylan. [53] The credits below are adapted from That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde. [54]
Musicians
Technical
"I Want You" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Sophie B. Hawkins | ||||
from the album Tongues and Tails | ||||
B-side | "Live and Let Love" | |||
Released | October 1992 | |||
Length | 4:19 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan | |||
Producer(s) | ||||
Sophie B. Hawkins singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"I Want You" on YouTube |
American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins recorded "I Want You" for her April, 1992 debut album, Tongues and Tails , produced by Rick Chertoff and Ralph Schuckett, on Columbia records. [55] [56] Hawkins' version had a different melody and featured the vocals from her first take. [57] Hawkins has said of Dylan's lyrics, "Each time I sing [the] song I struggle to grasp what the words are saying." [58] She elaborated, "I completely feel the song, but I don't understand it." [59] In Rolling Stone , Paul Evans described the style of her version as "breathy techno-MOR"; [3] the Associated Press reviewer called it "quasi hip-hop". [4]
Larry Flick, writing for Billboard, praised Hawkins' version for being "deliver[ed] with chatty finesse, amid a cushiony synth arrangement". [55] Randy Clark, reviewing for Cash Box , noted that despite Dylan's "obvious lyrical/poetic style", Hawkins' "sultry performance style permeates the recording". [60] Music & Media felt Hawkins "manages to completely transform the Bob Dylan classic" and noted it "sounds like Cyndi Lauper in a Sinéad O'Connor setting". [61] Amongst the negative reviews, Adam Sweeting of The Guardian described Hawkins's vocals as a "cloisterish drone" where she attempted but failed to match Dylan's delivery, [62] Richard Plunkett of The Age predicted that Dylan's fans would dislike the "quite bad" cover. [63] The Associated Press review suggested that the idea for the cover should have been discarded, and anticipated that Dylan fans would be upset by the track. [4]
Hawkins performed the song at Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at Madison Square Garden, New York City in October, 1992. [6] Rolling Stone reviewer David Wild wrote that Hawkins's inclusion on the bill "struck some as a case of label boosterism", [64] and Wayne Robins of Newsday felt that her performance was "superfluous", [65] while Tom Moon characterised the performance as "listless" in The Philadelphia Inquirer. [66] Hawkins' performance was one of a number of omissions from the 1993 double-album and VHS releases of the concert. [6]
Issued as a single in the US in October 1992 [67] and in the UK in January 1993, [68] it reached No. 49 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1993. [5] The single version had a duration of 4 minutes and 19 seconds, and was backed with "Live and Let Love" as the B-side. [69] The accompanying music video, which was shot in Paris, was directed by Lydie Caller and produced by Odille DeVars. [70]
Chart (1966) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [71] | 12 |
Canadian RPM Singles Chart [72] | 24 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [73] | 24 |
UK (OCC) [43] | 16 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [74] | 20 |
US Top 100 ( Cashbox ) [75] | 25 |
Chart (1993) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK (OCC) [5] | 49 |
Blonde on Blonde is the seventh studio album by the 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.
Nashville Skyline is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 9, 1969, by Columbia Records as LP record, reel-to-reel tape and audio cassette.
Tongues and Tails is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, released in 1992 on Columbia records. It was produced by Rick Chertoff and Ralph Schuckett.
"The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released as the fifth track on his eighth studio album John Wesley Harding (1967). The track was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. It was recorded in one take on October 17, 1967, at Columbia Studio A in Nashville. The song's lyrics refer to two friends, Frankie Lee and Judas Priest. Lee asks Priest for a loan of money and Priest offers it freely. Lee spends it in a brothel over 16 days, then dies of thirst in Priest's arms. It has been suggested by commentators that the song refers to Dylan's relationship with his manager Albert Grossman or to his contractual negotiations with his record company. The song received a mixed critical reception. Dylan performed the song live in concert 20 times, from 1987 to 2000.
"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released on the second side of his seventh studio album Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Bob Johnston. Dylan has denied that the song references any specific individual, although critics have speculated that it refers to Edie Sedgwick, who Dylan had spent time with in December 1965.
"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, Cat Power, Nina Simone, Barry McGuire, Judy Collins, Frankie Miller, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The Black Crowes, Townes Van Zandt, Bryan Ferry, and The Handsome Family. Lightfoot's version was recorded only weeks after Dylan's original had been released and reached #3 on the Canadian RPM singles chart.
"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. It has nine verses, each featuring a distinct set of characters and circumstances. All 20 takes of "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" were recorded in the early hours of February 17, 1966, at Columbia Records's A Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, with the last take selected for the album. This version also appears on Dylan's second compilation album, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971).
"Just Like a Woman" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. Dylan allegedly wrote it on Thanksgiving Day in 1965, though some biographers doubt this, concluding that he most likely improvised the lyrics in the studio. Dylan recorded the song at Columbia Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee in March 1966. The song has been criticized for sexism or misogyny in its lyrics, and has received a mixed critical reaction. Some critics have suggested that the song was inspired by Edie Sedgwick, while other consider that it refers to Dylan's relationship with fellow folk singer Joan Baez. Retrospectively, the song has received renewed praise, and in 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Dylan's version at number 232 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. A shorter edit was released as a single in the United States during August 1966 and peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also reached 8th place in the Australian charts, 12th place on the Belgium Ultratop Wallonia listing, 30th in the Dutch Top 40, and 38th on the RPM listing in Canada.
"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Columbia Records first released an edited version as a single in March 1966, which reached numbers two and seven in the US and UK charts respectively. A longer version appears as the opening track of Dylan's seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde (1966), and has been included on several compilation albums.
"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.
"One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as a single on February 14, 1966, and as the fourth track on his seventh studio album Blonde on Blonde in June of that year. The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. It is the narrator's account of a burned-out relationship. It was recorded at Columbia studio A in New York on January 25, 1966, with Dylan and other musicians developing the song through over twenty takes during the session.
"To Ramona" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, first released on his fourth studio album, Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Tom Wilson. The lyrics were started at the May Fair Hotel in London in May 1964, and finished during a week-long stay in the Greek village of Vernilya later that month. Dylan recorded all the tracks for the album, including the song, in a single three-hour session on June 9, 1964, at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios, New York. Its narrator advises Ramona, who is preparing to return to "the South", not to follow the advice of others. Critics have suggested several different people as inspirations for the song, including Joan Baez, Suze Rotolo, and Sara Lownds.
"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is a song written by American musician Bob Dylan in 1967 in Woodstock, New York, during the self-imposed exile from public appearances that followed his July 29, 1966 motorcycle accident. A recording of Dylan performing the song in September 1971 was released on the Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II album in November of that year, marking the first official release of the song by its author. Earlier 1967 recordings of the song, performed by Dylan and the Band, were issued on the 1975 album The Basement Tapes and the 2014 album The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.
"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" is a folk rock song written by American musician Bob Dylan. In 1965, Columbia Records released it as a single, which reached number 58 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 17 on the UK chart in January 1966. While Dylan never included the song on any of his studio albums, it appears on compilations, such as Biograph and Side Tracks.
"Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine", or "Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine)", is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released as the first track on side three of his seventh studio album Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. Dylan recounted that he had probably written the song after the end of a relationship. The song's narrator criticizes the lies and weakness of a woman, and says that he finds it hard to care. The final verse establishes that the woman has been unfaithful to the narrator by having a relationship with another man, as he suspected all along.
"Mozambique" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy that was originally released on Dylan's 1976 album Desire. It was also released as a single and reached number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on Legacy Records in November 2015. The tenth installment in the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, it comprises recordings from 1965 and 1966, mostly unreleased demos and outtakes from recording sessions for his albums Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. The standard set peaked at #41 on the Billboard 200.
"Obviously 5 Believers" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the last track of side three of his double album Blonde on Blonde (1966), and was the B-side to the single release of "Just Like a Woman" for releases in America and some other countries. The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. It was recorded at Columbia Music Row Studios, in the early morning hours of a March 9–10, 1966 session. Four takes were recorded, although the first two were incomplete. It has been interpreted as a blues song about loneliness, with critics noting similarities in melody and structure to Memphis Minnie's "Chauffeur Blues". Dylan's vocals and the musicianship of the band on the track have both received critical acclaim, although the track has been regarded as insubstantial by some commentators.
"Temporary Like Achilles" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan that was released on side three of his double album, Blonde on Blonde (1966). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Bob Johnston. It was recorded at Columbia Studio A, Nashville, Tennessee on March 9, 1966. The song is a blues number that incorporates elements of Dylan's incomplete "Medicine Sunday", which he had recorded with members of the Band in New York in October 1965. The song describes a narrator's frustration at being kept waiting by a woman that he wishes to be romantically involved with, who is guarded by "Achilles". Some critics have suggested that the song references the Iliad.
"I Shall Be Free No. 10" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the fifth track on his fourth studio album Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Tom Wilson. The song is a humorous talking blues, indebted to earlier songs including Lead Belly's "We Shall Be Free". Dylan opens the song by proclaiming that he is normal and average, but then acknowledges his reputation by singing the self-aware doggerel "Yippee! I'm a poet, and I know it/ Hope I don't blow it".
Citations
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)Books and journal articles
Radio documentary