Joey (Bob Dylan song)

Last updated
"Joey"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album Desire
ReleasedJanuary 5, 1976
RecordedJuly 30, 1975 (basic track) August 11, 1975 (overdub session) [1]
Studio Columbia Recording Studios, New York City
Genre Folk rock
Length11:05
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Don DeVito
Desire track listing
9 tracks
Side one
  1. "Hurricane"
  2. "Isis"
  3. "Mozambique"
  4. "One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)"
  5. "Oh, Sister"
Side two
  1. "Joey"
  2. "Romance in Durango"
  3. "Black Diamond Bay"
  4. "Sara"

"Joey" is an epic story-song from Bob Dylan's 1975 album Desire . It was written by Dylan and Jacques Levy, who collaborated with Dylan on most of the songs on the album. Like another long song on the album, "Hurricane", "Joey" is biographical. It tells the story of the life and death of mobster Joey Gallo, who was killed on his birthday at Umberto's Clam House in Little Italy, on April 7, 1972. [2] [3] [4] The song was produced by Don DeVito.

Contents

Background and composition

"Joey" treats its titular protagonist sympathetically, despite his violent history. [2] [3] Gallo had been accused of at least two murders and had been convicted of several felonies. [3] But the song gives him credit for distrusting guns, being reluctant to kill hostages and shielding his family when he was being killed, and makes him appear to be an unwilling participant in the crimes of his henchmen, thus not deserving his fate. [3] [4] Besides his status as an outsider, Dylan was likely also drawn to Gallo's best friends in prison being black men. [5] In addition Gallo was able to gain sympathy in artistic circles by passing himself off as a cultured person victimized by the "system". [3]

The song has been described as including a demonstration of "the weak view of providence" in Dylan's songs, [6] that is, a view that God usually allows humans to act as they want, but occasionally intervenes when a grave injustice has been done or a special plan needs to be carried out. [6] In "Joey", this is demonstrated in the lines:

And someday if God's in heaven, overlookin' His preserve
I know the men that shot him down will get what they deserve. [6]

In a 2009 interview with Bill Flanagan, Dylan claimed that Levy wrote all the words to this song. [7] This, however, contradicts what Levy had told critic Lester Bangs at the time of Desire's release. [8]

Reception and legacy

As a result of Dylan's sympathetic treatment of Gallo, critics such as Lester Bangs harshly criticized the song upon its release. Bangs described it as "repellent romanticist bullshit". [3] However, Dylan claims that he always thought of Gallo as a kind of hero and an underdog fighting against the elements. [9]

The song's legacy remains mixed: a USA Today article ranking "all of Bob Dylan's songs" called it "forgettable" and lamented that it had replaced "Abandoned Love" on Desire 's final track list [10] but in a readers' poll conducted by Mojo , "Joey" was rated the 74th most popular Bob Dylan song of all time. [11]

Jerry Garcia, who was responsible for getting Dylan to start performing it live in 1987, considered it a "great song" [12] and Dylan himself characterized it as "Homeric" when discussing his Nobel Prize in Literature win with Edna Gundersen in 2016. [13] Critic Paul Zollo, writing in American Songwriter magazine, called it a "beautifully detailed and cinematic" song and a "masterpiece" in 2021. [14]

Live performances

According to his official website, Dylan has played the song 82 times in concert between 1987 and 2012. It is the only song from Desire that he performed with any regularity after 1976. [15] A live version from 1987 appears on the live album Dylan and the Dead . [2]

Notable covers

Italian-American outlaw musician Johnny Thunders recorded an abbreviated acoustic version on his album Hurt Me (1983). During their rise to popularity, Old Crow Medicine Show played the song often as part of encore sets. St. Louis garage-punk-blues band The Cripplers recorded a cover of Thunders' cover on their 2001 album One More for the Bad Guys.

The Brazilian singer Vitor Ramil has released a version named "Joquim" on his 1987 album Tango.

Related Research Articles

"Desolation Row" is a 1965 song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was recorded on August 4, 1965, and released as the closing track of Dylan's sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited. The song has been noted for its length (11:21) and surreal lyrics in which Dylan weaves characters into a series of vignettes that suggest entropy and urban chaos.

<i>Desire</i> (Bob Dylan album) 1976 studio album by Bob Dylan

Desire is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 5, 1976, through Columbia Records. It is one of Dylan's most collaborative efforts, featuring the same caravan of musicians as the acclaimed Rolling Thunder Revue tours the previous year. Many of the songs also featured backing vocals by Emmylou Harris and Ronee Blakley. Most of the album was co-written by Jacques Levy, and is composed of lengthy story-songs, two of which quickly generated controversy: the 11-minute-long "Joey", which is seen as glorifying the violent gangster "Crazy Joey" Gallo, and "Hurricane", the opening track that tells a passionate account of the murder case against boxer Rubin Carter, who the song asserts was framed. Carter was released in 1985, after a judge overturned his conviction on appeal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subterranean Homesick Blues</span> 1965 Bob Dylan song

"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It is the first track on the album Bringing It All Back Home, released some two weeks later. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also entered the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. The song has subsequently been reissued on numerous compilations, the first being the 1967 singles compilation Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits. One of Dylan's first electric recordings, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is also notable for its innovative music video, which first appeared in D. A. Pennebaker's documentary Dont Look Back. An acoustic version of the song, recorded the day before the single, was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 1961–1991.

<i>Biograph</i> (album) 1985 box set by Bob Dylan

Biograph is a 53-track box set compilation spanning the career of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on November 7, 1985, by Columbia Records. Consisting of 53 released and unreleased tracks from 1962 to 1981, the box set was released as a five-LP set, a three-cassette tape set, and a three-compact disc set. Biograph reached No. 33 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S. and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

<i>Dylan & the Dead</i> 1989 live album by Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead

Dylan & the Dead is a collaborative live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, released on February 6, 1989, by Columbia Records. The album consists of seven songs written and sung by Dylan, with the Grateful Dead providing accompaniment. The album was produced by Jerry Garcia and John Cutler.

"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.

"Ballad of a Thin Man" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan, and released in 1965 on his sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited.

"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">Bob Dylan</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1941)

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter. Often considered to be one of the greatest songwriters in history, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60-year career. He rose to prominence in the 1960s, when songs such as "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements. Initially modeling his style on Woody Guthrie's folk songs, Robert Johnson's blues and what he called the "architectural forms" of Hank Williams's country songs, Dylan added increasingly sophisticated lyrical techniques to the folk music of the early 1960s, infusing it "with the intellectualism of classic literature and poetry". His lyrics incorporated political, social and philosophical influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Wyeth</span> American drummer and pianist

Howard Pyle Wyeth, also known as Howie Wyeth, was an American drummer and pianist. Wyeth is remembered for work with the saxophonist James Moody, the rockabilly singer Robert Gordon, the electric guitarist Link Wray, the rhythm and blues singer Don Covay, and the folk singer Christine Lavin. Best known as a drummer for Bob Dylan, he was a member of the Wyeth family of American artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Things Have Changed</span> Bob Dylan song

"Things Have Changed" is a song from the film Wonder Boys, written and performed by Bob Dylan and released as a single on May 1, 2000, that won both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. It was also anthologized on the compilation albums The Essential Bob Dylan in 2000, The Best of Bob Dylan in 2005 and Dylan in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">When I Paint My Masterpiece</span> 1971 Bob Dylan song

"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.

"The Wicked Messenger" is a song written and originally performed by Bob Dylan for his album John Wesley Harding. The song was recorded at Columbia's Studio A, Nashville, on November 29, 1967.

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">On a Night Like This (Bob Dylan song)</span> 1974 single by Bob Dylan

"On a Night Like This" is a song written by Bob Dylan and recorded in November 1973. It first appeared on Dylan's 14th studio album, Planet Waves, as the opening track. It was also released as the lead single from the album and reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 The song later appeared on several Dylan compilation albums including Biograph, in 1985, and Dylan, in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)</span> 1985 single by Bob Dylan

"Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)" is a song by Bob Dylan that was released on his 1985 album Empire Burlesque. As a single, it was a Top 40 Hit in New Zealand and Belgium. An earlier version of the song, entitled "Someone's Got a Hold of My Heart", was recorded for Dylan's 1983 LP Infidels, but was not included on that album; it later appeared on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.

The Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead 1987 Tour was a concert tour by Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead taking place in the summer of 1987 and consisting of six concerts. Each concert began with one or two lengthy sets by the Grateful Dead of their own material, followed by a roughly 90-minute set of the Dead acting as Dylan's backup band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jokerman (song)</span> 1984 single by Bob Dylan

"Jokerman" is a song by Bob Dylan that appeared as the opening track of his 1983 album Infidels. Recorded on April 14, 1983, it was released as a single on June 1, 1984, featuring a live version of "Isis" from the film Renaldo and Clara as its B-side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweetheart Like You</span> 1983 single by Bob Dylan

"Sweetheart Like You" is a song by Bob Dylan that appeared as the second track of his 1983 album Infidels. The song was recorded on April 18, 1983 and released as a single in December 1983, with "Union Sundown" as its B-Side.

References

  1. ↑ Bjorner Columbia Recording Studios, New York City, August 11, 1975 Bjorner's Still on the Road. Retrieved July 29, 2010
  2. 1 2 3 "Joey". allmusic . Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Varesi, A. (2002). The Bob Dylan Albums. Guernica Editions. pp. 131–133. ISBN   978-1-55071-139-4.
  4. 1 2 Mellers, W. (1984). A Darker Shade of Pale . pp.  187–188. ISBN   0-19-503622-0.
  5. ↑ Shelton, R. (1997). No Direction Home. Da Capo Press. p. 466. ISBN   0-306-80782-3.
  6. 1 2 3 Spiegel, J. (2006). "With God (and Socrates and Augustine) on Our Side". In Vernezze, P.; Porter, C. (eds.). Bob Dylan and Philosophy. Open Court. p. 136. ISBN   0-8126-9592-5.
  7. ↑ "Bob Dylan Talks about His New Record with Bill Flanagan". 7 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  8. ↑ "Joey: one of Dylan's worst songs, or one of his best? | Untold Dylan". 2016-05-29. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  9. ↑ Williamson, N. (2006). The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan 2. Rough Guides. p. 187. ISBN   978-1-84353-718-2.
  10. ↑ "Ranking all of Bob Dylan's songs, from No. 1 to No. 359". For The Win. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  11. ↑ "100 Greatest Dylan Songs". Mojo . Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  12. ↑ "Dylan & the Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia Week: Part 2". Dylan & the Grateful Dead. 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  13. ↑ Gundersen, Edna (2016-10-28). "World exclusive: Bob Dylan - I'll be at the Nobel Prize ceremony... if I can". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  14. ↑ "Behind The Song: "Joey, " by Bob Dylan". American Songwriter. 2021-09-07. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  15. ↑ "Joey | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.