Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word

Last updated
"Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word"
Baezfourletter.png
Single by Joan Baez
from the album Any Day Now
B-side "Love Minus Zero/No Limit"
ReleasedDecember 1968
Format45 RPM single
RecordedSeptember 1968, Columbia Studios, Nashville
Genre Folk
Length3:26
Label Vanguard (UK)
Vanguard (US)
Songwriter(s) Bob Dylan
Producer(s) Maynard Solomon
Joan Baez
Joan Baez singles chronology
"Be Not Too Hard"
(1967)
"Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word"
(1968)
"Sweet Sir Galahad"
(1969)

"Love is Just a Four-Letter Word" is a song written by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Joan Baez, who has recorded and performed the song numerous times throughout her career. [1]

Background

Baez immediately took to the song, which was written by Dylan sometime around 1965, and began performing it, even before it was finished. [2] In the film Dont Look Back , a documentary of Dylan's 1965 tour of the UK, Baez is shown in one scene singing a fragment of the then apparently still unfinished song in a hotel room late at night. [3] She then tells Dylan, "If you finish it, I'll sing it on a record". [3]

Baez first included the song on Any Day Now , her 1968 album of Dylan covers; she has since recorded it three additional times. [4] [5] Her 1968 recording was also released as a single, reaching #86 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [6] Baez has also included the song on numerous compilations such as The First Ten Years and Baez Sings Dylan, as well as on her live album From Every Stage .

Dylan never released a version of his song, and, according to his website, he has never performed the song live. [1]

Related Research Articles

Joan Baez American singer

Joan Chandos Baez is an American singer, songwriter, musician and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish and English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages.

<i>Dont Look Back</i> 1967 documentary film directed by D. A. Pennebaker

Dont Look Back is a 1967 American documentary film by D. A. Pennebaker that covers Bob Dylan's 1965 concert tour in England.

<i>Bringing It All Back Home</i> 1965 studio album by Bob Dylan

Bringing It All Back Home is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released on March 22, 1965, by Columbia Records.

"It Ain't Me Babe" is a song by Bob Dylan that originally appeared on his fourth album Another Side of Bob Dylan, which was released in 1964 by Columbia Records. According to music critic Oliver Trager, this song, along with others on the album, marked a departure for Dylan as he began to explore the possibilities of language and deeper levels of the human experience. Within a year of its release, the song was picked up as a single by folk rock act the Turtles and country artist Johnny Cash.

Bob Dylan discography Cataloging of published recordings by Bob Dylan

American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has released 38 studio albums, 91 singles, 26 notable extended plays, 50 music videos, 13 live albums, 15 volumes comprising The Bootleg Series, 19 compilation albums, 14 box sets, seven soundtracks as main contributor, five music home videos and two non-music home videos. Dylan has been the subject of six documentaries, starred in three theatrical films, appeared in an additional eight films and 10 home videos, and is the subject of the biographical tribute film I'm Not There. He has written and published lyrics, artwork and memoirs in 11 books and three of his songs have been made into children's books. He has done numerous collaborations, appearances and tribute albums. The albums Planet Waves and Before the Flood were initially released on Asylum Records; reissues of those two and all others were on Columbia Records.

<i>From Every Stage</i> 1976 live album by Joan Baez

From Every Stage is a live double album recorded by Joan Baez on tour in the summer of 1975. The first half of the album was acoustic, with Baez accompanying herself on her guitar, while the second half features electric backup. Baez' recording of "Blowin' in the Wind" from this album was later included in the Forrest Gump soundtrack album. The song "Natalya" was dedicated to Russian poet and human rights activist Natalya Gorbanevskaya,

<i>Any Day Now</i> (Joan Baez album) 1968 studio album by Joan Baez

Any Day Now is a Joan Baez double LP from 1968, made up exclusively of Bob Dylan songs. It peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

<i>Hits: Greatest and Others</i> 1973 greatest hits album by Joan Baez

Hits: Greatest and Others was a 1973 compilation Vanguard put together at the end of Joan Baez' association with their label. In addition to her hit cover of The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", songs by the Beatles and Kris Kristofferson were also included. Unlike previous compilations, this one skipped over most of Baez' earlier traditional material almost entirely, in favor of her more recent singer-songwriter material and covers.

<i>The Joan Baez Lovesong Album</i> 1976 compilation album by Joan Baez

The Joan Baez Lovesong Album was a 1976 compilation Vanguard put together in their series of Joan Baez reissues, following Baez' 1972 departure from their label. This album was a collection of love songs Baez had recorded during her Vanguard years, including traditional and contemporary work, as well as an arrangement of E. E. Cummings' "All in Green My Love Went Riding" by Peter Schickele. The cover painting was done by painter and musician Eric Von Schmidt.

Sara Dylan is the first wife of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In 1959, Noznisky was wed to magazine photographer Hans Lownds, during which time she was known as Sara Lownds.

<i>The First Ten Years</i> (Joan Baez album) 1970 greatest hits album by Joan Baez

The First Ten Years is a 1970 Joan Baez compilation album, which rounds up highlights of her first decade with the Vanguard label.

Just Like a Woman 1966 song by Bob Dylan

"Just Like a Woman" is a song written by Bob Dylan and first released on his 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde. It was also released as a single in the U.S. during August 1966 and peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dylan's recording of "Just Like a Woman" was not issued as a single in the United Kingdom but the British beat group, Manfred Mann, did release a hit single version of the song in July 1966, which peaked at #10 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Dylan's version of the song at #232 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his Bringing It All Back Home album, released on March 22, 1965 by Columbia Records. The song was recorded on January 15, 1965 with Dylan's acoustic guitar and harmonica and William E. Lee's bass guitar the only instrumentation. The lyrics were heavily influenced by Symbolist poetry and bid farewell to the titular "Baby Blue." There has been much speculation about the real life identity of "Baby Blue", with possibilites including Joan Baez, David Blue, Paul Clayton, Dylan's folk music audience, and even Dylan himself.

"Diamonds & Rust" is a song written, composed, and performed by Joan Baez. It was written in November 1974 and released in 1975.

"With God on Our Side" is a song by Bob Dylan, released as the third track on his 1964 album The Times They Are A-Changin'. Dylan first performed the song during his debut at The Town Hall in New York City on April 12, 1963. Dylan is known to sing the song only rarely in concert.

"She Belongs to Me" is a song by Bob Dylan, and was first released as the second track on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The song may be about a former girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, or fellow folk singer Joan Baez, contemporary siren Nico, or Sara Lownds, the woman that Dylan would wed in November 1965.

"Love Minus Zero/No Limit" is a song written by Bob Dylan for his fifth studio album Bringing It All Back Home, released in 1965. The song was originally written as a tribute to Dylan's future wife Sara Lownds. Its main musical hook is a series of three descending chords, while its lyrics articulate Dylan's feelings for his lover, and how she brings a needed zen-like calm to his chaotic world. The song uses surreal imagery, some of which recalls Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" and the biblical Book of Daniel. The style of the lyrics is reminiscent of William Blake's poem "The Sick Rose".

The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival is a 2007 documentary film about Bob Dylan's appearances at the Newport Folk Festival in three successive years: 1963, 1964, and 1965, directed by Murray Lerner.

Bob Dylan England Tour 1965 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan

The Bob Dylan England Tour 1965 was a concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan during late April and early May 1965. The tour was widely documented by filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker, who used the footage of the tour in his documentary Dont Look Back.

Love Is a Four Letter Word may refer to :

References

  1. 1 2 "Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  2. "Joan Baez - Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  3. 1 2 Pennebaker, D. A., director. Dont Look Back . Docurama, 1967.
  4. "John Peel Archive: Joan Baez - Any Day Now 2". John Peel Archive. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  5. "Any Day Now - Joan Baez | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  6. Baez, Joan. "Discography". www.joanbaez.com. Retrieved 2018-06-19.