On a Night Like This (Bob Dylan song)

Last updated
"On a Night Like This"
OnANightLikeThis.jpg
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Planet Waves
B-side "You Angel You"
ReleasedMarch 1974
RecordedNovember 8, 1973
Studio The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California
Genre Roots rock
Length2:57
Label Asylum
Songwriter(s) Bob Dylan
Producer(s) Rob Fraboni
Bob Dylan singles chronology
"A Fool Such as I"
(1973)		"On a Night Like This"
(1974)		"Something There Is About You"
(1974)

"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. [1] It was also released as the lead single from the album and reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 [2] The song later appeared on several Dylan compilation albums including Biograph , in 1985, and Dylan (three-disc version), in 2007. [3] [4]

Contents

Recording

The song was written in New York a month before the first recording session at the Village Recorder. Dylan and The Band recorded the song ten times, [5] the tenth being used on the album. Dylan plays his harmonica solo in the key of F. [6] As of 2021, Dylan has never performed the song live in concert. [7]

Lyrics and music

According to Dylan, "On a Night Like This" was not a typical song for him to write, saying that it "comes off as sort of like a drunk man who's temporarily sober." [8] Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin found the song a disappointing start to Planet Waves. [9] However, he did acknowledge some positive features: that "playing swings" and that Dylan is in good voice. [9] He also acknowledges some clever lyrics. For example, he sees in the lines:

Build a fire, throw on logs
And listen to it hiss
And let it burn, burn, burn, burn

a clever take on Jack Kerouac's use of the phrase "burn, burn, burn" in On the Road in which Dylan's meaning is the opposite of Kerouac's. [9] He also finds amusement in Dylan's reference to Fats Domino and Dylan's own "The Man in Me" in the lines:

Let the four winds blow
Around this old cabin door [9]

Author Oliver Trager noted the "rustic" feel resulting from the "twangy, loose musicianship" and that song produces visceral effects in allowing the listener to feel the window frost and smell the burning wood described in the song. [8] Trager particularly praises Dylan's harmonica and Garth Hudson's accordion playing. [8]

Reception

Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine rates the song's "unassuming nature" as a "virtue". [10] Billboard described the song as "a spunky tune about reminiscences and things that sure feel right" and stated that Dylan's vocal performance sounded strained. [11] Cash Box called it a "lively track" saying "strong, usual vocal by the master is backed by even stronger musical representation by The Band with a heavy concentration on harp." [12] Record World called it a "jaunty gem" and said that the "vocals have a touch of 'old' Dylan about them" and that "the accompaniment can't be beat." [13] PopMatters critic David Pike rated it one of the "41 essential pop/rock songs with accordion," calling it "a rollicking, zydeco-tinged workout with an intense outro duet for Garth Hudson’s accordion and Dylan’s harmonica." [14]

Personnel

Credits for the Planet Waves and single release, adapted from the Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track book. [6]

Musicians

Technical

Cover versions

Los Lobos recorded a version of the song for the soundtrack of the 2003 film Masked and Anonymous . [15] Buckwheat Zydeco covered the song on his 1987 album On a Night Like This. [16] Jimmy Fallon also played "On a Night Like This" with Buckwheat Zydeco on the last night of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. [17]

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hidalgo</span> American musician

David Kent Hidalgo is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requinto jarocho, percussion, drums and guitar as a session musician on other artists' releases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckwheat Zydeco</span> American accordionist

Stanley Dural Jr., better known by his stage name Buckwheat Zydeco, was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music group was formally billed as Buckwheat Zydeco and Ils Sont Partis Band, but they often performed as merely Buckwheat Zydeco.

<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.

"Chimes of Freedom" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his Tom Wilson produced 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan. The song depicts the thoughts and feelings of the singer and his companion as they shelter from a lightning storm under a doorway after sunset. The singer expresses his solidarity with the downtrodden and oppressed, believing that the thunder is tolling in sympathy for them.

<i>Before the Flood</i> (album) 1974 live album by Bob Dylan and the Band

Before the Flood is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and the Band, released on June 20, 1974, on Asylum Records in the United States and Island Records in the United Kingdom. It was Dylan's first live album, although live recordings of earlier performances would later be released. It is the 15th album by Dylan and the seventh by the Band, and documents their joint 1974 American tour. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, reached No. 8 on the popular album chart in the UK, and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

<i>Planet Waves</i> 1974 studio album by Bob Dylan

Planet Waves is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 17, 1974, by Asylum Records in the United States and Island Records in the United Kingdom. It is also one of only two Dylan albums not originally released on Columbia Records, but he was allowed to take its release rights back to his former label when he resigned with it and remained ever since.

<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.

"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.

<i>The Basement Tapes</i> 1975 studio album by Bob Dylan and the Band

The Basement Tapes is the sixteenth album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and his second with the Band. It was released on June 26, 1975, by Columbia Records. Two-thirds of the album's 24 tracks feature Dylan on lead vocals backed by the Band, and were recorded in 1967, eight years before the album's release, in the lapse between the recording and subsequent release of Blonde on Blonde and John Wesley Harding, during sessions that began at Dylan's house in Woodstock, New York, then moved to the basement of Big Pink. While most of these had appeared on bootleg albums, The Basement Tapes marked their first official release. The remaining eight songs, all previously unavailable, feature the Band without Dylan and were recorded between 1967 and 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gates of Eden (song)</span> 1965 single by Bob Dylan

"Gates of Eden" is a song by Bob Dylan that appears on his fifth studio album Bringing It All Back Home, released on March 22, 1965 by Columbia Records. It was also released as a single as the B-side of "Like a Rolling Stone". Dylan plays the song solo, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica. It is considered one of Dylan's most surreal songs. In a 2005 Mojo magazine poll of its writers and various well-known musicians, "Gates of Eden" was ranked 76th among Dylan's 100 greatest songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forever Young (Bob Dylan song)</span> 1974 song by Bob Dylan

"Forever Young" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded in California in November 1973. The song first appeared, in two different versions, a slow-pace and a fast-pace, on Dylan's fourteenth studio album Planet Waves.

"Santa-Fe" is a song that was recorded by Bob Dylan and the Band in the summer or fall of 1967 in West Saugerties, New York. It was recorded during the sessions that would in 1975 be released on The Basement Tapes but was not included on that album. These sessions took place in three phases throughout the year, at a trio of houses, and "Santa-Fe" was likely put on tape in the second of these, at a home of some of the Band members, known as Big Pink. The composition, which has been characterized as a "nonsense" song, was copyrighted in 1973 with lyrics that differ noticeably from those on the recording itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart of Mine (Bob Dylan song)</span> 1981 single by Bob Dylan

"Heart of Mine" is a song by Bob Dylan that appeared on his 1981 album Shot of Love. Recorded on May 15, 1981, it was released as a single, and reached No. 8 in Norway. A live version of the composition was released on Biograph in 1985.

"Dirge" is a song by Bob Dylan. It was released on his 14th studio album Planet Waves in 1974. Notable for its acidic tone, "Dirge" has never been performed in concert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mozambique (song)</span> 1976 song by Bob Dylan

"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.

<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.

"Nothing Was Delivered" is a song written by Bob Dylan that was originally recorded by Dylan and The Band in the Fall of 1967 during the sessions that generated The Basement Tapes. The song was first released by The Byrds on their 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)</span> Song by Bob Dylan

"One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the fourth track on his seventeenth studio album Desire (1976). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Don DeVito. The album version of "One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" was recorded on July 30, 1975, and released on Desire in January 1976. Dylan said the song was influenced by his visit to a gypsy celebration at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in France on his 34th birthday.

References

  1. ↑ Williamson, N. The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan (1st ed, 2004), p. 218, ISBN   1-84353-139-9
  2. ↑ "Planet Waves awards". Allmusic . Retrieved 2015-05-30.
  3. ↑ Erlewine, S.T. "Biograph". Allmusic . Retrieved 2015-05-26.
  4. ↑ Erlewine, S.T. "Dylan [2007]". Allmusic . Retrieved 2015-05-26.
  5. ↑ "Still On The Road: 1973 Recording Sessions". www.bjorner.com. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  6. 1 2 Margotin, Philippe (2015). Bob Dylan : all the songs : the story behind every track. Jean-Michel Guesdon (First ed.). New York. ISBN   978-1-57912-985-9. OCLC   869908038.
  7. ↑ "On a Night Like This | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  8. 1 2 3 Trager, O. (2004). Keys to the Rain . Billboard Books. p.  467. ISBN   0823079740.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Heylin, C. (2009). Revolution in the Air. Chicago Review Press. p. 447. ISBN   9781556528439.
  10. ↑ Erlewine, S. T. "Planet Waves". Allmusic . Retrieved 2015-05-30.
  11. ↑ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. February 9, 1974. p. 55. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  12. ↑ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. February 9, 1974. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  13. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. February 9, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  14. ↑ Pike, David (May 26, 2022). "41 Essential Pop/Rock songs with Accordion". PopMatters. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  15. ↑ Erlewine, S.T. "Masked and Anonymous". Allmusic . Retrieved 2015-05-26.[ permanent dead link ]
  16. ↑ Greenberg, A. "On a Night Like This". Allmusic . Retrieved 2015-05-26.
  17. ↑ "Buckwheat Zydeco » Buckwheat Zydeco Kicks Off Final Fallon Show". Buck.wjlabs.net. Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
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.