Who Killed Davey Moore

Last updated
"Who Killed Davey Moore"
Song by Bob Dylan
Written1963
Genre Folk
Songwriter(s) Bob Dylan

"Who Killed Davey Moore" is a topical song written in 1963 by American folk singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. Though the song was not commercially released on Dylan's several studio albums in the 1960s, it was popular in his repertoire for live shows during that era. Dylan's performance of the song at Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963, would later be released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 in 1991, and an October 1964 performance is on The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall , released in 2004. [1]

Contents

Background

Davey Moore was an American boxer whose career spanned 1953 to 1963. Known as "The Little Giant", Moore stood at only 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm). On March 18, 1959, Moore won the World Featherweight Title from Hogan Bassey. Moore held the title for four years and three days, defending it five times before losing it to Cuban Sugar Ramos on March 21, 1963. During the fight with Ramos in Dodgers Stadium, Moore was knocked down into the ropes during the 10th round. Moore lost by technical knockout at the end of the 10th round and Ramos took the title. Moore walked back to his dressing room and conducted post-fight interviews, stating his desire to fight Ramos again and regain the title. After reporters left he complained of headaches and fell unconscious. He was taken to White Memorial Hospital where he was diagnosed with inoperable brain damage. Moore never regained consciousness and died as a result of the affliction on March 25, 1963. [2]

Criticism of boxing

Following Moore's death, the morality of boxing was debated by politicians and religious leaders alike. The song "Davey Moore" by folk singer Phil Ochs, who described himself as a "singing journalist," offered a harsh criticism of the sport and those affiliated with it. However, Dylan's song delivered a more indirect message and a message that transcended the arena of boxing to include the enveloping society. In his typically ironic fashion, when Dylan introduced "Who Killed Davey Moore" during his October 31, 1964 show, he addressed the crowd:

This a song about a boxer...
It's got nothing to do with boxing, it's just a song about a boxer really.
And, uh, it's not even having to do with a boxer, really.
It's got nothing to do with nothing.
But I fit all these words together...
that's all...
It's taken directly from the newspapers,
Nothing's been changed...
Except for the words. [3]

Song structure and implications

Dylan's song borrows the structure of the children's rhyme Cock Robin. As Dylan takes the perspective of the referee, the crowd, the manager, the gambling man, the boxing writer, and Sugar Ramos he ends each line in the first person with the refrain

"It wasn't me that made him fall.
No, you can't blame me at all." [4]

Before the chorus, from most likely an objective voice

Who killed Davey Moore,
Why and what's the reason for? [4]

In each verse, the defensive party gives its reasons why it is free from culpability. The sum total of their arguments implies that the blame belongs to them all— the constituent parts of the boxing industry.[ citation needed ] In the final verse, Sugar Ramos—"the man whose fists, laid him low in a cloud of mist"— is referenced as coming to the United States "from Cuba's door, where boxing ain't allowed no more." In the first released recording of the song from a performance at Carnegie Hall in 1963, a portion of the audience can be heard cheering the invocation of Cuba's then-recent policy to ban boxing, among other professional sports. In Dylan's lyrics, Ramos concludes his defense by stating Moore's death "was God's will". These words were taken from Moore's wife Geraldine's statement upon learning of her husband's death. [2]

Pete Seeger sang the song in 1963 at the We Shall Overcome concert at Carnegie Hall (and recorded it on his 1963 album Broadside Ballads, Vol. 2), in a minor key, inserting the words in the refrain: "How come he died and what's the reason for?".

Related Research Articles

<i>The Times They Are a-Changin</i> (Bob Dylan album) 1964 studio album by Bob Dylan

The Times They Are a-Changin' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 13, 1964 by Columbia Records. Whereas his previous albums Bob Dylan and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan consisted of original material among cover songs, Dylan's third album was the first to feature only original compositions. The album consists mostly of stark, sparsely arranged ballads concerning issues such as racism, poverty, and social change. The title track is one of Dylan's most famous; many feel that it captures the spirit of social and political upheaval that characterized the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Manuel Rodríguez</span> Cuban boxer

Luis Manuel Rodríguez was a Cuban professional boxer. Known as "El Feo", he began his career in pre-Castro Havana. In Cuba, he twice defeated the ill-fated future welterweight champion Benny Paret. He held the WBA, WBC, and lineal welterweight titles in 1963, and challenged once for the WBA, and WBC middleweight titles in 1969.

"A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" is a song written by American musician and Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962 and recorded later that year for his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). Its lyrical structure is modeled after the question and answer form of traditional ballads such as "Lord Randall".

Ultiminio Ramos Zaqueira was a Cuban-born Mexican professional boxer who was better known as Sugar Ramos. Ramos fought out of Mexico where he was adopted as a national hero. He was a world featherweight champion and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

<i>The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall</i> 2004 live album by Bob Dylan

The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall is a live album by Bob Dylan, released in 2004 on Legacy Records. It is the fourth installment of the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series. The album is the complete recording from the October 31, 1964 "Halloween" show at Philharmonic Hall in Manhattan by Bob Dylan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davey Moore (boxer, born 1933)</span> American boxer (1933–1963)

David "Davey" S. Moore was an American featherweight world champion boxer who fought professionally from 1953 to 1963. A resident of Springfield, Ohio, Moore was one of two world champions to share the name in the second half of the 20th century. The second, Davey Moore, boxed during the 1980s.

"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.

"Boots of Spanish Leather" is a ballad written and performed by Bob Dylan, recorded in New York City on August 7, 1963, and released in 1964 on his album The Times They Are a-Changin'. It features Dylan solo on the acoustic guitar, playing the song using fingerpicking.

<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.

"Bob Dylan's Dream" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1963. It was recorded by Dylan on April 24, 1963, and was released by Columbia Records a month later on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

"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.

<i>Live at Carnegie Hall 1963</i> 2005 live album by Bob Dylan

Live at Carnegie Hall 1963 is a six-song live set by Bob Dylan. It was released as an EP by Columbia Records in 2005. The songs were recorded on October 26, 1963 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

"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.

"When the Ship Comes In" is a folk music song by Bob Dylan, released on his third album, The Times They Are a-Changin', in 1964.

"Oxford Town" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 1962. It was recorded in Columbia's Studio A on December 6, 1962, for his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

"Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues", also known as "Talkin' John Birch Society Blues" and "Talkin' John Birch Blues", is a protest song and talking blues song written by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 1962. It is a satirical song, in which a paranoid narrator is convinced that communists, or "Reds" as he calls them, are infiltrating the country. He joins the John Birch Society, an anti-communist group, and begins searching for Reds everywhere. The narrator decries Betsy Ross as a communist and four U.S. Presidents as Russian spies, while lauding Adolf Hitler and George Lincoln Rockwell. After exhausting the possibilities of new places to find communists, he begins to investigate himself.

<i>In Concert – Brandeis University 1963</i> 2011 live album by Bob Dylan

In Concert – Brandeis University 1963 is an album from a concert performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan at the Brandeis Folk Festival at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, on May 10, 1963.

"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.

Bob Dylan is an American musician, singer-songwriter, music producer, artist, and writer. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest.

"I Shall Be Free" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was recorded on 6 December 1962 at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios, New York, produced by John Hammond. The song was released as the closing track on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan on 27 May 1963, and has been viewed as a comedic counterpoint to the album's more serious material. Dylan has never performed the song in concert.

References

  1. ↑ "The Bootleg Series, Vol 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964 (2004)". bobdylan.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 Modesti, Kevin (27 July 2001). "Boxer's death inspired change in the fight game". San Francisco Chronicle . Los Angeles Daily News . Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  3. ↑ The introduction can be heard in Dylan's record The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall
  4. 1 2 "Who Killed Davey Moore? by Bob Dylan". bobdylan.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
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.