Bob Dylan / 3:32
SINGLE
RELEASE DATE
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? / Highway 61 Revisited
December 21 or 27, 1965 (the single only started selling in stores in early January 1966)
(REFERENCE COLUMBIA 4-43477)
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Robbie Robertson: guitar
Bruce Langhorne: guitar
Richard Manuel: piano
Rick Danko: bass
Garth Hudson: organ
Al Kooper: organ, celesta
Bobby Gregg: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios / Studio A, New York: November 30, 1965
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineers: Roy Halee and Larry Keyes
Those among the folkies who still hoped Bob Dylan would come back to his first love must have been very disappointed, or even angry, when they first heard “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” a few days before the year-end holidays in 1965. Sure enough, this song followed suit with the album Highway 61 Revisited: it was a rock song, which was very close to the British sound of those days. This new musical orientation really suited Dylan, who advised a young woman to flee as soon as possible from a lover who was basely materialistic. There were several surrealistic lines that could have been written for “Like a Rolling Stone” or “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”: for instance, “If he needs a third eye he just grows it,” as well as the very title of the song. As in “Positively 4th Street,” the narrator uses you, a direct form of address that went along with the efficiency of rock ’n’ roll. Some listeners translated the lyrics of the song as a message for Edie Sedgwick, as Dylan advised her to escape as soon as possible from the sick claws of Andy Warhol and his Factory. This interpretation is plausible.
“Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” was the cause of the fight between Bob Dylan and folksinger Phil Ochs. One evening, the composer had David Blue and Phil Ochs listen to his song. The first one liked it: “A good rock song,” he said. Ochs risked making a comment. “It’s OK, but it will never be a hit.” Dylan went into a rage. “What do ya mean, it’s not going to be a hit? You’re crazy, man. It’s a great song.”2 Anthony Scaduto told the tale of what followed. At this point, a limousine arrived to drive them to a downtown club. They climbed aboard, but at the time when the driver was about to turn a few blocks before (Sixth Avenue), Dylan yelled at the driver, “Stop!” The car stopped and Dylan turned to Ochs to tell him, “Ochs, get out!” Ochs was white as a sheet. He couldn’t tell if Dylan was serious or joking. “Get out, Ochs!” Dylan repeated. “You’re not a folksinger. You’re just a journalist.”2 The two songwriters did not see each other for nine years (until a concert in support of Chile in 1974). “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” was the first song that Bob Dylan recorded with the Hawks, the future Band.
On July 30, 1965, twenty-one takes of “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” were recorded with Mike Bloomfield on guitar, Al Kooper on celesta, Paul Griffin on piano, Harvey Brooks on bass, and Bobby Gregg on drums. This version, which was entitled “Look at Barry Run,” was joyful and could have easily been included on Highway 61 Revisited. The group played in unison, and once again Al Kooper gave the song its color, not with an organ but with a celesta.
On October 5, two new takes were done, but the musicians were not mentioned on the studio sheet. Then on November 30, with members of the Hawks—Robbie Robertson (guitar), Richard Manuel (piano), Rick Danko (bass), and Garth Hudson (organ)—as well as Bruce Langhorne (guitar), Al Kooper (organ), and Bobby Gregg (drums), ten takes were recorded.
This song, which came out as a single in 1965, was never included on any other record in its studio version until 1985, when it appeared on Biograph for the first time. Coming out in mono at the time, it has been remastered in this form since then. This version was very different than the first one: the mix was pretty much a rough draft, and the whole song was dominated by the cymbal ride bell played by Bobby Gregg. The sound gave an impression of Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound.” Despite obvious qualities, efficient rhythm, a catchy melody and chorus, and rather convincing guitar playing and harmonica (in C), “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” never really managed to take off. Maybe Dylan had not yet found a sense of balance with this new group. It was too bad, because the song was nevertheless a success, and Jimi Hendrix made no mistake when he did an excellent cover of it in 1967 (BBC Sessions, 1998).
The single record “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” (with “Highway 61 Revisited” on side 2) was available in record stores as of December 21 (or 27?), 1965. It reached number 58 on the Billboard chart, and number 17 on British charts. Afterward, the song was included in the Masterpieces (1978) and Biograph (1985) compilations, and in the Band compilation A Musical History (2005).