Cecil A. Null / 2:25
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Charlie Daniels: guitar (?)
Norman Blake: guitar (?)
Fred Carter Jr.: guitar (?)
Pete Drake: pedal steel guitar
Bob Wilson: piano
Charlie McCoy: bass
June Page, Dolores Edgin, Carol Montgomery, Millie Kirkham, and Dottie Dillard: chorus (?)
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: April 26, 1969
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineer: Neil Wilburn
“I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know” is the most famous song written by the Virginia composer Cecil A. Null. It was the first hit for the duo Skeeter Davis and Betty Jack Davis, recorded and released in 1953 with Chet Atkins on lead guitar. It was their only hit, as Betty Davis was killed in a car accident the week the record was released. The song reached the top position on the country music singles charts. This single was the only number 1 country music song ever recorded by a female duet until “Mama He’s Crazy” by Naomi and Wynonna Judd in 1985.
The song tells the story of an abandoned lover who predicts his rival will never know the young woman as well as he does. “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know” is a romantic song. It has inspired all the top country music singers, from Patti Page to Patty Loveless, as well as the charming trio of Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette. Elvis Costello recorded the tune with Tom Waits for the bootleg Such Unlikely Covers.
“I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know” was recorded in Nashville on April 26, 1969. Even if Dylan’s voice had changed significantly since the sessions for Nashville Skyline, his singing style here is still surprising. The listener may have great difficulty recognizing the folksinger of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, much less the rock composer of Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. Here Dylan is a crooner in the style of Elvis Presley when he, under the stewardship of Colonel Tom Parker, began to favor Las Vegas casinos and Hollywood studios at the expense of rock ’n’ roll. The chorus singers include Dolores Edgin and Millie Kirkham, both of whom backed up the King himself. Unfortunately, their presence remains uncertain; their names are not clearly identified, no more than those of the different guitarists. It seems that “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know” did not have any overdubs.
Frank E. Warner / John A. Lomax / Alan Lomax / 5:29
Musicians (New York): Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; David Bromberg: guitar; Al Kooper: piano; Alvin Rodgers: drums / Musicians (Nashville): Charlie McCoy: harmonica, bass (?); Bob Moore: bass / Recording Studios: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio B, New York: March 4, 1970; Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: March 11, 1970 Producer: Bob Johnston / Sound Engineer (New York): Don Puluse / Sound Engineer (Nashville): Neil Wilburn
Three ethnomusicologists who played a major role in recognizing and conserving American folk music are credited to “Days of 49.” Frank Warner (1926–2011) was a musical editor who collected many traditional songs, including “Tom Dooley,” “Whiskey in the Jar,” and “Days of 49.” John and Alan Lomax, under the aegis of the Library of Congress, kept many of these folk songs from being forgotten by registering local artists, and then through long careers as producers. For “Days of 49,” the Lomax brothers wrote lyrics, based on the traditional song collected by Warner, about one of the most exciting chapters of American history, the California gold rush of 1849. Dylan told A. J. Weberman in 1971 that the two songs he liked on the album were “Days of 49” and “Copper Kettle.”
In this song, Dylan once again found his voice, a tone he had not sung in since Nashville Skyline. The singing, the two guitars, the piano, and the drums (by overdub) were first recorded in New York. Dylan, made a mistake in the lyrics and the harmony of the chorus that followed the fourth couplet (3:32), but caught himself just in time. A bass was then added in Nashville, as well as a new instrument: a bass harmonica that was probably played by Charlie McCoy.
Gordon Lightfoot / 3:34
Musicians (New York): Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; David Bromberg: guitar (?); Al Kooper: piano / Musicians (Nashville): Charlie Daniels: guitar (?); Ron Cornelius: guitar (?); Bubba Fowler: guitar (?); Charlie McCoy: bass; Kenny Buttrey: drums / Recording Studios: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio B, New York: March 4, 1970; Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: March 13 and 17, 1970
“Early Morning Rain” is a composition by the Canadian Gordon Lightfoot. The song was released on his debut album Lightfoot! in 1966. The lyrics relate the story of a man standing by the Los Angeles airport fence watching the takeoff of a Boeing 707 jetliner. The narrative of the song can be taken as an allegory of a hobo with the train having been replaced by the plane. This evocation of travel is a source of a large number of recorded versions, from Peter, Paul and Mary in 1965 to Neil Young in 2014, without forgetting Elvis Presley on his album Elvis Now, released in 1971.
This very middle-of-the road ballad was first recorded in New York and later completed in Nashville. Although the studio recording notes mention Charlie McCoy on the harmonica part, it seems that Dylan played it. His style is recognizable. The solo guitar is played with a classical nylon-string guitar (by either Charlie Daniels or Bubba Fowler).
Bob Dylan / 2:28
Musicians (New York): Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; David Bromberg: guitar / Musicians (Nashville): Charlie McCoy: bass (?); Bob L. Moore: bass (?); Kenny Buttrey: drums / Recording Studios: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio B, New York: March 3, 1970; Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: March 11 or April 2, 1970 / Producer: Bob Johnston / Sound Engineer (New York): Don Puluse / Sound Engineer (Nashville): Neil Wilburn
“In Search of Little Sadie” was a retelling of an old folk tune known in North Carolina as “Little Sadie” and also under the names of “Lee Brown,” “Cocaine Blues,” “Transfusion Blues,” “East St. Louis Blues,” and “Penitentiary Blues” in other states of the former Confederacy. They all tell the same story about one Lee Brown, who was sentenced to forty-one years in the penitentiary for having killed Little Sadie. In these two murder ballads, the cities of Jericho, South Carolina (unless it was the Jericho of the Bible), and Thomasville, North Carolina, are cited. Dylan was inspired by the recording of Clarence Ashley for Columbia, which was most likely done in October 1929 (or 1930).
“In Search of Little Sadie” could be a lesson on how to write a series of grotesque chords and salvage them with talent. Dylan dared to use harmony in the three first couplets, which was risky. The strong point of the song is his superb vocal performance. Buttrey and McCoy (or perhaps Moore?) must have added in Nashville their respective parts to the floating rhythm recorded in New York by Dylan. Despite his great talent, Buttrey hit the cymbal too late on the word head at 2:19!
Gilbert Bécaud / Mann Curtis / Pierre Delanoë / 3:01
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; Charlie Daniels: guitar; Norman Blake: guitar; Fred Carter: guitar; Robert S. Wilson: piano; (?): Moog synthesizer; Charlie McCoy: bass; Kenny Buttrey: drums; June Page, Dolores Edgin, Carol Montgomery, Millie Kirkham, and Dottie Dillard: chorus (?) / Recording Studio: Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: April 26, 1969 / Producer: Bob Johnston / Sound Engineer: Neil Wilburn
“Let It Be Me” was composed in 1955 under the name “Je t’appartiens” and is one of the most famous songs by French composer Gilbert Bécaud and French lyricist Pierre Delanoë. The tune, as “Et maintenant,” was one of a few French hits performed around the world and translated into English as “What Now My Love” by Delanoë and Bécaud in 1961. In the late 1960s, Mann Curtis adapted “Je t’appartiens” into English under the title “Let It Be Me,” released by the Everly Brothers. The song reached number 7 on the Billboard charts in January 1960. It was recorded by several artists, including Nancy Sinatra, Sam & Dave, Tom Jones, James Brown, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson.
Dylan’s version was recorded on April 26 in Nashville. The interpretation is directly in line with the traditional “Nashville sound” dear to Chet Atkins, as well as crooners like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. There seem to have been no overdubs made at this recording session. Note that, for the first time on a Dylan record, a Moog synthesizer is played by an unidentified performer. Dylan sang the tune only three times onstage, the first time at Colombes outside Paris on June 23, 1981.