Bob Dylan / 5:43
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, piano
Stu Kimball: guitar
Denny Freeman: guitar
Donnie Herron: guitar (?)
Tony Garnier: bass
George G. Receli: drums
Recording Studio
Sony Music Studios, New York: February 2001
Technical Team
Producer: Jack Frost (Bob Dylan)
Sound Engineer: Chris Shaw
Five years after “High Water (For Charley Patton),” Bob Dylan dedicated another song to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which had a terrible impact on the population and the economy of the Southern states. The song “The Levee’s Gonna Break” borrows from “When the Levee Breaks,” first recorded by the musical husband-and-wife duo Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy in 1929 and covered by numerous artists, including the British rock band Led Zeppelin as the last track on their fourth album (1971). The song has a recurring line “If it keep on rainin’ the levee gonna break.” At the same time, a chaotic love story emerges in a climate of apocalypse.
“The Levee’s Gonna Break” has a rockabilly ambience. Dylan sings in a very relaxed voice, almost in the background. The group provides an effective accompaniment. Stu Kimball and Denny Freeman take turns playing solos. Dylan seems to be both on acoustic rhythm guitar and on piano (far in the mix). Yet “The Levee’s Gonna Break” is the only song on the album where Dylan and his musicians play with no real conviction.