By Tony Attwood
Tioga Pass is a song that was seemingly recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, on 16 June 1987 and according to the only note we have concerning the song, it was written by Robert Hunter and Bob Dylan.
The recording list for the session reads…
Needle's on empty and here I'm stuck Four in the morning and just my luck Listen to the radio waiting for the sun Can't flag a ride until daylight comes Four in the morning and out of gas Mile and a half from Tioga Pass Tuned to a station I've never heard while moonlight glimmers on Dead Man's Curve Glory in the morning and God bless you for playing that song when another would do Four in the morning and out of gas Mile and a half from Tioga Pass Ain't quite rock although it moves It sure ain't country and it's not the blues They don't say nothing when it gets to the end Just keep playing it over again Four in the morning and out of gas Mile and a half from Tioga Pass It isn't pop and it isn't soul Nothing like fifties rock and roll It isn't folk Not especially jazz Got something special nothing else has Four in the morning and out of gas Mile and a half from Tioga Pass The sun comes up about six o'clock The station drifts to some pre-fab rock Although they played it all night long I never did learn the name of that song
Now to help you, if you don’t know that part of the United States, Tioga Pass sits almost 10,000 feet (3000 m.) above sea level in the Sierra Nevada, and State Route 120 goes through it leading to Yosemite National Park.
It is the highest highway pass in California and in the Sierra Nevada. Wiki tells us that “This pass, like many other passes in the Sierra Nevada, has a gradual approach from the west and drops off to the east dramatically, losing more than 3,000 feet (910 m) by the time the road reaches Route 395.”
They also tell us that The Pass is named after the Tioga River, and “tioga” is an Iroquois and Mohawk term meaning “where it forks”.
It appears that in the winter (October to May) the road is often closed due to snow, occasionally remaining closed until July when the snow has been particularly heavy. So a pretty silly place to run out of gas (petrol).
That then is the challenge – to write the music and send in a recording. You will then be entered onto our list of 600+ Dylan compositions recorded on this site. And judging by the way things have been going, you might find other websites then quoting the song as a Dylan composition, with you as the composer. People do seem to accept that our list is not only accurate but also comprehensive. So fame at last!
And just to show you what has happened before, here are some of the recordings that we have completed between us.
- Don’t let anyone write your story, Rob Beretta
- Don’t let anyone write your story, Paul Robert Thomas
- Listen Robert Moses: Chris Sheriden
- Song to Bonny Paul Robert Thomas
- Don’t Let Anyone write your story: Claudio Diarni
- Dope Fiend Robber Nick Juno.
- Untold Dylan Showcase: the publisher’s turn
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We are actively promoting a link to this interesting topic on The Bob Dylan Project at:
https://thebobdylanproject.com/Song/id/4517/Tioga-Pass
If you are interested, we are a portal to all the great information related to this topic.
Join us inside Bob Dylan Music Box.
With the hope that this contribution helps the site achieve perfection, the Iroquois are properly called Haudenosaunee, and their federation includes the Mohawk.
Also, when a sentence ends with a quotation, the terminal punctuation should be within the quotation mark.
(in reference to: They also tell us that The Pass is named after the Tioga River, and “tioga” is an Iroquois and Mohawk term meaning “where it forks”.)
Dave
Actually, in the UK the terminal punctuation comes after the quotation…