Other people’s songs: Bob, Diamond Joe II, the movie and 10 beats in a bar!

by Aaron Galbraith and Tony Attwood

Other people’s songs: Performances by Dylan of traditional songs, and those written by others with explorations of their origins.

Songs selected by Aaron, additional commentary from the other side of the Atlantic by Tony.  There is an index of earlier commentaries at the end of the article.

Tony: We ran an article on “Diamond Joe” just recently.  Here’s another but it is a different song – atlhough the name is the same.

Aaron: In 1927, the Georgia Crackers recorded the fiddle tune “Diamond Joe”. This is different from the cowboy song of the same name. ‘Country Music Sources’ note that this ‘Diamond Joe’ was probably addressed not to a person but to a steamboat: “Jo Reynolds ran the Diamond Jo Steamboat line from 1892 to 1910 and each boat had a large diamond with the name “JO” in the middle of it.”

Tony: What really strikes is the way the guitar accompaniment is actually used as the percussion, keeping the pounding rhythm going throughout.  I think there are lots of versions of the lyrics, but always based around the same structure

Diamond Joe come and get me
My wife gonna quit me
Diamond Joe come and get me, Diamond Joe

It’s highly repetitive of course, but it is fun, although I think it is probably one of those songs that is much more fun to be in a band playing the song, than to hear more than once as a member of the audience!

Aaron: Jerry Garcia with David Nelson on vocals recorded in 1987 from a run of shows at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre in NYC.

Tony: Immediately the music is much more interesting in itself, and this is added to by the fact that each verse is extended with a change of chord for part two.  Then we have the really interesting instrumental break, and after that the verses are modified from the opening version.  It all gives a sense of movement and progression, which keeps us all much more interested.

I don’t think I could listen to the original again, other than for academic purposes, but this Jerry Garcia version is much more engaging and great fun.  If I were still in a band I’d suggest we play this, no matter what sort of band we were!  Great harmonies too!!

Aaron: Bob Dylan covered the song in 2003 and it appeared as a highlight of the movie and soundtrack album “Masked And Anonymous”.

Tony: Another set of variations from Bob to make the song move along.  It really is a load of nonsense in the film, but I do love that final throwaway line about not calling the phone number.

Aaron: Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur covered the song in 2016 for the album Penny’s Farm

Tony: It is extraordinary how this song has varied over the years and this version totally changes the rhythm as well as everything else.  And it all originates from one simple folk blues song.    Here, quite amazingly the song moves between the standard 4/4 time (that is to say, four beats in the bar) to an utterly unprecedented (for folk music) 10/4 (meaning ten beats in the bar), with the line “Joe come on to get me Diamond” which really is ten beats long.   (I know it would read in the lyrics “Diamond Joe come on to get me” but what the band is actually doing is making “Joe” the first beat of the bar in the chorus, and that does mean the bar is 10 beats long.)  That really is amazing.  A brilliant find Aaron.

Other people’s songs…

1. Other people’s songs. How Dylan covers the work of other composers
2. Other People’s songs: Bob and others perform “Froggie went a courtin”
3. Other people’s songs: They killed him
4. Other people’s songs: Frankie & Albert
5. Other people’s songs: Tomorrow Night where the music is always everything
6. Other people’s songs: from Stack a Lee to Stagger Lee and Hugh Laurie
7. Other people’s songs: Love Henry
8. Other people’s songs: Rank Stranger To Me
9. Other people’s songs: Man of Constant Sorrow
10. Other people’s songs: Satisfied Mind
11. Other people’s songs: See that my grave is kept clean
12. Other people’s songs: Precious moments and some extras
13. Other people’s songs: You go to my head
14. Other people’s songs: What’ll I do?
15. Other people’s songs: Copper Kettle
16. Other people’s songs: Belle Isle
17. Other people’s songs: Fixing to Die
18. Other people’s songs: When did you leave heaven?
19. Other people’s songs: Sally Sue Brown
20. Other people’s songs: Ninety miles an hour down a dead end street
21. Other people’s songs: Step it up and Go
22. Other people’s songs: Canadee-I-O
23. Other people’s songs: Arthur McBride
24. Other people’s songs: Little Sadie
25. Other people’s songs: Blue Moon, and North London Forever
26. Other people’s songs: Hard times come again no more
27. Other people’s songs: You’re no good
28. Other people’s songs: Lone Pilgrim (and more Crooked Still)
29. Other people’s songs: Blood in my eyes
30. Other people’s songs: I forgot more than you’ll ever know
31.  Other people’s songs: Let’s stick (or maybe work) together.
32. Other people’s songs: Highway 51
33. Other people’s songs: Jim Jones
34. Other people’s songs: Let’s stick (or maybe work) together.
35. Other people’s songs: Jim Jones
36. Other people’s songs: Highway 51 Blues
37. Other people’s songs: Freight Train Blues
38. Other People’s Songs: The Little Drummer Boy
39. Other People’s Songs: Must be Santa
40. Other People’s songs: The Christmas Song
41. Other People’s songs: Corina Corina
42. Other People’s Songs: Mr Bojangles
43. Other People’s Songs: It hurts me too
44. Other people’s songs: Take a message to Mary
45. Other people’s songs: House of the Rising Sun
46. Other people’s songs: “Days of 49”
47. Other people’s songs: In my time of dying
48. Other people’s songs: Pretty Peggy O
49. Other people’s songs: Baby Let me Follow You Down
50. Other people’s songs: Gospel Plow
51. Other People’s Songs: Melancholy Mood
52. Other people’s songs: The Boxer and Big Yellow Taxi
53. Other people’s songs: Early morning rain
54. Other people’s Songs: Gotta Travel On
55. Other people’s songs: “Can’t help falling in love”
56. Other people’s songs: Lily of the West
57. Other people’s songs: Alberta
58. Other people’s songs: Little Maggie
59. Other people’s songs: Sitting on top of the world
60. Dylan’s take on “Let it be me”
61. Other people’s songs: From “Take me as I am” all the way to “Baker Street”
62. Other people’s songs: A fool such as I
63. Other people’s songs: Sarah Jane and the rhythmic changes
64. Other people’s songs: Spanish is the loving tongue. Author drawn to tears
65. Other people’s songs: The ballad of Ira Hayes
66. Other people’s songs: The usual
67. Other people’s songs: Blackjack Davey
68. Other people’s songs: You’re gonna quit me
69. Other people’s songs: You belong to me
70. Other people’s songs: Stardust
71. Other people’s songs: Diamond Joe