Bob Dylan and Other people’s songs: Ragged & Dirty

 

By Aaron Galbraith and Tony Attwood

This series looks at Bob Dylan’s recordings of songs not written by himself.  The songs and opening notes are created by Aaron Galbraith (in the USA) and the additional comments are subsequently added by Tony Attwood (in the UK).

Aaron: “Ragged & Dirty” was recorded and improvised by many southern blues artists in the 1920s and 1930s. The first version of the song was recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson as “Broke & Hungry.”

I'm broke and hungry, ragged and dirty too
I said I'm broke and hungry, ragged and dirty too
Mama, if I clean up, can I go home with you?

I'm motherless, fatherless, sister and brother less too
I said I'm motherless, fatherless, sister and brother less too
Reason I've tried so hard to make this trip with you

Lomax wrote in his book, “Land Where The Blues Began”, about the time when Willie Brown sang “Ragged & Dirty”, “William Brown began to sing in his sweet, true country voice, poking in delicate guitar passages at every pause, like the guitar was a second voice…”

Tony: This really is the blues as I remember first hearing it in my teenage years.  There I was, a white kid from a middle class family that had moved out of north London to the leafy expanses of a Dorset village on the south coast, with a very cheap guitar, learning to play and sing the blues in this style.  I think my parents wondered what on earth had happened…

 

Tony: Everything changes with the addition of a much livelier accompaniment – I think Bob Dylan learned a huge amount from listening to these recordings and appreciating that even with the simplest of songs (as the blues is) just changing the way the guitar is played, can change the whole song.

Aaron: Bob Dylan recorded “Ragged & Dirty” in 1993 for his album, World Gone Wrong. Dylan’s version was mostly influenced by Brown’s version, although the two versions of the song had differences in lyrics. Dylan covered the song with acoustic guitar playing similar to that of Brown.

Tony:  So, yes, Bob keeps his voice in line with the desperation of the lyrics but the guitar part takes its lead from the Willie Brown approach.    And in fact this idea of a lively accompaniment to the desperation of the blues opens up a thousand possibilities in the way that songs can be changed by alternating what goes on behind the lyrics.

For myself, I think Bob overdoes the monotony and desperation of the lyrics and I wonder how many fans have regularly played this track.   For me a few times is enough – although the contrast of lyrics with accompaniment is interesting, once that has been established, I am not sure there is anything more to be appreciated or learned or understood.

So it is one of those tracks I have played a few times, but then just set aside.  However I have over time played another version of the song, which I rather like, and since Aaron is on the other side of the ocean and can’t object, I’m going to slip this one in.

Somehow this keeps up my interest far more.  Although the bass part is very simple it seems to be a perfect counterpart to the constant repetitiveness of the guitar part, and I must admit I do prefer this style of singing.   I’m not sure I’d want to take it on as a double bass player, but for me as a listener, it really does work as a piece of entertainment.  Of course, I am not with the lyrics anymore, but sometimes entertainment is just what I need.

And that’s my point here: the feel of the song that this duo get is really something else.  It holds my interest, after playing it, it stays in my head, it just feels good.  OK that is the opposite of the lyrics, but sometimes that really doesn’t matter.   You can find more of their music on Facebook.

(There is also the possibility of course that I like these guys because they are associated with Plymouth, in Devon in the UK, which is not too far from where my family moved to, when we left London, but no, really it is the music… )

Here are the previous editions…

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
72. Other people’s songs: The Cuckoo
73. Other people’s songs: Come Rain or Come Shine
74. Other people’s songs: Two soldiers and an amazing discovery
75. Other people’s songs: Pretty Boy Floyd
76. Other people’s songs: My Blue Eyed Jane
77. That Old Black Magic (and a lot of laughs)
78. Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
79. Other people’s songs: The Christmas Blues
80. Other people’s songs: I’ll be home for Christmas
81. Repossession Blues, and Dylan on Roland Janes
82. Mutineer, Warren Zevon and Jenna Mammina