By Tony Attwood
The very first Theme Time Radio Hour was broadcast on 3 May , 2006 on XM Satellite Radio. And seeing as that is almost twenty years ago I thought I would go back and have a listen, and indeed see what the recordings and Bob’s selection for that programme means to me now. And where it seems appropriate, offer a few of the recordings that Bob selected in that first show.
As usual, I got distracted along the way, but here’s a few thoughts…
The first thing to say in case you didn’t know, is that the shows are available on the internet, but many of the links that Google and others suggest don’t actually work any more which can be frustrating. However, I did find the first episode here and there are seemingly many other places where the editions can be found, so nothing is lost.
However, just in case you didn’t want to listen to the whole show but instead just fancied a few tracks I thought I’d listen, pick a few recordings that I found interesting, and see where it took me.
The very first edition, as far as I know, centred on the theme of “Weather” and was first broadcast on 3 May 2006 (so not exactly 20 years ago, but if there is a spot of interest, I will keep the series running with occasional articles at least til then).
The very first song of the very first edition was “Blow Wind Blow by Muddy Waters. It is an utterly classic upbeat 12-bar blues with all the lyrics that you would expect….
Well, when the sun rose this mornin'I didn't have my baby by my sideOh, when the sun rose this mornin'I didn't have my baby by my side Well know where she wasWell, she's out with another guy
I mean, what else do you want the blues to say? But even if this sort of upbeat blues is not your thing, please do let it play so you can hear the harmonica solo. And remember, this was the first track of the first episode, so I think Bob gave a bit of extra thought to what he was playing.
You might also care to note the piano part, and I can tell you, playing like that all night can make the wrist of your right hand ache – at least for the first year or two.
The song was recorded in 1953. It doesn’t actually start with the classic, “Well I woke up this morning,” but gets close with, “Well, when the sun rose this mornin’ I didn’t have my baby by my side…”
“Blow Wind Blow” – Muddy Waters (1953)
Of course, that was just the start, and it is noticeable that in episode one Bob didn’t just get fixed into the blues and the rain. The second track was “You Are My Sunshine” – the 1940 edition by Jimmie Davis, followed by “California Sun,” “I don’t care if the sun don’t shine,” “Just Walking in the Rain,” and so on.
These songs, if not these individual recordings, will all be known to everyone who grew up at the same time or shortly after Bob Dylan, but there were some that turned up which I’d not heard before. An example of that comes from The Consolers, although in saying that maybe I am just showing my ignorance, or my Englishness, but I hand’t come across them before. This is “After the Clouds Roll Away”.
It was songs and bands like the above that really drew me to this series, but of course, many of the recordings were ones that all of us would know, as for example “The Wind Cries Mary” by Jimi Henrix from 1967.
And indeed, what really made the series fascinating was the way in which Bob would jump across musical boundaries so one never had any idea of what was coming up next. I mean, has any DJ before or since actually played The Consolers followed by Jimi Hendrix?
You can of course, find all the tracks on the internet, and I am just picking out a few that really struck me in going back to that first episode. Songs such as “Let the Four Winds Blow” by Fats Domino. And one of the things that strikes me in listening to these old recordings is how simply the music and lyrics are. Bob as we know, expanded both the lyrics and the musical range of popular songs – so it is interesting how much he values these earlier, fairly simple compositions.
“Let the Four Winds Blow” for example, is a variation on the 12 bar bluese concept, based entirely around the three basic major chords of whichever key you want to play it in. If you listen to “Four Winds” without paying detailed attention to the lyrics it sounds like a fulsome song, but in fact there are only three sets of lyrics that just get repeated over and over
I like the way you walkI like the way you talkLet me hold your handTry to understand I want a girl like youTell my troubles to youDon't be afraidYou've heard what I said Let the four wind blowLet 'em blow, let 'em blowFrom the East to the WestI love you the best
I’m also struck by the fact that no matter how the musical style changes among Bob’s choice of songs in this very first edition, this notion of sticking to the three basic major chords is there almost all the way through. And yes, I have to say “almost” because “Uncloudy Day” does slip in a couple of variations, but the basics are still much the same.
Obviously, Bob had to include the Carter Family in his first programme, and this is an interesting recording since it is now almost 100 years old. We all know how much Bob valued and values the Carter Family’s work, but it is once again hard to see the link between their work and Bob’s own recordings…
————————-