Like has Rolling Stone

Like has Rolling Stone is a song of Bob Dylan, appearing on the album Highway 61 Revisited (1965. Its length (more than 6 minutes), its style and its arrangements did one of the most famous and influential songs of Dylan of it. The magazine Rolling Stone named it greater song of all times, affirming that “any other song forever defied and transformed the commercial codes and artistic conventions of its time also deeply”. In its speech of reception of Dylan to the Rock'n'roll Hall off Famed, Bruce Springsteen remembered: “The first time that I heard Bob Dylan, I listened to WMCA with my mother in the car, and sudden there was this blow as a traitor who sounded as if somebody large had opened the door giving on your spirit”.

Recording

In the beginning, the song was written on the tempo of a Valse, which was changed later into 4/4. Dylan recorded it for the first time June 15th and 16th 1965, during two sessions produced by Tom Wilson; among the musicians were Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Paul Griffin, Josef Mack and Bobby Gregg with the battery. Paul Griffin, engaged to play of the organ, passed to the piano, and Kooper, guitarist, found themselves behind the Orgue Hammond. Wilson doubted the capacities of Kooper to play of this instrument, but agreed. During the recording, Dylan required of Wilson to raise the organ in the mixing. Wilson answered: “He, this guy is not a player of organ”. Dylan, tired, answered in its turn: “He, not the sorrow to say to me which is a player of organ and which is not it… Be satisfied to connect the organ”. According to Kooper, “it is at this time that I became player of organ! ”. Over the two days of recording, Dylan finished only one catch out of two dozen attempts: it is the version which is on Highway 61 Revisited .

Subject

The words of the song are addressed to a formerly prosperous young woman who fell into misery. It is not named explicitly, and there exists much of speculations on this subject. One of the most traditional assumptions is based on Edie Sedgwick, an actress and top model known to have worked with Andy Warhol; she is often identified with protagonists of other songs of Dylan of this time, in particular Just Like has Woman (appeared on Fair Blonde one ). However, one generally thinks whom Dylan met Sedgwick only with the end of the year 1965, after the recording of Like has Rolling Stone , though a biography of Sedgwick places their first meeting at Christmas of the year 1964, with Greenwich Village. Joan Baez was also considered like a possible destinatrice of the song. The documentary one of Martin Scorsese No Direction Home watch that Dylan seems to have been very affected by the tepid reception which at the time made him the public.

Publication

Like has Rolling Stone is appeared in 45 turns the July 20th 1965. In spite its length, twice that of the maximum recommended by the radios at the time, it hitherto became the greatest success of Dylan

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