How in the name of Billy Joe Shaver did I overlook the Sir Douglas Quintet covering "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues?" It's only one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs! Well, inspired by stewART's link to the Dylan/Sahm rendition in last post's comments, said oversight is now corrected ... and hopefully improved upon.
Sir Douglas Quintet (w/Alvin Crow) - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (1983) [purchase]
Taken from a 1983 gig at the Whisky a Go Go in LA and released on Live: Texas Tornado, the SDQ is joined by fellow Austinite, Alvin Crow, on fiddle, guitar, and vocals. Despite a couple of clams, including Doug forgetting the first line (D'oh!!!), the performance is gold. I love Sahm's harmony vocals, which channel Atwood Allen at his most high-flyin. Incidentally, I think the "I started out on burgundy" verse here mirrors Doug's later reading of the "cocaine" verse on Uncle Tupelo's cover of "Give Back The Key To My Heart."
Bob Dylan (w/Doug Sahm) - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Austin Music Hall
November 5, 1995
"Well, I started out on burgundy, but soon hit the harder stuff,
Well, they said they'd stick with me, Bobby, when the going got rough,
Well, I looked around Austin, Texas, there wasn't nobody else left to bluff,
I'm going back to Vancouver Island, I do believe I've had enough."
Epic cover. Sahm steals the show with his lyrical improv, but there's no way Dylan didn't love it. Doug actually sat in on guitar for a few songs, but I think the guitar solos here are taken by Bob. The timing would be right. It was in the mid-'90s ... before he hired Larry Campbell, basically ... that Dylan played a lot of lead guitar, most memorably on the MTV Unplugged album. Anyone know for sure?
By the way, for the three of you who don't own the Dylan original, you can find "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" on an obscure, import-only LP called Highway 61 Revisited (1965). Thank God the Beastie Boys sampled this tune on Check Your Head, otherwise the Bob Dylan name might've faded into cultural obscurity. Actually, speaking of the Beasties, here's a great and possibly apocryphal quote from the wikipedias:
The Beastie Boys sampled the lyric "I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough" for their song, "Finger Lickin' Good," on the Check Your Head album. Bob Dylan requested $2000 for use of the sample, but Mike D managed to barter him down to $700.
6 comments:
Smile, you´re on Expecting Rain again...
Great live Tom Thumb from Austin btw. Doug steals the show but Bobby don´t mind.
One of my favorite Dylan songs as well. If by favorite you mean around 100 songs that I can't choose between! Terrific post as usual.
I saw Sir Doug play this live at a friend's party in San Antonio in May of 1986. During a break I was talking to Doug about Dylan. After the break, the first song the band launched into was Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues. I had tears in my eyes by the time the song was done. It was a memorable music experience.
Great story, William. That's what being a music fan is all about. I'm damn jealous.
Wim, thanks for the Expecting Rain stat-a-palooza. I've had more people visit in the past week than the last 2-3 months combined! You da bomb.
Your Dylan commentary and Beastie Boys wiki quote are simply hilarious. 'Give Back the Key' is one of my favorite covers.
Hi - I got here from your Sir Douglas Quintet nomination at Setting The Woods On Fire.
just thought I'd 'second that emotion'.
So much good music!
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