I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine: An Early Dylan Morality Play

One of the themes of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go is how information discovered later sheds new light on things we experienced earlier. In other words, the past is not fixed but fluid. This notion re-asserted itself as I was reading Agatha Christie's Elephants Can Remember this past week. 

Perhaps this is one reason why many Dylan fans not only appreciate his music but are avid readers of books about aspects of his life and career. The books, written much later, often shed new light on the songs that so moved us, inspired us and sometimes challenged us. 

Daryl Sanders' That Thin Wild Mercury Sound is one such book that brought new light to old memories. In light of how different this album was from the trio of what I would call astonishing studio albums that preceded it--Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde--I'm somewhat surprised it reached #2 on the U.S. charts and achieved #1 in England. 

Numerous writers have noted the quantity of Biblical allusions in the album, from 60 to more than 100 depending on who you listen to. I referenced this detail when writing about this song in 2016. Up until I read Sanders' book I'd always assumed that these spiritual themes and moral probing were a by-product of the motorcycle accident that ended his touring. That Thin Wild Mercury Sound dispels that idea altogether.

WHAT SANDERS NOTED in his book about the making of Blonde On Blonde was how much time Bob spent poring over the Scriptures, either looking for words and images or inspiration. Charlie McCoy, Kenny Buttrey and the rest of the studio crew had dealt with a situation like this before. By this I mean not the Bible reading, but the hours of having to chill while on the payroll. 

These recording sessions took place before the controversial motorcycle crash, so my assumption of the crash being a trigger that resulted in spiritual reflection was mistaken. This album, and some of the tracks on New Morning were my "evidence" of a turning point of sorts.

The reality is that from his earliest Dylan made no effort to conceal this moral aspect of his belief system. Those early songs about apocalypse ("Hard Rain") and injustice ("Only a Pawn in Their Game") are very much infused with a moral tone that had roots in a spiritual worldview. It was Dylan who in the Sixties told Noel Paul Stookey to "read the Bible." 

When one steps back and looks at the whole of Dylan's life, what one sees is an early seriousness about spiritual things followed by an earnest quest for God that led him to his embrace of Christianity in 1979. The next ten years we see him floundering somewhat as he attempts to synthesize these revelations with the greater whole of his life. The fruit of that period was the marvelous Oh Mercy in 1989 and the Never Ending Tour that was birthed shortly before. 

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I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine was first performed live at the Isle of Wight in 1969 with the Beatles in the audience and played numerous times during Rolling Thunder Revue. Here's some information from the Wikipedia page about the album it appeared on.

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John Wesley Harding is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on December 27, 1967, by Columbia Records. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to semi-acoustic instrumentation and folk-influenced songwriting after three albums of lyrically abstract, blues-indebted rock music. John Wesley Harding shares many stylistic threads with, and was recorded around the same time as, the prolific series of home recording sessions with The Band, partly released in 1975 as The Basement Tapes, and released in complete form in 2014 as The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.

John Wesley Harding was exceptionally well received by critics and sold well, reaching No. 2 on the U.S. charts and topping the UK charts. The commercial performance was considered remarkable considering that Dylan had kept Columbia from releasing the album with much promotion or publicity.

* * * 

I dreamed I saw St. Augustine
Alive as you or me
Tearing through these quarters
In the utmost misery
With a blanket underneath his arm
And a coat of solid gold
Searching for the very souls
Whom already have been sold
“Arise, arise,” he cried so loud
In a voice without restraint
“Come out, ye gifted kings and queens
And hear my sad complaint
No martyr is among ye now
Whom you can call your own
So go on your way accordingly
But know you’re not alone”
I dreamed I saw St. Augustine
Alive with fiery breath
And I dreamed I was amongst the ones
That put him out to death
Oh, I awoke in anger
So alone and terrified
I put my fingers against the glass And bowed my head and cried

Copyright © 1968 by Dwarf Music; renewed 1996 by Dwarf Music

* * * 

Related Links

I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine and Thoughts On Being Human

Seven Live Versions of I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

Augustine's Confessions (Wikipedia)

The Confessions of St. Augustine (Gutenberg Project)

50 Years Ago Today: A Beautiful Night on the Isle of Wight with Dylan

As I think back on Bob Dylan's performance with the Band, which capped off the Isle of Wight Festival, my only recollection is that the reviews were not stellar. It wasn't until about four years ago that I acquired a bootleg CD of the concert, and gave it a listen. It was a very special set, but in such stark contrast to what must have been explosive sets by the Who, Joe Cocker and Ritchie Havens, among others, that it would have easily felt like a letdown, even though it should not have been. It was very special.

Context, however, is everything, and Clint Heylin's Behind the Shades, Revisited helps shed light on that context. 

First off, Dylan had not been in the habit of performing in front of lives crowds for several years, and after his period of hibernation he wasn't even certain he had a fan base left. So, in a toe-in-the-water trial (before signing the contract) he went and performed at the Mississippi River Festival in Illinois. "Disguised" as Elmer Johnson he did three covers with The Band. 

According to David Amran, Dylan said afterwards, "Man, there was something like 30,000 people there and they didn't forget me."

Heylin says that there was a reason Woodstock was selected as the site for this epic event. As Al Aronitz put it, "In essence, the Woodstock Festival was nothing but a call for Bob to come out and play."

Whether true or not, one thing is certain. There were plenty of people passing through looking for Bob and it must have felt creepy. Years later he said, "It was like a wave of insanity breakin' loose around the house day and night. You'd come in the house and find people there, people comin' through the woods, at all hours of the day and night, knockin' at your door... We had to get out of there." Which is what he and Sara did, flying to England instead.

Dylan spent 12 days in rehearsals with his old bandmates before headlining the final night of the festival. They had prepared a much longer show than the hour they took the stage. Unfortunately, the crowd was exhausted after three days of music. 

The night before, The Who did an energetic set that began with hits, then showcased their rock opera Tommy, and finishing with more power. On the evening Dylan performed, Ritchie Havens preceded. There was a two hour delay between Havens and the Band and the crowd became restless and impatient, which also made Dylan edgy.

As any performer can tell you, when the crowd has been stoked, you are yourself energized. Al Aronowitz explained, "The crowd was getting tired. Both Bob and I knew the crowd must be feeling drained and worn out."

Those who were there remember it as anti-climactic. Which is unfortunate because as I listen today it has some very sweet moments and so strong ones. But in that context, the context of high-powered groups striving to leave their mark, Dylan's homespun, laid back effort failed to be memorable.

The festival had a sealed off VIP area in front of the stage that was populated by three Beatles and their wives (watch the video to see which was absent), along with Jane Fonda, Elton John, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and other celebs. I would be curious what they thought about Dylan's set, which is a compilation of some truly great songs. My favorites were those in his acoustic set, including the tender Wild Mountain Thyme. 

She Belongs to Me
I Threw It All Away
Maggie's Farm
Wild Mountain Thyme
To Ramona
Mr. Tambourine Man
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
Lay Lady Lay
Highway 61 Revisited
One Too Many Mornings
I Pity the Poor Immigrant
Like A Rolling Stone
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Quinnn the Eskimo
and an encore
Minstrel Boy
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

According to Heylin, "Only once, on a raucous 'Highway 61 Revisited' did some of the old fire return to his singing."

Lavon Helm told Heylin that Bob had eight or ten extra songs on the intended playlist "with question marks" next to them, "but it seemed like everybody was a little bit tired and the festival was three days old by then; and so if everybody else is ready to go hoe, let's all go." 

It's easy to see why many were underwhelmed. In other words, why go through the motions when no one is into it. 

Related Links
UK's FarOutMagazine website has a cool 20 minute video with footage from the press conference and segments from the concert here:
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/reliving-bob-dylan-performing-at-the-isle-of-wight-festival-in-1969/
(My apologies for the ads.)

Contrast Isle of Wight with the Rolling Thunder Revue. Here's the trailer.

And for the fun of it, here's what the weather looks like there this time of year.
ISLE OF WIGHT WEATHER

Dylan's Wild Mountain Thyme: A Tender Enchanting Invitation

While Woodstock was unfolding as America's signature event of the hippie era, Bob Dylan, who had himself been living in the town of Woodstock, was packing his bags for another concert across the pond, to become a featured player at the Isle of Wight Concert in the British Isles. It was one of a handful of public appearances that Dylan made since his famously obscured motorcycle accident of 1966.

There were 150,000 in attendance there with Dylan the headliner. The set opened with She Belongs To Me, I Threw It All Away and Maggie's Farm, backed by The Band. Then an acoustic sequence followed, opening with a sweet, gentle rendition of Wild Mountain Thyme, a classic folk song of Scottish origin that like many folk songs has experienced many iterations.

What's striking during this concert is how at odds Dylan's set is in contrast with the explosive energy that now dominated the rock music scene. Joe Cocker, The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who would wring themselves out in their big concert tours, performing with such intensity that it's a wonder they could return another day to do it all again.

And then, here's Dylan, standing alone in front of a mic, producing a gentle pasture of peaceful warmth with a wistful voice and simple guitar strum. This song is followed by It Ain't Me Babe in a manner so kind and touching, totally at odds with the near hostility he brings to the song in the Rolling Thunder Revue five years later. On this night, the voice is melodic and kind, like the rest of his acoustic set and when The Band rejoins him the tone has been established.

As I have been listening to this concert again recently I keep being struck by the beauty of it. Like flowers on a hillside. Wild Mountain Thyme exemplifies this period for me, with a vocal style that seems to have been groomed for Nashville Skyline (though I believe I'd read somewhere that this "new voice" was due to his having quit cigarets for a spell.)

Dylan first played this song in Minneapolis in 1961.  Eight years later he shared it again here at the Isle of Wight Festival. Seven times he played the song during the mid-Seventies with his Rolling Thunder Revue and finally performed it a last time in 1988 at Riverbend in Cincinnati, Ohio.

You can find the entire concert itself on The Bootleg Series #10: Another Self Portrait

Wikipedia summarizes the song's origins in this manner:
"Wild Mountain Thyme" (also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") is a folk song written by Francis McPeake, a member of a well known musical family in Belfast, Ireland, and is of Scottish origin.[1] McPeake's lyrics are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810), a contemporary of Robert Burns. Tannahill's original song, first published in Robert Archibald Smith's Scottish Minstrel (1821–24), is about the hills (braes) around Balquhidder near Lochearnhead. Like Burns, Tannahill collected and adapted traditional songs, and "The Braes of Balquhither" may have been based on the traditional song "The Braes o' Bowhether".

Wild Mountain Thyme

Oh the summertime is coming
And the leaves are sweetly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Blooms around the purple heather.

Will you go, lassie, go?

If my true love she won't go,
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
From all around the purple heather.

Will you go, lassie, go?
And we'll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
From all around the purple heather.

Will you go, lassie, go.
I will build my love a tower
At the foot of yonder mountain
And then on it I will put
All the flowers of the mountain

Will you go, lassie, go?

And we'll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
From all around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?

This is a recording of the song as performed at the Isle of Wight:

No really deep thoughts here. I simply like the way he sang it, and wanted to share it. 

Disc Three of Another Self Portrait Provides Rare Glimpse of Dylan’s Return at the Isle of Wight

New Morning by Ennyman

Self Portrait was Bob Dylan’s tenth studio album, released in June 1970 by Columbia Records. This summer’s release, Another Self Portrait, is the tenth set in the Bootleg Series.

Self Portrait was Dylan's second double album, primarily featuring cover versions of well-known pop and folk songs. Having been proclaimed the bard of our generation, critics seemed to take it as an insult for him to do other peoples’ songs. Upon reflection it’s evident that Dylan was, to some extent, paying tribute to his roots and to his peers.

Another Self Portrait offers a whole lotta new material to chew on from this period which some people called lame and, essentially, crap. By way of contrast I know at least one person who called it his favorite album. Truth be told, it’s a gold mine here.

If you’re a long time fan you’ll recall that Dylan abandoned Woodstock to become the featured highlight of a similar music festival in England called the Isle of Wight. This rare concert appearance, Dylan’s first since the famous motorcycle accident that enabled him to bow out of the public eye for three years, is now available on the third CD of Another Self Portrait, should you choose to get this slightly more expensive but more complete collection from the period. I’ve listened to Isle of Wight ten times thus far (this week) and thought I’d take a moment to share a few of my impressions.

I’m fairly certain I’ve already heard a couple of the songs from this concert on KUMD’s Highway 61 Revisited hosted by John Bushey. Manifold thanks, John, for your remarkable collection of rare Dylan tracks assembled from various concerts about the globe this past half century. For over ten year I’ve scheduled my life around catching Highway 61 Revisited, which now airs on Saturday evenings at 5:00 p.m. and can now be heard in streaming audio anywhere in the world via KUMD.org.

The 1969 Isle of Wight Festival took place on the last weekend of August, eleven days after the close of Woodstock. A lot of people expected Dylan to be one of the highlights of Woodstock since it practically took place in his own backyard, but by the time Hendrix was closing the show at dawn Monday, Dylan was already settled across the sea.

This was actually the second year of the Isle of Wight music festival. In ’69 the headliners included Joe Cocker, The Who and the Moody Blues. But it was Dylan who made it a legendary event.

Dylan's previous trip to England, not to be confused with the one documented in the film Don't Look Back by D.A. Pennebaker, included the Manchester concert of 1966, which has also been preserved on Bootleg Series, Volume 4. That previous experience must have been on Dylan's mind when he went back to England for the Isle of Wight show.

One is struck by the contrast. In '66 Dylan famously walked on stage at the outset and held the audience in the palm his hand with an acoustic set beginning with She Belongs To Me, then presenting Fourth Time Around, Visions of Johanna, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, Desolation Row, Just Lie A Woman and concluding with his eloquent anthem Mr. Tambourine Man. After a break to set up instruments for the band, Dylan and his wrecking crew proceed to smashmouth the audience with this new sound he'd wrapped his songs in. It was raw and, for many, still confusing. There were hecklers. He was called a Judas. But the band played on.

Interestingly enough, here at the Isle of Wight Dylan once again opens with She Belongs To Me. The second song selection is from new material no one had ever heard yet, I Threw It All Away. He sang with a new kind of voice here, too. Some have called his Nashville Skyline voice "affected" but then, wasn't his early Woody Guthrie sound something he created as well? 

In his previous visit to England Dylan showed a ragged vitriol that stunned some people. At the Isle of Wight he carried himself with an entirely different countenance. It was as if he'd made some kind of peace with himself this past three years. Songs like I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine and Lay Lady Lay, as well as the resurrected Scottish folk song Wild Mountain Thyme, showed the tenderness of his heart. There were no real "finger-pointing songs" in this bunch, except maybe Like A Rolling Stone, but even here it was sung with a softtened edge.

The performance also telegraphed the manner in which his next thirty years of performing would go. The acoustic songs and those with full accompaniment were more seamlessly woven into a whole piece of cloth. It was no longer Part I and Part II.

And he was still taking chances. The performance was not a side show at the carnival. It was simple and unspectacular in many respects. The songs were his gift to an audience that had gathered to hear.

Some people have called Dylan a minstrel, and in the encore he and The Band (Robbie Robertson and crew from the House at Big Pink) offered up the somehow chant-like Minstrel Boy, sung like an end of the night melancholic bar song, the chorus comprised of haunted harmonies. The following year it would appear on side four of his original Self Portrait, but it seemed so un-Dylan, like much of that album. And yet, in its own way it is so Dylan. In the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, this simple song kept playing in my head. And as I passed through my days this week it has frequently returned.

Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it roll?
Who's gonna throw that minstrel boy a coin?
Who's gonna let it down easy to save his soul?

If you came up short and only purchased the two-version set of Another Self Portrait, you're missing something. This is a very special addition to the puzzle that is Dylan.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Embrace it.

When The Post Called Dylan King

"When you're young, you think you're going to live forever. The sooner you learn that you're not, the more time you have to do something about it." ~Alfred G. Aronowitz

So begins the 1968 Saturday Evening Post feature story on the royal family of pop music. It's more pictorial than text, but that's what magazines like Life and National Geographic did for us in such vivid color. The showed us, and didn't just tell us the stories, each picture worth a thousand words.

The cover of this November 2 issue is a photo discretely captioned, "A rare picture of Bob Dylan in seclusion." In the upper right of the page, where it lists the exclusive stories in this edition, we read, "Bob Dylan and the Pop Scene."

Publications like Readers Digest and the Post work overtime coming up with story titles and cover shots that will sell more magazines. Testing must have shown that for this story Bob Dylan would draw more buyers than the clan of pop music characters assembled within.

The first portion of the article is called "Pop: The Royal Family." In retrospect, the opening lines are almost frightening by their prescience. The first three pictures feature Jim Morrison and the Doors, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. All three would be dead by age 27. It's a sobering beginning to a piece that is aimed at celebrating the antics and excess of youth. But in the world of pop, excess appears to be the path to success.

The selection of celebrated musicians ranges across genres and anticipates much. Janis holds center stage on her page, surrounded by smaller images of Buck Owens, Frank Zappa, Country Joe McDonald, B.B.King, and Arlo. Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane feature prominently on the next two page spread, surrounded by The Fugs, Aretha Franklin, Ravi Shankar, Dionne Warwick, Tiny Tim, Al Kooper, Otis Redding, Merle Haggard, Mavis Staples and the Beach Boys. The next spread is equally exciting for fans of the era. Ritchie Havens, Diana Ross, Charles Lloyd, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, Herb Alpert, and The Rolling Stones fill this spread.

Turn the page. Big black and white shot of Dylan playing his guitar and smiling big. Caption across the centerfold reads: Enter the King, Bob Dylan. The article is a one page summary of how Dylan ended up in Woodstock, how he'd gather Robby Robertson and the band to join him there where the rented a house nicknamed Big Pink. It's the story of Dylan's controversial motorcycle accident and convalescence out of the public eye.

Aronowitz spells out why young Dylan was king to many followers of the scene. "He had started a civil war in the folk community, rearranged the pop charts, fathered a new generation of poets and helped shaped the probability that contemporary music will become the literature of our time. Even the Beatles, after they met Dylan for the first time in 1964, yielded to his influence."

This period of seclusion seems, in retrospect, to have been one of the most significant decisions the young Dylan made. Pulling out of the spotlight gave him a chance to incubate in preparation for a much longer career than many of his peers.

The following summer a major event occurred in Woodstock. Everybody who was anybody would have loved to be there performing. A motion picture came out of the event. Albums as well. And the musicians who played became household names.

But quietly, the resident of Woodstock spent the weekend packing his bags, for he was heading to another concert that week, where he would be the headliner. It would be his first live performance in three years... the Isle of Wight. 

TO BE CONTINUED