Notes of Infamy: Paul Metsa's Song About the Shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald

Wednesday was the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy. 

Today is the 60th anniversary of the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald as he was being escorted out of the jailhouse. The event made an impression on me, as it no doubt did on many others who witnessed it as it happened.

The shooter was Jack Ruby. 

Bob Dylan wrote Murder Most Foul, a song about the shooting of the president. This other singer/songwriter from the Iron Range, Paul Metsa, wrote a song about the gunman who shot and killed the man fingered as JFK's assassin. You might call it Paul Metsa's "Signature Song." 

Moment of Impact

In the first one-third of this three-part drama, the song's structure is an echo of Frank Sinatra's "It Was A Very Good Year." Both tell the story of a life--Sinatra's being his own biography, Metsa's being Jack Ruby's, at 15 living in Capone's Chicago, at 21 taking an interest in guns, at 35 setting up shop in Dallas, etc.

The second act details the dramatic event at Dealey Plaza, culminating with the suggestion that Oswald was a patsy. The final third of the song explores the variety of theories as to what really happened in Dallas that weekend.

Metsa has a gruff attention-getting style of singing, and he's good at getting his blood up when singing this song. And it grows on you when he barks that chorus, "Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby in a Cavanaugh hat...."

Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby in a cavanaugh hat
Whoever taught you to shoot a pistol like that
Oh, you snuck in the basement and you stood in the back
Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby in a cavanaugh hat

Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby when you were fifteen years old
On the south side of Chicago you looked up to Capone
Stole girls lunch money beat boys on their way home
Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby when you were fifteen years old

Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby when you were twenty-one
you traded brass knuckles for a caliber gun
In the Sherman Hotel bootleg whiskey did run
Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby when you were twenty-one

Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby when you were thirty-five
Set up shop in Dallas, had nothing to hide
A nightclub with hookers and cops side by side
Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby, when you were thirty-five

Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby when you were forty-nine
At the Carousel Club you kept the judges in line
J. Edgar Hoover said there's no organized crime
Jack Ruby, Jack Ruby when you were forty-nine.

Read the rest of the lyrics here:
http://www.marcogiunco.com/Testi/001982_03.htm

Cavanaugh Hat from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum

Paul Metsa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNxKhY-C8MA

From Dylan's Heart to Your Ears: The Untold Stories of of the Minnesota Musicians Who Helped Shape "Blood on the Tracks"

It’s a classic conundrum. If a tree falls in the woods but there’s no one to hear, does it make a sound? Technically yes, in the sense that there were sound waves generated. Subjectively, if no one hears, then it’s as if it never happened at all.  

This is what the Minnesota musicians who recorded half the songs on Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks were up against.  

It was his 15th studio album, recorded in New York in the fall of 1974 under the guidance of engineer Phil Ramone, backed by a handful of Big Apple session pros. The feedback from peers was purportedly stellar, though Dylan himself was privately niggled by doubts.

By late December he took the decisive step of re-recording five tracks while back home in Minnesota, his brother David Zimmerman assembling a team of top notch Twin Cities musicians for a pair of sessions.   Because the album’s cover sleeve had been pre-printed, the six Minnesotans went uncredited. It was as if their contributions to one of Dylan’s most highly acclaimed albums never happened.  

Blood in the Tracks, by Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik, tells the story of these Minneapolis instrumentalists and the making of Blood on the Tracks. What prompted Dylan to re-visit an album that was already in the can? The New York studio hands had delivered what Bob was looking for. Or so they believed.    

My full review appeared in The Reader here: New book offers intimate insights on the making of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks

Related Link

While visiting Italy this spring I browsed a several bookstores in Florence and Parma. I was surprised at how every one of these stores had a Dylan book or two prominently displayed so they would catch an eye. Read: Bob Dylan in Italy.

Beginning with Paul Metsa: Alphabet Jazz and Bob Dylan in Minnesota

"I live in Bob Dylan’s house. Many of you live there metaphorically (as do I), but while I was writing this, I actually lived on the first floor of the house on Central Hillside in Duluth, Minnesota, where Abe and Beatty Zimmerman rented a second-floor apartment and welcomed bouncing blue-eyed Bobby on May 24, 1941." 

So begins Paul Metsa in his Foreword to the latest release in the Troubadour Series, Bob Dylan In Minnesota: Troubadour Tales from Duluth, Hibbing and Dinkytown.

K.G. Miles, author of this series, leaned on four Minnesota writers to assist with bringing this book to life: Paul Metsa, Marc Percansky, Matt Steichen and myself. 

Metsa, a veteran Minnesota singer/songwriter from the Iron Range who has won 7 Minnesota Music Awards, may be possibly best known for his Wall of Power radio and TV shows. He's also authored several books where he demonstrates his flare for the written word. One of these, to be released this fall, is called Blood in the Tracks, a book about the Minnesota musicians who contributed to Dylan's masterpiece. His first book was an autobiography called Blue Guitar Highway (University of MN Press-2011). The book received a flurry of positive reviews including this one from Kirkus Review: "Metsa is as likeable a narrator as ever graced a barstool."

This post aims to give a nod to Metsa's Alphabet Jazz: Poetry, Prose, Stories and Songs. Released in the fall of 2022, Metsa read excerpts from the book at our 2022 Duluth Dylan Fest, including a swashbuckling, Positively-Fourth-Street-style tongue-lashing of a City Pages writer who dissed Bob Dylan as a performer. The letter to the editor was published in September 1992 and is still a lively read today.

The book is a catch-all of sorts, Metsa playing tango with his readers, shuffling tributes with poems, and giving a greater permanence to many of the songs he's crafted through the years. One of his more well-known songs is "Jack Ruby" but if you've never quite caught all the lyrics, you'll find them here. You can probably hear Metsa's gruff electric-viper vocals in the chorus as you read the lyrics. 
 

The poetry, prose, stories, letters and songs were penned, or typed, between 1984 and 2022. Metsa describes it as "a personal diary of sorts--midnight blasts of inspiration, love letters in poem, personal tributes to musicians and friends who have passed on, true stories, letters to the editor and friends, and songs I have written along the way that I still perform." 

It has been in my "book pile" next to my easy chair since last fall. It's easy to pick up and dip into when you're relaxing at the end of long day. There's no real narrative, so you can't lose the thread if you are reading other things in between chapters and favorite passages.

There were a few surprises for me as I got into it. First, Paul Metsa is more sentimental than I'd originally imagined. This especially comes out when he talks about his family or his dogs. Second, he's a very good writer. What I mean by this is that with the prevalence of print-on-demand and self-publishing today, everyone seems to be writing books. I think the uneven quality of all this new reading material causes some of us to tone down our expectations. With Metsa, he's got the goods.  

Metsa grew up on the Iron Range, contributing to a portion of the Hibbing section of Bob Dylan in Minnesota. He makes no bones about acknowledging Dylan's influence and importance in his career. He currently lives in Duluth, MN after decades in the Twin Cities.

One Amazon.com reviewer had this to say about the book:

In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield examines the abiding force called resistance that is the enemy of artist and art. Paul Metsa, in Alphabet Jazz, describes a life lived in opposition to that restraint. Talent, if we take Pressfield's definition, is the ability to see two things and make a third out of them. Metsa has it in spades.

This wonderful collection of poems, lyrics, anecdotes and reflections reveals that his eye is meticulous, his heart at turns lonesome and fulsome, his ear perfectly attuned, as he gathers the coincidences to extol those who would heed this command echoing out from his poem, "Memo From Rego Park":

Raise your hand in a moment of silence
But don't cease to dream
For they can't steal that
In our irregular moments of grace

* * * 

There are a lot of notable, quotable turns of phrase here. At the beginning of his tribute to Dave Morton he has this quote posted as a subhead: "When another student was ready, the teacher reappeared." There are quite a few of these.* 

You can find Alphabet Jazz here at Amazon, and Blue Guitar Highway here. (BGH will soon be re-released in paperback by U of MN Press.) You can find out more about Paul and order his music at www.paulmetsa.com

Purchase Bob Dylan in Minnesota here.

* * *

Additional Related Links

Metsa performing "Jack Ruby" at Live Aid V.

Co-written with Rick Shefchik, Blood in the Tracks: The Minnesota Musicians behind Dylan's Masterpiece will be out in stores September 12, 2023. It is available for pre-order here on Amazon.

* * * 

In 2018, the Minnesota musicians who recorded five of the songs on Dylan's much-lauded Blood on the Tracks album got the long-overdue recognition they deserved for their contributions to that very special album. Paul Metsa featured their stories on his Wall of Power program, a very special event for everyone present. Their stories are referenced in Bob Dylan in Minnesota as well. Here are my three blog posts about that special day.

Part One  
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/inside-studio-still-more-blood-and.html 

Part Two
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/paul-metsas-wall-of-power-featuring.html

Part Three
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/lives-touched-and-changed-dylan-blood.html

*The Morton subhead is a paraphrased description of Morton from Robert Shelton's Dylan bio No Direction Home.

More Photos from the Last Days of 2023 Duluth Dylan Fest

Paul Metsa (R) & Sonny Earl opened Thursday eve's 
concert at sacred heart featuring Jeff Slate and Mark Bosch

It was a nine day whirlwind with many wonderful moments as Dylan fans and friends gathered to celebrate the music of Duluth's native son. Thank you to everyone who shared music and generous portions of their hearts. Special thanks for the volunteers who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this another great event, and to Michael Anderson, for the Singer/Songwriter photos and all the best images on the rest of this page. 

Here are some photos from events on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Jeff Slate (R) with Mark Bosch demonstrated their virtuosity

(L to R) Sonny Earl, Mark Bosch, Jeff Slate, Paul Metsa

Friday evening the Singer/Songwriter competition 

was yet another talent spectacle.

(L to R) Pat Eliason, Jeff Slate, Amy Grillo, Zane Bail, Gene LaFond

Singer/Songwriter contest winners.
(L to R) Skarlet Woods, Misisipi Mike Wolf, Nikki Lemire

Second place: Nikki Lemire

Winner Misisipi Mike, who also designed this year's poster art.

Judges: (L to R) Jeff Slate, Gene LaFond, Jamie Ness,
Wendy Ruhnke, Miriam Hansen

Saturday night was a romp delivered to us by The Infidels, 

a supergroup from the Twin Cities.

Safe travels to all who joined us from afar.

Let the music live in your hearts 

and stay forever young.

To the locals: For more detailed coverage of many of these events

read Jill Fisher's upcoming review in the Reader.

Jeff Slate, Revisited -- Celebrating Dylan and More

I first interviewed Jeff Slate in the spring of 2019. Minnesota Dylan fans were still on a high regarding the release of Dylan's More Blood More Tracks, Volume 14 in the Bootleg Series, of which Slate wrote the extensive liner notes that accompanied this set. His considerable writing credits include work in such high-profile publications as The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Esquire and Rolling Stone. 

One gets the impression that his real joy comes from performing as a New York City-based musician. This coming Friday Jeff Slate and friends will be be celebrating Bob Dylan's 82 birthday at Hill Country Live! on 30 West 26th Street in the Big Apple. I suspect it will be another night to remember, with classic Dylan along with the deep cuts Slate likes to bring to the foreground. 

He'll then take it to the road, joining in on some of the action here during Duluth Dylan Fest, including a May 25 evening at Sacred Heart where he'll be joined by Mark Bosch. That particular event will open with Paul Metsa and Sonny Earl. (Details below)

EN: The last time we spoke was in 2019. A LOT has happened since that time including the pandemic as well as the opening of the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa. How did the pandemic impact you? Did you do more writing because performing venues were on hold?

Jeff Slate: Like everyone, I was hugely affected by the pandemic. And as a musician, I was out of work, at least until outdoor shows returned, midway through. In the meantime, I did about 50 online concerts, and recorded and released them. In fact, it was a 2-disc set, and the second disc was all Dylan covers. I also wrote and recorded a new album, The Last Day of Summer, which will be out later this year, with a bunch of my musician friends who were also sitting around with nothing to do. We then finished it up in person once the pandemic had eased up and everyone was vaccinated. I was also able to write about music, including some pieces about the effects on the industry with people like Jeff Tweedy, Jon Batiste and Brandi Carlile.

 

EN: What impressed you most about what you saw at the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa? 

JS: Wow, that's a hard one. I suppose the handwritten lyrics are the most special to me, as are little things like Dylan's 60s address book. But I think what impressed me most was the sheer volume and scale of what's there. We knew Dylan worked a lot and worked hard throughout his career, but seeing the breadth of that in real terms -- in all the many items they have from across his 60-plus year career -- really brought that home.

EN: You've had the privilege of getting to know quite a few important names in the music industry. Did you say that it was a chance meeting with Ringo of the Beatles that opened those doors? How did that come about? 

JS: I've had very good luck throughout my life and career of meeting good people -- and the right people, I guess -- at the right time. I met Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols when I was a teenager, and he named my first professional band. I met Pete Townshend in the early 90s and he and his brother Simon helped produce some recordings for me that helped launch me to a wider audience. But when the business changed in the mid 00s, and I had young children at home, I turned to writing about music to supplement my income. I had a pretty formidable Rolodex, and through Pete I had met Zak Starkey, Ringo's son, who drums for The Who. I had met Ringo through him a few times, so I was able to connect early on in my writing career. Once I'd interviewed him for Esquire, things really started to happen.

EN: You're performing at a May 19 Bob Dylan Birthday Bash in New York before joining us in Duluth. Is this a traditional event you've been part of or something new? Who's on the slate for that one? 

JS: We've been doing a birthday show here for nearly a decade. It started out as a show called Dylan Obscura, in which we'd do only songs that were deep cuts, or that Dylan hadn't played live in forever, or that he'd never even recorded. That morphed into a much broader themed show that celebrates his artistry and entire legacy. The band is great -- Mark Bosch from Mott the Hoople on guitar, who will be with me in Duluth, Johnny Pisano from Dylan's friend Willie Nile's band -- and we invite some of our favorite performers to do a few songs. It's about a three hour show, but honestly, with all the great songs to choose from, we could go on much longer.

EN: Who are the nicest people in show business that you've worked with or interviewed? 

JS: I know they say don't meet your heroes, but that simply hasn't been my experience. Obviously, everyone has their bad days, but even then you can tell that's all it is. If that's the case, and you're genuinely interested and sincere, more often than not they loosen up and enjoy the moment with you. So, there have been one or two memorable run-ins with stars I just didn't like, personally, but by and large everyone I've crossed paths with has been exceedingly gracious and kind.

EN: When Dylan wrote "Political World" he also wrote "Everything's Broken." Both songs were featured on Oh Mercy. What's the relationship between music and politics in your career? 

JS: (George, Paul, John and Ringo each went different directions on that rocky divide.) My first band were influenced by The Beatles and The Who and The Kinks and the Small Faces. But we soon discovered The Clash and The Jam, and that really changed the equation for me. John Lennon and Joe Strummer and Paul Weller and Bob Marley were each revolutionaries at heart, even though they were also pop stars. They didn't check their intellect or politics at the door, nor did they resort to dumbing things down to appeal to a broader audience. So, that's always been my model. Not to be that famous, necessarily, but to be true to myself and be honest about my feelings about the world, both in interviews and in my music. In the 00s that was probably less obvious, but during those lockdown shows I mentioned I spoke openly about my view of the world and even raised money for social justice causes that I thought were crucial to bettering the world around us. As always, whenever I opened my mouth, I'd get some hate mail. But the overwhelming response was remarkably supportive. Even the people who didn't 100% agree with me told me how much they appreciated my openness and honesty. Given the political climate we're all living in that was incredibly heartwarming.

  

EN: Bob Dylan's relationship with George Harrison seems to have been pretty special. What have you learned from writing about George that the average person might not know? 

JS: George really was a dark horse, as he called himself. He was open and inquisitive and funny but also didn't suffer fools. He was both Yin and Yang. He also, even among the other Beatles, grew incredibly over the course of his career and life. I guess that's obvious to most people, but I don't think it's appreciated enough because, as a Beatle, it was almost expected.

* * * 

Join us May 25 at Sacred Heart for An Evening with Jeff Slate

with Paul Metsa & Sonny Earl Opening
Sacred Heart Music Center
201 West Fourth Street, Duluth
7:00-9:00 PM | Tickets $15 in advance at Eventbrite

You can follow Jeff at https://jeffslatehq.com/

See the full Duluth Dylan Fest schedule here at 
https://duluthdylanfest.com/duluth-dylan-fest-2023/

Five Minutes with Bobcat Podcaster / Minnesota Dylan Fan Matt Steichen

I first got acquainted with Matt Steichen in the Minneapolis studio where Paul Metsa's Wall of Power shows were filmed and recorded. The occasion that brought us together was the release of Bob Dylan's 13th Bootleg Series set titled More Blood, More Tracks, comprised of outtakes from Dylan's powerful 1975 release Blood on the Tracks. On that occasion, Metsa brought together the original Minnesota musicians who recorded half the songs on the milestone double-platinum album to celebrate their belated recognition, which is itself a much longer story.

I reached out to Matt here because he will be presenting one of the John Bushey Memorial Lectures at this year's Duluth Dylan Fest. The free lecture, titled Bob Dylan and his Fans: Searching for Love and Inspiration, will be shared at Wussow's Concert Cafe on Saturday May 27 at 1:30-3:00 pm. 

Matt Steichen has worked in journalism and communications in the Twin Cities since 2006. He has presented on the topic of Bob Dylan to a variety of audiences, including at the Macalester College Dylan Summit, and written about Dylan for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He hosts The Bobcats, A Bob Dylan Fan Podcast, and is co-contributor to the new book Bob Dylan in Minnesota: Troubadour Tales from Duluth, Hibbing and Dinkytown, which will be released later this month.

EN: What is it about Dylan that has produced such a broad community of fans all over the world?

Steichen family in front of Bob Dylan's 
Hibbing home 2 blocks from high school

Matt Steichen: I’ve enjoyed Bob Dylan’s music for a long time but I’m fascinated by the fandom he provokes, and that’s a big part of what I plan to talk about at Duluth Dylan Fest - why certain people are drawn to Bob Dylan in such a strong way and what it is about his music that resonates so powerfully with them. So there’s a lot I could say about this, but I think the main thing that gives his music such broad appeal is the universality of the themes he addresses and feelings he shares. As he sings in "False Prophet," he sings songs of love and songs of betrayal - but he also expresses anger, righteousness, mortality, optimism, defiance against authority and oppression, and so many more. They’re all in the songs somewhere. There must be a Bob Dylan song that corresponds with just about any emotion a human can have and so they resonate with people from all walks of life and in places all over the world.

EN: That's exactly how I feel as well. How did Bob Dylan's music first come to resonate with you on a deeper level? 

MS: I listened to his Greatest Hits album from the time I was a really little kid, but I would say my eureka moment came when I was around 13 and my older brother brought home Don’t Look Back. I didn’t like most of the documentary because Bob acted like such a jerk in a lot of it. But then he sang The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll and that totally changed my perspective on what music could be. It told a story about an injustice and had a moral lesson. And the way it was delivered made a whole theater be quiet and listen to every single word. Up to that point I’d thought of music as a background thing you’d play at a party or a barbeque or something, but after that I saw that it could be so much more than that. It could be artistic and socially relevant. Of course that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Bob’s catalog. 

Steichens in front of 5-story mural in Minneapolis

EN: Can you share the story of how you met your wife?

MS: I’ll talk about this in Duluth as well, but the basic story is this: I was attending the second of three shows in the midwest in the summer of 2004. You could say “suddenly I turned around and she was standing there.” I was first in line for that show so I was at the center of the stage at the rail, and upon arriving at my spot I turned around and she was directly behind me in the general admission crowd. We chatted a bit and it turned out we’d already been to several of the same Bob shows. I thought she was probably a local high schooler attending her first concert, so when she said she’d seen him many times, including the previous fall in Paris I was really impressed. We kept in touch a bit via email, I sent her some recordings, and then the next year we ended up going to five shows together. 

Following Dylan is a family adventure.

EN: What is your role in the Minnesota school system? Are you seeing evidence of Dylan's influence soaking into the next generation?

MS: I work in communications for a school district in the Twin Cities, so I’m not an educator but I am in education. The only time I put my teacher hat on is when I visit History of Rock n Roll classes at local high schools. They have a “Bob Dylan Day” and I talk for 45 minutes about who Bob is (a lot of them don’t know), what he’s accomplished, and about his cultural and historical impact. Considering the enormous role Bob has played in popular culture over the last 60 years and that he’s from Minnesota just like them, I think it’s a good thing for them to have a general understanding of who he is. 

When I was growing up in the early ‘90s, Bob was just about the least culturally relevant he’s ever been, and I still found my way to his music. My kids are 70 years younger than Bob and they all enjoy his music. And given how much more accessible technology has made his music, I don’t see any reason why future generations won’t keep going back to it. 

EN: Some people think Dylan will be the one singer/songwriter from this past 50 years that will still be studied 100 years from now. Do you agree with that assessment and why do you think that is?

MS: I do agree. If you listen to my podcast episode with Sean Latham from the University of Tulsa (The Bobcats, a Bob Dylan Fan Podcast), he provides some really great perspective on this. He says that because Bob incorporates so many real events, real people, cultural references, slang terms, jokes, etc, and uses many of the musical styles of the last hundred years, his music will basically serve as a time capsule for this era.

With Golden Chords drummer Leroy Hoikkala,
a member of one of Dylan's h.s. garage bands.

If we’re looking ahead hundreds of years, I think it’s also important to think about Bob’s music in a historical context. He has created music at a very pivotal time in history, so those studying events like the civil rights movement will look back to see how artists of this era responded to what was going on in society - and Bob is the first person they’ll come to. His career has also spanned a large portion of the dawn of the mass-distribution of recorded sound, which means people in the future will be able to go back and listen to everything he ever did. We don’t have that luxury when it comes to the vast majority of performers that have come before, so his music will be able to live on in a way other music hasn’t.

EN: You're one of the contributors to the new release Bob Dylan In Minnesota. How did that come about?

MS: I moved to Minnesota in 2006 and since then I’ve always been interested in his youth spent here and in how he’s perceived by his home state. There are still people out there who say that Bob Dylan hates Minnesota and has never said anything nice about Minnesota.

Keith Miles reached out to me a couple years ago on Twitter and said he was going to write another Troubadour Tales book, this time about Bob in Minnesota. I think he was just looking for a photo at the time because I’m a regular visitor to Duluth and Hibbing. He said he wanted to write a chapter about my family of Bob Dylan fans and asked if I wanted to write anything. I decided that it would be a good opportunity to debunk all those claims some people still make about Bob not liking Minnesota. Having read hundreds of his interviews and many biographies, I felt like I could provide a much more complete picture of how growing up in Minnesota helped shape his imagination, how it has affected his music, and how he feels about the place where he grew up, so that’s what my chapter is about.

EN: Do you have a favorite Dylan song or album? What is it and why?

MS: My favorite song since I was 7 or 8 has been Mr. Tambourine Man. I could explain why I appreciate it now in a more nuanced way, but at the heart of it it’s still just about his voice and the way he sings it.

* * * 

IT SHOULD BE NOTED HERE that Matt is one of several Minnesota contributors to the soon-to-be released Troubadour Series book Bob Dylan in Minnesota. It is very possible that books will be available for sale after Matt's talk with at least two of the authors contributing signatures that day (if not more).

You can read one of the early reviews here.

Related Links
Duluth Dylan Fest 2023
The Bobcats: A Bob Dylan Fan Podcast 
     On Spotify
     On Apple

A Visit with Seth Rogovoy: On Looking at Dylan Through a Jewish Lens
Rogovoy's John Bushey Memorial Lecture will be available live on Zoom, Sunday May 21. Login details will be posted on the Duluth Dylan Fest website.

A Rewarding Visit with Writer-Musician Jeff Slate, Author of the Liner Notes for More Blood More Tracks

Mark your calendar for May 25, An Evening with Jeff Slate

with Paul Metsa & Sonny Earl Opening

Paul Metsa Introduces His Upcoming Books and Shares Stories as Duluth Dylan Fest Winds Down

This year there have been two John Bushey Memorial Lectures at Duluth Dylan Fest. Wednesday evening Peter McKenzie talked about his insightful Bob Dylan: On a Couch and Fifty Cents a Day, with its many revelations about Bob's first months in New York City. Yesterday, at Wussow's Concert Cafe, Paul Metsa shared insights about his career in music along with excerpts from his upcoming book, Alphabet Jazz.

Sunbonnet Sue introduced the speaker, his speech being titled "Bob Dylan -- Highway 53 Revisited."

There's a famous dictum for speakers that you've probably heard before. "Tell them what you are going to say, say it, and tell them what you said." Metsa honored this by telling us what he was going to say and following through. "I will be reading from my book Alphabet Jazz," he said at the beginning, though we received much more than that.

But first, he gave a nod to the man who remains present at all these Duluth Dylan Fest gatherings, alive in all our hearts, John Bushey, whose radio program Highway 61 Revisited was a rich and rewarding feast for countless Dylan fans for more than 26 years. "John Bushey," Metsa said, "was the prime mover behind Dylan being re-respected in Duluth and the Iron Range." 

Metsa's first reading from the book was a 1992 letter that he wrote to the Twin Cities Reader in response to a seriously brutal Dylan harangue by Burl "Ives" Gilyard. Metsa's letter was titled, "Dylan -- Still a Hep Cat." It began like this: "Although Bob Dylan certainly needs no one to defend him, I still take issue with Burl “Ives” Gilyard’s shallow musings and cavalier dismissal of the modern Jewish troubadour."

Paul Metsa @ Wussow's. Photos
courtesy Michael Anderson

Great opening line, and it only gets better after that. 

Metsa then covered a swath of territory that included Hibbing High School, the teacher there that was possibly Dylan's biggest influence, and some additional anecdotes about Hibbing and the Iron Range. 

In the midst of all this was a story about 4th Street. In addition to beng one of the great put-down songs of all time, "Positively Fourth Street" has a couple of other interesting features. First, the song came out as a single, but was never on any of the tracks on any of Dylan's albums until it appeared on his Greatest Hits album. Second, many people have wondered whether this 4th Street put-down was rooted in a New York experience or Dinkytown, the section of Minneapolis where Dylan was resident before heading off to the Big Apple. 

Well, Metsa pointed out that there's a Fourth Street in Hibbing, following up with an anecdote about a couple there that never listens to music. Could this be one of the reasons Bob left Hibbing? 

For the record, there is also a Fourth Street in Duluth, one-and-a-half blocks from the home where young Bobby Zimmerman grew up. It's my hope that one day the City of Duluth will rename it Positively Fourth Street some day. (EdNote: Inasmuch as Bob left Duluth at age 6 when his family moved to Hibbing, it is doubtful that the song is referencing any of his kindergarten experiences.)

For what it's worth, Metsa is an engaging storyteller. Whether talking about his experiences navigating the Minnesota music scene or what it's like to live in the same house where Bob Dylan once lived, he draws you in. (He has been renting the lower half of the duplex while looking for a house here in Duluth, which he now has found.)

FWIW, Paul's first book is titled Blue Guitar Highway and is available on Amazon. He also has a third book in the worked that will be published by University of Minnesota Press titled Blood In The Tracks.

* * * 

In 2018, the Minnesota musicians who recorded five of the songs on Dylan's much-lauded Blood on the Tracks album got the long-overdue recognition they deserved for their contributions to that very special album. Paul Metsa featured their stories on his Wall of Power program, a very special event for everyone present. Here are my three blog posts about that special day.

Part One  
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/inside-studio-still-more-blood-and.html 

Part Two
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/paul-metsas-wall-of-power-featuring.html

Part Three

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/lives-touched-and-changed-dylan-blood.html

* * * 

Thank you, Paul, for sharing your stories. Welcome to Duluth.