Expecting Rain

Ah, I knew it must've been Django)... Thank you, Wandu, you're the greatest!

24 Time

[Ben Webster – “Time After Time” in the background]

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It's night time in the Big City. A student faces down a deadline. A man with gin on his breath is pulled over.

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host, Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan: Well, the old clock on the wall says, it’s time once again for America’s favorite radio program Theme Time Radio Hour.

[“60 Minutes” theme in the background]

Bob Dylan: In the background is the theme song from the hit TV series “60 Minutes.” It ought to give you clue of today’s subject – it’s the thing that nobody has enough of, and I’m not talking about money – talking about time. The ticks of the clock, the sweet second hand, 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year, time marches on. Our time here is short, and we wanna make use of every minute of it, so for the next 60 we’re gonna be listening to songs all about the fourth dimension that is – time.

[alarm-clock]

Bob Dylan: Starting things of is the first lady of New Orleans – Irma Thomas. The Rolling Stones heard this version of this song, and recorded it the same year Irma did. Their versions although better known, but I’ve always been partial to Irma’s version. Even though, contrary to popular belief, it’s not the original. I’ll tell you all about that, after you give a listen to it.

[Irma Thomas – “Time is on My Side” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Irma Thomas, like a snow leopard ready to pounce, “Time is on My Side.”

[Irma Thomas – “Time is on My Side”]

Bob Dylan: That was Irma Thomas, “Time is on My Side.” The original version was actually performed by jazz trombonist Kai Winding, who is from Denmark. He moved to United States, joined Benny Goodman’s band, and had a number of popular jazz records with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. In the mid-60’s Kai wanted to commercialize his sound, he talked to New York songwriter Jerry Ragavoy, and Jerry wrote this song for him. The vocals were handled by Dionne Warwick, Dee Dee Warwick, and Whitney’s mom Cissy Houston. Maybe sometime we’ll spin that one. But in the meantime, you can’t go wrong with Irma Thomas.

[Dr. John – “Right Place, Wrong Time” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: William Shakespeare once said, “It's better three hours too soon, than one minute too late.” Dr. John said, “It’s better to be in the right place, at the right time, than to be in the right place in the wrong time.” Number nine pop chart hit from 19 and 73, “Right Place, Wrong Time.” Dr. John.

[Dr. John – “Right Place, Wrong Time”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Right Place, Wrong Time” by Dr. John on Theme Time Radio Hour. Themes, dreams and schemes all in perfect time. Here’s a song, you’ll probably recognize it from one of the greatest movies ever made – “Casablanca.” ‘Course I’m talking about the song is “Times Goes By.” Sung by the man who singed it in the movie – Arthur “Dooley” Wilson, who was the only member of the cast, who had actually been to Casablanca. He left the United States because of ethnic prejudices, and formed a band to tour Europe. He returned to America, and tried to survive as an actor. He became disgusted for what he called pullman-porter roles. He was about to leave Hollywood, when Hal Wallis started auditions for the role of Sam in “Casablanca.” Dooley got the part, and the rest is history. Here’s Dooley Wilson, “As Time Goes By.”

[Arthur “Dooley” Wilson – “As Time Goes By”]

Bob Dylan: “As Time Goes By,” Dooley Wilson. He got the nickname “Dooley” while working in the Pekin Theatre in Chicago, he was singing his signature Irish song “Mr. Dooley,” which he performed in whiteface. It was a big hit, and he became identified with it for the rest of his career. By the way, Humphrey Bogart had never said, “Play it again, Sam!” in “Casanblanca.” This is what he said instead:

[“Casablanca” excerpt:
Rick: What's that you're playin?
Sam: Oh, just a little somethin' on my own.
Rick: Well, stop it! You know what I want to hear.
Sam: No, I don't.
Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me.
Sam: Well, I don't think I can remember...
Rick: If she can stand it, I can. Play it!]

Bob Dylan: Let’s go down to Jamaica right now, and check in with Derrick Morgan, the unraveled king of ska. Well, actually he did have some rivals; the biggest one was Prince Buster. The two of them became embroiled in a fierce musical feud, which quickly spilled over amongst their fans. In 19 and 63 battles between the two (sets) of fans became so intense, the leaders of the Jamaican government had no choice but to step in. They called a cease-fire and brought the two performers together and have them pose for publicity pictures, burying the hatchet. I had a very similar thing with Gordon Lightfoot. Here he is, Derrick Morgan.

[Derrick Morgan – “Time Marches On”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Time Marches On” by Derrick Morgan. And now it’s time for an email. Let’s see what we got here... Ah, this one look good. This one’s from Pablo Nesbitt(?), he’s up in the mile-high city of Aspen – well that’s actually more than a mile high – Aspen, Colorado. I wonder if he’s a member of “Mile High” club. “Dear Theme Time, I was up late the other night, and I caught a weird movie on television. It was from the late 60’s, and it was a drive-in type horror movie, (where people were singing), I think it was made in the South. It was called “The Exotic Ones.” One of the monsters looked strangely familiar. You have any idea who it could be?” Well, Pablo, I can’t believe, how glad I am you asked that question. “The Exotic Ones” has long been one of my favorite grindhouse classics, one of the reasons I love it so much, is that one of the swamp monsters is played by Thomas Paulsley LaBeff, who you might know better as Sleepy LaBeef. The 6 feet 7 rockabilly singer, who’s (heavily leaded) eyes made him look half-asleep, and get him his nickname. He made a number of rockabilly records for Pappy Daily, and occasionally starred in drive-in horror movies. I think for this show we’re gonna stick to his records. Here he is, with a song called, “All the Time.” The darkly shaded Sleepy LaBeef.

[Sleepy LaBeef – “All the Time”]

Bob Dylan: That was Sleepy LaBeef – a man who lived on the road for many years. People keep trying to revive rockabilly, and the band who (are) doing it, spend most of their time listening to old rockabilly. The trut in a matter is, the guys who made the early rockabilly records were listening to whole bunch of other stuff. You can’t play rockabilly without understanding the rhythms of big bands.

[Count Basie – “Boogie Woogie (I May Be Wrong)”]

Bob Dylan: Rockabilly is a poor men’s big band. It was too expensive taking the big bands of the road, the smaller combos like Louis Jordan Band, emphasized the bead, and used electric guitars to get the same effect with smaller, more manageable, number of musicians. Rockabilly added a little bit of country influence, and whole lot of attitude, in a new genre was formed. [Count Basie – “Boogie Woogie (I May Be Wrong)” stops playing in the background] Whatever music you love, it didn’t come from nowhere, it’s always good to know what went down before you, because if you know the past, you can control the future. But be careful of the flip-side of the coin, those who do not understand the past, are doomed to repeat it. Here’s someone who newer repeated herself, a lovely Miss Etta James with a song called “Only Time Will Tell.”

[Etta James – “Only Time Will Tell”]

Bob Dylan: That was Etta James, “Only Time Will Tell.” Allegedly, Etta James was the one and only daughter of the great pool shark, Minnesota Fats. I never heard his side of the story.

[billiard sound effect]

Bob Dylan: Before the late 19th century, time keeping was a local phenomenon, each town would set their town clock to noon, when the sun reached its highest point in the day. A clockmaker or town clock would be the "official" time, and citizens would set their (...) pocket watches and clocks to the time of the town. Enterprising citizens would serve as mobile clock setters, carrying a watch to people’s homes to adjust them to the town’s time. When you travel from the city to city, you’d have to change your pocket watch upon arrival. However that all changed when railroads came in, when people moved to cross great distances on a regular basis. Time became much more critical, you couldn’t make a railroad schedule if every city had a different local time. In 18 and 78 Sir Sanford Fleming proposed the system of worldwide time zones. He said the world should be divided into 24 time zones, each one spaced 15 degrees of longitude apart. Sir Fleming's time zones were considered a brilliant solution, and are still used to this day. So in his honor, here’s a song by Eddie Boyd, about those 24 hours.

[Eddie Boyd – “24 hours” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: And ever since Eddie’s girl’s been gone, it’s been 23 too long. Here’s Eddie Boyd, “24 Hours.”

[Eddie Boyd – “24 hours”]

Bob Dylan: That was blues piano great Eddie Boyd, ended up passing away in Helsinki, Finland in 19 and 94. His time had come, but he left behind hours of great music.

Bob Dylan: Like William Faulkner said, “The past is never dead, it's not even past.” It reminds me of Macbeth’s [sound of a wind] soliloquy:
Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow
creeps in this petty pace from day to day
to the last syllable of recorded time.
And all our yesterdays have but lighted fools
the way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player,
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage
and then is heard no more.
It is a tale told by an idiot; full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing. (Act V. SC. V Lines 17-30)
By the way, some of (you literary types) are already aware that that’s where William Faulkner got the phrase “The Sound and the Fury.” [sound of wind stops] Like I said, all of these things have roots.

[page turns]

Bob Dylan: No matter how strong you are, there’s one thing you can never do, and Tyrone Davis is gonna tell you all about it.

[Tyrone Davis – “The Hands of Time” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Tyrone was born in Greenville, Mississippi. He moved to Chicago, and became the valet and chauffer for bluesman Freddie King. He recorded his first single under the name Tyrone the Wonder Boy. This is a great example of sweet Chicago soul. And in 1970 it was number one on R&B charts, a number thee on the pop charts. No matter what you do, you can’t turn back the hands of time.

[Tyrone Davis – “The Hands of Time”]

Bob Dylan: That was the Wonder Boy, Tyrone Davis. “Turn Back the Hands of Time.” Here are some people who wish they could have turn back the hands of time. George Armstrong Custer who met his fate at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, perhaps you know (this as) “Custer's Last Stand.” It was a catastrophic failure for him, he died with over 2 hundred and 10 of his men. Many people feel his failure was result of many blunders of his part: poor communication, failure to wait for reinforcements, excessive cruelty to the Indians. And, perhaps, the worst (scene?) of all general overconfidence, not to be confused with General Custer. Someone else who wishes, he could turn back the hand of time was the son of Henry Ford, who’s name became forever linked with one of the highest profile failures in automotive history. I’m talking about Henry Ford’s son, Edsel Ford. Sorry fellows, we can’t turn back the hands of time.

Bob Dylan: This is Theme Time Radio Hour. We got “Time” right in a title, so today we’re gonna talk all about it. You know, time is the most elastic of dimensions. When you’re having fun, an hour can seem like a minute, and on the other hand, when you’re having a bad time, a second can last forever. Some people feel that way in school, and Bobby Milano (once?) performed a song about it. “Life Begins at 4 O’clock,” Bobby Milano.

[Bobby Milano – “Life Begins at 4 O'clock”]

Bob Dylan: That was Bobby Milano, “Life Begins at 4 O'clock.” Bobby’s an interesting character. He got his start on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour when he was 12 years old. Four years later, he made his first records, and headed out to Los Angeles. He didn’t have a lot of success making records, and ended up becoming part of the Southern California underworld. Earning the nickname “The Crooning Crybaby.” He was the younger brother of Palm Springs based mob capo Vincent Dominic "Jimmy" Caci. Bobby was made a member of the Peter John Milano crime family. He was convicted in 19 and 68 for complicity in jewel theft and transportation of stolen goods. But the story didn’t end there, following his conviction, in his incarceration, he transcended his sordid past, and returned to the straight and narrow. Thanks to his loving wife Keely Smith. Milano produced a couple of records for Keely in early 70’s, long after Keely was done with her ex-husband Louis Prima.

[Jim Henson – "Tick-Tock Sick" excerpt:
Tick-tock, tick-tock
grandfather's clock goes tick tock.
That clock's got rhythm with a beat that swings.
Dig that clock, swing it clock.

All night long
a-tickin' and a-tockin'
crazy clocks
a-swingin' and a-rockin'
in the wee small hours I fell in the sack to the lullaby of the.]

Bob Dylan: Sixty minutes might seem like a long time, but for people who practice tantric sex it’s no time at all. And supposedly, tantric sex can go on for hours. Musician Sting supposedly practices tantric sex, and one time said, “My wife and my sex can last seven hours. And that includes dinner and a movie.” You go, Sting.

Bob Dylan: A lot of R&B records have the same bragging, and no one brags more than the singer in this record, he’s very proud of his love making abilities. He says he’s a Sixty Minute Man, with 15 minutes of kissing when she hollers “Please, don’t stop!” 15 minutes of teasing, 15 minutes of pleasing, and then 15 minutes of blowing his top (laughter). That sounds more like an hour and a half to me!

[Billy Ward and The Dominos – “Sixty Minute Man” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Billy Ward and The Dominos, “Sixty Minute Man.”

[Billy Ward and The Dominos – “Sixty Minute Man”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Sixty Minute Man,” Billy Ward and The Dominos, featuring the bass vocals of Bill Brown. The song went up to number one on the R&B charts. In 19 and 52 the pop charts were a little less eager, perhaps, a little frightened by the material – it only went to number 17 there. Bill Brown tell you have 15 minutes to blow his top. (While) Cab Calloway’s got 15 minutes he’d rather spend resting. Accorting to most musicians unions, including the AFM, of which I’m a proud member, performers are allowed a 15 minute brake, after each 45 minutes of performance. Don’t tell my band.

[Cab Calloway – “15 Minute Intermission” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Cab Calloway, and his brake tune “15 Minute Intermission”

[Cab Calloway – “15 Minute Intermission”]

Bob Dylan: That was Cab Calloway, “15 Minute Intermission.” That time of the evening when you just want to take a break, visit your old friends – alcohol and nicotine. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, boys!

[sea waves, seagulls in the background]

Bob Dylan: Like sands in an hourglass so are the days of your lives. The hourglass was an old style timer that marked the time by using sand passing through a narrow passageway from one bulb to another. You could see an hourglass on pirate flags where it’s symbolized the fact that human existence is fleeting. In England hourglasses were sometimes placed in coffins to symbolize the fact that sands of time had run out. [sea waves, seagulls in the background stops]

Bob Dylan: Willie Nelson is no stranger to the sands of time. One of his first, and biggest records was all about time slipping away. Here he is, with a song he wrote that was originally a big hit for Billy Walker. It was also been recorded by Johnny Cash, Sammy Davis Junior, Al Green, Joe Hinton, Wanda Jackson, BB King, Ray Price and Stevie Wonder.

[Willie Nelson – “Funny How Time Slips Away” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s the red headed stranger, “Funny How Time Slips Away.”

[Willie Nelson – “Funny How Time Slips Away”]

Bob Dylan: That was Willie Nelson, “Funny How Time Slips Away.” I should’ve just called Willie and ask if he’d come down here and sing it. Well, maybe next time.

Bob Dylan: You may or may not know the name of Hal Willner. Hal Willner is a record producer, who loves matching unusual artists with unusual songs. He did a tribute to Walt Disney that featured Tom Waits, The Replacements and Sun Ra. He also did an album, called “Lost in the Stars,” which featured the music of Kurt Weill – the famous German composer. On this record he has a lot of great jazz musicians, as well as number of rock performers. Here’s Lou Reed unexpectedly doing the Kurt Weil classic, from “Knickerbocker Holiday,” “September Song.”

[Lou Reed – “September Song”]

Bob Dylan: That was Lou Reed doing the Kurt Weil classic “September Song.” Perhaps, Weil’s best known work is “The Threepenny Opera,” which he wrote with Bertolt Brecht in 19 and 28, that contains the famous song that turned into “Mac the Knife” which Bobby Darrin had such a big hit with. Weil fled Nazi Germany in 19 and 33; he was seen as a particular threat by the Nazi authorities, being a prominent Jewish composer. By 19 and 35 he made it to the United States, a place that have always been his dream. (Other) famous songs he wrote – “Alabama Song,” which you might know by The Doors, but it’s originally from his show “Mahagonny,” “Speak Low” from “One Touch of Venus,” and of course the song we just heard, “September Song,” the bittersweet tale of time passing.

[ding dong]

Bob Dylan: Ray Charles had a (key knife) a talent; he recognized that Percy Mayfield was a unique songwriter whose work was perfectly suited for Ray’s distinctive style. Percy wrote Ray’s big smash chart-topper “Hit the Road Jack.” But a few years before that Ray recorded this song, a powerful slice of rhythm and blues. Two Years of Torture,” written by Percy Mayfield and sung by Ray Charles.

[Ray Charles – “Two Years of Torture”]

Bob Dylan: Ray Charles, “Two Years of Torture.” There’s no shortage of stories about lost love: (was) Butterfly and Captain Pinkerton in “Madam Butterfly,” there’s Heathcliff and Catherine in “Wuthering Heights,” there’s Pip and Stella in “Great Expectations,” and as we talked about earlier – Rick and Ilsa in “Casablanca.” Ray could’ve been singing about any of them.

[cuckoo clock]

Bob Dylan: I work with a guy named Tex Carbon – he’s very laid-back, takes him two hours to watch “60 Minutes.” I’m the exact opposite, I can make “Minute Rice” in 30 seconds.

Bob Dylan: Here’s a (lovely) lady who was born in Gore, Virginia – Patsy Cline. The song we’re gonna play – “Walking after Midnight” – was not released right away by the record company. Patty got the opportunity to perform on the Arlo Guthrie talent show, she sang this song, and it went over like gangbusters. The big success convinced the record company that they had a hit when “Walking After Midnight” came out in a hurry. You could do things like that in those days.

[Patsy Cline – “Walking After Midnight” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Patsy Cline, “Walking After Midnight.”

[Patsy Cline – “Walking After Midnight”]

Bob Dylan: That was Patsy Cline, “Walking After Midnight.”

[cicadas, wolf howling]

Bob Dylan: Well, we couldn’t talk about time without talking a little bit about the Witching hour. In the European folklore that’s the time, when supernatural creatures such as witches, demons and ghosts are thought to be at their most powerful, and black magic at its most effective. The hour is midnight. One of the earliest-known uses of the phrase is from the last line of the short story by Washington Irvin: “Two pairs of eyes are watching me now, from the couch and the ledge by the window. Faerieland shines in those eyes. And I must leave you, for it's the witching hour and a full moon is rising.” Mary Shelley used the phrase in the introduction to “Frankenstein”: "Night waned upon this talk, and even the witching hour had gone by before we retired to rest."

[howling]

Bob Dylan: Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown also talks about the Witching Hour – “The Midnight Hour.” Here he is – “Gatemouth” Brown.

[Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown – “The Midnight Hour”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Boogie Rambler himself – Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown at “The Midnight Hour.” Gtaemouth was also a house bandleader on amazing television show called The Beat, from 19 and 66. Which show some of the greatest soul music you’ll ever see. It was thought to be lost forever, but those folks at “Bear Family” put (them all) at DVD. To the “Bear Family” folks we say: danke schön.

Bob Dylan: The question that comes up an awful lot is: “What time is it?”

[Eugene Pitt and The Jive 5 – “What Time Is It?” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Well, this song doesn’t exactly answer that question, but it does tell quite an interesting story. Eugene Pitt and The Jive Five singing one of the last great doo wop songs “What Time Is It?” but the real interesting story is about the (guys) who wrote this song, and I’ll tell you all about them after we give a listen, “White Time Is it?” The Jive 5.

[Eugene Pitt and The Jive 5 – “What Time Is It?”]

Bob Dylan: That was Eugene Pit and The Jive Five, “What Time Is It?” Written by Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein [page turns], and Richard Gottehrer. They were three Brooklyn songwriter producers. They had a number one hit with a song they wrote called “My Boyfriend’s Back.” They weren’t totally satisfied being behind the scenes, and when the British Invasion hit, they decided to (get in) on the act by recording as a group called The Strangeloves, from the nonexistent town of Armstrong, Australia – they retired from sheepherding to form their band. A bold lie for three Brooklyn boys. They had a hit with their song, “I Want Candy,” which was later recorded by Bow Wow Wow. Eventually they quit performing, and wrote and produced more hits for The McCoys, including “Hang on Sloopy.” Richard Gottehrer later produced records by Blondie, The Go-Go’s, Joan Armatrading, and The Raveonettes – not bad for a Brooklyn-born sheepherder who had never been to Australia.

[How Much Time Do We Have (Keep Working): Unknown Announcer [1953]:
How much time do we have, minutes, days, months, years? We don't know. But this we do know – Civil Defense is everybody's business! It’s a big job getting Civil Defense organized operate efficiently, but then atomic attack is disaster on a big scale! We can and must get the job done if we ought to survive. How much time we have to prepare? We don’t know, but this we do know – Civil Defense is everybody's business! It's your business!]

Bob Dylan: Next up is a song not just about time, but perfect for the time – Willi Williams, "Armagideon Time.” Interesting thing about a lot of reggae music is how they recycle backing tracks. Like in this next song which was originally a smash hit by The Soul Vendors in 19 and 67, it was called “Reel Rock” back then, later on Papa Michigan and Smiley had a hit with a song called "Nice Up the Dance” using the same backing track.

[Willi Williams – “Armagideon Time” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Willi Williams took that same backing track, added some modern sound effects – at least they were modern when the song was recorded – and a lyric about the end times, put them together ang came up with this – “Armagideon Time.”

[Willi Williams – “Armagideon Time”]

Bob Dylan: That was Willi Williams, from 19 and 79, “Armagideon Time.”

[The Chambers Bros. – “Time Has Come Today” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: In the background – are The Chambers Brothers telling us that the time has come today. The Chambers Brothers fuse gospel, and rock and roll, and sometimes even (got) a little bit psychedelic – like on this song.

[The Chambers Bros. – “Time Has Come Today”]

[Booker T & The MG's – “Time Is Tight” in the background]

Bob Dylan: As sure as death and taxes, the clock on the wall says it’s time to go, as much as I might want to, I can’t turn back those two hands, so we’re gonna move over and get out of the way, and let the next show come on. We’ll see you next week, on Theme Time Radio Hour. Let me leave you with the words of the great poet Percy Shelley:
Like the ghost of a dear friend dead
Is Time long past.
A tone which is now forever fled,
A hope which is now forever past,
A love so sweet it could not last,
Was Time long past.

There were sweet dreams in the night
Of Time long past:
And, was it sadness or delight,
Each day a shadow onward cast
Which made us wish it yet might last-
That Time long past.

There is regret, almost remorse,
For Time long past.
'Tis like a child's belovèd corse
A father watches, till at last
Beauty is like remembrance, cast
From Time long past.
Persey Shelley, timeless poet.

Bob Dylan: I’ll see you next week.

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. Travel arrangements courtesy Sabudio International Airport. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Guns.”

25 Guns


[Quincy Jones & his Orchestra – ''Shoot to Kill'' in the background]

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s night time in the Big City. An elderly man looks at his wife’s empty pillow. A nervous thief stands in a doorway.

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host, Bob Dylan.

[Ennio Morricone - “For a Few Dollars More” in the background]

Bob Dylan: Welcome to Theme Time Radio Hour. Leave your iron at the door, because tonight we're gonna be playing music of the highest caliber. We're gonna shoot from the hip and put another notch on our barrel, as we look at the world of guns. (Though) don’t soot till you see the whites of their eyes.

[Shane (1953) excerpt:
Shane: A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it]

Bob Dylan: We're gonna start things off with a record that starts out like a gunshot.

[Junior Walker and the All Stars – “Shotgun” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Junior Walker and the All Stars, and one of the funkiest records ever to come out on Motown. Here he is with “Shotgun.”

[Junior Walker and the All Stars – “Shotgun”]

Bob Dylan: That’s Junior Walker and the All Stars, a lot less slick than a lot of the other records on Motown. Junior didn’t think he could sing, as a matter of fact, the only reason he sang on that record was ‘cause of guy he hired didn’t show up. He wasn’t gonna eat the session fee, so he stepped behind the mike, and had himself a number 4 hit in the process.

Bob Dylan: Shotguns are also known as scatterguns, fowling pieces or two-shoot guns, they were a replacement for the blunderbuss.

[charging gun sound efect]

Bob Dylan: Let’s get another shotgun off the rack, and hear what Tennessee Ernie Ford has to say about it. Tennessee Ernie was known as the “Old Pea Picker” ‘cause he always use to say, “Bless your pea-pickin' heart.” He recorded 50 singles during the early 50s, a lot of them making the pop charts. Some of them were straight Country, like this song he wrote about a hunter going out after rabbits.

[Tennessee Ernie Ford – “Shotgun Boogie” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Tennessee Ernie with “The Shotgun Boogie.”

[Tennessee Ernie Ford – “Shotgun Boogie”]

Bob Dylan: That was that Old Pea Picker with “The Shotgun Boogie.” Tennessee Ernie Ford is the guy who’s no flash in the pan. You know what that means? When a flintlock’s priming pan powder burns or "flashes", but fails to ignite the main powder charge in the barrel, it’s known as “the flash in the pan.” That’s why we use that phrase to describe a person who claims great skills but accomplishes nothing. I think we all know some people like that.

[burning powder sound effect]

Bob Dylan: This is Theme Time Radio Hour. We’re talking about bean-shooters, the gat, the rod, the roscoe, the heater, the convincer, pistols, cannons, blunderbusses, muskets and rifles – we’re talking about guns.

[Albert King – “The Hunter” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: And Albert King got one too, that’s called “the love gun,” and he’s got you in his sights.

[Albert King – “The Hunter”]

Bob Dylan: That was Albert King, the least known of the three Kings of the blues: B.B., Freddie, and Albert. Albert was well-known as a guitarist, but before he picked up guitar he briefly played drums for Jimmy Reed. He’s performing here with the four men who wrote the song: Steve Copper, “Duck” Dunn, Al Jackson and Booker T. Jones – Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

[The Valentines – “Guns Fever (Blam Blam Fever)” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Rudeboys were part of Jamaican culture. The term originated in the ghettos of Kingston, coinciding with the popular rise of dancehall celebrations. Disaffected, unemployed urban youth, often found temporary employment in this dancehalls. They would then go and crash the competitor’s dances. The violence became an important part of young Jamaican lifestyle, giving rise to gang violence. Here’s a song by The Valentines, all about the rudeboys, they got the guns fever.

[The Valentines – “Guns Fever (Blam Blam Fever)”]

Bob Dylan: That [page turns] was a little story of gun violence down in Trench Town, courtesy of The Valentines, “Guns Fever.” Even in the 60s gangster culture emulated movies: the rudeboys wore sharp suits, thin ties, and pork-pie hats in imitation of American gangster movies.

[“The Big Combo” (1955) excerpt:
“You can’t get away, drop the gun.”
“Come and get it.
You’re not taking me to jail, got to kill me first. Go ahead, shut!”]

[automatic firearm sound effect]

Bob Dylan: (There’s) all kinds of guns. The Tommy Gun was a family of American submachine guns that became famous during Prohibition. It’s also known as the Chicago Typewriter. So here’s The Clash with their song “Chicago Typewriter.”

[The Clash – “Tommy Gun”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Tommy Gun” by The Clash, a song written by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer. Joe explained that he got the idea to write “Tommy Gun” when it occurred to him that terrorists, like rock stars and movie stars, probably enjoy reading the press about their so-called triumphs.

[charging gun and shooting sound effects]

Bob Dylan: Each and every year approximately 10 billion bullets are sold in the United States alone. From 19 and 93 through 19 and 97, less than 1% of serious nonfatal violent victimizations resulted in gunshot wounds. We just want to remind you that we here at Theme Time Radio Hour do not condone violence, nor do we encourage it. Here’s tough talking Vanda Jackson.

[Wanda Jackson – “This Gun Don't Care Who It Shoots” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: She’s got a bone to pick with a chick, some gal’s been bird-dogging her, and if she ain’t careful she’s gonna be pulling pellets out of her backside. ‘Cause this gun don’t care who it shoots.

[Wanda Jackson – “This Gun Don't Care Who It Shoots”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Atomic Fireball, Wanda Jackson on Theme Time Radio Hour, where we’re talking about guns. The most famous female sharpshooter wasn’t Wanda Jackson, it was Phoebe Ann Mosey, better known as Annie Oakley. She was born on August 18th (sic! – 13th), 18 and 60, and passed away in 19 and 26. She should use a .22 caliber rifle at 90 feet, and split a playing card, edge-on, and put five or six more holes in it before it touched the ground. I wouldn’t wanna make her mad.

Bob Dylan: Well usually I have a story about the people we play, but I know nothing about this fella, except that he's a little bit dangerous.

[Robert Jefferson – “I Got My Equalizer” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Robert Jefferson, “I Got My Equalizer.”

[Robert Jefferson – “I Got My Equalizer”]

Bob Dylan: The woefully underrecorded Robert Jefferson, “I Got My Equalizer.” And I’m not talking about the audio equipment.

[Gene Autry – “Back in the Saddle Again” plays in the background]

Bob Dylan: Gene Autry had a Cowboy Code, sometimes known as the Cowboy Commandments, because a lot of his Saturday matinee saddle pals wanted to be just like him. I will now swear you in:
1. The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
Number 2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
Number 3. He must always tell the truth.
Number 4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
Number 5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. He must help people in distress.
7. He must be a good worker.
8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation’s laws.
10. The Cowboy is a patriot.

[“Heeya!..”]

Bob Dylan: And I’m not ashamed to say that I live my life according to that code. Quite a man that Gene Autry!

[Gene Autry – “Back in the Saddle Again” stops]

Bob Dylan: Johnny Cash also had a Cowboy Code. Here’s Johnny with the story of the Old West where a mother is imploring her son: “Please, don’t take your guns to town!”

[Johnny Cash – “Don't Take Your Guns to Town” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: The Man in Black—Johnny Cash.

[Johnny Cash – “Don't Take Your Guns to Town”]

Bob Dylan: That was Johnny Cash, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.” Sometimes you’re just too young to know. A song about getting dressed up, combing his hear, probably going to town for a Saturday night. I hope he’s not carrying a Saturday Night Special, [siren in the background] which is a slang term for any inexpensive handgun. The term was first used, as far as we know, in the August 17th, 1968 issue of The New York Times, and I quote: "... cheap, small-caliber 'Saturday night specials' ... are a favorite of holdup men..." Even today it can be found in many of the top crime spots. [siren stops]

Bob Dylan: Guns are dangerous, but they still hold a certain romantic allure. Here’s Los Lobos with the title song from their album “La pistola y el corazón”—“The Pistol and the Heart.” I caught up with David Hidalgo at the Amoeba Record Store near historic Haight-Ashbury, or as I call it “Hashbury.” I asked him what the song meant. Here’s what he told me.

[David Hidalgo: The song is uh, it’s style of a Corrido – Mexican ballad. It’s, basically, this guy is, you know, saying that, uh, there’s no way he can explain the way he feels, and there’s no remedy for the feelings he has and, the moon’s telling him the one thing, the stars are telling another, and, uh, when the sun comes up it sings him the sad song that, uh, the kisses that you’ve given me (that) what’s killing me, as my tears dry up all I have is my pistol and my heart. ]

[Los Lobos – “La pistola y el corazón”]

Bob Dylan: In his heart he knew he was seriously in the wrong. That was “La pistola y el corazón,” talking about the gun and the hart.

[The Gunfighter (1950) excerpt:
“I drew first.”
“You don't have to do me no favours, pappy.”
“If I was doing you a favor, I’d let them hang you right now and get it all over with. But I don’t want you to get off that light! I want you to ... see what it means, to have to live like a big tough gunny. So, don’t thank me yet, partner, you’ll see what I mean.”]

[The MacManus Gang – “Big Nothing” playing in the background]

Bob Dylan: Here’s some famous historical gun fighters: Billy the Kid who said, “One man can't handle an uprising. I don't care who he is;” Wyatt Earp who, when someone said to him, “You don’t admire peace,” replied “It’s not real easy to like something you know nothing about;” Bat Masterson was overheard saying, “The man can’t die with something on his mind;” Johnny Ringo who on more than one occasion uttered, “You don't want the only evidence of your life's work to be bullet holes in men.”

[“Shane” (1953) excerpt:
Frank ‘Stonewall’ Torrey: You’re a low-down lyin’ Yankee!
Wilson: Prove it.]

Bob Dylan: Next up, we’re gonna play you two version of “Pistol Packin’ Mama.” Here’s the man who wrote it—Al Dexter and his Troopers, and this record sold 3 million copies in 19 and 43. That’d be a lot of records now, it was a REAL lot of records in 19 and 43.

[Al Dexter and his Troopers – “Pistol Packin’ Mama” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Al and his story of a dangerous gun-totin’ gal, The Pistol Packin’ Mama.

[Al Dexter and his Troopers – “Pistol Packin’ Mama”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” Al Dexter and his Troopers. And I know you all’ve heard that. And I also know, you all’ve head me talk about Syd Nathan, the owner of King Records. He was called Little Caesar because he was short, fat, and ruled his label like a dictator. But nonetheless he knew what people wanted to buy, and he knew there wasn't that much distance between the white audience and the black audience. He took Al Dexter's song and handed it over to The Hurricanes and it came out something like this. Actually, it came out exactly like this!

[The Hurricanes – “Pistol Packin’ Mama”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Hurricanes with R&B version of Al Dexter’s “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” both recorded for Syd Nathans’ King Record label. Listen to little bit of Syd addressing the troops. Any of you, record company employees, might wanna take some notes.

[Syd Nathan: If you wanna be a genius it’s easy—all you got to say is ‘Everything I heard is no good.’ Let me see the sales 90 day after they’ve been out than I’ll tell you how good it is—that’s how much of a goddamn genius I am!]

Bob Dylan: We’ve done a lot of talking about small guns, but now it’s time to come to the big guns: cannons, battleship guns, German howitzers, American railguns, the Gustav Gun, and, probably the biggest gun of all, the 42cm Krupp Howitzer, given the nick name William's Gun (sic! - ?). Here’s a song about big guns by Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins. Jenny Lewis is a singer and a songwriter, she has a band called Rilo Kiley, but this year released a record on her own. I caught up with Jenny, and I asked her what the deal was with the big guns.

[Jenny Lewis: I guess the big guns can be whatever exercises control over you, or, you know, great boobs.]

[Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins – “The Big Guns”]

Bob Dylan: That was Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins, from her album “Rabbit Fur Coat,” “The Big Guns,” here on Theme Time Radio Hour.

Bob Dylan: Well, let’s see what the old email has for us. Today’s message is from Gunter Schmidt, from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Gunter writes: “Dear Bob, I enjoy the show very much. I live with my mother and stay in her basement. I’m confused by something—I’ve never heard anyone use language the way you do: a few weeks back you referred to one of the artists you played as a gang-banger, and you pronounced “cigarettes” as “cigarayettes.” Can you explain this to me?” Well, Gunter, I could, but I think perhaps it’s more important that’s you get out of your mother’s basement. But remember, it’s dangerous out there, so prepare yourself accordingly. And thanks for the email. Hope that helps, Gunter.

Bob Dylan: Here’s an old friend of Theme Time Radio Hour, it’s that practical joker Jerry Irby. This song made it all the way to number 10 in 19 and 48.

[Jerry Irby and His Texas Rangers – “Great Long Pistol” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: “Great Long Pistol,” Jerry Irby and His Texas Rangers on Theme Time Radio Hour. Shoot ‘em up!

[Jerry Irby and His Texas Rangers – “Great Long Pistol”]

Bob Dylan: That was Jerry Irby and His Texas Rangers, and I hope you’re still standing. If you had a great long pistol, you wouldn’t wanna be a cop, or play detective, you’d just wanna see you drop.

Bob Dylan: Alright, we’re gonna bite the bullet and keep on going. The bullet catch is a is a conjuring illusion in which a magician appears to catch a bullet fired directly at him, is usually performed with a magician catching a bullet in his teeth. Penn and Teller (up?????) little, and both fired guns at each other. I asked Penn Jillette what it’s like to have a gun shot at you every night. Here’s what he had to say.

[Penn Jillette: Well, it’s the most dangerous trick in show business, twelve people have died on st-- actually it’s now thirteen. They’ve died on stage. And the way you usually die, doing the bullet catch, is not by a mistake you make, or the trick going wrong,— two or three people who died doing the bullet catch died before they even started the trick, what someone in the audience stood up, and said, ‘Hey! Catch this!’ And shot them in a face.

Penn Jillette: And I was walking through LAX and bunch of guys in gang attire yelled over to me, ‘Hey! Are you the guy that can catch that bullet?’ And I spun around, stuck both hands in the air and said ‘It’s a trick! It’s a trick! It’s a trick! I can’t do it! I’m a liar! It’s a trick!”]

[drum roll, shot and applause sound effect]

Bob Dylan: The Medallions recorded one of the most important records in Doo Wop history, it was a record called “The Letter.” And in the spoken word section, lead singer Vernon Green says the following: “Let me whisper sweet words of pizmotality, and discuss the pompatus of love. Put them together, and what do you have? Matrimony!” In later interviews Vernon Green could not remember what he meant by these lines. But I’m sure he knows exactly what he meant in this song, “Don't Shoot, Baby,” Vernon Green and the Medallions.

[Vernon Green and the Medallions – “Don't Shoot, Baby”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Don't Shoot, Baby,” here on Theme Time Radio Hour, and Vernon Green was staring down the barrel of a .45. Be careful, you don’t wanna get hit in a pompatus. I wonder if he knew that the Colt 45 was invented by Samuel Colt. It was perhaps the most prolific pistol in the Wild West. He was issued a US patent in 18 and 36 for the firearm equipped with a revolving cylinder, [sound effect] containing five or six bullets, with an innovative cocking device. [sound effect] I think it’s important to know, whether there are five or six bullets in it.

[“Dirty Harry” (1971) excerpt:
“I know what you're thinking: "Did he fire six shots, or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well do ya, punk?”]

[sooting sound effect]

[“Robot Rabbit” (1953) excerpt:
“You got me duck. I’m gone. Everything is getting dark. I’m gonna kick the bucket.”
“Wait! The Wabbit kicked the bucket!”
“The rabbit kicked the bucket! The rabbit kicked the bucket! The rabbit kicked the bucket!..”]

Bob Dylan: Next up, Richard and Linda Thompson. This song is a title track from an album they recorded in 19 and 82, as their marriage was falling apart. You can almost hear it fall apart in this song. Here’s Richard and Linda Thompson, “Shoot Out the Lights.”

[Richard and Linda Thompson – “Shoot Out the Lights” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: You ever heard Rumble, Richard?

[Richard and Linda Thompson – “Shoot Out the Lights”]

Bob Dylan: Richard Thompson with a song that owes a little to Link Wray, “Shoot Out the Lights.” Recently Richard has been doing a show called “A 1000 Years of Popular Music.” He takes a chronological trip that starts with a 1000-year-old round, and end with his version of the Britney Spears song “Oops, I Did It Again.” And oops, we did it again, we ran out of time. So I’m gonna head out now to Ezekiel's Gun Shop, and get myself a new shoulder holster. If you see me coming at ya, you better give me a wide berth. I’ll see you next week on Theme Time Radio Hour. Peace out!

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. Travel arrangements courtesy Sabudio International Airport. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Halloween.”

Well, I don't know if there's still anyone paying attention to this thread... But meanwhile I'm done transcribing the most-bed-music-filled episode by far, "Halloween." While I could understand Mr. Dylan more or less clearly (there's only one spot, I'm really not sure about), bed-music is devastating. Even the very first track during the intro remains unnamed... Anyways, if anyone can and willing to help, you're more than welcomed, as usual.

1. Background surf-rock-sounding music during intro.

2. Background ambient music before [Tommy Collins – “Black Cat”]

3. Dark Shadows’ Theme-like music in the background before [Denzil Lang – “Beware of the Vampire”] -- It could be some version of Dark Shadows Theme, actually, but in need a second opinion.

4. Background ambient music before [Nat Gonella and His Georgians – “Skeleton in the Closet”]

5. Background ambient music before [The Sly Fox – “Hoo Doo Say”]

6. Background ambient music before [Dr. John – “Morgus the Magnificent”]

7. Organ music in the background before [Louis Prima and Keely Smith – “That Old Black Magic”]

8. A word after "Shakespeare’s": Perhaps the best known witches can be found in William Shakespeare’s (???) play of calamity hardship and affliction called “Macbeth”

9, Unkown movie or TV excerpt [“The possession of one’s mind by the devil is a horrifying specter. Listen to the scourging of the devil by this exorcist!”] before [June Christy – “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead”]

P.S. Thanks to Fred@Dreamtime for transcribing and commenting on sequence about Morgus the Magnificent.

26 Halloween


[“Tales from the Crypt” (1972) and “Vault of Horror” (1973) trailer’s excerpts(?):
“Enter Death's waiting room, if you dare! Below the crypt lies--“]

[Bob Dylan: Theme Time Radio Hour]

[some surf rock sounds in background]

Steven Wright: It’s Night Time in a Big City. A female announcer dresses like me. A skeleton puts on a fat suit. I gotta put some gas in my car but I don't wanna put it in the tank, I don't wanna conform to what everyone else is doing. I know I won't smoke that night though.

Steven Wright: It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host Bob Dylan.

[spooky sound effects in the background]

Bob Dylan: Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
Only this, and nothing more."

Bob Dylan: Thus begins the epic poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. And it’s only appropriate to talk about Poe, for he is the master of the macabre. [screams] And this week on Theme Time Radio Hour we’re gonna look at the spooky world of ghosts and golems, witches and warlocks, vampires and other things that go bump in the night. Because it’s Halloween. [nocturnal laugh]

Bob Dylan: We got some tricks for you and some treats, so get yourself a bag of candy, and settle in.

[Albert King – “Born under a Bad Sign” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: We’re gonna start things off with “Born under a Bad Sign.” Here’s Albert King.

[Albert King – “Born under a Bad Sign”]

Bob Dylan: That was Albert King. He says he was born under a bad sign. He was born on May 25th (sic!) which makes him a Gemini. Gemini's are curious, good multi-taskers and, in Albert King's case, they play guitar left handed.

Bob Dylan: It’s Halloween on Theme Time Radio Hour. We’ll be looking at superstitions all night tonight. [cat screams] [unknown music in the background] The superstition about a black cat may have gotten its start during the witch-hunts of the Middle Ages, when cats were thought to be connected to evil. Since then it’s been considered bad luck if a black cat crosses your path. However in Britain and Japan, having a black cat cross your path is considered good luck. Well, they drive on the other side of the road there, too.

[Tommy Collins – “Black Cat” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Tommy Collins wrote and sang a song on this very subject. Here he is, throwing away his good felt hat, “Black Cat.”

[Tommy Collins – “Black Cat”]

Bob Dylan: That was Tommy Collins,and “Black Cat.” The guitarist on a lot of Tommy’s Capitol recordings later went on to have quite a career of his own. His name was Buck Owens, and I bet you heard of him.

[“Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon” (The Mansion of Madness) (1973) trailer:
What shameful things happen to the women in Dr. Tarr’s Torture Dungeon? This new Edgar Allan Poe film is filled with terror, suspense and horror. The biggest and best of the Edgar Allan Poe films—“Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon”—will etch itself into your mind, with shock after naked shock. “Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon.”]

Bob Dylan: Alright then, let’s get back to more music, with Johnny Otis.

[Johnny Otis – “Castin' My Spell” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Johnny is a piano player, a drummer, a vibes player, a singer, and a talent scout, and also a sculptor, and a painter. At the height of Rock’n’roll he signed with Capitol records, and had a big hit with Willie and the Hand Jive. Around that same time, he recorded this song, using the same beat (of) Marie Adams & The Three Tons of Joy. Here’s “Castin' My Spell on You”, Johnny Otis.

[Johnny Otis – “Castin' My Spell”]

Bob Dylan: That was Johnny Otis with a Hindu tattooing a Genie on his back. [Dark Shadows’ Theme-like music in the background] If you wanna cast a spell, you gotta use one of the magic words. Perhaps the most famous one is “Abracadabra.” It’s a very old word, it first turned up in a 2nd century poem. Another famous one is “Hocus Pocus,” which has been around since at least the 17th century. It’s been plausibly suggested that “Hocus Pocus” is much older, perhaps even a corruption of the Latin words "Hoc est enim corpus meum” for “this is my body,” spoken during the Roman Catholic mass, when the wine and wafer are said to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Other magic words are “Presto,” “Open Sesame,” and “Alakazam.” But to me [Dark Shadows’ Theme-like music in the background stops] the most magical words are “please” and ‘thank you.”


[“Dracula” (1931) excerpt:
“You are too late. My blood now flows through her veins. She will live through the centuries to come, as I have lived.”]

[Denzil Lang – “Beware of the Vampire” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: You find a lot of creatures out on Halloween. You might see a werewolf, you might see a Frankenstein, or you might see a vampire. Denzil Lang is warning you to beware a vampire.

[Denzil Lang – “Beware of the Vampire”]

Bob Dylan: Look out! Beware of the vampire! Denzil was a Reggae musician, he played on a lot of the records produced by Lee “Scratch” Perry, including records by the The Heptones, Jimmy Cliff, and Toots and The Maytals. [wind, bats sound effects]

Bob Dylan: Vampires are mythical creatures, typically believed to be reanimated corpses of human beings. During the 18th century there was a major vampire scare in Eastern Europe. Even government officials frequently got dragged into the hunting and staking of vampires. Our politicians today don't hunt for vampires, they're too busy being blood suckers.

[Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – “I Put a Spell on You” starts playng]

Bob Dylan: It’s Halloween on Theme Time Radio Hour, and we’d have to pay fine to the government if we didn’t play this. One of the greatest, spookiest and most compelling records ever made—Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

[Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – “I Put a Spell on You”]

Bob Dylan: That was Screamin’ Jay Hawkins with “I Put a Spell on You.” Screamin’ Jay felt right at home on Halloween. He'd climb out of a coffin, carry a flaming skull, and arrive at a gig in a hearse. How 'bout that!

[“The Mummy” (1932) excerpt:
“’Death–eternal punishment, for—anyone—who—opens—this—casket. In the name of Amon-Ra, the King of the Gods.’ Good heavens, what a terrible curse!”
“Well, let's see what's inside!”
“Wait! You will break the curse.”]

Bob Dylan: [unknown music in the background] There’s another famous curses. Perhaps the most famous is the curse of King Tut. It is said on the entrance to his tomb, “Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the king.” But that’s not true. The ancient Egyptians never put curses on their tombs, worse than curses, the tomb contained poison mold spores, and that’s what caused the death of all the tomb robbers. (http://aboutfacts.net/Mysterious17.htm) [unknown music in the background stops]

[Nat Gonella and His Georgians – “Skeletons in the Closet” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Even though Jazz was an American creation, it didn’t take long for people across the pond to join in with the swinging sounds. Here’s London native Nat Gonella (playing) along with his Georgians on a version of “Skeleton in the Closet.” Nat was inspired by Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima. Here he sings a song about the old skeletons in the closet, and witches in stitches. Nat Gonella and his Georgians.

[Nat Gonella and His Georgians – “Skeleton in the Closet”]

Bob Dylan: That was Nat Gonella and his Georgians, “Skeleton in the Closet,” on a Theme Time Radio Hour costume ball. What are you wearing?

[The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band – “Look Out There's a Monster Coming” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Viv Stanshall led a group called The Bonzo Dog Band. They started off as if traditional dance band, and did Vaudeville routines in swinging London. They had one single that hit the British top-5 in 19 and 68, it was called “I’m the Urban Spaceman,” and it was produced by Paul McCartney. Also in the group was Neil Innes, who did a lot of music for the guys in “Monty Python,” and as a matter of fact, wrote all the song for The Rutles. Here’s a song that Viv Stanshall wrote, it’s called “Look Out There's a Monster Coming.”

[The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band – “Look Out There's a Monster Coming”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Bonzo Dog Band with “Look Out There's a Monster Coming.” A scary record indeed.

[jingle:
“Trick or treat, trick or treat
Trick or treat, on Halloween
Trick or treat–on Halloween
Never-ending tricks but lots of treats
On your Halloween station
Here’s a sound mutation
A musical treat from your Halloween station
Happy Halloween”]

[unknown music in the background]

Bob Dylan: Eugene Fox, recorded under the name The Sly Fox. He never wanted to be a singer, he was a saxophone player in Ike Turner’s band. But Ike Turner loved the way he sang. As of matter of fact, on a song we’re about to play, called “Hoo Doo Say,” Fox thought the band was only practicing, and was surprised to find out that Ike have recorded it and released it. He ended up playing with Turner’s band for less than a year, and you won’t believe what he did after that. He quit music, and became a high school principal. Now just imagine, [unknown music in the background fades out] if your principal sounded like this.

[The Sly Fox – “Hoo Doo Say”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Sly Fox on Theme Time Radio Hour. [Theme Time Radio Hour, Theme Time Radio Hour, Theme Time Radio Hour – echoing creepy effect]

[Stevie Wonder – “Superstition” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Halloween is a time of superstition, and no one knows more about superstition than Stevie Wonder. This is from Stevie’s album “Talking Book”—“Superstition.”

[Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”]

Bob Dylan: That was Stevie Winder with “Superstition.” He wrote this song originally for guitarist Jeff Beck, but his record label convinced him to put it out himself, and it became a big hit. Another guitarist who recorded a version was Stevie Ray Vaughan, who put it on his 19 and 86 live album. All in all, a great song, no matter who does it.

[unknown music is playing in the background]

Bob Dylan: While we’re on a subject of superstition: if your right hand itches, you’re gonna come into money. As Shakespeare said in “Julius Caesar”: “Let me tell you, Cassius: you yourself are much condemned for having an itching palm.” Among the most popular superstitions, a walking under a ladder–common folklore (had it that) bad luck would fall upon you, if you walk beneath an open ladder, and pass through the triangle of evil ghosts and spirits. [unknown music in the background fades out]

[electric current sound effects, creepy laughs in the background]

Bob Dylan: "Mac" Rebennack is a New Orleans native. He’s probably better known as Dr. John. And on this record from the late 50s he pays tribute to the local horror movie host that used to watch, Morgus the Magnificent. He was a quintessential mad scientist, he was assisted by his executioner sidekick, Chopsley, and performed well-intentioned experiments that would often go wrong and blow up in his face.

[excerpt:
“Who are these idiots to criticize and can't see my genius to recognize? It was I, Morgus, who performed the first organ transplant! But, being the appendix, they turned down my grant.”]

[Dr. John – “Morgus the Magnificent” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here's "Morgus the Magnificent" by Dr. John, the ghoul who steals the show on TV.

[Dr. John – “Morgus the Magnificent”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Morgus the [page turns] Magnificent” by Dr. John, a fellow you want to hear every Halloween.

[organ music]

Bob Dylan: Before there were a thousand TV stations you had to pick and chose, and search out the things you love. Horror movies were often on only late at night, my favorite of the horror movie hosts was a woman named Maila Nurmi, who created the character Vampira. Her portrayal of this character was inflectional for decades. Maila was a girlfriend of James Dean. (And) she introduced films while wondering through a hallway of mists and cobwebs while wearing a form-fitting, low-cut black gown. I’d love to find her some dark Halloween night. [organ music fades out]

[“Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1959) trailer:
“They come from the bowels of hell. A transformed race of walking dead. Zombies guided by a master plan for complete domination of the Earth. “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” Starring the most nightmarish cast ever: Bela Lugosi, the seductive Vampira and Tor Johnson as the walking dead. For a glimpse of things to come, see this blast of screen suspense. For it could be happening right now!”]

Bob Dylan: You know we get a lot of requests by email–that’s one of the things email’s good for, and we try to answer as many requests as possible. Here’s one from Morgan Broman, from Alexandria, Virginia. Morgan writes: “Bob, I peg you for a Louis Prima fan. I was in New Orleans when he was alive. I asked a cab driver if he knew Louis, he said, ‘No, But I know his brother,’ that’s what I love about New Orleans. I’d love to hear Louis sometime, or Keely Smith, or even Sam Butera–his crazy sax man. Keep scheming, Morgan Broman.” Well, Morgan, you peg me correct, I am a Louis Prima fan from way back.

[Louis Prima and Keely Smith – “That Old Black Magic” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Louis, Keely, and that wild sax man Sam, doing their Halloween classic “That Old Black Magic.”

[Louis Prima and Keely Smith – “That Old Black Magic”]

Bob Dylan: That was Louis Prima, along with Keely Smith and Sam Butera, under that old black magic, called love.

[sound effects in the background]

Bob Dylan: One of the best parts of Halloween is looking out your window and seeing what the neighbor kids are wearing. Here’s some of the most popular costumes from last year: Spiderman, princess, witch, vampire, monster, Sponge Bob, ninja, athlete—that's not much of a costume. Coming in at number nine is ghost. And we got a great song about ghosts. One of the wildest things you’ve ever heard, “Mr. Ghost Goes to Town,” by Zeke Manners and his Swingbillies. He wrote perhaps a hundred songs in his career, the best known was “The Pennsylvania Polka.” He also wrote a bunch of songs with Buddy Ebsen who starred as Jed Clampett in the television version of Beverly Hillbillies. I say the television version, because Zeke had a band known as The Beverly Hillbillies, during the 40s and 50s. Here is Zeke doing a Halloween hoedown called “Mr. Ghost Goes to Town.”

[Zeke Manners and his Swingbillies – “Mr. Ghost Goes to Town”]

Bob Dylan: That was Zeke Manners and his Swingbillies talking about Mr. Ghost and his journey into town. During the later years of his life Zeke occasionally did stand-up comedy, and was seen in a few movies written and directed by his nephew Albert Brooks. And can also be seen in a 19 and 87 movie “Barfly,” featuring Mickey Rourke.

[“Night of the Living Dead” (1968) excerpt:
“Chief, if I were surrounded by six or eight of these things, would I stand a chance with them?”
“Well, there’s no problem. If you have a gun, shoot them in the head. That’s a sure way to kill them. If you don’t, get yourself a club or a torch; beat them or burn them. They go up pretty easy.”
“Are they slow moving, chief?”
“Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up.”]

Bob Dylan: Zombies can also be seen of Halloween. You’re not gonna believe who we have singing about them. This is a record by a man who recorded under thr name The Charmer, his real name is Louis Eugene (Walcott). But I’m gonna tell you the name he known by after we play this song.

[The Charmer – “Zombie Jamboree” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s “Zombie Jamboree,” The Charmer, on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[The Charmer – “Zombie Jamboree”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Zombie Jamboree” by The Charmer, Louis Eugene Walcott. In 19 and 55, while headlining a show in Chicago entitled "Calypso Follies," Mr. Walcott first came in contact with the teachings of the Nation of Islam, a group which he now leads under the name Louis Farrakhan. A very talented fella.

[“Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” (1948) excerpt:
“Oh, relax. Now that we've seen the last of Dracula, the Wolfman, and the Monster, there's nobody to frighten us anymore.”
“Oh, that's too bad. I was hoping to get in on the excitement.”
“Who said that?”
“Chick! Chick!!!..”]

[Bobby “Boris” Pickett – “Monster Mash” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Our next artist is considered a one-hit-wonder, but his one hit comes back year after year. Bobby "Boris" Picket was fascinated by Boris Karloff. He worked up quite a good imitation of Boris, and wrote a song along with his friend Leonard Capizzi. The song became a smash in 19 and 62. Hitting number one on October 20th, just in time for Halloween. It comes back year after year, and here it is again, the Halloween classic, “The Monster Mash.”

[Bobby “Boris” Pickett – “Monster Mash”]

Bob Dylan: Bobby Pickett isn’t the only one who can do an imitation of Boris Karloff, listen to mine [clearing throat]:

[Targets (1968) excerpt:
“Mr. Boogey Man, King of Blood they used to call me. Marx Brothers make you laugh, Garbo makes you weep, Orlok makes you scream.”]

Bob Dylan: Pretty good, huh? I’m working on Humphrey Bogart next.

[The Poets – “Dead” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: You see a lot of dead things on Halloween, so we’re gonna hear a dead thing now. A song called “Dead,” by a bunch of guys from Brooklyn. Top of the food chain, who called themselves “The Poets.” Their lead singer, Ronnie Lewis, co-wrote a hit “She Blew a Good Thing.” And they recorded for Juggy Murray, and his New York label “Sue.” Here they are with the tale of the dead. The Poets.

[The Poets – “Dead”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Poets, and “Dead.” [clock sound effect] Well, the Witching Hour is almost upon us. [clock] Perhaps the best known witches can be found in William Shakespeare’s (???) play of calamity, hardship and affliction called “Macbeth”:
Eye of newt, toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
William Shakespeare, poet of deftness.

[unknown excerpt:
“The possession of one’s mind by the devil is a horrifying specter. Listen to the scourging of the devil by this exorcist!”]

Bob Dylan: We’re gonna play our final song to exorcize all of the spirits. [exorcism sound effects] Here’s June Chrisy to sing the Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg classic from the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” and I’m not talking about the baseball great, Ozzie Smith, I’m talking about The Wicked Witch of the West. Ding dong she’s dead.

[June Christy – “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead”]

Bob Dylan: There she goes. June Christy. She sounds awful happy about that witch being dead. I can’t blame her, I guess if she’s dead, it’s safe to get out of here. So I’m gonna leave the Abernathy Building, and go find myself some tricks and some treats. You be careful out there, we’ll see you next week, on Theme Time Radio Hour. Boo!

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. Studio engineer: Tex Carbone. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Dance.”

[screams]

Victor, I just wanted to say thanks for those transcriptions. I don't have the time and patience at this time to help out, but I appreciate your work.

i'd also like to say thankyou - you're doing something really helpful and useful. i can't do it right now but i have one or two really minor corrections.

keep it up! definitely appreciated by me

Johanna Parker, tellmemomma1966: thanks for the kind words) As I've said - ANY input is of great value - so whenever you've got time and feel like revisiting good old Theme Time, or just have a quick correction/advice - just jump in. My questions never expire, unless answered)

Meanwhile, the new transcriptions are coming...

While previous questions remain unanswered, let's move on...

Here are some words I couldn't decipher, especially ones right after [Roy Hogsed and his Rainbow Riders Trio – “Let's Go Dancing”]: That was Roy Hogsed and his Rainbow Riders Trio, “Let's Go Dancing.” He was dancing all night, let’s go both sheets to the wind, (????) and cut a rug, get (?????) and do the limbo.



27 Dance


[Artie Shaw and His Orchestra – "Dancing in the Dark" in the background]

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It's night time in the Big City. A stray dog’s eyes glow in the dark alleyway. Tex Carbone unlocks Studio B.

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host, Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan: Well, it’s Theme Time Radio Hour, and all of you should grab your partners and find your corners, ‘cause today it’s our dance party. As Mata Hari once said, “The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word.” And we have an hour worth of poetry, that you can dance to. Whether it’d be the pony or watusi, the jerk, mashed potato or line dancing, electric slide, break dancing, slam dancing; the lambada, the macarena, the chicken dance, the (crumbling), the round, the rondel, or the samba. So I hope you’re wearing comfortable shoes, ‘cause we’re gonna cut a rug (for) the next hour. Only one song we could start with.

[Martha Reeves and the Vandellas – “Dancing in the Street” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Martha Reeves and the Vandellas with their cold arms, “Dancing in the Street.”

[Martha Reeves and the Vandellas – “Dancing in the Street”]

Bob Dylan: That was Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, “Dancing in the Street.” Keith Richards has said that this song inspired The Rolling Stones’ classic “Satisfaction.” Martha was an A&R secretary at Motown, and she was supposed to sing the lyrics to new songs, so backup singers could learn them. She impressed the Motown executives, and was given her own recording contract.

[tap dance sound effect]

Bob Dylan: Here’s a song that’ll make you feel like you were born in a barn. This one’s by Roy Hogsed, called “Let's Go Dancing.” Sing us a song, Roy!

[Roy Hogsed and his Rainbow Riders Trio – “Let's Go Dancing”]

Bob Dylan: That was Roy Hogsed and his Rainbow Riders Trio, “Let's Go Dancing.” He was dancing all night, let’s go both sheets to the wind, (????) and cut a rug, get (?????) and do the limbo.

[“Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood” (1996) exerpt:
“Baby, you wanna dance?”
“Yes, I do, but not with you.”]

Bob Dylan: “Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane,” H. P. Lovecraft. From Forest Hills, Queens, The Ramones, from their album “Rocket to Russia.” Doing the punked-out Bobby Freeman classic, asking the immortal question: Do you wanna Dance? Do you wanna buck-and-wing, do you wanna bolero, do you wanna conga, or you just wanna foxtrot?

[The Ramones – “Do You Wanna Dance”]

Bob Dylan: “Do you, do you, do you, do you wanna daaance...” [laughs] “Do you wanna dance under the moonlight? Squeeze and kiss me all through the night. Oh baby, do you wanna dance?” Do you wanna do the watusi, the pony, and the hand jive? Joey Ramone, along with Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy, all brothers from different mothers, they were an influential early punk band and some people say they invented the form of pop-punk. To those who might not be familiar with the term “punk,” “whippersnapper,” “anklebiter,” “runt,” “guttersnipe,” “jackanape,” “whelp,” “squirt,” “urchin,” “snotnose,” or more commonly, “punk,” “Do You Wanna Dance,” The Ramones, on Theme Time Radio Hour dance pary.

[“The Prom: It's a Pleasure!” (1961) excerpt:
“When Jack asks for a non-programmed dance, he has a special way of asking.”
“(You look very/mighty pretty) tonight”
“Thank you!”
“Can I have the next dance please?”
“I’d love to”
“Didn’t I see you...”
“(Smooth), isn’t he?”]

Bob Dylan: From down in Baytown, Texas, on the Delphi Record label, the Bobby Fuller Four. He’s probably best known for recording “I Fought The Law.” Bobby was found dead at age 23, outside of his Los Angeles apartment building. He was covered with gasoline, and gasoline was found in his lungs. Somehow the LA coroner (ruled it as) suicide, though few people agreed. “Let Her Dance,” Bobby Fuller. One Heavy Cat.

[Bobby Fuller Four – “Let Her Dance”]

Bob Dylan: That was the Bobby Fuller Four, a song called “Let Her Dance.” One of dance you can learn to do is the bolero, it’s a Spanish dance with sudden pauses and shard turns. You can learn to do the cakewalk, that’s when you're prancing with a backward tilt. You can learn the cha-cha, that fast rhythmic ballroom dance. How about learning the conga, that Afro-Congan dance performed by a group in a single line? You can learn to dance the farruca, that Spanish Gypsy dance with sudden tempo and mood changes. You can learn to dance the hora, a circle dance, you can learn to dance the hula–a sinuous Polynesian dance with rhythmic hip [page turns] movements. You can learn to dance the jitterbug, the jazz dance featuring vigorous acrobatic feats. Or, you can learn to dance the mambo, that Cuban ballroom dance resembling the rumba. Speaking of dancing–I love talking to Twyla Tharp, I wish you could do it. Tell to what–here’s what she had to say about the very thing we’re talking about tonight:

[Twyla Tharp: The stuff that makes you want to dance, sometimes it’ll be a melody: sometimes there’s a kind of optimism in a melody that’ll make you wanna go. A lot of the time it percussive, it’s the rhythmic, it’s the beat, whether it’s the power of beat ... or whether it’s a ... or ... –type thing, you just can’t sit still, man!]

[Libby's Sloppy Joe Commercial:
Introducing the 'Sloppy Joe,' a brand new dance. From Libby's, the pople who make 'Sloppy Joes.' Just heat, and eat, and swing to the beat. Nothing like it anywhere. Get beef or pork. What do you kids think of it?
“Man, it’s the sloppiest!”] (http://www.charter.net/video/play/162811/)

Bob Dylan: This next song can eat your heart out. This is Anita O'Day, doing a Rodgers and Hart song. All about taxi dancers, “Ten Cents a Dance.” In this song, she was “one of those lady teachers, a beautiful hostess, you know, the kind the Palace features, for only a dime a throw. Fighters and sailors and bowlegged tailors, can pay for their ticket and rent me!” Taxi dancers were dance hostesses at dance saloons and dance halls. Some of them would be teachers, but mostly they would supply the women for lonely men to dance with. Taxi!

[Anita O'Day – “Ten Cents a Dance”]

Bob Dylan: That was Anita O'Day with her song about taxi dancers. [rain in the city sound effect]

Bob Dylan: There was a girl
who danced in the city that night,
that April 22nd,
all along the Charles River.
It was as if one hundred men were watching
or do I mean the one hundred eyes of God?
The yellow patches in the sycamores
glowed like miniature flashlights.
The shadows, the skin of them
were ice cubes that flashed
from the red dress to the roof.
Mile by mile along the Charles river she danced
past the benches of lovers,
past the dogs pissing on the benches.
She had a red, red dress
and there was a small rain
and she lifted her face to it
and thought it part of the river.
And cars and trucks went by
on Memorial Drive.
And the Harvard students in the brick
hallowed houses studied Sappho in cement rooms.
And this Sappho danced on the grass.
and danced and danced and danced.
It was a death dance.
The Larz Anderson bridge wore its lights
and many cars went by,
and a few students strolling under
their Coop umbrellas.
And a black man who asked this Sappho the time,
as if her watch spoke.
Words were turning into grease,
and she said, "Why do you lie to me?"
And the waters of the Charles were beautiful,
sticking out in many colored tongues
and this strange Sappho knew she would enter the lights
and be lit by them and sink into them.
And how the end would come -
it had been foretold to her -
she would aspirate swallowing a fish,
going down with God's first creature
dancing all the way. [rain in the city sound effect fades out]
“The Red Dance.” Anne Sexton, def Bostonian Poet.

[??? excerpt:
“And, one, two, three, we have rock step with a cha-cha-cha”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s another dance track on Theme Time Radio Hour, called “My Baby Don't Dance to Nothin' But Ernest Tubb” and I thought the guy singing was Ernest Tubb, but it turns out it’s Junior Brown, in his early days.

[Junior Brown – “My Baby Don't Dance to Nothin' But Ernest Tubb”]

Bob Dylan: From Junior Brown’s 19 and 93 (sic! - ?) album, called “12 Shades of Brown,” “My Baby Don't Dance to Nothin' But Ernest Tubb.” I only wish I knew a girl like that! Junior remembers watching Ernest Tubb on TV when he was young, and always being a big fan of his. Later on he met Ernest Tubb and Ernest Tubb gave him some good advice: “Keep it country, son.” That's what ET said to him.

Bob Dylan: I got a friend who learned how to become a ballerina, she’s improving by leaps and bounds.

Bob Dylan: This next record called “Dance the Slurp,” and was put out by 7-Eleven to promote their Slurpees. DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist use it as the basic rhythm track for their dance mix called “Brainfreeze.” People talk about the obscurity of my songs… Oh, yeah? Give a listen to this!

[7-Eleven – “Dance the Slurp”
[23:25: Bob Dylan: You get brain-freeze when cold stuff touches the roof of your mouth.— It sets off a nerve reaction that causes the blood vessels in your brain to swell. When they swell— you get a headache. 7-Eleven customers slip and slurp 11.6 million— Slurpee beverages every month]
[23:51: Bob Dylan: Let’s get it going]
[24:16: Bob Dylan: 7-Eleven sells close to 100 million fresh grilled hot dogs every year. The 32 oz Big Gulp was introduced in 19 and 80. But in 19 and 88 they introduced the Giant— 64 oz Double Gulp. That’s a lot of soda. Good think tax payers don’t have to pay for your health care.]]

Bob Dylan: From Brooklyn, New York here are The LeBrón Brothers: Pablo, Jose, Angel, Frankie, and Carlos. Urban and funky with a little bit of R&B. “Dance, Dance, Dance.”

[The LeBrón Brothers – “Dance, Dance, Dance”]

Bob Dylan: A little bit of Boogaloo fury from the LeBrón Brothers, “Dance, Dance, Dance.”

Bob Dylan: Albert Einstein once said: “Dancers are the athletes of God.” Who am I to argue with Albert Einstein? This is Theme Time Radio Dance program, and we have had a lot of requests to play a good kazatzka. For those of you who don't know, the kazatzka is a Slavic folk dance performed by a couple. And I think it’s never been done as beautifully, as it’s done here, by The Turbans.

[The Turbans – “When You Dance” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: This record is one of the first Doo Wop records to play a good kazatzka.

[The Turbans – “When You Dance”]

Bob Dylan: I promised my barber I would play a kazatzka. Here you go, Carl. The Turbans were from Philadelphia, and recorded for the Herald record label, where they were backed up by Leroy Kirkland. A lot of people ask if they actually wore turbans. You bet they did, and they weren’t the only performers who wore turbans. Eddie Bo wore a turban, so did Chuck Willis, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and Professor Longhair, and perhaps most importantly, Domingo Samudio, better known as Sam the Sham, who certainly wasn’t L-7.

[Delroy Wilson – “Dancing Mood” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Delroy Wilson, he’s in a dancing mood. Recorded for the Studio One label. This record’s from 19 and 66, when he was 18 years old.

[Delroy Wilson – “Dancing Mood” ]

Bob Dylan: I'm in a dancing mood, I'm in a dancing mood, three times he's in a dancing mood! And he feels the heat, and he has to move his feet and clap his hands. Delroy Wilson, on Theme Time Radio Hour. He’s from down in Kingston, Jamaica. Born there 19 and 48, (left) the Earth in 19 and 95.

Bob Dylan: Scientist have shown, even hens are happier and produce more eggs when played calming music. It must help their mood. Mus(a)c(?) affects our moods, sometimes you don’t even notice it’s there, because it slow down and equalize your brain waves. Calming music is a good thing. Unless you don't want to be calm!

[Bunker Hill – “The Girl Can't Dance”]

[siren sound effect]

Bob Dylan: You know what that sound means! It means it’s email time again. Today's email is from Mary Quigley, from Burbank, California. She writes us: “Dear Theme Time, I find your show very entertaining. I only wish it could be more educational.” Thank you Mary, for your enthusiastic letter. Let me enlighten you about something. Alexander Pope, the English pope, said that a little learning can be a dangerous thing. Drink deep or taste not the Pierian Springs. The Perian Spring, Mary is on Mt. Olympus, a sacred place to the muses, the 9 sister goddesses who inspire song and poetry, all the arts and sciences, and dances too. A little dancing is also a dangerous thing, so let's embrace the danger here tonight, on Theme Time Radio Hour. Here’s a guy who sings as smoothly as he dances, Frederick Austerlitz, or as I call him, Fred Astaire. The smoothest dancer known to man.

[Fred Astaire – “I Won't Dance”]

Bob Dylan: That was Fred Astaire with “I Won’t Dance.” No twist, no two-step; no rumba, no polka; no Charleston and no swing. He says he won’t dance, so don’t ask him. But you can see him dancing in the following movies: “Flying Down To Rio,” “The Gay Divorcee,” “Top Hat,” “The Barclays of Broadway,” “Holiday Inn,” “Easter Parade,” and “Funny Face” where he dances with Audrey Hepburn, and dresses up like a beatnik. Perhaps his most famous partner was Ginger Rogers who, someone said, could do everything that Fred Astaire could do but backwards, and wear(ing) high heels.

[Roy Newman – “I Can't Dance (I've Got Ants in My Pants)” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Roy Newman’s got ants in his pants, and he can’t dance. Roy was a Western Swing bandleader. He was making records even before Bob Wills. He was about the least countrified of the Western Swing band artists. He used a lot of clarinet, giving his band a Dixieland flavor. Holly Horton played the clarinet, and Cecil Brower on the fiddle, Walter Kirkes on the banjo, and of course, Ish Irwin on the bass.

[Roy Newman – “I Can't Dance (I've Got Ants in My Pants)”]

Bob Dylan: That was Roy Newman, “I Can't Dance (I've Got Ants in My Pants).” Ants serve an important function in nature. They aerate the soil, break down organic matter, and control the population of other insects. So you shouldn’t wanna destroy them altogether. Just keep ‘em out of your pants, and then you’ll be able to dance.

Bob Dylan: Coming up next is Chris Montez. His former name is Ezekiel Christopher Montanez, he’s from Los Angeles, California, and recorded this song in 19 and 62.

[Chris Montez – “Let's Dance” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: This song went to number 4 on the Billboard charts, and even higher in England, where it reached number 2. “Let’s Dance.”

[Chris Montez – “Let's Dance”]

Bob Dylan: That was Chris Montez, “Let’s Dance.” You might have hear him talking about the twist, that is a dance featuring many gyrations of the hips, he was also talking about the stomp, if you wanna dance this dance, you just stay in one place, wiggle around just a little bit, and stamp your feel.

[Mountain – “"Mississippi Queen" in the backgroung]

Bob Dylan: This next song features the cowbell, and instrument you’ll hear on many fine records, including, Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen.” As Christopher Walken knows, you can’t have enough cowbell.

[“Saturday Night Live” (04.08.2000) excerpt:
“I'm telling you, fellas, you're gonna want that cowbell...
I got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s a song that’s gonna drive Christopher Walken nuts. This is “Dancing to the Rhythm of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band,” Eddy Seacrest and The Rolling Rockets.

[Eddy Seacrest & The Rolling Rockets – “Dancing to the Rhythm of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band”]

Bob Dylan: That was Eddy Seacrest and The Rolling Rockets. He recorded a song called “Shakin’ with a Flavor” for the KRC label. He was very popular in Charleston, West Virginia, and he was discovered by Lloyd Price of “"Lawdy, Miss Clawdy” fame. “Dancing to the Rhythm of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band,” on the Theme Time Radio Hour Dance Party.

Bob Dylan: The name on the label was Bill Parsons but it was really Bobby Bare. The record went all the way to number 2, the record company didn’t wanna lose a good thing, so they released Bobby’s next few singles, like this one, under the name Bill Parsons.

[Bill Parsons – “Dance Dance Dance” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: In this song Bobby’s saying that he’s shaking in his pants, and he’s looking at her, and she says “Huh? Let’s dance.”

[Bill Parsons – “Dance Dance Dance”]

Bob Dylan: That was Bobby Bare, recording under the name Bill Parsons, “Dance Dance Dance.” Bobby went in to the army, and when he came out, he started recording under his real name. He was roommates with Willie Nelson. That must have been quite an apartment.

[“Saturday Night Fever” (1977) excerpt:
“Thing is, the high I get at 2001 is just dancing. It's not being a bastard or anything.
But, you see, dancing, it can't last forever.
It's a short-lived kind of thing.”]

Bob Dylan: We’ve only got time for a couple more songs on Theme Time Radio Hour, and we’re gonna have to stop. But Archie Bell and the Drells, they can’t stop dancing. This is a song written by Gamble and Huff. And a lot of people remember Archie’s big hit “Tighten Up.” But I’ve always enjoyed this one.

[Archie Bell and The Drells – “I Can't Stop Dancing” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: It’s always had a strange effect on me. Don’t matter where I’d be, whenever I hear a drummer play that funky beat, I drop everything and get out of my seat. “Can't Stop Dancing.”

[Archie Bell and The Drells – “I Can't Stop Dancing”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Can't Stop Dancing” by Archie Bell and The Drells. A great example of that Philly Soul sound.

Bob Dylan: If you can’t stop dancing you might as well start thinking about entering a dance marathon. They were very popular during the Depression. And the general rule was, you cannot fall asleep while dancing, and you were given a two minute break every hour. There are some great movies about dance marathons, perhaps most famously “They Shoot Horses, Don't They?” which won 6 Academy awards. Both Red Skelton and Lord Buckley were MCs for dance marathons. The Blue Laws eventually shot them down, because they were unhealthy. Some contestants even died during dancing.

[“They Shoot Horses, Don't They?” (1969) excerpt:
“Yowza, yowza, yowza! As the clock of fate ticks away, the dance of destiny continues. The marathon goes on, and on, and on! How long can they last? Let's hear it, come on! Let's hear it, let's hear it.]

Bob Dylan: We got time for one more, and this is Buck Owens, doing the Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman song, made famous by The Drifters. But Buck sure makes it (his own) here. “Save the Last Dance for Me,” Buck Owens and the Buckaroos.

[Buck Owens and the Buckaroos – “Save the Last Dance for Me”]

Bob Dylan: Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, “Save the Last Dance for Me.” Well, it’s the end of another hour, and you know what that means. We gotta go for another week. Thanks for joining us here on Theme Time Radio Hour, we sure had fun dancing up a storm with ya. Now, if you excuse me, I got to go soak my feet. See you next week.

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. Studio engineer: Tex Carbone. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Sleep.”

Bob Dylan: I’d be a great dancer except for two things–my feet.

Two bed-songs, and I'm sure, at least one of them shouldn't be hard to name to the people at this forum. Give me at least your best guess.

1. [cartoon-like music in the background] after [Sammy Myers – “Sleeping in the Ground”]
2. [lullaby music in the background] after [The Band – “Sleeping”]

Some missed out words, too...


28 Sleep

[Santo and Johnny – “Sleep Walk” in the background]

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s night time in the Big City. A man regrets using a gas station restroom. Birds are still a couple of hours away from getting (the) worm.

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host, Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan: Welcome to Theme Time Radio Hour. In the background Santo and Johnny, an instrumental duo from Brooklyn, who had a number 1 smash in 1959 with “Sleep Walk.” We’re gonna be talking about sleepwalking, nightmares, sleep paralyses, night tremors, night owls, insomnia and mattresses. Because tonight, on Theme Time Radio Hour, we’re talking sleep.

[Santo and Johnny – “Sleep Walk” in the background ends]

[“yawn”]

Bob Dylan: Charlotte Brontë once said, “The ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” Louis Jordan once said, “The man’s best friend is a bed.” He knew what he’s talking about.

[Louis Jordan and His Tympany 5 – “A Man's Best Friend Is a Bed”]

Bob Dylan: Take it from him, “A Man’s Best Friend Is a Bed.” A great, big, comfortable bed, where you can really spread out, and all that. Louis Jordan and His Tympany 5.

Bob Dylan: Prehistoric humans, simply huddled in groups for warmth at night and slept on the ground. Nowadays, we have mattresses. The first steel coil spring construction for bedding was patented in 1865. It was the beginning of modern mattresses, and not a moment too soon, because before then, early mattresses were goat skins filled with basically anything they could find. They were hotbeds of disease and breading grounds for rats and all sorts of vermin. They’re kinda like the blankets settlers gave to the Indians. No wonder people only lived to be 30 years old back then. Now you can get a good night sleep, and you don’t have to worry what kinda disease your mattress is gonna give ya. I know I’m gonna rest more easily.

Bob Dylan: This is Theme Time Radio Hour, your queen-size home for themes, dreams and schemes. Please, do not remove tag under penalty of law.

["Sleep for Health" (1950) exerpt:
"In sleep, the muscles of the body are relaxed. It's the most perfect way to relax that we have. Our breathing is slower and deeper when we sleep. The body's temperature is lower. Even the heart beats more slowly. The whole body is resting."]

Bob Dylan: You know, every shut-eye ain't sleep. Sometimes you're sleeping in the ground, taking a dirt nap, saying the big good bye. Here’s Sam Myers with the song about it. Even though Sammy was a great harmonica player and singer, he played drums with Elmore James, from 1952 until Elmore’s death in 63. He still found time to make a few records on his own, though. And this one, “Sleeping in the Ground,” is one of the best.

[Sammy Myers – “Sleeping in the Ground”]

Bob Dylan: That was Sammy Myers, “Sleeping in the Ground.” You know, sleep has always been a euphemism for death. For example in 1st Corinthians, chapter 11, Verse 30, Paul explains that may had died for taking the Passover unworthily. Quote: “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” (http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fus ... z1XUZA9kKz) And by sleep, he means dead. Me, I just prefer forty winks.

[cartoon-like music in the background]

Bob Dylan: Sleep is also an important metaphor for death in fairytales. For example, in “Sleeping Beauty” and “Snow White.” Or look at “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”: there were three beds, Papa Bear’s bed was too big, Baby Bear’s bed was too small, Mama Bear’s bed was just right. The bears came home and they knew someone have been sleeping in their bed.

[cartoon-like music in the background stops]

Bob Dylan: There’s a band called “100 Proof (Aged in Soul),” that took that and put it to music. Here’s what it sounded like.

[100 Proof (Aged in Soul) – “Somebody's Been Sleeping”]

Bob Dylan: That was 100 Proof (Aged in Soul) with a song co-written by General Johnson, “Somebody’s Been Sleeping in My Bed.” General Johnson is an interesting guy. First of all, his name is General Johnson, that's interesting right there. Second of all, he had two hit records, and you never heard his name before. His first his was as the member of The Showmen, with a classing song “It Will Stand.” [excerpt from The Showmen – “It Will Stand” starts playing] Ten years later, he was the lead singer for Chairmen of the Board, [excerpt from Chairmen of the Board – "Give Me Just a Little More Time" satarst playing] and their hit "Give Me Just a Little More Time." But in this case, he was just a writer [Chairmen of the Board – "Give Me Just a Little More Time" fades out], “Somebody’s Been Sleeping in My Bed.” General Johnson, on Theme Time Radio Hour.

Bob Dylan: There’s an old proverb that says, “Sleep faster, we need the pillows.” And Anthony Burgess once said: “Laugh and the world laughs with you. Snore and you sleep alone.” Here’s a woman who sure doesn’t sound like she sleeps alone. Her name is Berna-Dean, and it seems like she walks in her sleep.

[Berna-Dean – “I Walk in My Sleep”]

Bob Dylan: That was Berna-Dean, “I Walk in My Sleep.” A song written by Dave Bartholomew, who wrote and arranged a lot of Fats Domino's big hits. He's still down in New Orleans playing. He would show up at Preservation Hall on a regular basis to play just for the love of the music, despite his millionaire status. You gotta respect that.

Bob Dylan: Sleepwalking falls under the logic category of parasomnia, a sleep disorder where the sufferer engages in activities that are only associated with wakefulness while asleep or in a sleep-like state. I suppose the first place I ever saw it, was on “The Honeymooners” where Ed Norton used to sleepwalk tooking for his Lulu.

[“The Honeymooners,” The Sleepwalker (1955) excerpt:
“Lulu!.”
“Lulu?”
“I lost her at Coney Island. We was going through the tunnel of love, and she jumped out of the boat and went after a cocker spaniel... Lulu was the best dog I ever had!”
“A dog? That’s it, doc! That what he’s searching–for the dog he lost! All we got to do is got him a dog and that’s the end of the sleepwalking.”]

Bob Dylan: This is Theme Time Radio Hour, the home of dreams, dreams, and dreams. And we’re visiting the Land of Nod this week, and among the people who live there are two sleepy ones. Hoagy Carmichael appeared as an actor in at least 14 motion pictures. Perhaps most famously “To Have and Have Not,” with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. But he was also one of our greatest songwriters. He wrote “Stardust” in 19 and 27, which, some people say, is the most recorded American song ever written. He wrote "Rockin' Chair," “Georgia on My Mind,” and this one which he wrote along with Frank Loesser. Here’s Hoagy Carmichael, “Two Sleepy People.”

[Hoagy Carmichael – “Two Sleepy People”]

Bob Dylan: Hoagy Carmichael, “Two Sleepy People.” This song is featured in the Bob Hope movie “Thanks for the memories,” and also featured this week on Theme Time Radio Hour.

Bob Dylan: James Joyce had something to say on the subject of sleep, I’m gonna read it for you now:
“Sleep now, O sleep now,
O you unquiet heart!
A voice crying "Sleep now"
Is heard in my heart.

The voice of the winter
Is heard at the door.
O sleep, for the winter
Is crying "Sleep no more."
My kiss will give peace now
And quiet to your heart--
Sleep on in peace now,
O you unquiet heart!”
James Joyce, Irish poet.

Bob Dylan: I was looking through my records the other night. You know, I have over 70 George Jones records?! If you look at them all, it gives you a great history of men's haircuts. Here's George in a period of time when he had just grown out his brush cut and had a bit of a mutton chop sideburn look going.

[George Jones – “I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: From 19 and 66, “I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep.”

[George Jones – “I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep”]

Bob Dylan: That was George Jones, “I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep.”

Bob Dylan: We quote a lot of this guy, but who can blame us? He’s one of the best, the kid’s real good. This is Shakespeare, and what he thinks about sleep, in his great play “Hamlet”:
“To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil”
Don’t shuffle off too soon, we got a lot more music to play ya.

Bob Dylan: Peter Wolf lives in Boston, Massachusetts. He moved there from New York and played with The J. Geils Band. The band broke up in 19 and 83, and since then Pete’s made a bunch of records that have impressed the critics, and everybody else who heard them. This is a title cut from his 2000 and 2 album, which was chosen as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time. I ran into Pete in an all-night drug store, and he told me about this song.

[Peter Wolf – “Sleepless” starts playing]

[Peter Wolf: Well, I’ve been insomniac pretty much all my live. And I was working with a great songwriter by the name of Will Jennings. He came up with this idea of “Sleepless,” because we were in this dark, deep gloom. It’s, uh, a feeling that is hard to awake from.]

[Peter Wolf – “Sleepless”]

Bob Dylan: That was Peter Wolf, sleepless and wasted. You can call him at 5 in the morning, and he’s still up, playing records. I know, ‘cause I’ve done it. Some other famous night owls include Fran Lebowitz, Winston Churchill, Marcel Proust, Ludwig the 2nd of Bavaria, and Ann Coulter. But maybe the most famous are the Nighthawks at the Diner, the character in the painting by Edward Hopper. You’ve seen this painting, it’s a scene, inspired by the diner in Hopper’s home neighborhood of Greenwich Village. Hopper began painting it immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In this painting none of the three patrons are looking or talking to each other. If you look carefully, you’ll see that there is no door. There is no way in, and there is no way out. I think I know that diner, sounds like-- Samson’s.

Bob Dylan: Neil Sedaka wrote a song that was a hit for Jimmy Clanton, called “Another Sleepless Night.” We’re gonna play a Cajun version of it by the Cajun streak Belton Richard. One of the original members of the Cajun French Music Hall of Fame, which was established in 19 and 97, not a moment too soon. Here’s Belton Richard and “Another Sleepless Night.”

[Belton Richard – “Another Sleepless Night”]

Bob Dylan: That’s Belton Richard, translated into French, “Another Sleepless Night.” The difference between Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco might be hard to pin down, if you don’t listen to a lot of them. But here's a couple of handy hints: Cajun tends to sound more like early country, it's typically a waltz or a two step; Creole, very similar, but the rhythms tend to be more pronounced and the vocals are a bit more blues influenced; Zydeco, on the other hand, sounds more like Gospel or R&B with accordion and rug board washboard. A lot of people who play one kind won’t play with people who play another kind, but me personally, I never understood any kind of border patrol when it comes to music.

[snoring]

Bob Dylan: Insomnia’s like hiccups: everybody has a way to stop it, but none of the ways ever seem to work. Some people say, you should drink warm milk before bedtime; others say, take a warm bath in the evening; exercise vigorously in the afternoon; eat a large lunch, but only a light dinner; avoid mentally stimulating activities in the evening hours; and in the words of Ben Franklin*: “Early to bed, early to rise, will make a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

[Little Miss Cornshucks – “Rock Me to Sleep” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: The only one I’ve ever seen work, is the one that Little Miss Cornshucks recommends. Here she is, with a song written by the great Benny Carter, “Rock Me to Sleep.”

[Little Miss Cornshucks – “Rock Me to Sleep”]

Bob Dylan: There’s the former Miss Mildred Cummings, out like a light, “Rock Me to Sleep.” Little Miss Cornshucks is remembered as a riveting live performer. Her version of “Try a Little Tenderness” is a virtual template for Otis Redding’s Soul version of the number. And she’s not just an obscure singer, she was quite a performer, too. She had kind of „a rustic comedienne“ persona, complete with straw hat, pigtails, bare feet, and country bumpkin clothing. (http://www.shazam.com/music/web/artist?id=10200786)

Bob Dylan: You’re listening to Theme Time Radio Hour. You snooze, you lose. You know, I sleep at the edge of the bed, it doesn’t take long for me to drop off.

Bob Dylan: Here’s a song written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil [page turns]. They wrote a lot of song you know: “Uptown,” “He's Sure the Boy I Love,” the Eydie Gorme hit “Blame It on the Bossa Nova,” “On Broadway,” “We Gotta Get out of This Place.” If they’d only wrote “You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin,” that would be enough, but they also wrote this number.

[The Monkees – “Love Is Only Sleeping” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: A song called “Love Is Only Sleeping.” The Monkees.

[The Monkees – “Love Is Only Sleeping”]

Bob Dylan: Another finely crafted pop classic—“Love Is Only Sleeping.” The four crazy boys of television: Micky, Mike, Pete and Davy—The Monkees—on Theme Time Radio Hour.

Bob Dylan: You know, we get a lot of emails, and we read every single one. Here’s one today from (Ruth Waits), from Montreal. I didn’t know we had listeners from north of the border—well, welcome aboard. She writes: “Whatever happened to Little Willie John? I’ve always enjoyed his records, like “Fever” and “All around the World.” But it seems like he stopped making records in the early 60s. Whatever happened to him?” Signed: (Ruth Waits). Well, Ruth, it’s kind of a sad story. Little Willir John, who was born with the name William Edward John, in Cullendale, Arkansas, was a great singer, but he had a (??short???) temper and, supposedly, a taste for an alcohol. He was insecure about his height, standing only 5 ft 4. In 19 and 64 he’s got into a fight and stabbed the man. He was sentenced and send to a Washington State Penitentiary.

[prison door locks]

Bob Dylan: He died in 19 and 68 at Washington State Prison in Walla Walla, Washington. The official cause of death was listed as a heart attack. Though, some report, he died of pneumonia. Tragic story, a wonderful song. Little Willie John, “Sleep”!

[Little Willie John – “Sleep”]

Bob Dylan: Hmm, sounds like me playing the organ. “Sleep,” by Little Willie John. Not the happiest of lives, I’m sure he was a victim of many sleepless nights. Sleep well, Willie.

[“Sominex” commecial:
“Take Sominex tonight, and sleep,
safe and restful, sleep, sleep, sleep”
“Take Sominex tonight, and sleep!”]

Bob Dylan: This next song is not for the faint of heart. Death rock was a phenomena that happened in the late 50s and early 60s. Maybe it was because of people's fear of the atomic bomb during the Cold War. But it seems like teenagers in the late 50s and early 60s had quite the appetite for a grisly death. Songs like “Teen Angel,” “Running Bear,” “Tell Laure I Love Her,” and this one, “Endless Sleep,” by Jody Reynolds and the Storms, were all about tragedy and sadness. This record is one of the most atmospheric of the bunch.

[Jody Reynolds and the Storms – “Endless Sleep” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s the 19 and 58 million seller, “Endless Sleep.”

[Jody Reynolds and the Storms – “Endless Sleep”]

Bob Dylan: That was Jody Reynolds and “Endless Sleep,” here on Theme Time Radio Hour, and we’re counting sheep, laying our head down and trying to fall asleep. Here’s a distinctive voice with an unquiet heart, Richard Manuel, singing with The Band, a voice of dreams.

[The Band – “Sleeping”]

Bob Dylan: There is Richard Manuel and The Band, “Sleeping.” From the album “Stage Fright.”

[lullaby music in the background starts]

Bob Dylan: “I would like to sing someone to sleep,
have someone to sit by and be with.
I would like to cradle you and softly sing,
be your companion while you sleep or wake.
I would like to be the only person
in the house who knew: the night outside was cold.
And would like to listen to you
and outside to the world and to the woods.

The clocks are striking, calling to eachother,
and one can see right to the edge of time.
Outside the house a strange man is afoot
and a strange dog barks, awakened from his sleep.
Beyond that there is silence.

My eyes rest upon your face wide-open;
and they hold you gently, letting you go
when something in the dark begins to move.” [lullaby music in the background stops]
Reiner Rilke, sleepy poet.

Bob Dylan: I don’t know ‘bout you, but I’m getting a little tuckered out. Out time must be almost done. I’m gonna leave you with the words of Louis Armstrong.

[Louis Armstrong: And now, the number that became our theme song, “When It's Sleepy Time Down South.” I carried this number (?????) for a whole year. And, finally, we recorded it on April 20th, 1931 ]

[Louis Armstrong – “When It's Sleepy Time Down South” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: This is how Louis used to close his shows. We'll use it to close ours. “When It's Sleepy Time Down South.”

[Louis Armstrong – “When It's Sleepy Time Down South”]

Bob Dylan: Well, it’s sleepy time everywhere right now, so it’s time for me to hang up my headphones, get out of the Abernathy Building, and slip into a dry martini. See you next week. Pleasant dreams, schemes and themes.

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. Studio engineer: Tex Carbone. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Food.”

[“Lulu!”]

From my, uh, "notes", the bed music around "Sleeping in the Ground" is from the old Bullwinkle cartoons--I believe it's the "Fractured Fairytales" theme music. The other piece you've asked about I can't specify--it's a version of "Rock-a-bye Baby" lullaby.

Thanks so much! You really are Great!

1. After [Jim Jackson – “I Heard the Voice of a Pork Chop”] Bob Dylan says: Jim Jackson, sh??cks/ar??ks ain’t that good!

2. While reading “A Supermarket in California” there's an unknown bed-music.


29 Food


[Jim Backus & Phyllis Diller – “Delicious (The Laughing Song)” in the backgroung]

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It's night time in the Big City. A woman steps carefully over a broken wine bottle. Television is still on.

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host, Bob Dylan.

[Jim Backus & Phyllis Diller – “Delicious (The Laughing Song)” fades out]

Bob Dylan: Welcome once again to Theme Time Radio Hour, and I hope you brought an appetite. Because tonight we're gonna peruse the musical menu. We got a bill of fare that is truly appetizing. So I hope you're eager to dig in.

Bob Dylan: We’re gonna start thing off with an invitation by Cab Calloway. A man who can be seen in animated form in a number of Betty Boop Cartoons.

[Betty Boop Cartoon excerpt]

[Cab Calloway – “Everybody Eats When They Come to My House” start’s playng]

Bob Dylan: Here’s the Hi-De-Ho man himself with “Everybody Eats When They Come to My House.” So have a banana, Hannah, and try the salami, Tommy; have a pancake, Mandrake. Cab Calloway.

[Cab Calloway – “Everybody Eats When They Come to My House”]

Bob Dylan: That was Cab Calloway, setting a table for us. Dizzy Gillespie, who we’re gonna hear from a little later was in Cab Calloway’s band. Cab didn’t like the early Bebop that Dizzy was developing, he used to call it “Chinese music.” Dizzy got fired by Cab after an incident in 19 and 41. Cab was singing onstage, so of course we had his back to the rest of the band; he was hit by spitballs, he accused Dizzy of being the culprit. Dizzy denied it, and the two begin to fight. Dizzy grabbed a knife and actually cut Cab. Even after Jonah Jones and Milt Hinton admitted that they were the villains, Dizzy was still fired. He later went on to be one of the founders of Bebop.

[excerpt: Salt Peanuts by Dizzy Gillespie]

Bob Dylan: before we go too far, we gotta pay some bills, so here’s a message from Battle Creek, Michigan, and the good folks at Kellogg’s.

[“Rice Krispies” commercial. [The Rolling Stones – “Wake Up in the Morning”]]

Bob Dylan: Boy I could go for a bowl right now! But we’re gonna be eating good here, on Theme Time Radio Hour. Matter of fact, we’re gonna go high on the hog right now. Travel down to Memphis, with(for?) some good greasy barbeque.

[Wendy Rene – “Bar-B-Q” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: This is Wendy Rene, a singer who recorded for Stax Records. She toured in New York City with Rufus Thomas. And when she got back to Memphis, her parents were upset, because she brought a monkey that she purchased as a pet in the Big Apple. Wendy was still a teenager, and the monkey was messing up her parents’ house. You can imagine how much they fought! Here’s Wendy Rene and “Bar-B-Q.”

[Wendy Rene – “Bar-B-Q”]

Bob Dylan: Wendy Renne’s smelling something in the air, and you know it smells like some good old barbeque. Memphis style. If you’re going down to Memphis and looking for some barbeque, you can’t do better than the “Bar-B-Q Shop,” over on Madison. Tell them Theme Time Radio Hour sent ya.

[“Hard salami” jingle]

Bob Dylan: Sometimes when you’re looking at menu it’s hard to decide what to get! Life is like that, full of difficult choices. Here’s Lincoln Chase caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, and the temptation of the biscuit bell(?). “Hot Biscuits and Sweet Marie.”

[Lincoln Chase – “Hot Biscuits and Sweet Marie”]

Bob Dylan: Sweet, sweet-loving Lincoln Chase, Ringing the biscuit bell. Link wrote “Jim Dandy” for LaVerne Baker, and teamed up with his wife Shirley Ellis to do song like “The Nitty Gritty” and the top-10 hit, “The Name Game”: “bonana fanna fo fanna.” But here he’s talking about trying to decide between biscuits and loving. Wow, that's a hard choice!

[unknown commercial:
“It’s very in
to eat out”
“And very out
To eat in”
“But the smartest eating of all
Is to eat
Out
At our Drive-In”]

Bob Dylan: One of the greatest figures in modern Jazz was bassist, pianist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, Charles Mingus. He led groups noted for their collective improvisations, loose rhythms, and high energy. He was a serious musician with a strong sense of humor. His autobiography “Beneath the Underdog” is riveting reading. Here’s how it begins.

[Charles Mingus – “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” starts playing in the background]

Bob Dylan: "In other words I am three. One man stands forever in the middle, unconcerned, unmoved, watching, waiting to be allowed to express what he sees to the other two.
The second man is like a frightened animal that attacks for fear of being attacked.
Then there's an over-loving gentle person who lets people into the uttermost sacred temple of his being and he'll take insults and be trusting and sign contracts without reading them and get talked down to working cheap or for nothing, and when he realizes what's been done to him he feels like killing and destroying everything around him including himself for being so stupid. But he can't – he goes back inside himself.
Which one is real?
They're all real.
The man who watches and waits, the man who attacks because he's afraid, and the man who wants to trust and love but retreats each time he finds himself betrayed. Mingus One, Two and Three.
Which is the image you want the world to see?"

[Charles Mingus – “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” stops playing in the background]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Minguses One, Two and Three with a song called “Eat That Chicken.”

[Charles Mingus – “Eat That Chicken”]

Bob Dylan: That was Charles Mingus, the innovative Jazz musician, with “Eat That Chicken.”

[Unknown commercial:
“Chicken parts!”
“Everyone of ‘em’s good!”]

Bob Dylan: John Montagu, was the 4th Earl of Sandwich. He became the First Lord of the Admiralty, and was patron to captain James Cook, who explored New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Polynesia. Captain Cook named the Hawaiian islands after him, calling them the Sandwich Islands. But no matter what else he did, he’s gonna be remembered as the man who took some meat and tucked it between two pieces of bread. And lo and behold, the sandwich was born. Here are some popular sandwiches: the Grilled cheese sandwich, the Cubano sandwich—which is a Cuban sandwich said with an accent,—The French Dip sandwich—which is dipped in au jus,—the Ham and Cheese sandwich,—we’ve all had these sandwiches. The Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, New Orleans’ favorite the Muffuletta. From Philadelphia, the Cheese Steak. The Grinder, the Hoagie, the Dagwood, the Reuben, but perhaps the mightiest sandwich of all is the Hamburger, Wimpy’s favorite.

[“Popeye” excerpt:
“I will have a hamburger, for which I will gladly pay you Tuesday.”]

Bob Dylan: So let’s go to the Hamburger Hop, along with Johnny Hicks, a man who sounds like he's got a smile in his voice. He’s here with his band the Troubadours, and they’re going to the Hamburger Hop, on Theme Time Radio Hour, where the word is “Food,” and it’s a good word.

[Johnny Hicks and his Troubadours – “Hamburger Hop”]

Bob Dylan: That was Johnny Hicks and “Hamburger Hop” on the sumptuous banquet that is the Theme Time Radio Hour Food Show.

[unknown commercial:
“For a most delicious snack to eat,
For car-side service that cannot be beat
For the best hamburgers real treat”
“Drive-In! Drive-In!”]

Bob Dylan: Another great activity that goes along with dinner is theatre. Dinner theatres are located all over the United States, and it gives you a chance to see some of your favorite stars up close and personal. Burt Reynolds owned a famous dinner theatre in Jupiter Beach, Florida. I gotta call Burt, and see if it’s still open.

[The Melodians – “Swing and Dine” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Down in Jamaica they cook a dish called Jerk Chicken. It's sweet, it's peppery and it's delicious. I wonder if that's the meal that the Melodians were singing about in this song. “Swing and Dine.”

[The Melodians – “Swing and Dine”]

Bob Dylan: From 19 and 68, “Swing and Dine,” The Melodians, on Theme Time Radio Hour.

Bob Dylan: You heard of the Purple Rain and you heard of the Purple Haze, but have you heard about the Purple Stew? As the old saying goes, some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you. Here's a song about a guy who finds himself about to be served up as the main course.

[jingle:
“Stew meat”]

Bob Dylan: “Purple Stew,” by Thurston Harris.

[Thurston Harris – “Purple Stew”]

Bob Dylan: That was Thurston Harris who recorded with The Lamplighters, and did a song with them called “Bebop Wino.” But he went off by his own, and his biggest hit was “Little Bitty Pretty One.” Personally, I think “Purple Stew” should’ve been a big hit.

Bob Dylan: This is Theme Time Radio Hour, and we’re talking all about food. I was having dinner with our announcer, Pierre Mancini. The only difference between Pierre Mancini and a canoe is that sometimes a canoe will tip.

Bob Dylan: And now it’s time to put on the skillet [gulp], and serve up—[glass hits the table]“ahh!”—a healthy portion of shortnin' bread. Here’s Paul Chaplain and his Emeralds, “Shortnin' Bread.”

[Paul Chaplain and his Emeralds – “Shortnin' Bread”]

Bob Dylan: Paul Chaplain and his Emeralds. Far as I know, they only made one record—what else did they need to make?—that’s “Shortnin' Bread.” America first fell in love with the song “Shortnin' Bread” when Lawrence Tibbett, who was the principal with the Metropolitan Opera, made a recording of it. Nelson Eddy sang it in the movie “Maytime” in 1937. But I bet neither of those versions rock as successfully as Paul Chaplain and his Emeralds.

[Unknown commercial:
“Your favorite cut of juicy beef
Cooked so it melts in your mouth”
“Your family will like our stake house!”]

Bob Dylan: “Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to be free,” that’s what is says on the Statue of Liberty. And America is certainly the great melting pot.

[Slim Gaillard – “Matzoh Balls” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Where else could someone like Slim Gaillard sing a tribute to matzah balls and gefilte fish? It's the kind of thing that makes me proud to be an American. Sing it, Slim.

[Slim Gaillard – “Matzoh Balls”]

Bob Dylan: That was Slim Gaillard, on Theme Time Radio Hour, serving up some matzah balls. Putting a little horseradish on ‘em.

Bob Dylan: I was having dinner the other day, and the waiter came over, I said to him, “There’s a fly in my soup,” and he said, “That’s very possible. The cook used to be a tailor.” My friend’s wife is a really bad cook–I broke a tooth on her coffee.

Bob Dylan: Here’s a man named Jim Jackson, a songster from the medicine shows of Memphis. Recorded this song with a field recording team in the Memphis Auditorium, a song with an (unlikely) title “I Heard the Voice of a Pork Chop, and My Stomach Sent a Telegram to My Throat.”

[Jim Jackson – “I Heard the Voice of a Pork Chop”]

Bob Dylan: Jim Jackson, sh??ok/ar??ks ain’t that good! “I Heard the Voice of a Pork Chop.” If you wanna see Jim, take a look at King Vidor’s all Black 19 and 29 film “Hallelujah!” Jim Jackson's popularity was surprisingly phenomenal. He waxed 50 titles in less than three years. His last recording session was on February 19 and 30, and after that he returned to his home town of Hernando, Mississippi, where he passed away in 19 and 37. The voice of a Pork Chop was stilled forever. I never heard one, but I imagine pork chops have distinctive voice.

[jingle:
“Pork chops!”]

Bob Dylan: Someone I know who have a distinctive voice was Allen Ginsberg, but you can judge for yourself in this poem, “A Supermarket in California.”

[unknown song starts playing in the background]

Bob Dylan: “I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys.
I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the pork chops? What price
bananas? Are you my Angel?
I wandered in and out of the brilliant stacks of cans following you, and
followed in my imagination by the store detective.
We strode down the open corridors together in our solitary fancy tasting
artichokes, possessing every frozen delicacy, and never passing the cashier.
Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in an hour. Which way does
your beard point tonight?”

[unknown song stops playing in the background]

Bob Dylan: [page turns] The Beat Poets were all big fans of Bebop, and here's the king of Bebop, the spitball king, playing some of his Chinese music, Dizzy Gillespie, on the Atkins Diet. Hey Pete, let’s eat more meat. Mm-no pork, just beef.
Crazy daddy-o!

[Dizzy Gillespie – “Hey Pete, Let's Eat More Meat”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Hey Pete, Let's Eat More Meat.” Recorded for the Victor record label back in the 40s. He wanted to have his cake and eat it, too. Well, he can always bring home the beacon. Dizzy Gillespie, on the all-meat edition of Theme Time Radio Hour, where we’re working up an appetite as we talk about food.

Bob Dylan: The bravest man in the world was the first man who swallowed an oyster. Truer words were never spoken. Unless they were the words by Molière: “One must eat to live, not live to eat.” One person who didn’t always take that advice was Orson Welles, he said: “My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four, unless there are three other people there.”

[jingle:
“Chuck roast!”]

Bob Dylan: One guy who recorded a lot of songs about food is our old friend Louis Jordan. And here’s one that was written by Mister(?) Julie London, her second husband Bobby Troup, the man who also wrote “Route 66.” Here’s Louis Jordan and his Tympany 5, and “Hungry Man.”

[Louis Jordan and his Tympany 5 – “Hungry Man”]

Bob Dylan: That was the consummate entertainer, Louis Jordan. Not just singing but also playing that wild alto saxophone, and he's got quite an appetite, he’s a hungry man. [page turns] This is Theme Time Radio Hour with an all you can eat buffet, of themes, dreams, and schemes.

[jingle:
“It tastes so good
(It tastes so good)”]

Bob Dylan: Time out for an email. This one comes from Jane Athenas, from Amarillo, Texas. She writes: “Dear Theme Time, I heard you were gonna do a show about food. I couldn’t be happier, I love food! Could you play my favorite food song “Saturday Night Fish Fry,” by Louis Jordan? I’d sure appreciate it.” Ooh-jee, Jane, I’m sorry, we just played Louis Jordan. O-I tell you what: I know a great version of the same song, by a band called The Blued Dots. It was of Ace Records, and it’s really wild. Here it is. Thanks for listening.

[The Blue Dots – “Saturday Night Fish Fry”]

Bob Dylan: That’s The Blue Dots. Heading off to a Saturday Night Fish Fry— sounds like a wild affair. If you’re going to a fish fry, you might wanna bring some Cod, or Sole, or Flounder, perhaps a Whitefish fillet, or some Salmon. I myself enjoy some Catfish. Whatever it is, it’s good and healthy eating.

[Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces – “The Hamburger Song” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: You know I’m in a mood for another hamburger. Here’s Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces, singing a song about the hamburger, “The Hamburger Song.”

[Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces – “The Hamburger Song”]

Bob Dylan: That was Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces, “The Hamburger Song.” A song that sorta sounds like a nursery rhyme. If you’re sick of hamburgers, and you’re in a mood for a hot dog, and you’re in the Los Angeles area, get in line at Pink’s on LaBrea, near Melrose. You’re gonna have to wait a while, but it’s worth it. Get ‘em with chili and onion, but don’t stand too near anybody afterwards.

Bob Dylan: George Bernard Shaw once said, “There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” Cervantes once said, “Hunger is the best sauce in the world.” The Detroit Cobras said “Watch me eat a hot dog.” Three different ways of saying the same exact thing.

[The Detroit Cobras – “Hot Dog”]

Bob Dylan: Here are The Detroit Cobras, “Hot Dog.”

[The Detroit Cobras – “Hot Dog”]

Bob Dylan: Those are The Detroit Cobras, “Watch Me Eat a Hot Dog.” We all watched Takeru Kobayashi break the world record by eating 53 and 1 half Nathan’s hot dogs with buns in 12 minutes. He’s a 100 and 22 pounds from Nagano, Japan, and he is a championship hot dog eater. In 2000 and 5 he once again obliterated the competition, in Coney Island, by eating 50 hot dogs in less than 12 minutes. Way to go, Tekeru!

[jingle:
“Hot dogs!”]

Bob Dylan: I hope you didn’t fill up too much, ‘cause we still gotta have dessert. Here are The Four Clefs. They recorded for the Bluebird record label, out of Chicago. William Chapman, James Marshall, Johnny Green, and Melvin Chapman.

[The Four Clefs – “I Like Pie, I Like Cake” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: From 19 and 41, “I Like Pie, I Like Cake.”

[The Four Clefs – “I Like Pie, I Like Cake”]

Bob Dylan: Johnny Green on the guitar, James Marshall on the piano. The Four Clefs, “I Like Pie, I Like Cake.” And that’s true, too, I do like pie, and cake [page turns].

[“Alka-Seltzer” commercial:
“Sometimes you eat more than you should. And when it's spicy besides—mamma mia, do you need Alka-Seltzer. Alka-Seltzer can help unstuff you, relieve the acid indigestion, and help make you your old self again.”
“Mamma mia, that’s a spicy meat ball!”]

Bob Dylan: Well I don’t know about you, but I’m full. I don’t know if I can eat another bite. I gonna go out jogging, see if I can work some of this meal off. I'll see you next week, on Theme Time Radio Hour, the home of dreams, schemes and themes—and a hot steaming meal. You don't mind picking up the check do you?

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. Studio engineer: Tex Carbone. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Leftovers.”

[jingle:
“Dill pickles!”]

During Ginsberg: Thelonious Monk, "Stuffy Turkey" from "It's Monk's Time" 1964.

Thanks so much!!

Then, let's right away move to the next theme.
Before [Cisco Houston – “Pie in the Sky”] there's bed-music playing while Dylan tells about the Wobblies. Sounds like a version of "In the Sweet Bye and Bye" - any chance to find out the name of a performer?


30 Thanksgiving Leftovers


[Liberace – “Turkey in the Straw” in the background]

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It's night time in the Big City. Uncle Jim dozes in front of the television. A woman puts extra stuffing into a zip-lock bag.

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host, Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan: Welcome to Theme Time Radio Hour. It’s Thanksgiving week, I think you know what that means—Leftovers. You know, sometimes that turkey, that stuffing, that cranberry sauce, it all tastes better the next day. So we got some leftovers for you here. But don’t worry, it’s not stuff you already heard. So gather the family around the radio, and listen, as we present some(?) delectable musical leftovers on a variety of subjects previously heard [Liberace – “Turkey in the Straw” fades out] on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[jingle:
“Sweet potatoes!”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s something we couldn’t fit in to your Rich Man, Poor Man show. “Hallelujah I'm a Bum,” by Harry “Mac” McClintock. He was a sheepherder, a railroader, a union organizer, a cowboy, a hobo, a muleskinner, and a musician. He wrote “Hallelujah I'm a Bum” following his involvement with labor organizations, such as the Wobblies, which we’ll hear a little more about later in the program. But right now, “Hallelujah I'm a Bum.”

[Harry “Mac” McClintock – “Hallelujah I'm a Bum”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Hallelujah I'm a Bum,” by Harry “Mac” McClintock.

[“A Day of Thanksgiving” (1951) excerpt:
“Tomorrow's Thanksgiving."
"Mmm. Turkey and dressing and pie and cake."
"And fruit salad and whipped cream and cranberries. Gee I can hardly wait!"
"Me too!”]

Bob Dylan: We have awful lot of fun doing Theme Time Radio Hour, and we’re thankful you all listen. Which is why this time of year is especially important to us. Now, I'll let you in on a little secret. We plan the shows pretty carefully, but sometimes I get to yapping and we don't have room for all the records I pick out. For instance, on the Dog show I must have brought in like 50 records. We didn't get a chance to play ‘em all, so let me share a couple of ‘em with you today on our Leftovers show.

[Tampa Red & Big Maceo – “Let Me Play with Your Poodle” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Tampa Red and Big Maceo wanna Play with your poodle. They're saying it's your poodle dog, but I have my doubts. This was recorded for the Bluebird record label, and it's a good example of what was known as the Bluebird Beat.

[Tampa Red & Big Maceo – “Let Me Play with Your Poodle” [06:35] Bob Dylan: Sing it Tampa.]

Bob Dylan: That was “Let Me Play with Your Poodle,” Tampa Red and Big Maceo. And you know what they’re talking about.

[jingle:
“Avocados!”
“Mmm, good!”]

Bob Dylan: Let’s hear another song by the canine companions. This one’s by Al Ferrier. He started out as a Country singer, from Montgomery, Louisiana, but got turned onto the rocking sounds by Carl Perkins. He started a group called The Boppin' Billies, the distinctive sound was due in part to Al's brother Brian Ferrier, , a talented lead guitarist who had played with Elvis Presley on the Louisiana Hayride.

[Al Ferrier – “Yard Dog” starst playing]

Bob Dylan: This song’s from a couple years later, though. And in it Al complains about being mistreated, he doesn’t wanna be his gal’s yard dog.

[Al Ferrier – “Yard Dog”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Yard Dog,” by Al Ferrier. He didn’t wanna be treated like a dog.

[“A Day of Thanksgiving” (1951) excerpt:
"Well, you know children, we've had a lot of expenses this month, and-- . . . well, the truth of the matter is there just won't be any turkey this year."
"No turkey for Thanksgiving?"
"Oh, I'm going to make a pumpkin pie. We'll have plenty to eat, but-- well, we'll just have to get along without turkey."]

[The Robins – “The Turkey Hop” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Even though we're mostly having leftovers, it seems only appropriate we should have one fresh dish. These are The Robins, and they’re going to the Turkey Hop.

[The Robins – “The Turkey Hop”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Robins, on Theme Time Radio Hour. Here’s a couple of leftovers from our Flowers show, hope you’ll enjoy ‘em. You all know this song, “Honeysuckle Rose,” written by a (????) pianist Thomas Wright Fats Waller.

[Fats Waller – “Honeysuckle Rose” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Fats was a beloved figure. Perhaps a little too much so. He was in Chicago in 1926, and upon leaving the building he was performing, he was kidnapped by four men at gunpoint. They ride him out to see the famous gangster Al Capone. Fats was afraid it was all over for him, (with a) gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and Al Capone demanded he start playing. He realized he was the "surprise guest" at Al Capone's birthday party. Relieved that he wouldn’t die, Fats played for three days. When he came out of that hotel, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and thousands of dollars richer. “Don`t buy sugar, You just have to touch my cup”—Only Fats would know. “Honeysuckle Rose.”

[Fats Waller – “Honeysuckle Rose”]

Bob Dylan: That was the great Fats Waller, “Honeysuckle Rose.” It’s Thanksgiving leftovers, right here on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[Betty Harris – “Twelve Red Roses” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Betty Harris has a song about twelve red roses. It’s written by Allen Toussaint, and they collaborated on a string of great singles, like this one from 19 and 66. Betty Harris, “Twelve Red Roses.”

[Betty Harris – “Twelve Red Roses”]

Bob Dylan: That’s Betty Harris, “Twelve Red Roses,” on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[Unknown commercial:
“A big tender turkey,
Fresh fruits and vegetables.”
“Cakes, and pies right up your family size.”
“All the trimmings, and more, when you shop for your holiday dinner
At a store.”]

Bob Dylan: I must know a hundred songs about eyes, and I like a lot of ‘em, it was hard to chose the ones to put in a show. Some ought to be left out! But I gotta play you this one, “Don't Let the Starts Get in Your Eyes,” Skeets McDonald. His real first name was Enos, but he earned his nickname after an incident involving a swarm of mosquitoes, or “skeets” as he says they call ‘em. According to his family, he always loved music, he traded his hound dog for a guitar and six dollars, and never looked back.

[Skeets McDonald – “Don't Let the Starts Get in Your Eyes”]

Bob Dylan: His 19 and 52 Capitol recording, “Don't Let the Starts Get in Your Eyes,” Skeets McDonald. Perry Como recorded at the same year, and hit number 1 on the pop charts.

[jingle:
“Delicious zucchini!”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s a song that’ll make you forsake your faith, “Them There Eyes,” and that certain little cute way of flirting.

[Billie Holiday – “Them There Eyes” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Billie Holiday with her soft rounded cheeks, and eyes as bright as sunlight on a stream.

[Billie Holiday – “Them There Eyes”]

Bob Dylan: That was Billie Holiday with “Them There Eyes.” Born in 19 and 15, in Philadelphia. She was discovered by John Hammond, and sang with Benny Goodman, and Count Basie before striking out on her own. Billie Holiday, one of our greatest artists. She’s been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with only 70 cents in the bank, 7 hundred and 50 dollars on her person. On a night when(re?) no rays from the holy heaven came down. (http://naito-a.blogdrive.com/comments?id=14)

[Jesse Belvin – “Angel Eyes” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s the great singer, Jesse Belvin. He recorded a song called "Goodnight My Love" that became a huge hit, and had Barry White playing piano. Here’s Jesse, with “Angel Eyes.”

[Jesse Belvin – “Angel Eyes”]

Bob Dylan: She stole the stars in heaven and stuck ‘em in her eyes. “Angel Eyes,” Jesse Belvin. This is Theme Time Radio Hour, your home for dreams, themes and, that’s right, schemes. Please, pass me the mashed potatoes. Ow, and the gravy! Just ‘cause these are leftovers, doesn’t mean they’re not good. Who amongst us hasn’t thougth the stuffing in the refrigerator was better the day after Thanksgiving. These song(s) are like that.

[jingle:
“There’s more to come
(There’s more to come)!”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s the Mighty Sparrow, “Gun Slingers,” from the album “Sparrow in Hi-Fi.” You hi-fi fans will really enjoy this.

[Mighty Sparrow – “Gun Slingers” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: We’ve told you before how Calypso is kind of like a musical commentary on the daily goings on. This song is no exception. The Mighty Sparrow, who coincidentally is really named Slinger Francisco, recorded this song, “Gun Slingers,” in 19 and 63.

[Mighty Sparrow – “Gun Slingers”]

Bob Dylan: That was the Mighty Sparrow, “Gun Slingers.” I don’t know what kind of guns he’s selling, perhaps it’s a blunderbuss. A blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a flared, trumpet-like barrel, and it’s a predecessor to the shotgun. I was used in the 17th century, and is the weapon most commonly pictured in the arms of Pilgrims.

[turkey, gunshot]

Bob Dylan: Here’s some more of our favorite songs that we didn’t have room for on Theme Time Radio Hour. We don’t think of them as leftovers, we think of them as added value, and we pass the value on to you, the listener.

Bob Dylan: Our next singer is a real character, and was a close friend of Little Richard. As a matter of fact, Richard credits him with being one of his biggest influences. Here’s the Prince of the Blues, from Atlanta, Georgia, Billy Wright, “Let’s Be Friends.”

[Billy Wright – “Let's Be Friends”]

Bob Dylan: That was Billy Wright, along with Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams and his band, talking about people living in glass houses who shouldn’t throw stones. In 1817 New York adopted Thanksgiving as an official holiday. It wasn’t long before the other states followed suit. Who are we to argue? We’re celebrating Thanksgiving right here, on Theme Time Radio Hour.

Bob Dylan: Another show that had a lot of extra songs was about the Devil, so we’re gonna give the Devil his due again for a moment, and play a song we didn’t have time for.

[The Bailes Brothers – “Whiskey Is The Devil (In Liquid Form)” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: This is a song about taking a visit to most any prison, and seeing them prisoners sad and forlorn. Most of them will say that drinking caused it, and whiskey is the Devil in liquid form. The Bailes Brothers.

[The Bailes Brothers – “Whiskey Is the Devil (In Liquid Form)”]

Bob Dylan: “Whiskey Is the Devil in Liquid Form,” The Bailes Brothers. They did the original version of “Dust on the Bible” and “The Drunkards Grave.” Roy Acuff gave them thir big break, but they went their separate ways in 19 and 49.

[“school ring”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s something left over from our school show, hope you’ll enjoy it. The great Dinah Washington, with her song written by Sammy Cahn, who by the ways, was a high school dropout. Dinah was one of the greatest of the jazz singers, and her throaty sass, soulful vocal dips, and end of the lyric growls make this version of “Teach Me Tonight” an invitation that's almost impossible to resist.

[Dinah Washington – “Teach Me Tonight”]

Bob Dylan: That was Dinah Washington, and I’m wonderin’ how she changed that key, too. Any man would be happy to have her as a teacher. “Teach Me Tonight.” While we’re talking about that, here’s another song you might find interesting. Reached number 51 in the pop charts. Here’s Rockpile, “Teacher Teacher.”

[Rockpile – “Teacher Teacher”]

Bob Dylan: That was Rockpile, here on Theme Time Radio Hour, with a song written by two guys from the 60s band The Creation, “Teacher Teacher.”

Bob Dylan: Well, you’re listening to our Thanksgiving Day show. I guess we all have plenty of things to be thankful for: our health, our loved ones, hot coffee.

[Perry Mason (1957) excerpt:
“Your husband's body was almost completely destroyed, but the coroner managed to do an autopsy. And he found morphine sulphate in the stomach. Now, you brought your husband a container of coffee.”
“You think I put--“
“I think that if you know a good lawyer, you better call him.”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Muddy Water with “Iodine in My Coffee.”

[Muddy Waters – “Iodine in My Coffee”]

Bob Dylan: Whoah. No matter how many times you hear it, it sends a chill up your spine. Muddy Waters. Story of a vengeful woman, putting iodine in his coffee and rat poison in his bread; sprinkling lye on his bed. This woman so vengeful, like Nannie Doss, The Giggling Grandma, who killed 4 husbands, during the 40s and 50s. She gave ‘em all rat poison.

[jingle:
“Hey Mr Turkey, your working days are done,
It’s Thanksgiving, the table set for fun”
“As we count our blessings one by one”
“Happy holiday!”
“Thanksgiving holiday!”
“From all of us to you!”]

Bob Dylan: It’s Thanksgiving Leftovers. I’m starting to get stuffed. I don’t know if I can eat another bite. ‘Cause I’m not like Harold Burrage. Here’s Harold Burrage, he’s got a friend who eats too much.

[Harold Burrage – “You Eat Too Much”]

Bob Dylan: That was Harold Burrage, and his rocking little Combo, on Cobra Records, featuring Willie Dixon on the bass, and Wayne (Bullet?) Bennett on the guitar. Thick mama, you eat too much. If you keep doing it we’re gonna have to call Richard Simmons.

[Richard Simmons: “If I told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times.”]

Bob Dylan: You don’t want us to have to do that, do ya?

Bob Dylan: We got time for just one more. And we’re gonna get a little more serious, and talk about that pie in the sky.

[jingle:
“Pie!”]

Bob Dylan: This is Cisco Houston, travelling companion of Woody Guthrie, but equally influential as a Folk singer in his own right.

[“Bye and bye”? starts playing in the background]

Bob Dylan: The phrase “Pie in the sky” comes from the Wobblies , the labor organization formed in the United States in 1905. They concentrated on organizing migrant and casual workers, and one of the ways they brought such fragmented groups together was by song. Every member got a little book that contained parodies of popular songs or hymns. One of the early ones was “Hallelujah I’m a Bum.” One Wobbly was Joe Hill, he wrote several popular pro-union parodies. This song, “Pie in the Sky,” from 1911, was aimed directly at the Salvation Army, an organization anxious to save the Wobblies' souls, while the Wobblies were more interested in putting food on the table. The song was a parody of the Salvation Army hymn, “In the Sweet Bye and Bye.”

[“Bye and bye”? stops playing in the background]

Bob Dylan: Here’s Cisco Houston talking about that pie in the sky.

[Cisco Houston – “Pie in the Sky”]

Bob Dylan: That was Cisco Houston, talk about (want) to put some food on the table, and forget about that pie in the sky.

[“A Day of Thanksgiving” (1951) excerpt:
“If we really think over what we have to be thankful for when we sit down to whatever Mother fixes to eat tomorrow, we'll be one family in America that will really have a Thanksgiving dinner.”]

Bob Dylan: Well, I couldn’t eat another bite. I gotta go somewhere, loosen my belt, and sit down for a while. If you wanna make up a tin foil swan and fill it with stuffin', maybe I'll take it with me. We’ll see you next week with an all new episode of Theme Time Radio Hour. Themes, dreams and schemes served up fresh weekly. See you there! Thanks!

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. Studio engineer: Tex Carbone. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Tennessee.”

Bob Dylan: What jive turkey made this mess?

sorry I can't edit my posts.. sure it meant to be "by-and-by" where it's a hymn.. though, it wasn't completely my mistake, i took that spelling from thebobdylanfanclub)

here we've got 4 unknown songs - 2 in the beginning, 1 in the end of the show, and one old song after [Rufus Thomas – “The Memphis Train”]. I guess, one of them could be one of the state's official songs...



31 Tennessee



[unknown song in the background]

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It's night time in the Big City. A husband plots his escape route. The last train from Overbrook pulls into the station.

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host, Bob Dylan.

[another unknown song in the background]

Bob Dylan: Welcome to Theme Time Radio Hour. Today we’re gonna pay a visit to the Volunteer State, the Big Bend State, the home of the raccoon, the home of the iris, the tulip, limestone, whose motto is: agriculture and commerce. For those of you in the know, you know I’m talking about Tennessee, the 16th state to enter the union. The birthplace of Tennessee Ernie Ford, Tennessee Williams, and Andrew Jackson.

Bob Dylan: Music is such an important part of Tennessee’s heritage that they have not one, but five official state songs: “My Homeland, Tennessee,” “When It's Iris Time in Tennessee,” “My Tennessee,” “Tennessee Waltz,” and “Rocky Top.” You’re gonna hear at least one of those tonight on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[unknown song in the background ends]

Bob Dylan: First of, we’re gonna hop a train to Tennessee, along with Shorty Long.

[Shorty Long – “Good Night Cincinnati” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Shorty Long rode The Dixie Flyer, Super Chief, Santa Fe; the B & O, the Chesapeake, both took him on his way. Now he’s on board (of) the Humming Bird, and his humming, yesserie, good night, Cincinnati, good morning, Tennesse.

[Shorty Long – “Good Night Cincinnati”]

Bob Dylan: Shorty Long, whose given was Emidio Vagnoni, “Good Night, Cincinnati, Good Morning, Tennessee.” If you’re traveling from Cincinnati to Tennessee, you ought to go through Kentucky, most likely Lexington and Richmond. I know that Shorty Long did.

[Chuck Berry – “Memphis, Tennessee” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s “Memphis” by Chuck Berry. Where he’s talking about Marie, who couldn’t leave her number, but he knows who placed the call. 'Cause his uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall.

[Chuck Berry – “Memphis, Tennessee”]

Bob Dylan: Please, Information, help me get in touch with my Marie. You know, I called Information the other day, you don’t even get a person anymore, you get some king of a computer.

[“Your call could not be completed as dialed. Please, try again later.”]

Bob Dylan: I wonder, what kind of song Chuck would’ve written now about this.

[John Hiatt – “Memphis in the Meantime” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s John Hiatt, “Memphis in the Meantime.” I got something to say, a little girl, you might not like my style; we’ve been hanging around this town just a little too long, a while. This record was released in 19 and 87, John plays with Nick Lowe, Ry Cooder, and Jimmy Keltner.

[John Hiatt – “Memphis in the Meantime”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Memphis in the Meantime,” John Hiatt. A lot of good barbeque in Memphis, here’s the recipe I gave the guys over at the Rendezvous. You take one cup of tomato sauce, one cup of vinegar, five table spoons of Worcestershire sauce, one table spoon of butter, a half of small onion, a dash of black pepper, some cayenne pepper, one and a half t-spoons of salt, half a cup of water, mix it all together in large pan, bring it to a quick boil, reduce the heat and let simmer ten minutes. You can also figure out your own secret ingredients and dump it into the mix. I like about three fingers of Tennessee sipping whiskey.

[David Allen Coe – “Tennessee Whiskey” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here's my man, the great David Allen Coe, stoned on your love all the time, and looking for love, in all the same old places; finding that the bottom of the bottle is always dry. “Tennessee Whiskey.”

[David Allen Coe – “Tennessee Whiskey”]

Bob Dylan: That was David Allen Coe, a dangerous man, in and out of reform schools, correction centers and prisons since the age of 9. He supposedly spent time on death row for killing a fellow inmate who made advances to him. A Rolling Stone magazine reporter questioned Coe about this. His musical response was the song, “I'd Like to Kick the Shit Out of You.” Whatever happened, he was paroled in 19 and 67, and called himself Davey Coe – the Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy, performing in a mask, and driving a hearse. He wrote Johnny Paycheck’s big hit “Take This Job And Shove It.” (Another songs) such as “Jack Daniels If You Please,” “Now I Lay Me Down to Cheat,” and “Divers Do It Deeper.”

[“Mistier Jelly Roll” by Allan Lonax (??) exerpts:
“We got into Memphis, all right. After I was in Memphis, and safe and sound, on the shores of Memphis, Tennessee, I decided to go to this Beale Street that I had heard a lot of talk about. I first inquired was any piano players in the city and they told me absolutely the best in the wholest state of Tennessee was there.”]

Bob Dylan: Long tall Memphis Slim got a song for you – about how to reach him. He’s a great piano player, born in Memphis, Tennessee, died across the ocean, Paris, France, back in 19 and 88. Wrote the original version of “Every Day I Have the Blues,” and a number of other classic blues songs. This is one he recorded for the “Vee-Jay” record label, “Memphis Slim, USA.”

[Memphis Slim – “Memphis Slim USA”]

Bob Dylan: That was Memphis Slim, “U--“. You know, you can write him (???) “Memphis Slim, USA,” there’s not a lot of people you can write like that. You can reach the President, Santa Claus, and Theme Time Radio Hour. Keep them cards and letters coming in, folks. And while we’re on this subject, we’ve got another email. Let’s take a look at who is this from. This one’s from Peter Gorelnik, from Boston, Massachusetts. He writes us: “Dear Theme Time Radio Hour, I recently wrote a book about Sam Cooke, I was wondering if you could play one of his records.” Well, Pete, we’ll be glad to. This is a song that was originally recorded by Pee Wee King who wrote it. But the biggest hit was on the pop-charts by Miss Patti Page. Sam Cooke did a great R&B version of it though, and we’re gonna play it for you right now. Keep on writing, Pete.

[Sam Cooke – “Tennessee Waltz”]

Bob Dylan: Sam Cooke, “Tennessee Waltz.” This is Theme Time Radio Hour, we’re talking about Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Clarksville, Jackson, and all points in between. Because today’s theme is Tennessee. Let’s move to the state capital – Nashville. The Capital building was designed by noted architect William Strickland, he died while it was being built, and he’s buried within its walls. This is a song by the great session players in Music City, USA, one of the only places where a banjo player can make a six figure income.

[Lovin' Spoonful – “Nashville Cats” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Some of the great studio musicians in Nashville include Chet Atkins, Buddy Emmons, David Byrne, Charlie McCoy, Pete Drake, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jackson Pollock, and Alan Arkin. Here’s the Lovin’ Spoonful, “Nashville Cats.”

[Lovin' Spoonful – “Nashville Cats”]

Bob Dylan: That was the Lovin' Spoonful, “Nashville Cats.” Here are some other facts about cats: there are more than 500 million domestic cats in the world, there’s 33 different breeds, a cat has 9 lives, but a bullfrog croaks every day.

[frog croaks]

["Ballad Of Davy Crockett" excerpt:
Born of the mountain top in Tennessee
Greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so he knew ev'ry tree
Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three
Davy, Davy Crockett
King of the wild frontier!]

Bob Dylan: Here’s the song by Hank Williams, “Tennessee Border.” If you stranded on the Tennessee border, you might be on one of eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia – home of the (Virginia reel). Here’s one for music lovers everywhere; make you drop your teeth. “Tennessee Border.”

[Hank Williams – “Tennessee Border”]

Bob Dylan: That was Hank Williams on Theme Time Radio Hour, themes, dreams, and schemes, where the future influences the present, with no regard to the past. Here’s the song that came out ten years ago, the album was calles “3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of...” and the band’s name was Arrested Development. They kind of updated the Sly and The Family Stone sound for the hip-hop generation.

[Arrested Development – “Tennessee” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: The leaders of the band Speech and DJ Headliner wanted to make a more positive Afro-centric message. This song – “Tennessee” – is about Speech’s ancestral home in Ripley, Tennessee. He wrote it, when he was (dealing with a pair of) deaths in his family. Here’s “Tennessee” by Arrested Development.

[Arrested Development – “Tennessee”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Tennessee,” where Speech is really stressed down and out, where he’s looking ground and getting pessimistic. Trying to get ghosts out of his skull. I can relate to that. One of my favorite playwrights is Tennessee Williams. Here’s little bit of dialogue from his great play “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.” This is Burl Ives’ famous speech where Big Daddy lays down the law: “Mendacity. What do you know about mendacity? I could write a book on it... Look at all the lies that I got to put up with. Pretenses. Hypocrisy. Pretendin' like I care for Big Mama, I haven't been able to stand that woman in forty years. Church! It bores me. But I go. And all them swindlin' lodges and social clubs and money-grabbin' auxiliaries. Got me on the number one sucker list. Boy, I've lived with mendacity. Now why can't you live with it? You've got to live with it. There's nothin' to live with but mendacity.”

[Rufus Thomas – “The Memphis Train” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Now here’s a man who (will brought) no mendacity. The World’s oldest teenager. Rufus Thomas. Recorded at Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee. “The Memphis Train.”

[Rufus Thomas – “The Memphis Train”]

Bob Dylan: That was Rufus Thomas, riding that Memphis train. [unknown song in the background starts playing] Rufus was one of the most colorful characters in all of Memphis music. His history goes all the way back to the 1930’s when he was a comedian with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, a traveling group who played with many other great medicine shows. Rabbit’s foot was supposed to bring you good luck. As life you live, remember sonny that rabbit’s foot didn’t save the bunny. [unknown song in the background ends]

[Jerry Lee Lewis – “Night Train to Memphis” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: You can't stop off in Tennessee without paying a visit to the Killer. Jerry Lee Lewis, this is a song called “Night Train to Memphis”]

[Jerry Lee Lewis – “Night Train to Memphis”]

Bob Dylan: From Ferriday, Louisiana, the Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis. “Night Train to Memphis” on Theme Time Radio Hour. Another great record that came out of 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. Sam Phillips world famous Sun recording studio. They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

[Mystery Train” (1989) excerpt:]
“The Sun Record Company in Memphis, Tennsesse was first opened by (radio) announcer and record engineer Sam Phillips in year 1952. His first objective was to record some of the race music that had home up from the Delta, but was being recorded up North, and Sam thought, and I quote: “Why should I have to go up North to record it when I could record it right here.” Well it was right here in this very room where Mr. Phillips recorded the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Rufus Thomas, Charlie Feathers, The Prisonaires, James Cotton, Johnny Cash, Billy Riley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and of course the King of rock’n’roll himself, Elvis Presley.”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s one of the great singers of the rock’n’roll era, or any era – singing kind of an answer-record to “Little Sister.” A song about Elvis Presley, or as she calls him, Memphis. “Hey, Memphis!” LaVerne Baker, on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[LaVerne Baker – “Hey, Memphis!”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Hey, Memphis!” LaVerne Baker. She doesn’t get her props, because some people just think of her as a rock’n’roll singer. Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald–they all great, but LaVerne Baker was as good as anybody. Billy Vera told me all about her.

[Billy Vera: The Great LaVern baker, I had her on my radio show one time. I said, “How did you get the deal with RCA, being a girl from Chicago?” She said, “I got that RCA deal through mu auntie.” I said: “Well, who was you auntie?” She said: “You might have never heard of her, she was a blues singer named Memphis Minnie.” I said: “Wow! Of course I’ve heard of Memphis Minnie.” Then she went with Okeh records, she was (singing) as Little Miss Sharecropper, and he got her name, because there was a famous singer named Little Miss Cornshucks. And then she sang under the name “Bea Baker”–B.E.A. Then and only then were she signed by Atlantic Records, where she had her... her greatest success.]

Bob Dylan: Next up, we have another song about Elvis Presley.

[Link Davis – “Trucker From Tennessee” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here’s the song all about Elvis, when he worked for the Crown Electric company as a truck driver. Here’s Link Davis, “Trucker From Tennessee.”

[Link Davis – “Trucker From Tennessee”]

Bob Dylan: That was Link Davis, and he got his start with Cliff Bruner and the Texas Wanderers, playing fiddle and saxophone. But he branched out to play some more rocking numbers, like that one–“Trucker From Tennessee.” It's probably a good time for us to give a shout out to all our truck driving friends. We know you truckers were the first ones to get satellite radio. So whether you're in the Dirty, The Rubber, The Gateway, The Cow Town, the Bikini, Moonpie City, Beantown, The Hanging Gardens, The Panama Canal, The Bermuda Triangle–remember, don't have a lead foot, the smokies might be watching!

[truck passes by]

Bob Dylan: Hoople is an English term for a person on their knees, repenting of their sins. Here’s Mott the Hoople.

[Mott the Hoople – “All the Way from Memphis” start’s playing]

Bob Dylan: This song was written by their lead singer Ian Hunter, and a story about being on the road and realizing they left their guitars behind. They put this embarrassing song to music, and put it out on their album called “Mott.” Here’s Mott the Hopple, going out all the way to Memphis.

[Mott the Hoople – “All the Way from Memphis”]

Bob Dylan: Mott the Hopple, going out all the way to Memphis. You can’t visit Memphis without having a little bit of soul stew.

[King Curtis – “Memphis Soul Stew” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Right know King Curtis is gonna cook up a pot for us. Here’s the song that’ll beat your eggs.

[King Curtis – “Memphis Soul Stew”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Memphis Soul Stew,” King Curtis, one of the greats from Atlantic Records. Next up a little musical history of the state, Carl Perkins, recorded for the Sun record label. Carl was born in Tipton, Tennessee in March of 32 (sic!). Passed away in Jackson, Tennessee in 19 and 98.

[Carl Perkins – “Tennessee” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here he is with his song called “Tennessee.” Carl tells us (that) Red Foley came from Kentucky, and Ernest Tubb from down in Texas, but Eddy Arnord came from Tennessee.

[Carl Perkins – “Tennessee”]

Bob Dylan: That was Carl Perkins, a song called “Tennessee,” about some folks who like to cock-a-doodle-doo about where they come from. I you wanna brag, just let them know that you come from Tennessee.

[unknown song in the background]

Bob Dylan: “Oh Tennessee, my Tennessee
What love and pride I feel for thee.
You proud ole state, the volunteer,
Your proud traditions I hold dear.

I revere your heroes
Who bravely fought our country's foes.
Renowned statesmen, so wise and strong,
Who served our country well and long.

I thrill at thoughts of mountains grand;
Rolling green hills and fertile farm land;
Earth rich with stone, mineral and ore;
Forests dense and wild flowers galore;

Powerful rivers that bring us light;
Deep lakes with fish and fowl in flight;
Thriving cities and industries;
Fine schools and universities;

Strong folks of pioneer descent,
Simple, honest, and reverent.
Beauty and hospitality
Are the hallmarks of Tennessee.

And o'er the world as I may roam,
No place exceeds my boyhood home.
And oh how much I long to see
My native land, my Tennessee.”

[unknown song in the background ends]

Bob Dylan: That was a state poem of Tennessee written by naval admiral William Porter Lawrence, def poet from the great state of Tennessee. Right now it’s time for us to go for another week. I’m gonna head on down to the Rendezvous, and have myself a slab of ribs. If you’re down on Beale street, step in and join me. Otherwise, we’ll see you next week right here, on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. Studio engineer: Tex Carbone. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Moon.”

come on guys.. someone has to know that very first song in the background of "Tennessee"...

Don't have much help here--everything so far coming up dead ends. Some thoughts:

First piece (piano & harp) is straight Chicago. Chess Records or early Sun--early Wolf, when he had piano? Crying harmonica. Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter--or any of the tons of records Little Walter played on?? John Brim, Willie Nix. Maybe Big Walter? Perhaps even original Sonny Boy?

Second piece, pedal steel master--Pete Drake. Likely a version of one of TN state songs he names, altho it sounds nothing like "Rocky Top" or "TN Waltz" to me. Haven't heard the others. Dylan's wrong, too. TN has seven state songs, which also include "Tennessee" (not Carl Perkins song) and "The Pride of Tennessee", so keep scratchin'.

Song after Rufus Thomas is obviously jug band breakdown. Wild--I'm guessing Cannon's Jug Stompers, mainly b/c of kazoo and banjo--Miss. Sheiks and Memphis Jug Band, fiddle would be more prominent, but there's a lot of jug bands to consider. I'd start looking for songs with resonant Tennessee titles/lyrics: Memphis/Nashville/Knoxville/Beale Street. That sample is so quick, it's hard to get a fix, but it's a wild piece.

Last song, plaintive acoustic instrumental--I'd wager another version of a TN state song. Sounds like Bill Monroe--at least it's bluegrass artist, but something tells me it's ol' Bill or someone who played with him a long time. Got that peculiar ring to it.

Anyway, prob. not much help, but that's the way I'd approach it--the first and third songs should be easier to figure--the second and last songs could take forever.

Thanks a lot for getting into trouble writing all that, Wandu, I really appreciate that!
Well, after endless search I've been able to identify first two songs: 1) Sunnyland Slim & his Pals - Going Back to Memphis, 2) Lloyd Green - Heartbreak Tennessee. As for third and fourth - only dead ends. Though, third one sounds kinda like "State of Tennessee Blues" by Memphis Jug Band - only faster.

Good catch on Lloyd Green--he played on a stack of great records, incl. "Sweetheart of the Rodeo". Now I'll have to find that Li'l Darlin' compilation. We'll figure out the others, for sure. As for Memphis Jug Band surmise--well, sometimes in 78 to CD transfer, songs are speeded up or slowed down depending on the whim of the label--I have variants of many old songs that exist in different variations in my collection and often can't even tell which version is the "correct" one--just what sounds right to my ears (and not that this is limited to songs from the 20s and 30s--if you have diff. Fats Domino collections, for example, you'll notice discrepancies). So your guess on that mystery track is a strong possibility--I'll try to check it out today.

More re: Tennessee episode bed music. The clip you have listed as "Allan" Lomax is this:
Jelly Roll Morton, "Narrative #3: Jelly's Travels: From Helena to Memphis"
Interview with Alan Lomax for Library of Congress, 1938. It can be found on "Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings" (Rounder CD 1888) 2005

The version of "Davy Crockett" is by The Wellingtons from '55.

Thanks for the info! As for the unknown two songs, seems like they'll be like that for a while now, 'cause after going through hundreds of song that have anything to do with Tennessee, I still got nothing. And it doesn't seem like the third song is "State of Tennessee Blues" by Memphis Jug Band, after all. I tried to listen to it on different speeds - doesn't sound like that's the one...

But meanwhile, let's go to the moon.


32 Moon



[Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata starts playing]

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It's night time in the big city. A pet poodle scratches at a window. The last piece of pie is gone.

“The Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host Bob Dylan.

[Charlie Parker – “Ornithology” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Welcome to Theme Time Radio Hour. Look up in the sky, there’s a Moon hanging there. Some people think it’s made of green cheese, and a man once walked on it. It inspires romance, and creates werewolves. And for the next hour that’s gonna be the subject of Theme Time Radio Hour. This is your man in the Moon welcoming you to sixty minutes of lunar melodies.

Bob Dylan: In the background, Charlie Parker playing Ornithology. Based on the chord structure of “How High the Moon,” which tells you that the moon is far away and love is far away too. Tonight we’ll be talking about the Moon.

[Charlie Parker – “Ornithology”]

Bob Dylan: Wow, that one sure knocked some heads together! Next up we got a song based on the chord structure of “Ornithology.” Les Paul and Mary Ford—“How High the Moon.”

[Les Paul and Mary Ford – “How High the Moon”]

Bob Dylan: “How High the Moon,” Les Paul and Mary Ford. Les invented multi-track recording. He put a microphone above the sink, so Mary Ford could sing while she was washing dishes. He has his arm broken, and he had it set at an angle where he could keep playing guitar. How ‘bout that! (He) opened a restaurant on the Moon, they had great food, people said, but no atmosphere.

[Radar Men from the Moon (1952) excerpt:
“Welcome, Commando Cody. I am Retik, ruler of the moon.”
“Why do you want to invade the Earth?”
“’Cause the atmosphere on the Moon has become so thin and dry, it is impossible for us to raise food, except in pressurized greenhouses. And none of us can move outside without helmets, so we are planning a mass migration to your world.”
“You’ll find that conquering the Earth isn’t so simple.”]

Bob Dylan: Next up, Chuck Berry. “Havana Moon” showing the influence of Calypso records.

[Chuck Berry – “Havana Moon” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Me all alone, with a jug of rum; me waiting for the boat to come, me opened a jug of rum; it’s a long wait for the boat to come.

[Chuck Berry – “Havana Moon”]

Bob Dylan: Chuck Berry, “Havana Moon.” Chuck didn’t turn the deaf ear to anything. Calypso influences in songs like this, the Hillbilly influence in songs like “Maybellene,” and straigt blues in songs like Jay McShann's "Confessin' the Blues." He ended up on “Chess Records” because he met Muddy Waters, who encouraged him to go to Leonard Chess. Who owned the label.

[Los Lobos – “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: From East L.A. Los Lobos–means “The Wolves.” This is the title song from their album “Kiko.” Out playing–make believe. Nobody can see. Then he waits,
and then he fakes, and then he bends, and he shakes. He plays and plays–still playing–till he goes off to sleep.

Bob Dylan: Kiko. And the Lavender Moon. Los Lobos.

[Los Lobos – “Kiko and the Lavender Moon”]

Bob Dylan: Los Lobos started out as a Mexican wedding band. But eventually became part of the Punk-Rock scene in L.A., opening for The Blasters and X. And they had a song (...) a while back called “Will the Wolf Survive?” which Waylon Jennings had a hit with. “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” on Theme Time Radio Hour, where we all about the Moon. That’s one small Sun for man, one giant melody for mankind.

[Fats Waller – “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: One of the great stride piano players, Fats Waller, “By The Light of the Silvery Moon.” I want to spoon, to my honey I'll croon love's tune, We'll be cuddling soon, [inhales] by the silvery moon. Keep a-shining in June.

[Fats Waller – “By the Light of the Silvery Moon”]

Bob Dylan: With his Moon-June song, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” Fats Waller. One of the best writers(?) and piano players in Jazz. Songs like “Ain’t Misbehaving,” “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Jitterbug Waltz” are just a tip of the iceberg.

[Bill Monroe – “Blue Moon of Kentucky” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: It was on the moonlit night, your love it said goodbye. Blue moon of Kentucky keep on shining. Bill Monroe.

[Bill Monroe – “Blue Moon of Kentucky”]

Bob Dylan: A man from Kentucky sure is lucky, blue moon of Kentucky [inhales] keep on shining. Bill Monroe. Born in 19 and 11 in Rosine, Kentucky. A descendent of the President James Monroe. Bill is considered the founder of Bluegrass music.

[It's a Wonderful Life (1946) exerpts:
George Bailey: What is it you want, Mary? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary.
Mary: I'll take it.]

Bob Dylan: Rufus Perryman recorded under the name Piano Red on the “Groove” record label. Mostly he recorded Blues, but here’s a song The Beatles picked up on, and recorded. Piano Red, “Mister Moonlight.”

[Piano Red – “Mister Moonlight”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Mister Moonlight” by Piano Red on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[The Johnny Smith Quintet - “Moonlight in Vermont” in the background]

Bob Dylan: Soon as the evening shades prevail the Moon takes up the Wondrous Tale. “Moonlight in Vermont,” a romantic song about evening summer breeze and
the warbling of a meadowlark, sycamore trees [inhales], snowlight [inhales] on a trail [inhales], “Moonlight in Vermont.”

[Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald – “Moonlight in Vermont” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: This is Ella and Louis, along with Oscar Peterson and Buddy Rich (for) their 1956 recording “Moonlight [inhales] in Vermont.”

[Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald – “Moonlight in Vermont”]

Bob Dylan: Ella Fitzgerald. Louis Armstrong. “Moonlight in Vermont.” Vermont: maple syrup, greatest number of dairy cows in the country.

Bob Dylan: Here’s the song like the old Buddhist saying, “There are three things that cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

[Big Dee Irwin – “It's Only a Paper Moon” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: It's a Barnum and Bailey world, just as phony as it can be. Big Dee Irwin’s gonna tell us all about it, “It's Only a Paper Moon.”

[Big Dee Irwin – “It's Only a Paper Moon”]

Bob Dylan: “It's Only a Paper Moon,” a Folk-Rock version by Big Dee Irwin, a New York based singer. Recorded a number of songs with Little Eva, who did “The Loco-Motion.” “It’s Only a Paper Moon” has been written by Harold Arlen, who also wrote all the “Wizard of Oz” stuff. Song, I mean. The movie “Paper Moon” won an Academy Award for Tatum O’Neal.

[“The first footsteps on this strange, new world had to be taken cautiously. The Moon has only one-sixth the gravity of Earth. The nature of its surface was still unknown.”]

Bob Dylan: Coming up next on Theme Time Radio Hour—Red Le Blanc and His Crescent Boys.

[Red Le Blanc and His Crescent Boys – “Blue Moon on the Bayou” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Yes indeed, there is a blue Moon on the Bayou. Red Le Blanc.

[Red Le Blanc and His Crescent Boys – “Blue Moon on the Bayou”]

Bob Dylaan: Red Le Balnc and His Crescent Boys on Eddie Shuler’s “Goldband Records.” “Blue Moon on the Bayou.” A “Bayou” is a body of water, such as a creek or small river. It is a tributary to a larger body of water, like they have down in Louisiana. A “Blue moon” is the second full moon in a calendar month. It doesn’t happen that often, and that’s why they say, “Once in a blue moon.”

[Neville Brothers – “Yellow Moon” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here are the Neville Brothers, produced by Daniel Lanois, and their song “Yellow Moon.”

[Neville Brothers – “Yellow Moon”]

Bob Dylan: That was “Yellow Moon” by the Neville Brothers, a little bit of Voodoo from down in New Orleans.

[“Werewolf of London” (1935) excerpt:
“The werewolf is neither man nor wolf, but a Satanic creature with the worst qualities of both.”
“And you expect me to believe the man so affected actually becomes a wolf under the influence of the full moon? I’m afraid, sir, that I gave up my belief in goblins, witches, personal devils and werewolves at the age of six.” ]

Bob Dylan: Next up Cliffie Stone, born in Burbank in 19 and 17. He became the bass player on the “Lucky Stars” radio show, also played on a radio show called “Hometown Jamboree.” (And was a “who is who”?) in the music world, including Tennessee Ernie Ford, Merle Travis, Molly Bee, Speedy West, Jimmy Bryant, and his father Herman the Hermit. He brought country music to Hollywood. And wrote songs, such as this one [inhales]: When my blue moon turns to gold again, when the rainbow turns the clouds away. Cliffie Stone.

[Cliffie Stone – “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again”]

Bob Dylan: Cliffie Stone, “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again.” In 1940’s he signed to “Capitol Records” as the head of the Country and Western department, and helped build their great country roster, including Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. He wrote two books: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Songwriting but Didn’t Know Who to Ask,” and “You Gotta Be Bad Before You Can be Good.”

[“The Honeymooners” excerpt:
Ralph: You want the world of tomorrow, Alice? Want the world of tomorrow? I'll give you the world of tomorrow. You're going to the moon!]

Bob Dylan: Come and take a trip, in my rocket-ship, we’ll have [inhaling] a supersonic rendezvous. Breaking out of the clouds at midnight. Present like an archangel at the creation of light, and of the world. [inhaling] The rising moon; that looks for us again. Straight to the moon. I’ll be out of this world with you. Earth will be like a toy balloon. [inhaling] Destination moon. The great Dinah Washington.

[Dinah Washington – “Destination Moon”]

Bob Dylan: It's a quarter of a million miles from the Earth to the Moon, and there's no one I'd rather go with than Dinah Washington.

Bob Dylan: Coming up next, “There's a Moon Out Tonight” by The Capris, a vocal group out of Queens, New York. (This) reached number three on the Billboard charts in 19 and 61. This song is talking about a glow in my heart, because there’s a girl at my side, I wanna go strolling through the park. The Capris.

[The Capris – “There's a Moon Out Tonight”]

Bob Dylan: “There's a Moon Out Tonight,” The Capris. A lot of the early Doo-wop groups were named after birds The Orioles, The Cardinals, The Blue Jays, The Robins,
The Sparrows, The Bald Eagles, The Penguins which is a flightless bird, a bird you would not want to fly you to the moon. Here’s a kind of an unorthodox version of “Fly Me to the Moon.” Bobby Womack on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[Bobby Womack – “Fly Me to the Moon”]

Bob Dylan: Bobby Womack, he wanna sing for you now forever. “Fly Me to the Moon.” Bobby is a great guitarist, and a great songwriter; wrote songs like “Looking For a Love,” “It's All Over Now,” “I'm a Midnight Mover,” and “Harry Hippy.” Bobby was a close friend of Sam Cooke, and after Sam’s tragic death, Bobby married Cooke’s widow. Just a three months later.

[Neil Armstrong: “Tranquillity base here. The Eagle has landed.”]

Bob Dylan: George Bernard Shaw once said, “I don't know if there’s men on the moon, but if there are they must be using the earth as their lunatic asylum.” Which brings me to one of my favorite crazy people—Bulee "Slim" Gaillard; was born in Detroit, Michigan, 19 and 16. He invented his own crazy jive language called “Vout.” Jack Kerouac wrote about Slim Gaillard in his book “On the Road.”

Bob Dylan: ‘...one night we suddenly went mad together again; we went to see Slim Gaillard in a little Frisco nightclub. Slim Gaillard is a tall, thin Negro with big sad eyes who's always saying 'Right-orooni' [chatter in the backgoung] and 'How 'bout a little bourbonorooni.' In Frisco great eager crowds of young semi-intellectuals stood at his feet, listened to him on the piano, guitar and bongo drums. When he gets warmed up he takes off his undershirt and really goes. He does and says anything that comes into his head. He'll sing 'Cement Mixer, Put-ti Put-ti' and suddenly slow down the beat and brood over his bongos with fingertips barely tapping the skin as everybody leans forward breathlessly to hear; you think he'll do this for a minute or so, but he goes right on, for as long as an hour, making an imperceptible little noise with the tips of his fingernails, smaller and smaller all the time till you can't hear it any more and sounds of traffic come in the open door. Then he slowly gets up and takes the mike and says, very slowly, 'Great-orooni ... fine-ovauti ... hello-orooni ... bourbon-orooni ... all-orooni ... how are the boys in the front row making out with their girls-orooni ... orooni ... vauti ... orooni ... vauti ... oroonirooni ...’ He keeps this up for fifteen minutes, his voice getting softer and softer till you can't hear. His great sad eyes scan the audience.

Dean stands in the back, saying, 'God! Yes!' – and clasping his hands in prayer and sweating. 'Sal, Slim knows time, he knows time.' [Slim Gaillard – “Groove Juice Special, Pt. 2 [C Jam Blues]” starts playing] Slim sits down at the piano and hits two notes, two Cs, then two more, then one, then two, and suddenly the big burly bass-player wakes up from a reverie and realizes Slim is playing 'C-Jam Blues' and he slugs in his big forefinger on the string and the big booming beat begins and everybody starts rocking and Slim looks just as sad as ever, and they blow jazz for half an hour, and then Slim goes mad and grabs the bongos and plays tremendous rapid Cubana beats and yells crazy things in Spanish, in Arabic, in Peruvian dialect, in Egyptian, in every language he knows, and he knows innumerable languages. [Slim Gaillard – “Groove Juice Special, Pt. 2 [C Jam Blues]” stops] Finally the set is over; each set takes two hours. Slim Gaillard goes and stands against a post, looking sadly over everybody's head as people come to talk to him. A bourbon is slipped into his hand. 'Bourbon-orooni – thank-you-ovauti ...' Nobody knows where Slim Gaillard is. Dean once had a dream that he was having a baby [chatter in the background stops] and his belly was all bloated up blue as he lay on the grass of a California hospital. Under a tree, with a group of colored men, sat Slim Gaillard. Dean turned despairing eyes of a mother to him. Slim said, 'There you go-orooni.' Now Dean approached him, he approached his God; he thought Slim was God; he shuffled and bowed in front of him and asked him to join us. 'Right-orooni,' says Slim; he'll join anybody but won't guarantee to be there with you in spirit. Dean got a table, bought drinks, and sat stiffly in front of Slim. Slim dreamed over his head. Every time Slim said, 'Orooni,' Dean said 'Yes!' I sat there with these two madmen. Nothing happened. To Slim Gaillard the whole world was just one big orooni.'

Bob Dylan: Here’s Slim with “How High the Moon”

[Slim Gaillard – “How High the Moon”]

Bob Dylan: “How High the Moon,” Slim Gaillard wrote songs like “Flat Foot Floogie,” “Cement Mixer (Putty Putty).” “Flat Foot Floogie” was so popular that it was buried in the 19...39 World’s Fair time capsule, along with “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.” The time capsule is set to be open in the year 6939. I wonder what they’ll make of Slim Gaillard then?

[Henry Mancini, His Orchestra & Chorus – “Moon River” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: And now it’s time to say goodbye. The moon is slowly sinking and the sun is coming up from behind the Abernathy Building. Remember to shoot for the moon, because if you miss, you will still be among the stars. See ya next week, here on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. Studio engineer: Tex Carbone. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Countdown.”

Hah! My favourite passage from Ti Jean. I must listen to that episode.

Some unknown songs from the Countdown show. More importantly:
1. After [The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”] some beautiful jazz bass.
2. After [Eddie Boyd – “Five Long Years”] - while Penn Jillette - that's gotta be a tough one to figure.. I'm not even sure if that's a song, or a score of some kind..

Besides other things (bold font)- right at the beginning of the show - does anybody know where is this theme song (The big top ten is here again/So listen close to the big top ten...) came from? Is the bedmusic under Dylan's into a part of this same theme song, or some different music? (Sounds the same to me, though)


33 Countdown


[Wes Montgomery – “Four on Six” starts playing]

“Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It's night time in the big city. A bus driver talks to his only passenger. A sailor on shore leave plays Egyptian Ratscrew with a fallen priest.

“Lady in Red” (Ellen Barkin): It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host Bob Dylan

[unknown theme song in the background]

Bob Dylan: Welcome to Theme Time Radio Hour. We’ve got kind of a special program for you tonight. It’s our first annual Theme Time Radio Hour countdown show. Where we countdown the top ten songs as determined by you, the listener.

[unknown theme song continues:
The big top ten is here again
So listen close to the big top ten
‘Cause we’re about to spin
The top ten tunes you picked to win
The big top ten we’ll bring to you
The tunes you like that are (old and new)
We know you like the show
So (listen in?) ‘cause here we go!]

Bob Dylan: Alright then, let’s get right to it. We’ll start out at number ten.

[bowling sound effect]

Bob Dylan: And number ten is “The Ten Commandments of Man” by Cecil Campbell.

[Prince Buster – “The Ten Commandments (From Man to Woman)” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Better known as Prince Buster.

[Prince Buster – “The Ten Commandments (From Man to Woman)” continues]

Bob Dylan: This song was a huge hit in Jamaica and also had some chart action in the United States. Prince Buster was the first Jamaican to have a Top 20 hit. This is the ten commandments of man given to women through the inspiration of I—Prince Buster.

[Prince Buster – “The Ten Commandments (From Man to Woman)”]

Bob Dylan: That was “The Ten Commandments of Man,” a slightly different ten commandments than they teach in Sunday school. (But) important knowledge nonetheless.

[The Beatles – “Revolution 9” excerpt]

Bob Dylan: Coming in at number nine...

[The Beatles – “Revolution 9” excerpt continues]

Bob Dylan: It’s our old friend Sonny Boy Williamson. He’s got a song about cold snap, called “Nine Below Zero.” Recorded for the Chess label. A cold snap is a (geological) term for a period of intensely cold and dry weather, often occurring during an Ice Age. It might also be called a blackberry winter or a dogwood winter. I think Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Nine Below Zero” certainly qualifies.

[Sonny Boy Williamson – “Nine Below Zero”]

Bob Dylan: Ain't that a pity, it’s nine below zero and I gave her all my money, (and) she put me down for another man. Sonny Boy Williamson. “Nine Below Zero” on the Theme Time Radio Hour Countdown Show.

[“Countdown time”]

Bob Dylan: Coming in at number eight is Overton Vertis Wright, “Eight Men, Four Women.” O.V. Wright started off like many of his compatriots as a gospel singer. Singing for The Sunset Travelers, he went secular in 19 and 64 with the song “That’s How Strong My Love Is.” He recorded that for Goldwax Records. Otis Redding heard it, and covered it, stealing any chance O.V. had of having a hit with it. O.V. then went to our old friend Don Robey’s Backbeat label, and released a series of deep soul records. Including this story of a man standing before the jury. At number eight selection “Eight Men, Four Women.” O.V. Wright, a jury of love.

[O.V. Wright – “Eight Men, Four Women”]

Bob Dylan: That was O.V. Wright, and “Eight Men, Four Women.” Some juries don’t have any women, and the men are upset about it. “Twelve Angry Men” is a film from 19 and 57, starring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E.G. Marshall, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman, and Jack Warden. It is consistently ranked at a top thirty movies of all time. Here’s a scene from it. “Twelve Angry Men.”

[“12 Angry Men” (1957) excerpt:
Juror #3: Everything... every single thing that took place in that courtroom, but I mean everything... says he's guilty. What d'ya think? I'm an idiot or somethin'? I betcha five thousand dollars I'd remember the movies I saw! I'm tellin' ya: every thing that's gone on has been twisted... and turned. Well, that's it - that's the whole case!]

Bob Dylan: We’re counting down the top ten, here on Theme Time Radio Hour, and what do you know? We got a tie at number seven.

[“Lucky! Seven!”]

Bob Dylan: First, from Detroit, Michigan, a two person rhythm dynamo, Jack and Meg White, “The White Stripes.” With their song “Seven Nation Army.”

[The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: The seven largest armies in the world are in: China, India, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, U.S.A. and Vietnam. But the Seven Nation Army is from Detroit, and is by The White Stripes.

[The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”]

Bob Dylan: That was Jack and Meg with a message coming out of their eyes, and sweat dripping out of every pore, “Seven Nation Army.”

[Unknown song in the background]

Bob Dylan: Here are seven other things with white stripes: a skunk, a highway, Memphis Slim's hair, a prison uniform, candy cane, a barber pole, a zebra. Seven other things with white stripes.

[“Seven!”]

Bob Dylan: Pythagoreans call seven the perfect number: three and four, a triangle and a square, there are seven deadly sins, seven seas, and in the Chinese culture the seventh day of the first moon of the lunar year is known as Human’s Day, to be celebrated as a universal birthday of all human beings.

Bob Dylan: In a dead heat with The White Stripes is the powerful (...) piano player Aubrey Moon Mullican. Seven Nights to Rock, seven nights with a different girl.

[Moon Mullican – “Seven Nights to Rock” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: On Monday, he’s at sister Suzy's ball, on a Tuesday, he’s at the old dance hall. And you won’t believe who he’s with, and where he’s with them. Moon Mullican “Seven Nights to Rock.”

[Moon Mullican – “Seven Nights to Rock”]

Bob Dylan: That was Moon Mullican, a big influence on Jerry Lee Lewis, and “Seven Nights to Rock.” A little more of a rock’n’roll sound with Jane, and Lorraine, and Nancy Lee, and Betty Lou, and Sue; any chick will do. Moon’s backed up by Boyd Bennett and The Rockets.

Bob Dylan: Before we move on to number six, I’m reminded of the poem by Ted Hughes about the Seven Sorrows. With the powerful concluding lines.
“And the seventh sorrow
Is the slow goodbye
Of the face with its wrinkles that looks through the window
As the year packs up
Like a tatty(tacky?) fairground
That came for the children.”
Ted Hughes, poet of defness.

[“Schoolhouse Rock” excerpt:
“I got six, that’s all there is. I got six”]

Bob Dylan: We’re all the way up (to) number six on Theme Time Radio Hour’s Countdown Extravaganza. And here’s Hank Thompson with one of the great beer drinking songs of all time. From 19 and 60, Capitol recording that reached number ten. Hank Thompson had a long career: no less than 29 top ten hits from between 19 and 48, and 19 and 74. And he continued to have chart records into the 80s. Here he is, singing “Six Pack to Go.”

[Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys – “Six Pack to Go”]

Bob Dylan: That was Hank Thompson and The Brazos Valley Boys, singing “Six Pack to Go.” Hank knew that Benjamin Franklin was no liar when he said, “Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy.” Don’t know what kind of beer Hank was drinking, but it could’ve been Michelob Light or Rolling Rock, could’ve been Beck's or
Dos Equis, could’ve been drinking Irish Red or Murphy's Stout, perhaps it was Newcastle Brown Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or Stella Artois, or possibly Corona. Whatever he was drinking, some kind of beer that’s got that single-throw switch that ol’ Hank likes.

Bob Dylan: We’re talking about numbers today, so grab a pencil, I want you to think of a number, double it, add 10 to it, cut it in half, subtract the original number you thought of. I know for a fact your answer is 5. Amazing!

[Manfred Mann – “5-4-3-2-1” excerpt:
“Five, four, three, two, one...”]

Bob Dylan: Coming in at number five on our Countdown show is blues-piano player Eddie Boyd. [Manfred Mann – “5-4-3-2-1” excerpt fades out] This song is a classic. Been recorded by a number of artists, but originally done by the man who wrote it.

[Eddie Boyd – “Five Long Years” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Eddie Boyd, worked five long years for one girl, and wait to hear what happened.

[Eddie Boyd – “Five Long Years”]

Bob Dylan: Down in a steel mill shucking steel like a slave. From Stovall, Mississippi, that was Eddie Boyd, proving you don’t need a piano tuner. Recorded for the Chess brothers Leonard and Philip. He died in Helsinki, Finland, a big blues town.

[unknown excerpt:
“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, too, one”]

Bob Dylan: One place you can hear a lot of countdowns is NASA. I was talking to Penn Jillette who’s a big rocket fan. [unknown song starts playing in the background] He’s been down to Florida to watch a lot of liftoffs. He told me what it was like.

[Penn Jillette: You cannot beat actually hearing the voice of mission control out there in Florida, counting down. The really important moment in right after you have ignition and liftoff, you are confronted with, what I think is the most interesting number countdown thing, which is the difference between speed of light and the speed of sound. Because when the rocket starts, you see this huge explosion of smoke and belching of hellfire, and all you hear—the birds twittering, and then it goes across, the three miles to where you are—the sound. And you get hit in the chest with the loudest, pure (rock’n’roll) you’ve ever heard, just knocking you over.] [unknown song starts playing in the background stops]

[liftoff sound effect]

Bob Dylan: Coming in at number four...

[Unknown excerpt: “One, two. One two, three, four”]

[Maddox Brothers and Rose – “I Got Four Big Brothers (To Look After Me)” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: They're a country music band from California, recorded from the 40s to the 50s, here they are, Fred, Cal, Henry and Don–The Maddox Brothers,[inhales] and sister Rose. “I Got Four Big Brothers.”

[Maddox Brothers and Rose – “I Got Four Big Brothers (To Look After Me)”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Maddox Brothers and Sister Rose. In 19 and 41 the Maddox Brothers were drafted to help fight World War II. Rose was left behind without work. At one point she tried to convince Bob Wills to hire her as a singer, but old Bob wouldn’t give her the time of day. She told him, “When my brothers get back, we’re gonna show your butt good.” And true to her word, her brothers came home in 19 and 46. The Maddox Brothers and Rose went on to become one of the most popular hillbilly bands of the late 40s and early 50s.

Bob Dylan: Moving in to the home stretch now, on Theme Time Radio Hour first annual countdown show. Coming in at number three--

[unknown excerpt:
“Three, two, one, aw! Three, two, one, aw!...”]

Bob Dylan: “3x7=21.” This is the lovely Jewel King. She recorded for Deluxe Records, produced by the man who wrote this song, trumpet player Dave Bartholomew.

[Jewel King – “3x7=21” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: She’s all gone, spending her money and having fun. Ready to do a fancy dance and have a little romance. Ain’t nobody’s business, ‘cause she just made 21. Jewel King.

[Jewel King – “3x7=21”]

Bob Dylan: From down in New Orleans, the lovely Jewel King, “3x7=21.”

[De La Soul – “The Magic Number” excerpt:
“3
That's the Magic Number
Yes it is
It's the magic number”]

Bob Dylan: Tied with Jewel King for the number three position is the always [De La Soul – “The Magic Number” fades out] entertaining Ink Spots. The song written by Nelson Cogane, Sammy Mysels, and Dick Robertson. Coming in at number three: My Echo, My Shadow, and Me; We three, all alone living in a memory.

[The Ink Spots – “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)”]

Bob Dylan: That was The Ink Spots, “We Three.” The Ink Spots also performed as The Riff Brothers and The Percolating Puppies before they decided to call themselves The Ink Spots. “We Three” – a sad and sorrowful song about loneliness.

Bob Dylan: The poet Reiner Rilke, also know a little bit about loneliness. He says that
“Being apart and lonely is like rain.
It climbs toward evening from the ocean plains;
from flat places, rolling and remote, it climbs
to heaven, which is its old abode.
And only when leaving heaven drops upon the city.

It rains down on us in those twittering
hours when the streets turn their faces to the dawn,
and when two bodies who have found nothing,
dissapointed and depressed, roll over;
and when two people who despise eachother
have to sleep together in one bed–

that is when loneliness receives the rivers...”

Bob Dylan: Reiner Rilke, one lonely poet.

[“Now! On with the countdown! Number Two!”]

Bob Dylan: Well it’s only appropriate we have two at number two. And the first one’s a duet. From the Motown record label in Motor City, U.S.A. Kim Weston and Marvin Gaye, “It Takes Two.”

[Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston – “It Takes Two”]

Bob Dylan: That was Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston, “It Takes Two.” Marvin recorded a bunch of duets with other Motown artists, such as Mary Wells. But the most famous was Tammi Terrell. With Tammi he recorded “Ain't No Mountain High Enough,” “Nothing Like the Real Thing,” and “You're All I Need to Get By.” In 19 and 67 Tammi Terrell collapsed into Marvin Gaye’s arms onstage. The first sign of the brain tumor that will kill her three years later.

[Joe Mooney – “Tea for Two” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Our second selection at number two is the classic written by Vincent Youman(s) and Irving Caesar, “Tea for Two,” performed, in this case, by the blind accordion player Joe Mooney and His Quintet(sic! - ?) “oh man, what a boot from a tender shoot of oolong.”

[Joe Mooney – “Tea for Two”]

Bob Dylan: Joe Mooney and His Quintet, “Tea for Two.” If you’re having tea for two, you might as well enjoy these types of tea: green tea, black tea, oolong, (Lorraine Bracco?) tea, Kim Basinger tea, Mr. T, T for Texas, T for Tennessee, Liberty, Fidelity, and Equality.

[“It’s number one!”]

[Van Morrison – “One Irish Rover” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: We’re almost at the end of our countdown show, here on Theme Time Radio Hour. One of our number one selections is by the great Irish poet, the bard of Belfast Van Morison, with “One Irish Rover.”

Bob Dylan: Tell me the story now, now that it's over. Wrap it in glory, for one Irish Rover.

[Van Morrison – “One Irish Rover”]

Bob Dylan: That was Van the Man Morrison, coming in at number one, with “One Irish Rover.” If you enjoy Irish poets, here’s the couple more: Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, C.S. Lewis, Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, and William Butler Yeats, who wrote the following:
“Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.”

Bob Dylan: William Butler Yeats, “A Drinking Song.”

Bob Dylan: Well, we got an email. This one’s from (Lillie Rosenthal), from Babylon, Long Island. Lillie writes: “I love the countdown show. I was wondering if you could play some Bob Marley.” Lillie, you must be a mind reader.

[Bob Marley and The Wailers – “One Love” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Coming in also at number one. The immortal Bob Marley and The Wailers with their song “One Love.”

[Bob Marley and The Wailers – “One Love”]

Bob Dylan: That was Bob Marley and The Wailers, talking about one love, and no hiding place from the father of creation. Here on Theme Time Radio Hour, the countdown doesn’t end at number one. We go all the way to zero!

[Adventures of Superman(?) excerpt:
“Come in Zero Zero Zero Minus One. This job is much too big for Superman, take over!”
“Gladly, Superman.”
“That should hold him ‘till inspector Henderson gets here.”
“Mr. Zero, you really saved the day.”]

Bob Dylan: Coming in at number zero on our countdown show, the Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas. She’s singing a song written by the great songwriting team of Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn. This is a song she recorded in 19 and 79, called “Zero Willpower.” Some days I got boatloads of willpower, but today [inhales] zero willpower. When it comes to loving you.

[Irma Thomas – “Zero Willpower”]

Bob Dylan: That was Irma Thomas with zippo willpower, talking about being my puppet, my fool, and my clown, “Zero Willpower.”

[Derek Martin – “Count to Ten” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Well the old clock on the wall has counted down another hour, which means we got to hit the road. But don’t worry, we’ll be counting down the days till we see you next week, right here, on the Theme Time Radio Hour Christmas show. So long! 10-4, Eleanor.

[Derek Martin – “Count to Ten” continues]

[“Top Cat (underscore)”]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. Studio engineer: Tex Carbone. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Christmas.”

Hey Viktor--I'm about half and half here with your requests. The piece "Big Top Ten is Here Again" playing behind Dylan's intro seems like canned radio jingle record--perhaps from the same "You Be A DJ (UBADJ)" record he's looted for other shows--Fred at Dreamtime (of course) has some background on this LP, but I've never heard it.

Before White Stripes--"Lucky 7" by The Skatalites (some might say Justin Hinds, but I'm pretty certain it's The Skats playing on the track).

Have no idea what's playing behind Bob (the jazz bass) before Moon Mullican--my educated guesses all turned dead ends.

Before and during Penn Jillette's clip: Jimmie Haskell & His Orch., "Blast Off!" from an Imperial record called "Countdown" of space age pop.

After Maddox Bros.--Los Canarios, "3-2-1-Ah!" from 60s Spanish pop group.