Sign on the Window isn't the Bob Dylan podcast you need, but it's definitely the one that you want! Each week we select a Dylan song at random, live with the song for a week (or two) and then get together to discuss. This week we continue Robert Johnson Month with "Pledging My Time" off Blonde on Blonde.
Kelly and Daniel talk context (5:00), the Cutting Edge (7:30), and dive into what's going on in the song (13:00) featuring clowns, drugs, "come to," and Daniel being a self-proclaimed Bob Dylan loser. We work Robert Johnson in too!
Next episode: All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none
Context (5:00)
"Pledging My Time" was recorded March 8, 1966 in four takes for Blonde on Blonde. The session was sandwiched between Dylan working out "Just Like A Woman," our 84th episode. The song would be released as a B-side to "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35."
Dylan has played this song 21 times (as of recording) from September 12, 1987 to February 25, 1999.
Versions and Cutting Edge (7:30)
The riff is clearly from Elmore James' "It Hurts Me Too."
According to studio logs, this song was called "What Can You Do for My Wigwam?"
The 4 takes are available on The Cutting Edge: Take 1 has a different opening and closing verse and is bouncy comparing to Take 3, which makes the album. Daniel and Kelly discuss and sample these takes.
Song Itself (13:00)
Daniel and Kelly talk about the lyrics. Daniel points out the similarities to a drug trip. In the end, it's probably little more of a primer for the listener of what is left to come on Blonde on Blonde. Daniel notes how this (and "Rainy Day") feel tacked on to the album, despite opening it.
As for the Robert Johnson Month angle: Dylan is lifting from Johnson's "Come on in My Kitchen." Or as Robert Shelton calls this:
improvised blues with sophistication creeping in.
Does the song work in 2019? (24:00)
Like "Down the Highway" last week, this is a lightweight song. The Johnson connection will not be irrelevant as long as Johnson is recognized as a giant in blues music. Regardless, he's a giant to Dylan, who not only emulates Johnson in many ways in this song, but who devoted his Writings and Drawings to his two biggest influences:
To the magnificent Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson who sparked it off and to the great wondrous melodious spirit which covereth the oneness of us all.
ROBERT JOHNSON MONTH II
We look at the posthumous King of the Delta Blues Singers and its role in Dylan's formation. We look, again, at the myths from both sides. Finally, we dive into the scant recording history of the man and the wrangling around his complete body of work that lasted into the 21st century.
THE EPISODE’S BOOKLET & PLAYLIST (34:45)
RECOMMENDATIONS (42:00)
Kelly spent the week with the B-52s.
Daniel recommends the Smith Street Band's latest single, "I Am Nothing." Daniel also read Ibrim X. Kendi's newest, How to Be An Antiracist. Highly recommended (as well as his National Book Award-winning Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which I was reading between Trump's election in 2016 and helped clarify and remind me that he is nothing new).
ENDINGS
Robert Johnson Month closes next time with Dylan's cover of Johnson's "32-20 Blues."
REFERENCES IN EPISODE
Gun Club-Preaching The Blues (1981) HD
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