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{{Short description|Song by Bob Dylan}} |
{{Short description|Song by Bob Dylan}} |
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{{Infobox song |
{{Infobox song |
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| released = {{Start date|1964|08|8}} |
| released = {{Start date|1964|08|8}} |
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| recorded = June 9, 1964 |
| recorded = June 9, 1964 |
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| studio = |
| studio = Columbia, New York |
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| genre = |
| genre = |
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| length = 4:46 |
| length = 4:46 |
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| label = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] |
| label = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] |
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| writer = Bob Dylan |
| writer = Bob Dylan |
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| producer = [[Tom Wilson (producer)|Tom Wilson]] |
| producer = [[Tom Wilson (record producer)|Tom Wilson]] |
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| misc = {{External music video|type=song|header=Audio|{{YouTube|qbnF6IT5j1E|"I Shall Be Free No. 10"}} |
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}} |
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"'''I Shall Be Free No. 10'''" is a song by American singer-songwriter [[Bob Dylan]], which was released as the fifth track on his fourth studio album ''[[Another Side of Bob Dylan]]'' (1964). The song was written by Dylan and |
"'''I Shall Be Free No. 10'''" is a song by American singer-songwriter [[Bob Dylan]], which was released as the fifth track on his fourth studio album ''[[Another Side of Bob Dylan]]'' (1964). The song was written by Dylan and produced by [[Tom Wilson (record producer)|Tom Wilson]]. The song is a humorous [[talking blues]], indebted to earlier songs including [[Lead Belly]]'s "We Shall Be Free". Dylan opens the song by proclaiming that he is normal and average, but then acknowledges his reputation by singing the self-aware [[doggerel]] "Yippee! I'm a poet, and I know it/ Hope I don't blow it".{{sfn|Hampton|2020|p=80}} |
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Several takes were June 9, 1964, with a master take assembled from them and released on ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'' on August 8, 1964. Critics have received the song positively, praising its humor and noting that it contrasts with the serious track "[[Chimes of Freedom (song)|Chimes of Freedom]]" that precedes it on the album. According to his official website, Dylan has never performed the song in concert. |
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⚫ | According to [[Bob Dylan]]'s biographer [[Clinton Heylin]]'s analysis of Dylan's drafts of lyrics from the period, "I Shall Be Free No. 10" was "composed in stages".{{sfn|Heylin|2010|p=199}} The lyrics were likely started at the [[May Fair Hotel|Mayfair Hotel]] in London in May 1964.{{sfn|Heylin|2021|p=358-360}} They were finished during a week-long stay in the Greek village of Vernilya later that month, after Dylan had travelled across Europe with friends and [[Nico]].{{sfn|Heylin|2021|p=358-360}} Several other songs, including "[[To Ramona]]", "[[It Ain't Me Babe]]" and "[[All I Really Want to Do]]" were completed in Vernilya.{{sfn|Heylin|2011|pp=155–157}} Some of the lyrics for the "To Ramona" were originally in "I Shall Be Free No. 10".{{sfn|Heylin|2011|p=158}} |
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Dylan recorded 14 songs between 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm on June 9, at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios, New York,{{sfn|Heylin|1995|pp=29–32}} with [[Tom Wilson (producer)|Tom Wilson]] as [[record producer|producer]].{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2022|p=123}} Of these, 11 tracks were selected for his fourth studio album, ''[[Another Side of Bob Dylan]]''.{{sfn|Heylin|1995|pp=29–32}}{{efn|The three that were not included on the album were "[[Mr. Tambourine Man]]" "[[Mama, You Been on My Mind]]", and "Denise Denise".{{sfn|Heylin|1995|pp=29–32}}}} |
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⚫ | According to [[Bob Dylan]]'s biographer [[Clinton Heylin]]'s analysis of Dylan's drafts of lyrics from the period, "I Shall Be Free No. 10" was "composed in stages".{{sfn|Heylin|2010|p=199}} The lyrics were likely started at the [[The May Fair Hotel|Mayfair Hotel]] in London in May 1964.{{sfn|Heylin|2021|p=358-360}} They were finished during a week-long stay in the Greek village of Vernilya later that month, after Dylan had travelled across Europe with friends and [[Nico]].{{sfn|Heylin|2021|p=358-360}} Several other songs, including "[[To Ramona]]", "[[It Ain't Me Babe]]" and "[[All I Really Want to Do]]" were completed in Vernilya.{{sfn|Heylin|2011|pp=155–157}} Some of the lyrics for the "To Ramona" were originally in "I Shall Be Free No. 10".{{sfn|Heylin|2011|p=158}} Dylan recorded 14 songs between 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm on June 9, at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios, New York,{{sfn|Heylin|1995|pp=29–32}} with [[Tom Wilson (record producer)|Tom Wilson]] as producer.{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2022|p=123}} Of these, 11 tracks were selected for his fourth studio album, ''[[Another Side of Bob Dylan]]''.{{sfn|Heylin|1995|pp=29–32}}{{efn|The three that were not included on the album were "[[Mr. Tambourine Man]]" "[[Mama, You Been on My Mind]]", and "Denise Denise".{{sfn|Heylin|1995|pp=29–32}}}} |
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Two of the five takes of "I Shall Be Free No. 10" were edited together for the album |
Two of the five takes of "I Shall Be Free No. 10" were edited together for the album version,<ref name="OLOF64">{{cite web |url=https://www.bjorner.com/DSN00630%20(64).htm |title=1964 concerts, interviews and recording sessions |last=Björner |first=Olof |author-link=Olof Björner |website=Still on the Road |access-date=September 17, 2022 }}</ref> which lasts for four minutes and 46 seconds.{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2022|p=122}} It was released as the fifth track on side one of ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'' on August 8, 1964.{{sfn|Nogowski|2022|p=46}}{{sfn|Trager|2004|p=14}} An alternate version, with an extra verse, was issued on the ''[[Highway 61 Interactive]]'' interactive [[CD-ROM]] in 1995.<ref>{{cite news |last=Whitall |first=Susan |title=Multimedia music creates options, hassles |newspaper=The Desert Sun |date=10 May 1995 |page=B2}}</ref> In 2010, a version was released on ''[[The Original Mono Recordings]]'',<ref name="BD"/> a [[box set]] of mono versions of Dylan's first eight studio albums.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Bob Dylan – The Original Mono Recordings |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/bob-dylan-the-original-mono-recordings-4392/ |website=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |date=October 29, 2010 |access-date=August 8, 2023}}</ref> According to his official website, Dylan has never performed the song in concert.<ref name="BD">{{cite web |title=I Shall Be Free No. 10 |website=Bob Dylan's official website |url=https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/i-shall-be-free-no-10/ |access-date=September 17, 2022}}</ref> The song is a [[talking blues]],<ref name="BROWNE">{{cite magazine |last=Browne |first=David |title=How Bob Dylan shed his spokesman role on 'Another Side' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-bob-dylan-shed-spokesman-role-on-another-side-248281/ |date=August 8, 2016 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> a form popularized by [[Chris Bouchillon]] and used by [[Woody Guthrie]].{{sfn|Trager|2004|pages=598–599}} |
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==Composition and lyrical interpretation== |
==Composition and lyrical interpretation== |
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"I Shall Be Free No. 10", like "[[I Shall Be Free]]" from Dylan's |
"I Shall Be Free No. 10", like "[[I Shall Be Free]]" from Dylan's second studio album ''[[The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan]]'' (1963), derives from earlier songs such as [[Lead Belly]]'s "We Shall Be Free", recorded with Guthrie and [[Sonny Terry]] in 1944.{{sfn|Gray|2008|p=340}} John H. Cowley traced stanzas from "We Shall Be Free" and similar songs back to the mid-nineteenth century.{{sfn|Gray|2008|p=340}} Early recorded variations include "You Shall" (1927) by [[Frank Stokes (musician)|Frank Stokes]] and [[Dan Sane]] (performing as the Beale Street Sheikhs), and "What a Time" (1928) by [[Jim Jackson (musician)|Jim Jackson]].{{sfn|Gray|2008|p=340}} Critic [[Michael Gray (author)|Michael Gray]] noted similarities in the lyrics of Jackson's song to both the content of the Lead Belly track, and the lyrical and instrumental delivery by Dylan of his own "I Shall Be Free" songs.{{sfn|Gray|2008|p=340}} However, Jackson's version had not been released by 1964.{{sfn|Gray|2008|p=340}} Gray suggested that the title "I Shall Be Free No. 10" is an explicit acknowledgement by Dylan of "the many antecedents and variants and versions" of the older songs.{{sfn|Gray|2008|p=340}} |
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⚫ | |||
⚫ | The song opens with Dylan declaiming his normality,{{sfn|Curtis|1987|p=158}} in what scholar of English Charles O. Hartman described as "archetypal here-I-am-singing-in-front-of-you [[deixis]]".{{sfn|Hartman|2019|p=54}} Critic Jim Curtis wrote that "you can practically see [Dylan] grinning" on the track.{{sfn|Curtis|1987|p=158}} |
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{{Poem quote |
{{Poem quote |
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|text=I'm just average, common too |
|text=I'm just average, common too |
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Its just the same as talking to you |
Its just the same as talking to you |
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|sign= Bob Dylan |
|sign= Bob Dylan |
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|source= |
|source=from the opening verse of "I Shall Be Free No. 10"{{sfn|Hampton|2020|p=78}}<ref name="BD"/> |
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}} |
}} |
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Later in the song, Dylan, who had been receiving critical acclaim for his |
Later in the song, Dylan, who had been receiving critical acclaim for his song-writing, sings "Yippee! I'm a poet, and I know it/ Hope I don't blow it".{{sfn|Hampton|2020|p=80}} Literature scholar [[Timothy Hampton (historian)|Timothy Hampton]] wrote that by referring to the critical recognition with "doggerel verse", Dylan "both acknowledges his genius and undercuts his claim to serious purpose at the same time."{{sfn|Hampton|2020|p=80}} Hampton argued that "Nowhere is Dylan's status as artist, media figure, pop hero, and political spokesperson evoked with more self-awareness or complexity than in these lines."{{sfn|Hampton|2020|pp=80–81}} |
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Political Science professor Jeff Taylor and historian Chad Israelson, authors of ''The Political World of Bob Dylan: Freedom and Justice, Power and Sin'' (2015), observed that although Dylan had addressed political and civil rights themes in his early songs, he was never formally part of any organization, and that although he played at numerous [[benefit concert]]s, he rarely made political statements whilst performing. They wrote that his statement in the humorous "I Shall Be Free No. 10" that he was "'liberal to a degree' and that he wanted everyone 'to be free' is probably as close to a coherent description of his politics as anything."{{sfn|Taylor|Israelson|2015|page=47}} |
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Author John Nogowski remarked that the song provides a "welcome bit of Guthriesque comic relief" after the "verbal maelstom" of [[Chimes of Freedom (song)|Chimes of Freedom]]" which precedes it on the album.{{sfn|Nogowski|2022|p=46}} Similarly, critic Andy Gill wrote that "Dylan presumably felt it might be prudent to lighten things up" after "Chimes of Freedom".{{sfn|Gill|2011|p=77}} |
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Craig McGregor of ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' interpreted ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'' as a set of parodies of targets including [[the Beatles]] and [[Alfred Hitchcock]] movies. He considered "I Shall Be Free No. 10" to be a parody of the "throw-away lines and slightly folksy flavour of Woody Guthrie, Jack Elliott and half a dozen other talking blues experts."<ref>{{cite news |last=McGregor |first=Craig |title=Bob Dylan parodies Bob Dylan |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=6 February 1965 |page=11}}</ref> However, author Donald Brown noted that although Dylan's previous two albums had songs that referenced social and political issues, the only contemporary mentions on ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'' were in "I Shall Be Free No. 10": to [[List of world heavyweight boxing champions|world heavyweight]] boxing champion [[Cassius Clay]], conservative [[ |
Craig McGregor of ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' interpreted ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'' as a set of parodies of targets including [[the Beatles]] and [[Alfred Hitchcock]] movies. He considered "I Shall Be Free No. 10" to be a parody of the "throw-away lines and slightly folksy flavour of Woody Guthrie, Jack Elliott and half a dozen other talking blues experts."<ref>{{cite news |last=McGregor |first=Craig |title=Bob Dylan parodies Bob Dylan |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=6 February 1965 |page=11}}</ref> However, author Donald Brown noted that although Dylan's previous two albums had songs that referenced social and political issues, the only contemporary mentions on ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'' were in "I Shall Be Free No. 10": to [[List of world heavyweight boxing champions|world heavyweight]] boxing champion [[Muhammad Ali|Cassius Clay]], conservative [[United States Senator|Senator]] [[Barry Goldwater]], and the [[space race]] between the United States and the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Brown|2014|pages=24–25}} |
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==Critical |
==Critical comments== |
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In a generally negative review of |
The reviewer for the ''[[Torquay Herald Express|Herald Express]]'' considered that the album established Dylan as the most important folk singer" since [[Woody Guthrie]], and included "I Shall Be Free No. 10" amongst their favorite tracks on the album.<ref>{{cite news |author=Downbeat |title=Record round-up |newspaper=Herald Express |date=27 November 1964 |page=14}}</ref> In a generally negative review of ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'', Grover Lewis of the ''[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]'' was positive about only two tracks; "I Shall Be Free No. 10" was described as "a zany surrealist-flavored improvisation", and highlighted, along with "[[Motorpsycho Nitemare]]", as tracks that "shows flashes of the same rocking drive and ambition that sparked [Dylan's] initial recordings".<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Grover |title=Bob Dylan latest spinner stirs fewer sparks to flight |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=27 December 1964 |page=41}}</ref> |
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In 1976, William Florence of ''[[The Times Herald]]'' wrote that on ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'', "a wild sense of humor breaks into the open really for the first time", with those two tracks representing "classic examples of this more-relaxed and at-ease songwriter".<ref>{{cite news |last=Florence |first=William |title=Early Dylan is something special |newspaper=The Times Herald |date=11 July 1976 |page=A2}}</ref> It was ranked 16th on a list of the top 20 Dylan songs in [[Dave Marsh]] and Kevin Stein's ''The Book of Rock Lists'' (1982).<ref>{{cite news |last1=March |first1=Dave |last2=Stein |first2=Kevin |title=Rock'n'roll: a look back |newspaper=Pensacola News Journal |date=24 September 1982 |page=16E}}</ref> Critic Andy Gill wrote that "Dylan presumably felt it might be prudent to lighten things up" after "Chimes of Freedom".{{sfn|Gill|2011|p=77}} Similarly, praising Dylan's "effortless delivery", author John Nogowski gave the song an "A-" rating.{{sfn|Nogowski|2022|p=46}} He remarked that the song was "welcome bit of Guthriesque comic relief" after the "verbal maelstrom" of [[Chimes of Freedom (song)|Chimes of Freedom]]" which precedes it on the album.{{sfn|Nogowski|2022|p=46}} |
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Praising Dylan's "effortless delivery", Nogowski give the song an "A-" rating.{{sfn|Nogowski|2022|p=46}} It was ranked 16th on a list of the top 20 Dylan songs in [[Dave Marsh]] and Kevin Stein's ''The Book of Rock Lists'' (1982).<ref>{{cite news |last1=March |first1=Dave |last2=Stein |first2=Kevin |title=Rock'n'roll: a look back |newspaper=Pensacola News Journal |date=24 September 1982 |page=16E}}</ref> |
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==Credits and personnel== |
==Credits and personnel== |
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'''Musician''' |
'''Musician''' |
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* [[Bob Dylan]]{{spaced en dash}} |
* [[Bob Dylan]]{{spaced en dash}}vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica |
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'''Technical personnel''' |
'''Technical personnel''' |
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* [[Tom Wilson (producer)|Tom Wilson]]{{spaced en dash}} |
* [[Tom Wilson (record producer)|Tom Wilson]]{{spaced en dash}}producer |
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* [[Roy Halee]] and [[Fred Catero]]{{spaced en dash}}[[Audio engineer|sound engineering]] |
* [[Roy Halee]] and [[Fred Catero]]{{spaced en dash}}[[Audio engineer|sound engineering]] |
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== References == |
== References == |
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'''Bibliography''' |
'''Bibliography''' |
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*{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Donald |title=Bob Dylan: American Troubadour |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham |year=2014 |isbn=978-0810884205}} |
*{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Donald |title=Bob Dylan: American Troubadour |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham |year=2014 |isbn=978-0810884205}} |
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*{{cite book |last=Gray|first=Michael |author-link=Michael Gray (author) |title=The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia |date=2008 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |location=London|isbn=978-0-8264-2974-2}} |
*{{cite book |last=Gray|first=Michael |author-link=Michael Gray (author) |title=The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia |date=2008 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |location=London|isbn=978-0-8264-2974-2}} |
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*{{cite book |last=Hampton |first=Timothy |author-link=Timothy Hampton (historian) |title=Bob Dylan: How the Songs Work |year=2020 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |edition=Kindle |isbn=978-1-942130-36-9 }} |
*{{cite book |last=Hampton |first=Timothy |author-link=Timothy Hampton (historian) |title=Bob Dylan: How the Songs Work |year=2020 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |edition=Kindle |isbn=978-1-942130-36-9 }} |
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*{{cite book |editor-first1=Nduka |editor-last1=Otiono |editor-first2=Josh |editor-last2=Toth |last=Hartman |first=Charles O. |chapter=Dylan's Deixis |pages=51–66 |title=Polyvocal Bob Dylan: Music, Performance, Literature |series=Palgrave Studies in Music and Literature |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Cham |year=2019 |isbn= 978-3-030-17042-4 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-17042-4 |s2cid=239395870 }} |
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*{{cite book |last=Heylin |first=Clinton |author-link=Clinton Heylin |date=1995 |title=Dylan: Behind Closed Doors – the Recording Sessions (1960–1994)|publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-025749-6}} |
*{{cite book |last=Heylin |first=Clinton |author-link=Clinton Heylin |date=1995 |title=Dylan: Behind Closed Doors – the Recording Sessions (1960–1994)|publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-025749-6}} |
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*{{cite book |last1=Heylin |first1=Clinton |author-link=Clinton Heylin |date=2010 |title=Revolution in the Air - the Songs of Bob Dylan Vol.1 1957-73|publisher=Constable & Robinson |isbn=978-1-84901-296-6}} |
*{{cite book |last1=Heylin |first1=Clinton |author-link=Clinton Heylin |date=2010 |title=Revolution in the Air - the Songs of Bob Dylan Vol.1 1957-73|publisher=Constable & Robinson |isbn=978-1-84901-296-6}} |
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*{{cite book |last1=Margotin |first1=Philippe |last2=Guesdon |first2=Jean-Michel |date=2022 |title=Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track |publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers |edition=Expanded |location=New York |isbn=9780762475735}} |
*{{cite book |last1=Margotin |first1=Philippe |last2=Guesdon |first2=Jean-Michel |date=2022 |title=Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track |publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers |edition=Expanded |location=New York |isbn=9780762475735}} |
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*{{cite book |last=Nogowski |first=John |title=Bob Dylan: A Descriptive, Critical Discography and Filmography, 1961-2022|edition=3rd |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-4766-4362-5}} |
*{{cite book |last=Nogowski |first=John |title=Bob Dylan: A Descriptive, Critical Discography and Filmography, 1961-2022|edition=3rd |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-4766-4362-5}} |
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*{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Jeff |first2=Chad |last2=Israelson |title=The Political World of Bob Dylan: Freedom and Justice, Power and Sin |year=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-1-137-48234-1 |doi=10.1057/9781137477477 |url=https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faculty_work/499 }} |
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*{{cite book |last=Trager |first=Oliver |title=Keys to the Rain: the Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Billboard Books |location=New York | isbn=0823079740 }} |
*{{cite book |last=Trager |first=Oliver |title=Keys to the Rain: the Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Billboard Books |location=New York | isbn=0823079740 }} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/i-shall-be-free-no-10/ Lyrics] at Bob Dylan's official website |
*[http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/i-shall-be-free-no-10/ Lyrics] at Bob Dylan's official website |
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*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbnF6IT5j1E Audio] of the track at Bob Dylan's official YouTube channel |
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{{Bob Dylan}} |
{{Bob Dylan}} |
Latest revision as of 12:01, 26 November 2023
"I Shall Be Free No. 10" | |
---|---|
Song by Bob Dylan | |
from the album Another Side of Bob Dylan | |
Released | August 8, 1964 |
Recorded | June 9, 1964 |
Studio | Columbia, New York |
Length | 4:46 |
Label | Columbia |
Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
Producer(s) | Tom Wilson |
Audio | |
"I Shall Be Free No. 10" on YouTube |
"I Shall Be Free No. 10" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the fifth track on his fourth studio album Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Tom Wilson. The song is a humorous talking blues, indebted to earlier songs including Lead Belly's "We Shall Be Free". Dylan opens the song by proclaiming that he is normal and average, but then acknowledges his reputation by singing the self-aware doggerel "Yippee! I'm a poet, and I know it/ Hope I don't blow it".[1]
Several takes were June 9, 1964, with a master take assembled from them and released on Another Side of Bob Dylan on August 8, 1964. Critics have received the song positively, praising its humor and noting that it contrasts with the serious track "Chimes of Freedom" that precedes it on the album. According to his official website, Dylan has never performed the song in concert.
Background and recording
According to Bob Dylan's biographer Clinton Heylin's analysis of Dylan's drafts of lyrics from the period, "I Shall Be Free No. 10" was "composed in stages".[2] The lyrics were likely started at the Mayfair Hotel in London in May 1964.[3] They were finished during a week-long stay in the Greek village of Vernilya later that month, after Dylan had travelled across Europe with friends and Nico.[3] Several other songs, including "To Ramona", "It Ain't Me Babe" and "All I Really Want to Do" were completed in Vernilya.[4] Some of the lyrics for the "To Ramona" were originally in "I Shall Be Free No. 10".[5] Dylan recorded 14 songs between 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm on June 9, at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios, New York,[6] with Tom Wilson as producer.[7] Of these, 11 tracks were selected for his fourth studio album, Another Side of Bob Dylan.[6][a]
Two of the five takes of "I Shall Be Free No. 10" were edited together for the album version,[8] which lasts for four minutes and 46 seconds.[9] It was released as the fifth track on side one of Another Side of Bob Dylan on August 8, 1964.[10][11] An alternate version, with an extra verse, was issued on the Highway 61 Interactive interactive CD-ROM in 1995.[12] In 2010, a version was released on The Original Mono Recordings,[13] a box set of mono versions of Dylan's first eight studio albums.[14] According to his official website, Dylan has never performed the song in concert.[13] The song is a talking blues,[15] a form popularized by Chris Bouchillon and used by Woody Guthrie.[16]
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"I Shall Be Free No. 10", like "I Shall Be Free" from Dylan's second studio album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963), derives from earlier songs such as Lead Belly's "We Shall Be Free", recorded with Guthrie and Sonny Terry in 1944.[17] John H. Cowley traced stanzas from "We Shall Be Free" and similar songs back to the mid-nineteenth century.[17] Early recorded variations include "You Shall" (1927) by Frank Stokes and Dan Sane (performing as the Beale Street Sheikhs), and "What a Time" (1928) by Jim Jackson.[17] Critic Michael Gray noted similarities in the lyrics of Jackson's song to both the content of the Lead Belly track, and the lyrical and instrumental delivery by Dylan of his own "I Shall Be Free" songs.[17] However, Jackson's version had not been released by 1964.[17] Gray suggested that the title "I Shall Be Free No. 10" is an explicit acknowledgement by Dylan of "the many antecedents and variants and versions" of the older songs.[17]
The song opens with Dylan declaiming his normality,[18] in what scholar of English Charles O. Hartman described as "archetypal here-I-am-singing-in-front-of-you deixis".[19] Critic Jim Curtis wrote that "you can practically see [Dylan] grinning" on the track.[18]
I'm just average, common too
I'm just like him, the same as you
I'm everybody's brother and son
I ain't different from anyone
It ain't no use a-talking to me
Its just the same as talking to you
Later in the song, Dylan, who had been receiving critical acclaim for his song-writing, sings "Yippee! I'm a poet, and I know it/ Hope I don't blow it".[1] Literature scholar Timothy Hampton wrote that by referring to the critical recognition with "doggerel verse", Dylan "both acknowledges his genius and undercuts his claim to serious purpose at the same time."[1] Hampton argued that "Nowhere is Dylan's status as artist, media figure, pop hero, and political spokesperson evoked with more self-awareness or complexity than in these lines."[21]
Political Science professor Jeff Taylor and historian Chad Israelson, authors of The Political World of Bob Dylan: Freedom and Justice, Power and Sin (2015), observed that although Dylan had addressed political and civil rights themes in his early songs, he was never formally part of any organization, and that although he played at numerous benefit concerts, he rarely made political statements whilst performing. They wrote that his statement in the humorous "I Shall Be Free No. 10" that he was "'liberal to a degree' and that he wanted everyone 'to be free' is probably as close to a coherent description of his politics as anything."[22]
Craig McGregor of The Sydney Morning Herald interpreted Another Side of Bob Dylan as a set of parodies of targets including the Beatles and Alfred Hitchcock movies. He considered "I Shall Be Free No. 10" to be a parody of the "throw-away lines and slightly folksy flavour of Woody Guthrie, Jack Elliott and half a dozen other talking blues experts."[23] However, author Donald Brown noted that although Dylan's previous two albums had songs that referenced social and political issues, the only contemporary mentions on Another Side of Bob Dylan were in "I Shall Be Free No. 10": to world heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay, conservative Senator Barry Goldwater, and the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.[24]
Critical comments
The reviewer for the Herald Express considered that the album established Dylan as the most important folk singer" since Woody Guthrie, and included "I Shall Be Free No. 10" amongst their favorite tracks on the album.[25] In a generally negative review of Another Side of Bob Dylan, Grover Lewis of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was positive about only two tracks; "I Shall Be Free No. 10" was described as "a zany surrealist-flavored improvisation", and highlighted, along with "Motorpsycho Nitemare", as tracks that "shows flashes of the same rocking drive and ambition that sparked [Dylan's] initial recordings".[26]
In 1976, William Florence of The Times Herald wrote that on Another Side of Bob Dylan, "a wild sense of humor breaks into the open really for the first time", with those two tracks representing "classic examples of this more-relaxed and at-ease songwriter".[27] It was ranked 16th on a list of the top 20 Dylan songs in Dave Marsh and Kevin Stein's The Book of Rock Lists (1982).[28] Critic Andy Gill wrote that "Dylan presumably felt it might be prudent to lighten things up" after "Chimes of Freedom".[29] Similarly, praising Dylan's "effortless delivery", author John Nogowski gave the song an "A-" rating.[10] He remarked that the song was "welcome bit of Guthriesque comic relief" after the "verbal maelstrom" of Chimes of Freedom" which precedes it on the album.[10]
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track book.[9]
Musician
- Bob Dylan – vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Technical personnel
- Tom Wilson – producer
- Roy Halee and Fred Catero – sound engineering
Notes
- ^ The three that were not included on the album were "Mr. Tambourine Man" "Mama, You Been on My Mind", and "Denise Denise".[6]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Hampton 2020, p. 80.
- ^ Heylin 2010, p. 199.
- ^ a b Heylin 2021, p. 358-360.
- ^ Heylin 2011, pp. 155–157.
- ^ Heylin 2011, p. 158.
- ^ a b c Heylin 1995, pp. 29–32.
- ^ Margotin & Guesdon 2022, p. 123.
- ^ Björner, Olof. "1964 concerts, interviews and recording sessions". Still on the Road. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
- ^ a b Margotin & Guesdon 2022, p. 122.
- ^ a b c Nogowski 2022, p. 46.
- ^ Trager 2004, p. 14.
- ^ Whitall, Susan (10 May 1995). "Multimedia music creates options, hassles". The Desert Sun. p. B2.
- ^ a b c "I Shall Be Free No. 10". Bob Dylan's official website. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
- ^ "Bob Dylan – The Original Mono Recordings". Uncut. October 29, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ Browne, David (August 8, 2016). "How Bob Dylan shed his spokesman role on 'Another Side'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
- ^ Trager 2004, pp. 598–599.
- ^ a b c d e f Gray 2008, p. 340.
- ^ a b Curtis 1987, p. 158.
- ^ Hartman 2019, p. 54.
- ^ Hampton 2020, p. 78.
- ^ Hampton 2020, pp. 80–81.
- ^ Taylor & Israelson 2015, p. 47.
- ^ McGregor, Craig (6 February 1965). "Bob Dylan parodies Bob Dylan". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 11.
- ^ Brown 2014, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Downbeat (27 November 1964). "Record round-up". Herald Express. p. 14.
- ^ Lewis, Grover (27 December 1964). "Bob Dylan latest spinner stirs fewer sparks to flight". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 41.
- ^ Florence, William (11 July 1976). "Early Dylan is something special". The Times Herald. p. A2.
- ^ March, Dave; Stein, Kevin (24 September 1982). "Rock'n'roll: a look back". Pensacola News Journal. p. 16E.
- ^ Gill 2011, p. 77.
Bibliography
- Brown, Donald (2014). Bob Dylan: American Troubadour. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0810884205.
- Curtis, Jim (1987). Rock Eras: Interpretations of Music and Society, 1954-1984. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University. ISBN 0879723696.
- Gill, Andy (2011). Bob Dylan: the Stories Behind the Songs 1962-1969. London: Carlton. ISBN 978-1-84732-759-8.
- Gray, Michael (2008). The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-2974-2.
- Hampton, Timothy (2020). Bob Dylan: How the Songs Work (Kindle ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-942130-36-9.
- Hartman, Charles O. (2019). "Dylan's Deixis". In Otiono, Nduka; Toth, Josh (eds.). Polyvocal Bob Dylan: Music, Performance, Literature. Palgrave Studies in Music and Literature. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 51–66. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17042-4. ISBN 978-3-030-17042-4. S2CID 239395870.
- Heylin, Clinton (1995). Dylan: Behind Closed Doors – the Recording Sessions (1960–1994). Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-025749-6.
- Heylin, Clinton (2010). Revolution in the Air - the Songs of Bob Dylan Vol.1 1957-73. Constable & Robinson. ISBN 978-1-84901-296-6.
- Heylin, Clinton (2011). Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition. London: Faber And Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-27240-2.
- Heylin, Clinton (2021). The Double Life of Bob Dylan. Vol. 1 1941-1966, A restless, hungry feeling. London: Bodley Head. ISBN 978-1-84792-588-6.
- Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2022). Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track (Expanded ed.). New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 9780762475735.
- Nogowski, John (2022). Bob Dylan: A Descriptive, Critical Discography and Filmography, 1961-2022 (3rd ed.). Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-4362-5.
- Taylor, Jeff; Israelson, Chad (2015). The Political World of Bob Dylan: Freedom and Justice, Power and Sin. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/9781137477477. ISBN 978-1-137-48234-1.
- Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: the Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0823079740.
External links
- Lyrics at Bob Dylan's official website