Bob Dylan - Murder
Most Foul
Posts
regarding Mr Dylan on this blog have had a mixed reception over the years, however
most reasonable music fans will recognise that he has a deep knowledge of
musical styles which have influenced his approach to song-writing and
performing. As we approach his 79th birthday (24th May, if you want to send a
card) it is worth noting that he has released two new songs which are his first
original compositions since the album Tempest
in 2012. The first, 'Murder Most Foul', is a 17 minute epic using the
assassination of President Kennedy as a jumping off point for a reflection on
the social and cultural changes brought about by the 1960s.; and the second, 'I
Contain Multitudes', which name checks a small Irish village, Anne Frank, The
Rolling Stones, Indiana Jones, Edgar Alan Poe, Beethoven and Chopin.
However
it is the first song that I think is of most interest to jazz fans who will
already know that in Chronicles, his
'autobiography', Dylan mentions meeting Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor and other
jazz greats in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s. The song 'Murder Most
Foul' mentions many different types of musicians but includes a selection of
jazz musicians and GAS book songs and performers.
In
the song the narrator (maybe JFK) asks the 1950s/60s DJ Wolfman Jack to play
him some songs:
Play me a song
Wolfman Jack
Play it for me in
my long Cadillac
....
Play Oscar
Peterson, play Stan Getz
Play 'Blue Sky',
play Dickie Betts
Play Art Pepper,
Thelonious Monk
Charlie Parker
and all that junk
All that junk and
'All That Jazz'
Play something
for the Birdman of Alcatraz
...
Play Nat King
Cole, play 'Nature Boy'
Play 'Down in the
Boondocks' for Terry Malloy
...
Play 'Merchant of
Venice', play Merchants of Death
Play 'Stella by
Starlight' for Lady Macbeth
...
Play 'Misty' for
me, and 'That Old Devil Moon'
Play 'Anything
Goes' and 'Memphis in June'
...
Play Jelly Roll
Morton, Play 'Lucille'
Play 'Deep in a
Dream', and play 'Driving Wheel'
...
Play 'Love Me or
Leave Me' by the great Bud Powell
Play 'The
Blood-stained Banner', play 'Murder Most Foul'.
JC
Listen on YouTube
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