A Theme Time Radio Hour take on Dylan’s “Outlaw Tour” covers
My Babe (aka Mercy Babe) (1955) Artist: Little Walter and His Jukes; Written by Willie Dixon
If Dylan had played “My Babe” on Theme Time Radio Hour, it’s likely it would have been slotted into one of the two “Train” episodes. Willie Dixon based the song on the traditional “This Train (Is Bound For Glory),” changing the lyrics into a narrative about a woman that “won’t stand for cheating or midnight creeping.” Dixon got the inspiration for “My Babe” after accompanying the singing Reverend Ballinger on a recording of “This Train.”
According to Dixon, Little Walter really, really disliked “My Babe,” refusing for two years to record it although repeatedly asked by Dixon.
Finally in 1955, Chess itself weighed in, possibly because Ray Charles’ similar reworking of the gospel hymn “It Must Be Jesus” into “I Got a Woman” was scaling the charts like a flagpole climber on amphetamines. Little Walter recorded “My Babe” on January 25, 1955 and it was released by Chess in February. Although the song was registered under its alternate title of “Mercy Babe” it appeared on the label as “My Babe.” The single sent 19 weeks on the Billboard R&B charts including five weeks at the top position, making it one of the biggest R&B hits of 1955.
Perhaps Little Walter came to like it better.
Played live by Dylan before? Nope
Song played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Nope
Artist(s) played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Most definitely. Little Walter appeared five times. (Friends & Neighbors; Fools; Lock & Key; Presidents’ Day; Madness)
Little Queenie (1959) Written and recorded by Chuck Berry
After releasing a Christmas novelty song, “Run Rudolph Run,” in 1958, Berry took the melody for the definitely not-Christmas song, “Little Queenie,” in 1959 for the Chess label. Unlike most 45s, “Little Queenie” backed with the equally un-PC “Almost Grown,” had no B-side, at least from a marketing standpoint. Instead it was promoted by Chess as a “Double-A side” single, with both sides pushed by the record label as worthy of heavy DJ rotation.
The song peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a number which doesn’t describe its influence at all. One critic described “Little Queenie” as “one of the greatest dance/sex ritualistic classics,” which pretty much sums it up nicely. Among others, the song has been covered by Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Vee, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and Tom Jones (with Brooke Shields!), and now Bob Dylan.
Played live by Dylan before? Nope
Song played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Nope
Artist(s) played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Four times. (Cars; Eyes; Tennessee; Moon) Interestingly, all those were Season 1 appearances. Berry would not appear again in Seasons 2 and 3.
Mr. Blue (1959) recorded by The Fleetwoods, written by DeWayne Blackwell
Another song from 19 and 59, the low-key “Mr. Blue” is kind of an anomaly in Bob Dylan covers, excluding his American Songbook recordings. Instead of hard-hitting R&B rockers like Little Walter and Chuck Berry, we have a vocal group comprised of two girls and a guy singing a delicate little song. In fact, “Two Girls and a Guy” was what the trio of Olympia, Washington high school students were originally called.
“Mr. Blue” could have been included in the Theme Time “Colors” episode, but it would have fit nicely into the “Telephone” show too after the group renamed themselves after a local landmark — the Fleetwood building that housed the Olympia telephone exchange. But The Fleetwoods never made an appearance on Theme Time.
“Mr. Blue” was originally written by DeWayne Blackwell for The Platters, but Blackwell couldn’t find a way to get the song in front of the group. However, Blackwell did know a record promoter who had connections with The Fleetwoods. Blackwell auditioned the song for them in a hotel room, and a few days later received a telegram saying that “Mr. Blue” would become the A-side of the group’s next 45. It would also become one of the biggest hits of Blackwell’s songwriting career.
As their website notes, The Fleetwoods were the first vocal group to have two #1 recordings top the Billboard Hot 100 in a single year with “Come Softly To Me” and “Mr. Blue.” Perhaps an 18-year Bobby Zimmerman had a crush on the voices of Gretchen Christopher and Barbara Ellis, both of whom were just a year older than him.
Or maybe he just liked The Fleetwoods’ sound (and the intro to “Mr. Blue”)
Bill Flanagan: A lot of singers leave off the intros when they record these songs, but you did them — “September of My Years,” “P.S. I Love You,” “When the World Was Young.” The Beatles occasionally wrote an intro to a song (“to lead a better life, I need my love to be here…”) but hardly any other composers of your generation or after did. Have you ever done it?
Bob Dylan: I’ve never done it. I think you have to put those in last after you write the song. I’ve always liked the one from “Mr. Blue,” the one where our guardian star lost all his glow. That’s one of the most beautiful intros. ~ March 2017
Played live by Dylan before? Nope
Song played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Nope
Artist(s) played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Nope
Cold, Cold Heart (1951) recorded by Hank Williams and His Drifting Cowboys. Written by Hank Williams
“Cold, Cold Heart” is a sad song with a sadder history. According to country music historian, Colin Escott, Williams wrote the song after visiting his wife Audrey in the hospital, who was recovering from a self-performed abortion. ‘You sorry son of a bitch,’ Audrey said to Williams, “it was you that caused me to suffer like this.”
On the other hand, the song may have been written about a mean-spirited basketball referee, or at least that was the claim of songwriter Paul Gilley, who also claimed to be the author of “Cold, Cold Heart” as well as “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and said he had sold both songs to Williams.
The evidence for Gilley’s claims is meager, to say the least, and the story disappeared altogether after the young songwriter drowned and joined the 27 Club in 1957. But journalist/author Chet Flippo lit the fuse and revived the rumors in “Your Cheatin’ Heart: A Biography of Hank Williams” with the only source noted as correspondence between Flippo and “friends of the late Paul Gilley, who sold Hank some of his best-loved songs.”
Since Bob Dylan once went through something similar, with a high school student claiming authorship of “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and the story then given credence by Newsweek, he could probably sympathize.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Williams said he had written “Cold, Cold Heart” in less than an hour. “I just sat and waited,” he told the reporter, “and pretty soon God had written it for me.”
Unfortunately, God had apparently heard T. Texas Tyler’s 1945 recording of “You’ll Still Be in My Heart” at some point, and provided Hank with that song’s melody for “Cold, Cold Heart.” The original song had been copyrighted by Ted West in 1943, then rewritten by Buddy Starcher, and the “new” song then acquired by songwriter Clarke Van Ness, who published under the name “Dixie Music.”
“Cold Cold Heart” was copyrighted in 1951 by William’s publisher Acuff-Rose. When the song became a huge hit and then a mega-hit thanks to Tony Bennett’s version, Dixie Music unsurprisingly sued Acuff-Rose for plagiarism.
The case wasn’t settled until several years after Williams death. Dixie Music won court and legal costs and an undisclosed settlement, and Clarke Van Ness became listed as the song’s co-writer with Hank Williams. If you have a pre-settlement “Cold, Cold Heart” recording, you’ll find only Hank Williams credited as writer. Later releases, whether vinyl, CDs, or even streaming, will have a Williams-Van Ness credit.
Incidentally, Tony Bennett had to be coerced into recording “Cold, Cold Heart.” “When I heard the song, I thought it was made to order for Tony,” Mitch Miller later said. “[But]”Tony said, ‘Don’t make me do cowboy songs!’”
While Bennett eventually agreed to record “Cold, Cold Heart,” he probably thought his worst fears confirmed when he saw the trade ad that Columbia produced for his cover of “Cold, Cold Heart.” The headline was “Popcorn! A Top Corn Tune Gone Pop” with Tony Bennett caricatured in a policeman’s uniform holding up traffic while a hillbilly leads a pig and a mule across a busy city street.
“Cold, Cold Heart” — a success story with a fraught history.
Played live by Dylan before? Nope
Played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Surprisingly, no, although the “Cold” episode would have been an obvious fit.
Artist(s) played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Many times. (Fathers; Friends & Neighbors; Tennessee; Tears; Spring Cleaning; Joe; Street Map)
The Fool (1956) recorded by Sanford Clark, written by Naomi Ford and Lee Hazlewood
Lee Hazlewood was looking for someone with a distinctive voice to record his song, “The Fool,” and Phoenix guitarist Sanford Clark fit the bill. “The Fool” was originally released in May 19 and 56 on the tiny, local MCI record label and credited to a “Naomi Ford,” the pseudonym of Naomi Shackleford Hazlewood. Ford was credited with writing or co-writing several songs that Hazlewood probably wrote by himself. Then-radio deejay Hazlewood was worried that playing songs on his show that he had written and produced stunk a little bit too closely of payola.
But the tiny 500-copy MCI release of “The Fool” sank without a trace, and Sanford Clark began delivering soda pop in the Phoenix area to keep body and soul together. Luckily, a Cleveland disc jockey who liked the song and thought it would be a hit if it could get some decent distribution passed it on to Dot Records.
Dot called MCI and cut a deal with Hazlewood. Sanford Clark signed with Dot, which didn’t bother to have Clarke go into the studio again but simply re-released “The Fool” under the Dot label. By August 19 and 56 the revived song had hit Number 7 on Billboard’s pop charts and sold more than 800.000 copies.
Proving once again that we all deserve a second chance.
Played live by Dylan before? Nope
Played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Yep, as one could guess, on the “Fools” episode. “I always thought it was one of the best Elvis Presley records that Elvis Presley never made,” commented Our Host
Artist(s) played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Actually twice, the second being the “Nothing” episode, for “It’s Nothing To Me,” although Clark is only credited by “Theme Time” for “The Fool.” You can read more about “It’s Nothing To Me” in my annotated transcript of the “Nothing” episode.
