My Site

On July 29, 1965 Dylan undertook his 3rd Highway 61 Revisited session, produced by Bob Johnston.

Location: Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios – NYC

The day left us with master versions of Positively 4th Street, Tombstone Blues & It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.

Positively 4th Street ranks as no. 14 on my list of Dylans 200 best songs (Tombstone is 72 & It Takes a lot is 76).

Musicians:

Bob Dylan (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocal).
Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Frank Owens (piano), Bobby Gregg (drums), Russ Savakus (bass), Al Kooper (organ).

From Wikipedia:

“Positively 4th Street” is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Dylan in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, …..   …  Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song as #203 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

The song was released between the albums Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde, as the follow-up to Dylan’s hit single “Like a Rolling Stone“, but wasn’t included on either LP. The song’s title does not appear anywhere in the lyrics and there has been much debate over the years as to the significance or what individual the song concerns. Dylan once lived on 4th Street in Manhattan.

In studio summer 1965 – photo by Don Hunstein:

—

Bob Dylan also recorded “Catfish” on this day in 1975.

Location: Studio E – Columbia Recording Studios, NYC

Wikipedia:

Catfish is a song written Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy. It was originally recorded for Dylan’s 1976 album Desire but was released onThe Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991. “Catfish” was tribute to future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Hunter (better known as Catfish Hunter). Joe Cocker covered the song and included it on his 1976 album “Stingray,” and Kinky Friedman released a live version on his “Lasso from El Paso” album.

 

Album of the day:

Other July 29:

• Ina Anita Carter (March 31, 1933 – July 29, 1999), the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was versatile American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played upright bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters. The trio joined the Grand Ole Opry radio show in 1950 (Anita was 17 years old at the time), opened shows for Elvis Presley, and joined The Johnny Cash Show in 1971. As a solo artist, and with her family, Carter recorded for a number of labels including RCA Victor, Cadence, Columbia, Audiograph, United Artists, Liberty and Capitol.
  
• Vivienne Patricia “Patti” Scialfa, born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. She is married to Bruce Springsteen and they have three children.
  
• Geddy Lee Weinrib, OC (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953), better known as Geddy Lee, is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined what would become Rush in September 1968, at the request of his childhood friend Alex Lifeson, replacing original bassist and frontman Jeff Jones.
• John James Sykes (born 29 July 1959) is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter who has played with Streetfighter, Tygers of Pan Tang, John Sloman’s Badlands, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Blue Murder. Sykes co-wrote the majority of the songs on Whitesnake’s 1987 self-titled album with David Coverdale. Sykes is also a successful solo artist.