The top three non-familial influences on my musical tastes would be (in no particular order): 1) WLS-89 AM radio in Chicago, for instilling the love of pop music in me, 2) The rockumentary (which all three of my regular readers will know I've mentioned a time or two or a hundred) The Last Waltz which not only introduced me to the Band (and several other artists), but opened up the world of Americana music to me, and 3) Rolling Stone's tenth anniversary issue, in which numerous critics cited the best songs/albums released during the magazine's first ten years, and which I spend a considerable chunk of my college years trying to track down most (all?) of said songs/albums for my burgeoning collection--one of which just happens to be this week's tune. Seemed like a good way to end 2023....
I've written about Bob Dylan three times on Friday Night Jukebox (one, two, three) and the Band once (only once? yikes, I've got some work to do) in Vol. CLXXXVI, and as I've noted a time or two or a hundred before in these bios, there really isn't much I can add to the volumes that have been written about either by folks much more talented and knowledgeable than I. I would, however, like to note a little about the album from which this week's song comes. While The Basement Tapes were released in 1975 (a couple of years before my musical interests in either of the two), it was actually recorded in 1967 and between then and its release had developed a reputation of almost mythical proportions (numerous bootleg copies of songs were made, and Dylan at the time was thought to be the most bootlegged artist in history). While the luster has worn off somewhat (Rolling Stone only had it at #291 on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums), it's still considered to be a career changer for Dylan, the start of the Americana movement, and the father of alt-country. Not a bad resume.
"Apple Suckling Tree" was the fourth song on side two (yes, I own the LP) of The Basement Tapes. It was not released as a single (no song was), and the album would reach #7 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: Dylan and the Band only took two takes of the song--the second one was the version that ended up on the album. It is absolutely stunning to me that they could record a song this brilliant in two takes.
This one is just fun--not really sure what the lyrics mean (or what they are), but in the end it's just five guys jamming, and having a hell of a time doing it. The first standout is Garth Hudson's organ--as a Band fan I'm used to hearing Hudson's excellence on the keyboards, but I think this one is just a good old-fashioned boogie-woogie, and it rocks. Second is guitar virtuoso Robbie Robertson...on drums. Just a beat maniac. And lastly is Dylan's vocals which capture perfectly the song's raucousness. In the end, it's just a kick ass rock and roller--man, if you can't swing to "Apple Suckling Tree" you're probably dead.
[A note on the lyrics--as I listened to the song, it was brutally obvious that the lyrics listed on every web site did not match the lyrics Dylan was singing. Or even very close. So I actually went to Dylan's web site and sure enough he lists the same lyrics as every other lyrics site. You got me...which is why I'm just going with the chorus, because it's the only thing that sounds like what he's singing.]
Lyric Sheet: "Under that apple suckling tree, oh yeah/ Underneath that apple suckling tree, oh yeah/Underneath that tree/There's just gonna be you and me/Underneath that apple suckling tree, oh yeah..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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