d put a link to the above in the comments of the Medgar Evers post. Having never seen this video before (see here for a more complete accounting of my cultural illiteracy), I found my breath taken away by the awesomeness of the young Dylan. I mean, like any self-hatingrespecting leftie Jew, I lurve Dylan. But this is amazing.
Be warned: there will be no hating on Dylan in the comments. [/gauntlet throwing]
The Edge of the American West 
36 comments
June 13, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Walt
Dylan hatred? That would be like mustering up the energy for Enrico Caruso hatred, old man.
June 13, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Ben Alpers
Of course what was most amazing about the young Dylan was the range of his material.
(Incidentally, ari, this is another test of your cultural literacy.)
June 13, 2008 at 4:07 pm
ari
Dude, how dare you? I know from Dr. Seuss! I have two kids. Sheesh.
June 13, 2008 at 4:13 pm
A White Bear
Ari is trolling me, Walt. It’s a great clip, and my Dylan-hatred is overstated. It’s Dylan-worship that I hate, not Dylan himself.
June 13, 2008 at 4:19 pm
d
Oh, I could do this sort of thing all day….
I know it’s like, no duh, but Dylan’s stuff from the mid-60s is just crushingly good. And I don’t even really like folk music.
June 13, 2008 at 4:21 pm
ari
If you think I’m dragging you above the fold again, d, you’re sadly mistaken. Get you own damn blog.
June 13, 2008 at 4:22 pm
ari
Also, AWB, I would never troll you. Such behavior is beneath me.
June 13, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Ben Alpers
I was referring more specifically to the whole Dylan Hears a Who phenomenon, ari….
On a more serious note, here’s another great song written as a response to Medgar Evers’ assassination.
June 13, 2008 at 4:28 pm
ari
Who’s Nina Simone?
June 13, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Walt
I actually forgot about that thread. God, I loved that thread. I loved your Dylan rant. I was sad when you took it back, just because it was unfair to about 20 percent of the population of the United States.
June 13, 2008 at 4:41 pm
ari
Wait, you’re NOT LINKING? You must be kidding. Now you’re trolling me, Walt, right? Oh, the irony.
June 13, 2008 at 5:05 pm
urbino
Dylan’s stuff from the mid-60s is just crushingly good.
I like his new stuff — from Time Out of Mind, forward — very, very much, as well.
June 13, 2008 at 5:51 pm
rja
Who’s Nina Simone?
Please, please say you’re kidding and I just missed it…
June 13, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Vance Maverick
To be honest, I like the version on the record better. For whatever reason, this doesn’t flatten me the way the excerpts of the Albert Hall concert in Don’t Look Back do. Still and all, a great musician and a great song. And a great (in another sense) occasion.
June 13, 2008 at 6:30 pm
ari
Totally kidding, rja. Not to worry. I’m a philistine, but it’s not that bad.
June 13, 2008 at 6:37 pm
rja
whew.
June 13, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Alison
My complete Dylan obsession resurfaced last weekend when I finally saw “I’m Not There”, so thanks for fanning that particular flame. I’m totally going to troll yard sales for Dylan records tomorrow. Because I’m so that kind of girl.
June 13, 2008 at 8:36 pm
learnlotsbetty
No really, can you link to that thread? Or at least note where it is? This is high comedy around here, people.
June 13, 2008 at 9:28 pm
The Modesto Kid
Hey Dylan-illiterate Ari, do you know about “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”, and about the events which inspired the song, and about the further career of William Zanzinger? Because you ought to find out about it if you don’t. I will try and hunt up some links.
June 13, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Vance Maverick
Zantzinger.
June 13, 2008 at 9:36 pm
ari
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll. And for a performance of the song itself, see d’s link upthread.
(See that, Vance, I learned how to use Wikipedia! I’m nothing if not a quick study.)
June 13, 2008 at 9:37 pm
The Modesto Kid
OK:
Dylan singing “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” on the Steve Allen Show in 1964.
The True Story of Hattie Carroll (scroll down to the middle of the page, or search for that text). In 1992, 30 years after he had served his 6 months for murdering Carroll, Zanzinger was convicted of “unfair and deceptive trade practices” in connection with the dreadful conditions in housing he was renting to poor black tenants, and sentenced to community service.
June 13, 2008 at 9:37 pm
The Modesto Kid
Pwned.
June 13, 2008 at 9:39 pm
ari
Seriously, look at d’s link above. The video is beautiful.
June 13, 2008 at 9:41 pm
The Modesto Kid
(Oh also: you want to know what is currently my favorite Dylan song? Even if you don’t I’ll tell you: it is “Two Soldiers” from 1993’s “World Gone Wrong”. It is a Civil War ballad about two men in the Northern army, attacking a hill held by the Southern army and being killed. Dylan’s rendition of it is just one of the most profoundly moving songs I’ve ever heard.)
June 13, 2008 at 9:46 pm
The Modesto Kid
You’re right, the video d links to is a lovely performance and is (unlike the Steve Allen Show clip) shot by a competent cameraman.
June 14, 2008 at 7:19 am
Vance Maverick
Excellent, Ari! We’ll make a scholar of you yet. When you start finding things on disorganized Dylan fansites written in Italian, you’ll know you’re one of us.
June 14, 2008 at 8:07 am
Vance Maverick
Um, am I the only one to be bothered by the fact that the video d links to leaves off the last verse? We never find out when is the proper time for our tears.
June 14, 2008 at 9:05 am
The Modesto Kid
I have a link I filed away 4 years ago to the archives of a listserv at SUNY Buffalo, which my notes indicate was to a Baltimore newspaper article from the time of the Carroll killing, titled “Rich Brute Slays Mother of 10”: http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9803e&L=hwy61-l&F=&S=&P=2299
Alas I did not file the article itself, and now that listserv’s archives appear to have gone away. A Google search for the article’s title reveals nothing. Any ideas? Has this article now gone the way of all electronic media?
June 14, 2008 at 10:29 am
pawn | Hottags
[…] “Only a Pawn in Their Game”d put a link to the above in the comments of the Medgar Evers post. Having never seen this video before (see here for a more complete accounting of my cultural illiteracy), I found my breath taken away by the awesomeness of the young …The Edge of the American West – https://edgeofthewest.wordpress.com […]
June 14, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Vance Maverick
Here’s somebody’s transcription of the article — you omitted from the title the all-important specification of race.
June 14, 2008 at 5:37 pm
The Modesto Kid
Thanks, Vance — that heightens a suspicion of mine about the Mother Jones article. “struck her on the shoulder with the cane” sounds totally different from “rained blows on the head and back of Mrs. Carroll”. I’m not sure what Ian Frazier’s incentive is to minimize Zantzinger’s actions but it seems to me like that’s what he’s trying to do.
June 15, 2008 at 8:23 am
drip
Everyone should be up to speed on Bob/Nina cultural literacy after a listen to this. I couldn’t find her covering a Dr Seuss lyric, but I’ll keep looking.
January 9, 2009 at 8:31 pm
diamond-ringed finger « The Edge of the American West
[…] mini-thought, pop culture obsessions, raw material, stuff | by Vance Via the Modesto Kid, William Zantzinger has […]
January 9, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Michael Turner
“I know it’s like, no duh, but Dylan’s stuff from the mid-60s is just crushingly good. And I don’t even really like folk music.”
Who says he was a folkie?
I have it on unimpeachable authority (a red diaper baby plus her parents) that Dylan was never a folk musician. Inauthentic, doncha know.
You may now discuss whether saying so is tantamount to “hating on Dylan.” In the meantime, I’ll put on the headphones and crank up most authentic band to ever come out of the American South: The Rolling Stones.
Good artists borrow, great artists steal, greatness is what matters in art, and theft is therefore property.
I think Pablo Picasso said that.
January 9, 2009 at 10:20 pm
ari
Because of Vance’s post, I just watched this video again. Breathtaking.