SONG OF THE DAY
“Lay Lady Lay” by Bob Dylan (Nashville Skyline, Columbia, 1969). Written by Bob Dylan.
WHY TODAY?
Paste Magazine online released an List of The Day (one of their great online features) article titled “10 Songs About Beds” and, of course, my head immediately goes to this classic of classics, but they’re dumb and don’t even mention it. I won’t let this change my impression of Paste as a whole, but the author of this article is certainly on my naughty list now.
Anyhow, when I was trying to find a good video for Dylan’s version of this song on youtube.com, I stumbled across this Magnet & Gemma Hayes version, and I really like it, so I thought I’d give it some props. It’s certainly not better than the orig., but it’s good, a solid interpretation, and nice to hear as a duet with a windsong of a female voice.
INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)
– “Lay Lady Lay” is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his Nashville Skyline album.
– Like many of the tracks on the album, Dylan sings the song in a low croon, rather than in the high nasal singing style associated with his earlier recordings. Dylan attributed his “new” voice to having quit smoking before recording the album, but some unreleased bootleg recordings from the early 1960s reveal that, in fact, Dylan had used a similar singing style before.
– “Lay Lady Lay” was originally written for the soundtrack of the movie Midnight Cowboy, but wasn’t submitted in time to be included in the finished film.
– Dylan’s recording quickly became one of his top U.S. hits, peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single did even better in the United Kingdom where it reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart.
– Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers has stated in interview that Dylan offered the song to them backstage after an appearance by the duo at the Bottom Line in New York. Phil asked Dylan if he had any new songs that they might record, and answering “yes”, Dylan picked up a guitar and proceeded to sing the song so quietly that the Everlys thought they heard Dylan sing “Lay lady lay, lay across my big breasts, babe.” Thinking it was a song about lesbians, Don Everly declined the song, saying “thank you, it’s a great song, but I don’t think we could get away with that.” Dylan did not question them about it and went on to record the track himself. Months later, they heard Dylan’s version on the radio and realized they’d misunderstood the words. The Everlys felt they’d missed a big opportunity and later recorded the song on their EB 84 album.
– The song’s distinctive drum part is performed by Kenny Buttrey, who regarded his contribution to the song as one of his best performances on a record.
– The song is often performed live by Dylan and as a result, was included on the Hard Rain and Before the Flood live albums.
– It also appears on his quintuple-platinum Greatest Hits, Volume II album, as well as on the Masterpieces, Biograph, The Best of Bob Dylan, Vol. 1, and The Essential Bob Dylan compilation albums.
– Many other cover versions of the song have been recorded by numerous performers, including The Byrds, Duran Duran, Cher, Keith Jarrett, Ben E. King, The Isley Brothers, Melanie, Neil Diamond, The Everly Brothers, Richie Havens,
Booker T. & the MG’s, Isaac Hayes (on the 1999 album Tangled Up in Blues: Songs of Bob Dylan), Cassandra Wilson, Magnet and Gemma Hayes (on the 2003 album On Your Side, also featured in the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith).
– Rapper Kid Cudi used the music as a sample on his song “I Be”, found on the mixtape Space Odyssey. The track was renamed “High’s N Lows” on the CuderIsBack mixtape.