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Meteorological Music


In 1975 Bob Dylan wrote a great song called Hurricane, based on the injustices done to boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. A great song.

But few people know that Dylan went through many drafts based on other, little-known, people from many different walks of life before arriving at a song he could feel comfortable with. For instance...

His first choice for the tune was a pretty young prostitute he'd met in a bar in New Orleans. That song was titled: Wanda "Warm Front" Brown.

Then he thought Tiny "Tornado" White would make for a great subject for a song but that was before the Ajax people threatened to sue.

Next he considered writing a song about Bobby "Blizzard" King but the folks at Dairy Queen said uh-uh.

Not to be deterred Bob then came up with some lyrics about Bob "Hail The Size of Golf Balls" Bryant but decided a song about worshiping little white orbs just wouldn't swing.

Then he penned a ditty about Peter "Ice Pellets" Jenkins but his publisher gave him the cold shoulder.

The tune Robbie "Rainy Season" Jones was a washout.

And an attempt to set music to Dan "Dust Storm" Dandy was simply swept aside.

He came really close with Tony "Tornado" and Dawn but something like that had already been done.

Then one day he was eating a rueben sandwich at Carter's Restaurant on the south side of Chicago with Jim Croce who was trying to spit into the wind and the rest is musical history!

Comments

Jon Hanson said…
And thankfully that song turned out ok.

It was a much bigger hit than the b-side, written about the struggles of Steve "Kind of a Sleet Thing" Stevenson.

SD
simpledudecomplexworld.blogspot.com
nonamedufus said…
Simple Dude: That song is so obscure I think it may only be available on bootlegs.
Anonymous said…
I wish somebody would name a song after me.

Oh wait, they already did. The movie Grease:

"Sandie, baby, I'm in misery"

Then the hotdog jumps into the bun.

Ugh.
Canadian Blend said…
Is it "Touch Me Babe" that ends on the same four-note punch as the old Ajax jingle?

I know it's one of The Doors songs that seems to end "stronger than dirt"... I just can't recall which.
nonamedufus said…
Quirks: I'm kinda partial to "look at me, I'm Sandra Dee".

And as for the hot dog, I said that somewhere. I think it was at the drive-in.
nonamedufus said…
Cdn. Blend: You got it in one, sir.
00dozo said…
Maybe he could do a song about Christine "Dense Fog" O'Donnell?
nonamedufus said…
00dozo: Yeah, or maybe Mel "The Velvet Fog" Torme!
nonamedufus said…
00dozo: I wonder if Dense Fog would affect The Velvet Fog's voice?
Shawn said…
I was thinking of a song about Shawn "Cloudy tonight with a chance of flurries. Scattered snow on Tuesday with a high of -9. Winds westerly at 20km/hour. It's currently -3 degrees and snowing." Ohara.
nonamedufus said…
Shawn: I tried googling it and just couldn't find it. Imagine having a nickname longer than your right arm!
00dozo said…
dufus: Hmmm...I don't know - they may both get lost in Foggy Bottom.
;-)
nonamedufus said…
00dozo: Then they'd be the Foggy Bottom Boys! Oh, yeah. That's Soggy Bottom Boys. Well. either way, I think they'd hit bottom.
Linda Medrano said…
Dufus, this lost me so completely I am going out to do yard work. Thanks.
nonamedufus said…
Linda: Happy to help. (You see there was this guy called Hurricane...)
Nicky said…
Heheheh! Loved Bob "Hail The Size of Golf Balls" Bryant!

Now, please finish the story. There was this guy called Hurricane...

Yes? And then what? Please don't leave us dangling like Bob!
nonamedufus said…
Nicky: hahaha, love it. Maybe you could explain things to Linda. Finish the story?

Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For something that he never done
Put him in a prison cell but one time he could-a
been
The champion of the world.

How's that for a start?
Well, that was informative. I Googled Carter to find out more and now I want to see the movie about Hurricane. (As well as track down the Dylan song.) See... you're always teaching me something new, Dufus!
nonamedufus said…
Boom Boom: Just when I thought you knew it all, Boom Boom. In all seriousness it's a fascinating story.
Nice history here, both thorough and accurate. Curiously, though, you failed to mention where Dylan got his inspiration for his biggest hit, "Blowin' in the Wind." In the early 60s, as a young man, he was down in Times Square in March and saw something that gave him the idea for song title. The rest of it came to him rather quickly after that. This was before the mayor cleaned up Times Square, of course.
nonamedufus said…
Mike: That's odd. I knew he got the inspiration in New York City. But I thought it was based on the after effects of a three-bean salad and cabbage roll dinner at Suze Rotolo's place. Huh.
K A B L O O E Y said…
MikeWJ: that'd have to be one gale force wind.
nonamedufus said…
KABLOOEY: Eh? Oh, sorry. don't let me interrupt you and Mike.

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