Good as I Been to You
Encyclopedia
Good as I Been to You is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan
's 28th studio album
, released by Columbia Records
in November 1992.
It is composed entirely of traditional folk songs and covers
, and is Dylan's first entirely solo
, acoustic
album since Another Side of Bob Dylan
in 1964. It is also his first collection not to feature any original compositions.
On the charts, Good as I Been to You reached #51 in the US and #18 in the UK, and helped to restore Dylan's critical standing following the disappointing Under the Red Sky
.
in June 1988, traditional covers became a feature at virtually every concert, often as part of an acoustic set. After recording Under the Red Sky
in 1990, Dylan would not release an original song until 1997, and during that time, he would increasingly rely on his stockpile of covers for 'fresh' material. Dylan called these covers "the music that's true for me."
According to Dylan's friend Susan Ross, Good as I Been to You began life as a contractual filler. Dylan had scheduled two weeks at Chicago's Acme Recording Studio sometime in 1992, hiring long-time associate David Bromberg
as his producer. An album's worth of songs, including the contemporary Christian ballad "Rise Again," were recorded at those sessions with the accompaniment of a full band. Bromberg was left to mix the recordings while Dylan completed a brief, 11-show tour in mainland Europe. There are several known songs to be recorded during these sessions, including "I'll Rise Again" (trad.), "Nobody's Fault but Mine
" (Blind Willie Johnson), "Lady From Baltimore" (Tim Hardin), "Polly Vaughan" (trad.), "Casey Jones" (trad.), "Duncan and Brady
" (trad.), "Kaatskill Serenade" (David Bromberg), "World Of Fools" (David Bromberg), "Sloppy Drunk", and "Miss the Mississippi."
Prior to the release of Volume 8 of Dylan's Bootleg Series, Tell Tale Signs, the only songs known to be circulating from these sessions are "Kaatskill Serenade", "Sloppy Drunk", "Polly Vaughan
", and "Miss the Mississippi". Duncan and Brady was included on CD3 of that set.
When he returned to Malibu in mid-July, Dylan decided to record some solo acoustic material in his garage studio. The intention was to break up the Bromberg recordings with a few solo performances in between. As those garage sessions progressed, plans were changed, and the Bromberg recordings were pulled from the album.
Neither Dylan nor Bromberg have explained why the Bromberg recordings were rejected and put away — they have never been released — and whether Dylan actually disliked them is unknown. It was made clear that Dylan was pleased with the results he was getting in his garage studio, particularly in the minimal production work given to the recordings. Producer credit was given to Debbie Gold, a friend of Dylan's who took a hands-off approach to the entire proceedings.
" were part of the British
and Irish
tradition of folk songs. "Little Maggie" was a popular bluegrass standard. "Diamond Joe" was well-known thanks to fellow folk revivalist Ramblin' Jack Elliott
. "Frankie and Albert
" and "Sittin' on Top of the World" both had long, deep roots in folk-blues.
Dylan also covered songs that weren't authentically traditional, such as "Tomorrow Night" (best known for Lonnie Johnson's
hit version in 1947 and a version by Elvis Presley
released in 1965) and Stephen Foster's
"Hard Times."
Though Dylan is credited with all of the arrangements, several arrangements clearly belong to other artists, including the Texas songster Mance Lipscomb. A number of publications, including Folk Roots, criticized the album for making this error. Lipscomb's posthumous oral biography, "I Say Me for a Parable," edited by Glen Alyn, notes that Dylan listened to Mance play backstage at Newport in the early '60s and then later took the stage and sang Mance's songs as his own.
, Patti Page
, and Dean Martin
. The most popular version was recorded by the Duprees, one of the final Italian doo wop groups to make a wave in the early 1960s.
Two years later, the recording appeared in Oliver Stone
's controversial film, Natural Born Killers
.
" shows, drawing much praise for his interpretive skills. A number of critics pointed out that Dylan's voice was now physically ravaged, but the focus was often on the phrasing. "Dylan sounds now, in comparison to his younger self, like one of those ghosts," wrote David Sexton of The Sunday Telegraph, "but a powerful ghost. The effect is not so much nostalgia...as deeply inward."
The inaccurate song credits created some controversy for Dylan. Nearly half of the songs were incorrectly credited, and in one case, Dylan faced legal action when Australian folksinger Mick Slocum sued Dylan's music publisher over the arrangement credit in "Jim Jones." Slocum recorded his arrangement with his band, The Original Bushwhackers, in 1975, and Dylan's publisher was forced to concede their error.
Good as I Been to You was successful enough to warrant a sequel, and in less than a year, Dylan would return to the studio with World Gone Wrong
.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's 28th studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
, released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in November 1992.
It is composed entirely of traditional folk songs and covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
, and is Dylan's first entirely solo
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
, acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
album since Another Side of Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released August 8, 1964 by Columbia Records....
in 1964. It is also his first collection not to feature any original compositions.
On the charts, Good as I Been to You reached #51 in the US and #18 in the UK, and helped to restore Dylan's critical standing following the disappointing Under the Red Sky
Under the Red Sky
Under the Red Sky is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 27th studio album, released by Columbia Records in September 1990.The album was largely greeted as a strange and disappointing follow-up to 1989's critically acclaimed Oh Mercy...
.
Recording sessions
Since launching the Never Ending TourNever Ending Tour
The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan’s endless touring schedule since June 7, 1988. During the past 23+ years, musicians have come and gone and the band has continued to evolve...
in June 1988, traditional covers became a feature at virtually every concert, often as part of an acoustic set. After recording Under the Red Sky
Under the Red Sky
Under the Red Sky is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 27th studio album, released by Columbia Records in September 1990.The album was largely greeted as a strange and disappointing follow-up to 1989's critically acclaimed Oh Mercy...
in 1990, Dylan would not release an original song until 1997, and during that time, he would increasingly rely on his stockpile of covers for 'fresh' material. Dylan called these covers "the music that's true for me."
According to Dylan's friend Susan Ross, Good as I Been to You began life as a contractual filler. Dylan had scheduled two weeks at Chicago's Acme Recording Studio sometime in 1992, hiring long-time associate David Bromberg
David Bromberg
David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Bromberg has an eclectic style, playing bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll equally well. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the...
as his producer. An album's worth of songs, including the contemporary Christian ballad "Rise Again," were recorded at those sessions with the accompaniment of a full band. Bromberg was left to mix the recordings while Dylan completed a brief, 11-show tour in mainland Europe. There are several known songs to be recorded during these sessions, including "I'll Rise Again" (trad.), "Nobody's Fault but Mine
It's Nobody's Fault But Mine
"It's Nobody's Fault but Mine" or "Nobody's Fault but Mine" is a traditional song first recorded by gospel blues artist Blind Willie Johnson in 1927. The song is a solo performance with Johnson singing and playing slide guitar...
" (Blind Willie Johnson), "Lady From Baltimore" (Tim Hardin), "Polly Vaughan" (trad.), "Casey Jones" (trad.), "Duncan and Brady
Duncan and Brady
"Duncan and Brady", also known as "Been on the Job Too Long", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", or simply "Brady", is a traditional murder ballad about the shooting of a policeman, Brady, by a bartender, Duncan. The song's lyrics stemmed from actual events, involving the shooting of James Brady in...
" (trad.), "Kaatskill Serenade" (David Bromberg), "World Of Fools" (David Bromberg), "Sloppy Drunk", and "Miss the Mississippi."
Prior to the release of Volume 8 of Dylan's Bootleg Series, Tell Tale Signs, the only songs known to be circulating from these sessions are "Kaatskill Serenade", "Sloppy Drunk", "Polly Vaughan
Polly Vaughn
-Synopsis:A man, sometimes called Johnny Randle, goes out hunting for birds. Usually this is described as being in the evening or by moonlight in the rain. He sees something white in the bushes. Thinking this is a swan, he shoots. To his horror he discovers he has killed his true love, Polly...
", and "Miss the Mississippi". Duncan and Brady was included on CD3 of that set.
When he returned to Malibu in mid-July, Dylan decided to record some solo acoustic material in his garage studio. The intention was to break up the Bromberg recordings with a few solo performances in between. As those garage sessions progressed, plans were changed, and the Bromberg recordings were pulled from the album.
Neither Dylan nor Bromberg have explained why the Bromberg recordings were rejected and put away — they have never been released — and whether Dylan actually disliked them is unknown. It was made clear that Dylan was pleased with the results he was getting in his garage studio, particularly in the minimal production work given to the recordings. Producer credit was given to Debbie Gold, a friend of Dylan's who took a hands-off approach to the entire proceedings.
Song selection
Without the use of notes or lyrics, Dylan recorded a wide range of traditional songs. "Froggy Went A-Courtin'," "Blackjack Davey," and the anti-recruiting "Arthur McBrideArthur McBride
"Arthur McBride" is an Irish folk song. It was first collected around 1840 in Limerick, Ireland by Patrick Weston Joyce; also in Donegal by George Petrie. Several versions are found in Scotland, Suffolk and Devon - the tunes differing slightly...
" were part of the British
British music
British music could refer to:* Music of the United Kingdom* English music* Irish music* Scottish music* Welsh music* Celtic music...
and Irish
Music of Ireland
Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...
tradition of folk songs. "Little Maggie" was a popular bluegrass standard. "Diamond Joe" was well-known thanks to fellow folk revivalist Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Ramblin' Jack Elliott is an American folk singer and performer.-Life and career:Elliot Charles Adnopoz was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents in 1931. Elliott grew up inspired by the rodeos at Madison Square Garden, and wanted to be a cowboy...
. "Frankie and Albert
Frankie and Albert
"Frankie and Johnny" is a traditional American popular song. It tells the story of a woman, Frankie, who finds that her man Johnny was "making love to" another woman and shoots him dead...
" and "Sittin' on Top of the World" both had long, deep roots in folk-blues.
Dylan also covered songs that weren't authentically traditional, such as "Tomorrow Night" (best known for Lonnie Johnson's
Lonnie Johnson
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson was an American blues and jazz singer/guitarist and songwriter who pioneered the role of jazz guitar and is recognized as the first to play single-string guitar solos...
hit version in 1947 and a version by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
released in 1965) and Stephen Foster's
Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
"Hard Times."
Though Dylan is credited with all of the arrangements, several arrangements clearly belong to other artists, including the Texas songster Mance Lipscomb. A number of publications, including Folk Roots, criticized the album for making this error. Lipscomb's posthumous oral biography, "I Say Me for a Parable," edited by Glen Alyn, notes that Dylan listened to Mance play backstage at Newport in the early '60s and then later took the stage and sang Mance's songs as his own.
Outtakes
When time came to sequence the album, producer Debbie Gold was unable to convince Dylan to include "You Belong To Me." Though it wasn't authentically traditional, it was popular enough to be covered by Jo StaffordJo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, and Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
. The most popular version was recorded by the Duprees, one of the final Italian doo wop groups to make a wave in the early 1960s.
Two years later, the recording appeared in Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's controversial film, Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 crime/black comedy film directed by Oliver Stone about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and psychopathic serial killers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media...
.
Aftermath
The response to Good as I Been to You was surprisingly positive, particularly for an album with very modest ambitions. It drew comparisons with the acoustic sets featured in Dylan's "Never Ending TourNever Ending Tour
The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan’s endless touring schedule since June 7, 1988. During the past 23+ years, musicians have come and gone and the band has continued to evolve...
" shows, drawing much praise for his interpretive skills. A number of critics pointed out that Dylan's voice was now physically ravaged, but the focus was often on the phrasing. "Dylan sounds now, in comparison to his younger self, like one of those ghosts," wrote David Sexton of The Sunday Telegraph, "but a powerful ghost. The effect is not so much nostalgia...as deeply inward."
The inaccurate song credits created some controversy for Dylan. Nearly half of the songs were incorrectly credited, and in one case, Dylan faced legal action when Australian folksinger Mick Slocum sued Dylan's music publisher over the arrangement credit in "Jim Jones." Slocum recorded his arrangement with his band, The Original Bushwhackers, in 1975, and Dylan's publisher was forced to concede their error.
Good as I Been to You was successful enough to warrant a sequel, and in less than a year, Dylan would return to the studio with World Gone Wrong
World Gone Wrong
World Gone Wrong is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 29th studio album, released by Columbia Records in October 1993.It was Dylan's second consecutive collection of only traditional folk songs, performed acoustically with guitar and harmonica...
.
Track listing
All songs are Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan, except where noted.- "Frankie & Albert" (Trad., arranged by Mississippi John HurtMississippi John HurtJohn Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt was an American country blues singer and guitarist.Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine...
) – 3:50 - "Jim JonesJim Jones at Botany Bay"Jim Jones at Botany Bay" is a traditional Australian folk ballad first published in 1907. The narrator, Jim Jones, is found guilty of an unnamed crime and sentenced to transportation. En route, his ship is attacked by pirates, but the crew holds them off...
" (Trad., arranged by Mick SlocumMick SlocumMick Slocum is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club St. Finbarr's and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team in the 1980s and 1990s.-References:-Teams:...
) – 3:52 - "Blackjack Davey" – 5:47
- "Canadee-i-o" – 4:20
- "Sittin' on Top of the WorldSitting on Top of the World"Sitting on Top of the World" is a folk-blues song written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon, core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, a popular country blues band of the 1930s...
" – 4:27 - "Little Maggie" – 2:52
- "Hard TimesHard Times Come Again No More"Hard Times Come Again No More," is a parlor song by Stephen Foster. It was published in New York by Firth, Pond & Co. in 1854 as Foster's Melodies No. 28...
" (Stephen FosterStephen FosterStephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
, arranged by De DannanDe DannanDe Dannan was an Irish folk music group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin , Alec Finn , Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh and Charlie Piggott as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane to join the band...
) – 4:31 - "Step It Up and Go" – 2:54
- "Tomorrow Night" (Sam CoslowSam CoslowSam Coslow was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher, and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager...
& Will Grosz) – 3:42 - "Arthur McBrideArthur McBride"Arthur McBride" is an Irish folk song. It was first collected around 1840 in Limerick, Ireland by Patrick Weston Joyce; also in Donegal by George Petrie. Several versions are found in Scotland, Suffolk and Devon - the tunes differing slightly...
" (Trad., arranged by Paul BradyPaul BradyPaul Joseph Brady is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age...
) – 6:20 - "You're Gonna Quit Me" (Public Domain) – 2:46
- "Diamond Joe" – 3:14
- "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" – 6:26
- the original album notes incorrectly credit all song arrangements to Bob Dylan.
- the original album notes correctly identify "Hard Times" as public domain, as it was published in 1855, but the author's name has now been listed for complete accuracy.
- the original album notes incorrectly identify "Tomorrow Night" as public domain. It was written in 1939 by Sam Coslow & Will Grosz.
Personnel
- Bob Dylan - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica.
- Micajah Ryan - Mixing
- Jimmy Wachtel - Front Cover Photography
- Stephen Marcussen - Mastering