Hurricane (song)
Encyclopedia
"Hurricane" is a protest song
by Bob Dylan
co-written with Jacques Levy
, about the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
. It compiles alleged acts of racism
and profiling against Carter, which Dylan describes as leading to a false trial and conviction.
during a robbery at the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey
in 1966. Carter and Artis were found guilty of the murders, which were widely reported as racially motivated, and both were sentenced to four consecutive life terms. In the years that followed, a substantial amount of controversy emerged over the case, ranging from allegations of faulty evidence and questionable eyewitness testimony to an unfair trial. In his autobiography, Carter maintained his innocence, and his story eventually led Dylan to visit him in Rahway State Prison
in Woodbridge Township
, New Jersey
.
Dylan had written topical ballads such as "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
" and "The Death of Emmett Till
" early in his career, but according to Jacques Levy
:
After meeting with Carter in prison and later with a group of his supporters, Dylan began to write "Hurricane". The song was one of his few "protest songs" during the 1970s and proved to be his fourth most successful single of the decade, reaching #33 on the Billboard chart and #43 in the UK chart.
's lawyers that references to Alfred Bello and Arthur Dexter Bradley as having "robbed the bodies" could result in a lawsuit. Neither Bello nor Bradley were ever accused of such acts. Because there was too much leakage on the multitracks to make a vocal "punch in", Dylan decided to re-record the entire song. At this time, Dylan was already rehearsing for his upcoming tour, and the musicians from the Rolling Thunder Revue
were still at his disposal. Dylan took them back into the studio, and a new, faster version of "Hurricane" was recorded again with Don Meehan at the board, with Ronee Blakley
providing a harmony vocal. There were no edits in the song that ran over eight minutes. Even though some offending lyrics were rewritten, the song still drew some legal action, from eyewitness Patricia Graham Valentine. Her lawsuit was dismissed by a federal district court
and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
affirmed the dismissal.
Even with the revised lyrics, "Hurricane" still raised controversy. The song included a description of Carter as the "number one contender"; according to the May 1966 issue of Ring Magazine, he was ranked ninth around the time of his arrest and had never been ranked higher than third. Reporters for the Herald News
, a New Jersey
newspaper published not far from the scene of the crime, questioned Dylan's objectivity at the time of the song's release and accused him of excessive poetic license and of ignoring Carter's criminal history and evidence of his temper and confrontational rhetoric.
for Carter in New York City's Madison Square Garden
, raising $100,000. The following year, they played another benefit at the Houston Astrodome. Dylan met with managers Richard Flanzer and Roy Silver, who provided Stevie Wonder
, Ringo Starr
and Dr. John
for the concert. After expenses were paid, however, the Houston event failed to raise any money.
Despite winning the right to a new trial, Carter and Artis were once again found guilty. On February 9, 1976, Carter was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Dylan, and the other high-profile supporters, did not attend the trial. In 1985 Federal Judge
H. Lee Sarokin of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
, ruled that Carter had not received a fair trial and set aside the conviction, commenting that the prosecution had been "based on racism rather than reason and concealment rather than disclosure." In 1988, after the prosecution said they would not seek a third trial and filed a motion to dismiss, a Superior Court judge dropped all charges against Carter.
The song was published on the album Desire in January 1976, making the Carter case known to a broad public. "Hurricane" is credited with harvesting popular support for Carter's defense.
The song features Scarlet Rivera
on violin
and Vinnie Bell
on Danelectro Bellzouki
12-string guitar.
, Middle Class Rut
and the Milltown Brothers
. A Hebrew
language adaptation of the song, called "Ms. Sara the Neighbour", was recorded by Mashina
for their 1993 album "Si Ha-Regesh".
about Carter's life. It is also featured in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused
, during the scene where the characters are entering the Emporium, a pool hall
popular among the teenagers.
The song is featured in two Seth McFarlane works. In "McStroke
", the eighth episode of Family Guy
s sixth season, it is featured in a scene where Stewie
, disguised as a high-schooler, reveals his identity and is leaving the school naked. In "Backstage with Bob Dylan", a segment of Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
, Muhammad Ali
appears in response to Dylan claiming to be the "greatest", and then asks him why he didn't play the song.
During UFC 100
, Alan Belcher
played this song as his entrance music in the opening fight of the maincard on July 11, 2009, in which he went on to lose via a controversial split decision against Yoshihiro Akiyama
.
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
by Bob Dylan
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...
co-written with Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director, and clinical psychologist.Levy was born in New York City in 1935, and attended its City College. He received a doctorate in psychology from Michigan State University. Levy was a trained psychoanalyst, certified by the Menninger Institute...
, about the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
Rubin Carter
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter fought professionally as a middleweight boxer from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, he was arrested for a triple homicide in the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey...
. It compiles alleged acts of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and profiling against Carter, which Dylan describes as leading to a false trial and conviction.
Background
Carter and a man named John Artis had been charged with a triple murderMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
during a robbery at the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
in 1966. Carter and Artis were found guilty of the murders, which were widely reported as racially motivated, and both were sentenced to four consecutive life terms. In the years that followed, a substantial amount of controversy emerged over the case, ranging from allegations of faulty evidence and questionable eyewitness testimony to an unfair trial. In his autobiography, Carter maintained his innocence, and his story eventually led Dylan to visit him in Rahway State Prison
Rahway State Prison
East Jersey State Prison , originally Rahway State Prison, was established in 1896 as the first reformatory in New Jersey. It is a maximum-security institution operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections, housing approximately 1,900 men .The prison is actually located in Avenel in...
in Woodbridge Township
Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
-Communities:Many distinct communities exist within Woodbridge Township. Several of these communities have their own ZIP codes, and many are listed by the United States Census Bureau as census-designated places, but they are all unincorporated areas and neighborhoods within the Township that,...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Dylan had written topical ballads such as "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is a topical song written by the American musician Bob Dylan. Recorded on October 23, 1963, the song was released on Dylan's 1964 album The Times They Are a-Changin and gives a generally factual account of the killing of 51-year-old barmaid Hattie Carroll by...
" and "The Death of Emmett Till
The Death of Emmett Till
"The Death of Emmett Till", also known as "The Ballad of Emmett Till", is a song by American musician Bob Dylan about the murder of Emmett Till, which occurred on August 28, 1955. Till, a 14-year-old African American, was killed on August 28, 1955 by two white men, reportedly after flirting with a...
" early in his career, but according to Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director, and clinical psychologist.Levy was born in New York City in 1935, and attended its City College. He received a doctorate in psychology from Michigan State University. Levy was a trained psychoanalyst, certified by the Menninger Institute...
:
- Bob wasn't sure that he could write a song [about Carter].... He was just filled with all these feelings about Hurricane. He couldn't make the first step. I think the first step was putting the song in a total storytelling mode. I don't remember whose idea it was to do that. But really, the beginning of the song is like stage directions, like what you would read in a script: 'Pistol shots ring out in a barroom night.... Here comes the story of the Hurricane.' Boom! Titles. You know, Bob loves movies, and he can write these movies that take place in eight to ten minutes, yet seem as full or fuller than regular movies.
After meeting with Carter in prison and later with a group of his supporters, Dylan began to write "Hurricane". The song was one of his few "protest songs" during the 1970s and proved to be his fourth most successful single of the decade, reaching #33 on the Billboard chart and #43 in the UK chart.
Controversy and re-recording
Dylan was forced to re-record the song, with altered lyrics, after concerns were raised by ColumbiaColumbia 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...
's lawyers that references to Alfred Bello and Arthur Dexter Bradley as having "robbed the bodies" could result in a lawsuit. Neither Bello nor Bradley were ever accused of such acts. Because there was too much leakage on the multitracks to make a vocal "punch in", Dylan decided to re-record the entire song. At this time, Dylan was already rehearsing for his upcoming tour, and the musicians from the Rolling Thunder Revue
Rolling Thunder Revue
The Rolling Thunder Revue was a famed U.S. concert tour consisting of a traveling caravan of musicians, headed by Bob Dylan, that took place in late 1975 and early 1976; the prevailing theory was that the tour was named after the Native American shaman Rolling Thunder. Others maintained that tour...
were still at his disposal. Dylan took them back into the studio, and a new, faster version of "Hurricane" was recorded again with Don Meehan at the board, with Ronee Blakley
Ronee Blakley
Ronee Blakley is an American entertainer. Though an accomplished singer, songwriter, composer, producer and director, she is perhaps best known as an actress...
providing a harmony vocal. There were no edits in the song that ran over eight minutes. Even though some offending lyrics were rewritten, the song still drew some legal action, from eyewitness Patricia Graham Valentine. Her lawsuit was dismissed by a federal district court
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the federal United States district court with jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida....
and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Middle District of Alabama...
affirmed the dismissal.
Even with the revised lyrics, "Hurricane" still raised controversy. The song included a description of Carter as the "number one contender"; according to the May 1966 issue of Ring Magazine, he was ranked ninth around the time of his arrest and had never been ranked higher than third. Reporters for the Herald News
Herald News
The Herald News is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by North Jersey Media Group, which also publishes its sister paper, the Hackensack, New Jersey-based broadsheet The Record. The paper is published in Woodland Park , New Jersey, and focuses on the Passaic County, New Jersey area...
, a New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
newspaper published not far from the scene of the crime, questioned Dylan's objectivity at the time of the song's release and accused him of excessive poetic license and of ignoring Carter's criminal history and evidence of his temper and confrontational rhetoric.
Benefit concert and new trial
During the fall tour preceding Desires release, Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Revue played a benefit concertBenefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
for Carter in New York City's Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, raising $100,000. The following year, they played another benefit at the Houston Astrodome. Dylan met with managers Richard Flanzer and Roy Silver, who provided Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
and Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
for the concert. After expenses were paid, however, the Houston event failed to raise any money.
Despite winning the right to a new trial, Carter and Artis were once again found guilty. On February 9, 1976, Carter was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Dylan, and the other high-profile supporters, did not attend the trial. In 1985 Federal Judge
Federal judge
Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state / provincial / local level.-Brazil:In Brazil, federal judges of first instance are chosen exclusively by public contest...
H. Lee Sarokin of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of New Jersey....
, ruled that Carter had not received a fair trial and set aside the conviction, commenting that the prosecution had been "based on racism rather than reason and concealment rather than disclosure." In 1988, after the prosecution said they would not seek a third trial and filed a motion to dismiss, a Superior Court judge dropped all charges against Carter.
The song was published on the album Desire in January 1976, making the Carter case known to a broad public. "Hurricane" is credited with harvesting popular support for Carter's defense.
The song features Scarlet Rivera
Scarlet Rivera
Scarlet Rivera is an American violinist. She is best known for her work with Bob Dylan, in particular on his album Desire and as part of the Rolling Thunder Revue.-Early career:...
on violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and Vinnie Bell
Vinnie Bell
Vinnie Bell is a leading American session guitarist and pioneer of electronic effects in pop music.He played in nightclubs in New York City in the late 1950s...
on Danelectro Bellzouki
Danelectro
Danelectro is an American manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units.-History:...
12-string guitar.
Cover versions
The song has been covered by Ani DiFrancoAni DiFranco
Ani DiFranco is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums, and is widely considered a feminist icon.-Biography:...
, Middle Class Rut
Middle Class Rut
Middle Class Rut, also known as MC Rut, is an American alternative rock band consisting of vocalist/guitarist Zack Lopez and vocalist/drummer Sean Stockham. They were formed in Sacramento, California in December 2006...
and the Milltown Brothers
Milltown Brothers
Milltown Brothers are an English Indie band from Colne, Lancashire.-Career:Their first release, in 1989, was the "Coming From The Mill" EP which became single of the week in the NME magazine, and featured the songs "Roses", "We've Got Time" and "Something On My Mind"...
. A Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
language adaptation of the song, called "Ms. Sara the Neighbour", was recorded by Mashina
Mashina
Mashina are an Israeli pop rock band which was active from 1984 to 1995, and then again from 2003 to the present. The band is considered by many to be Israel's most important and influential rock band...
for their 1993 album "Si Ha-Regesh".
In popular culture
The song is featured in the 1999 film The HurricaneThe Hurricane (1999 film)
The Hurricane is a 1999 biographical film directed by Norman Jewison, and starring Denzel Washington. The script was adapted by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon from the books Lazarus and the Hurricane by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton and The Sixteenth Round by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.The film...
about Carter's life. It is also featured in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused
Dazed and Confused
"Dazed and Confused" is a song by Jake Holmes, which was covered by The Yardbirds, and later reworked by Led Zeppelin who hold a separate copyright on the song.-Jake Holmes:...
, during the scene where the characters are entering the Emporium, a pool hall
Pool hall
A billiard/billiards, pool or snooker hall is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards...
popular among the teenagers.
The song is featured in two Seth McFarlane works. In "McStroke
McStroke
"McStroke" is the eighth episode of season six of the FOX animated series Family Guy, which originally aired on January 13, 2008. The title is a play on McDonald's terminology of putting "Mc" in front of common words...
", the eighth episode of Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
s sixth season, it is featured in a scene where Stewie
Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Once obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, and the brother of Chris and Meg....
, disguised as a high-schooler, reveals his identity and is leaving the school naked. In "Backstage with Bob Dylan", a segment of Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy is an American cartoon web series created by Seth MacFarlane.-Background:The series, which consists of comic cartoon shorts unrelated to each other, is released on YouTube. The series, which aired several episodes a month, was originally sponsored by...
, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
appears in response to Dylan claiming to be the "greatest", and then asks him why he didn't play the song.
During UFC 100
UFC 100
UFC 100 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:...
, Alan Belcher
Alan Belcher
John Alan Belcher , is an American mixed martial artist who fights in the middleweight division of the UFC. He fights out of Remix MMA in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he is also the owner. Belcher holds notable wins over Jorge Santiago, Jason MacDonald, Ed Herman, Dennis Kang, and Patrick Côté...
played this song as his entrance music in the opening fight of the maincard on July 11, 2009, in which he went on to lose via a controversial split decision against Yoshihiro Akiyama
Yoshihiro Akiyama
, born Choo Sung-hoon , is a Japanese mixed martial artist and judoka. He is a fourth-generation Japanese of Korean descent and acquired Japanese nationality in 2001....
.