Issue #88: Subterranean Country
Help me explore an extremely niche corner of Bob Dylan-influenced country.
By Natalie
“Subterranean Homesick Blues” is one of Bob Dylan’s most iconic songs, of course, and one of his more rock and less folk entries. Dylan said he drew much of the song’s talking blues patter from Chuck Berry’s “Too Much Monkey Business,” along with early scat singing, and that claim is believable enough when you listen to the Berry. Perhaps this is sacrilege, but I’m actually less interested in Bob’s particular alchemy of folk, blues, rock and R&B influences and more intrigued by the fact that at least to my ear, the rock n’ roll song created a template for a number of country songs that followed.
I’m writing this post in part to just get the idea out of my head, and in part to ask for your help because I know there are a lot more songs than the ones listed here that follow this SHB formula: one part blues form (preferably extended or modified in some way, as in the original), one part propulsive, chugging beat, and one part driving, stream of consciousness-style talking blues-esque patter. Tell me (please) that you know what I’m talking about, and if there are any other (country/folk/etc.) songs that you love that fit this particular mold.
“Down The Road Tonight,” Hayes Carll: We’ll get into Carll’s more specific homage later, but this one from his second album is, I think, still connected to SHB even though it’s more of a list song (another classic country form) and the rhythm of his talk-singing is a little different. Basically, and I’m sure Hayes would agree, “Subterranean Homesick Blues” is a bedrock influence on the style that he’s made his signature (I’m not including Corb Lund’s recent song that he explicitly said he modeled on Hayes, but I feel like there’s a little SHB DNA there too).
“Ain’t Goin’ Down ‘Til The Sun Comes Up,” Garth Brooks: Yes, really. Long before Hayes, Garth did his own pretty dang reverent Subterranean-style song (with an actual chorus, naturally). I would love to know Bob’s thoughts on this one, if any.
“Roadrunner,” Kaitlin Butts: This song rules, and it’s one of the only examples I could come up with by a woman artist. It sounds like she’s definitely going for SHB via Hayes, which (as a Hayes fan) is perfectly fine with me :) Plus, the video was filmed at Billy Bob’s!
“Handleman’s Revenge,” Todd Snider: I love the way he’s able to make a bona fide hook out of the talking blues patter — people have been listening to for decades because…it’s really fun to listen to, and so is this!
“Calico County,” Steve Earle: Another more rockish entry — Steve slows his version down a bit, but it’s still that same unmistakable rhythmic shorthand.
“Boots,” Thomas Rhett: This is the song that got me started down this particular road, because I listened to it and…needed to understand the source of this model because I knew Thomas Rhett did not invent it and I didn’t think Hayes Carll did either. Friend of the newsletter and wonderful writer David Cantwell led this Bob amateur to SHB, and now I can share with you that there is a pretty direct connection between Bob Dylan and Thomas Rhett. The world of music is strange and wonderful! (Needless to say, Rhett is very much doing Dylan-via-Garth…)
“Less Honkin’ More Tonkin’,” The Deslondes: Ok, this is my reach pick but hear me out — I do think it’s connected, maybe more as an example of SHB style having been around the country block and back, filtered through the genre a zillion times over. Cantwell aptly points out that it echoes James Hand’s “Little Bitty Slip.” SHB-via-James-Hand-meets-zydeco-meets-“Wipeout”???? Maybe?
“Big Boss Mama,” Tami Neilson: Not really country at all but Tami does country stuff and this is a cool song! Ladies love Bob, as Marissa has written about and there is a whole pod about!!! Listen to the Female Bob Dylan!
“KMAG YOYO,” Hayes Carll: Probably the best known country-ish homage to the song, and the one whose lyrics most closely echo the era-specific angst of the original. The most fun song about PTSD you’ll ever hear…
Tell me all the bajillion songs I’ve missed! I know there are tons, I’m trusting the big brains of our readership to help me connect all these dots :)
This may not be an offshoot you're interested in pursuing, but the first type of song that came to my mind was the '90s white-boy attempted-rap list song: something like Drops of Jupiter, or One Week, or Short Skirt/Long Jacket. The more obvious forebears for those are rap and alternative rock, but I wonder if you can't trace a little influence back to the Subterranean Homesick Blues amalgamation of forms. I feel like there are some Mountain Goats songs that you could describe with the blues and beat parts of your requests as well, though Darnielle tends to prefer endstopped lines too much to really be blues patter.
Ok, now that I've got that out of my head I will see if any better answers come to mind. I'll be chewing on this!
My musical analysis skills are somewhere in the range of poor to nil, but I'm not bad at the looks-like/sounds-like game. Does "Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good)" fit the bill? Jennifer Nettles on lead gives you another female artist.