an interesting blast from the past...
because of who is writing about who, certainly
but also because of the issues and language
raised in what was at the time
a journal of record for musicians
and listeners...
The Art of Bob Dylan's
``Hattie Carroll''
by Phil Ochs
From Broadside 48 July 20 1964; page 2
`After Judy Collins' N.Y. Town Hall concert in which she
performed Bob
Dylan's ``Hattie Carroll'' (BROADSIDE #43),
I overheard a well-known
commercial folk singer criticizing
it as ``another one of those black
and white songs.'' Another
act I know said the song was no good because
it was too preachy.
It's a sad comment on the folk community when normally
intelligent
people can totally misunderstand such an
important work. I believe this
song could add a new
dimension to topical songs that has been missing
too often
in the past. I'd like to use the song as an example to some
of the writers who contribute to BROADSIDE.
There are many pitfalls that Dylan might have fallen into
while
treating such a delicate and difficult subject. It would
have been easy
to describe the event and ask, ``Wasn't that
a terrible shame, don't
let her die in vain'', and put the usual
sarcastic ``land of the free''
line at the end. I think this all
too simple artless approach is what
the LITTLE SANDY
REVIEW critics are rightfully opposed to.
In line after poetic line Dylan brings out all the pathos
and irony of a
tragic crime. He never gets trapped trying
to fit a thought into a
prescribed rhyme form. What more
effective beginning could he have
chosen than to use the
sound of the name William Zantzinger and the
description
of the weapon, ``with a cane that he twirled round his
diamond ring finger,'' to carry over to the man?
He gives the setting in the first verse and asks that those who
would
shed a tear over the murder to wait and listen to more.
In the second
verse he describes Zantzinger's connections
with ``high office relations
in the politics of Maryland who
reacted to his deed with a shrug of the
shoulder.'' Once again
he deftly understates the evil, never making the
mistake
of calling him a brute or coward and ruining the narration.
Dylan describes Hattie Carroll as a ``maid of the kitchen'',
not a
downtrodden maid or a poor Negro woman. He brings out the pathos or her
life perfectly with ``she never sat once at the head of the table.''
The description of the murder has to be one or the classics
of American
folk music: ``the cane sailed through the air
and came down through the
room, doomed and determined
to destroy all the gentle, and she never
did nothing to
William Zantzinger.'' I listened to Bob's third record
with
him before it was released, and the song that moved him
most was
Hattie Carroll.
read the rest of the review here
ps - the original review came with this PS..
Note:
Bob Dylan is to be at Newport Folk Festival
workshop on topical songs
Fri. afternoon, July 24, along
with Phil Ochs, Malvina Reynolds, Johnny
Cash, Jimmy
Driftwood, Frank Proffitt, The Chad Mitchell Trio, and
others. Pete Seeger will host this workshop which will
deal with
Broadsides old and new.'
learn more about
Phil Ochs fast here
