Obviously 5 Believers

"Obviously 5 Believers" (also known as "Obviously Five Believers"[3]) is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the last track of side three of his double album Blonde on Blonde (1966), and was the B-side to the single release of "Just Like a Woman" for releases in America and some other countries. The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. It was recorded at Columbia Music Row Studios, in the early morning hours of a 9–10 March 1966 session. Four takes were recorded, although the first two were incomplete. It has been interpreted as a blues song about loneliness, with critics noting similarities in melody and structure to Memphis Minnie's "Chauffeur Blues". Dylan's vocals and the musicianship of the band on the track have both received critical acclaim, although the track is regarded by leading commentators as one of the minor songs on Blonde on Blonde.

"Obviously 5 Believers"
Danish single picture sleeve
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album Blonde on Blonde
ReleasedJune 20, 1966 (1966-06-20)
RecordedMarch 10, 1966
StudioColumbia Studio A, Nashville[1]
Length3:36[2]
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Bob Johnston
Audio
"Obviously 5 Believers" on YouTube

In 2010 the song was included on The Original Mono Recordings. Take 3 was included on the deluxe edition of The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 (2015), and all four takes were included on the Collector's Edition of that album. Dylan first performed "Obviously 5 Believers" live in concert in Palm Desert, California on May 15, 1995. In all, he has played the song in concert 40 times, most recently in 1997.

Background and recording
Robbie Robertson (pictured in 1971) found the Nashville musicians "clique-sh" but felt his performance on "Obviously 5 Believers" was "the track I did that got everyone to accept me".[4]
Charlie McCoy (pictured in 1990) rather than Dylan played harmonica on the track. McCoy said that "what [Dylan] wanted – the riff on it – is not what he does".

In October 1965, Bob Dylan began recording sessions for his seventh studio album in New York.[6] His sixth album, Highway 61 Revisited, had been released on 30 August of that year.[7] The October sessions featured members of the Hawks, who Dylan had been touring with after his performance at the Newport Folk Festival in July.[8] However, after several sessions, Dylan took his producer Bob Johnston's suggestion to relocate recording to Nashville.[9][10] Two musicians from the New York sessions joined the Nashville recordings: Al Kooper and Robbie Robertson.[11] Johnston assembled leading session players to play on the recordings.[12] Dylan had produced an outline version of "Obviously 5 Believers" by 7 March.[13][14]

"Obviously 5 Believers" was recorded in the early morning hours of the 9–10 March 1966 Nashville session under the working title "Black Dog Blues". Sean Wilentz feels that the song is driven by Robertson's guitar, Charlie McCoy's harmonica and Ken Buttrey's drumming.[15][16][5] Dylan sang and played guitar, also accompanied by Kooper (organ), Wayne Moss (electric guitar), Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano), and Henry Strzelecki (electric bass guitar).[17] After an initial breakdown, Dylan complained to the band that the song was "very easy, man" and that he didn't want to spend much time on it.[15][5] Four takes were recorded.[15] Take 4 was used as the fifth track on side three of Blonde on Blonde,[18] It was the B-side to the single of "Just Like a Woman" for releases in America and some other countries.[19] In 2010 it was included on The Original Mono Recordings.[20] Take 3 was included on the deluxe edition of The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 (2015),[21] and all four takes were included on the Collector's Edition of that album.[22]

Composition and lyrical interpretation

Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon describe "Obviously 5 Believers" as "a bluesy love song about loneliness".[2] The song is similar in melody and structure to Memphis Minnie's "Chauffeur Blues", which was also an inspiration for '"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" on Blonde on Blonde.[3][2] In 1995, author George White noted that the arrangement of "Obviously 5 Believers" has similarities to Bo Diddley's song "She's Fine, She's Mine", but critic Michael Gray suggests this is because both songs were indebted to earlier blues recordings.[23] Journalist Mike Marqusee also thought that Dylan draws on blues idioms that predate his discovery of the genre in the mid-1950s, and notes that both "Obviously 5 Believers" and "Pledging My Time" from Blonde on Blonde have lyrics that start with the "ritual Delta [blues] invocation of 'early in the mornin''".[24] Marqusee, however, felt that both of these Dylan compositions were "beyond category. They are allusive, repetitive, jaggedly abstract compositions that defy reduction."[24] Other blues imagery used in the song includes a woman who has left, a black dog barking, and a mother who works hard.[25] The song also has what Gill refer to as "apparently arbitrary references to 'fifteen jugglers' ... and the 'five believers'".[4]

Critical reception

Cash Box described "Obviously 5 Believers" as "a blues-soaked, rhythmic romancer".[26] Writing in Crawdaddy!, Paul Williams called the song "joyous" and praised the instrumental and vocal performances.[27] Clinton Heylin felt that every song Dylan recorded in Nashville for Blonde on Blonde relied on the skill of the backing musicians, but this song was "entirely dependent on them".[5]

Jon Landau's assessment was that "the vocal here is truly the entire message and on this cut we are listening to a genuine blues artist".[28] Guitarist Mike Bloomfield cited Dylan's performance on the song as evidence that he was a "good blues singer", unlike many other American and British artists of the time who would "just listen to records and imitate them".[29] The song received an "A" rating from author John Nogowski, who highlighted "one of Dylan's most assured, commanding vocals".[30] The track was described by Robert Shelton as "the best R&B song on the album",[31] whereas Gray dismissed it as "a filler track ... with a repetitive and undistinguished lyric" that was more like a song from Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited than from Blonde on Blonde.[32] Dylan biographer Ian Bell opined that "Dylan's attempts at the blues [on Blonde on Blonde] feel unsatisfactory and perfunctory, as though he knows he has better things to do, and far better things to write ... 'Obviously 5 Believers' is a makeweight".[33]

Live performances

Dylan did not play the song live until 1995, when he debuted it at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California on 15 May. He played it live a further 39 times before retiring it after a performance at the Charles A. Dana Center, Waltham, Massachusetts on 12 April 1997.[34]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde book.[35]

Musicians

Technical

Charts

Chart performances are for the single with "Just Like a Woman" as the A-side and "Obviously 5 Believers" as the B-side.

Chart (1966) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[36] 12
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[37] 38
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[38] 30
US Billboard Hot 100[39] 33
US Cashbox Top 100[40] 28
US Record World 100 Top Pops[41] 26

References

Citations

  1. Sanders 2020, p. 99.
  2. Margotin & Guesdon 2022, p. 238.
  3. Trager 2004, p. 462.
  4. Gill 2011, p. 151.
  5. Heylin 2010, pp. 379–380.
  6. Margotin & Guesdon 2022, p. 212.
  7. Margotin & Guesdon 2022, p. 183.
  8. Wilentz 2010, 1756.
  9. Heylin 1995, pp. 45–46.
  10. Heylin 2021, p. 388.
  11. Heylin 2021, pp. 388–392.
  12. Wilentz 2010, 1867–1884.
  13. Heylin 2011, p. 241.
  14. Heylin 2016, 2892.
  15. Wilentz 2010, 2013.
  16. Gill 2011, pp. 150–151.
  17. Sanders 2020, p. 279.
  18. Nogowski 2022, p. 61.
  19. Fraser, Alan. "Audio: 1966 – Just Like A Woman". Searching for a Gem. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  20. "Obviously Five Believers". Bob Dylan's official website. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  21. "The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965 – 1966 Deluxe Edition (2015)". Bob Dylan's official website. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  22. "Bob Dylan The Cutting Edge 1965 – 1966: The Bootleg Series Vol.12: Collector's Edition". Bob Dylan's official website. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
  23. Gray 2004, p. 304.
  24. Marqusee 2005, p. 208.
  25. Trager 2004, p. 461.
  26. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 3 September 1966. p. 18. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  27. Williams 1969, p. 68.
  28. Landau 1990, p. 258.
  29. Delehant, Jim (February 1967). "Mike Bloomfield (guitarist with Paul Buttefield Blues Band) puts down everything (Part II)". Hit Parader. p. 57.
  30. Nogowski 2022, p. 62.
  31. Shelton 1987, p. 324.
  32. Gray 2004, p. 302.
  33. Bell 2014, p. 442.
  34. "Setlists that contain Obviously Five Believers". Bob Dylan's official website. Sony Music Entertainment. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  35. Sanders 2020, p. 276, 279.
  36. "Bob Dylan – Just Like a Woman" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  37. "RPM 100" (PDF). RPM. 24 October 1966. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  38. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 39, 1966" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  39. "Bob Dylan Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  40. "Cashbox Top 100" (PDF). Cashbox. 15 October 1966. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  41. "100 Top Pops" (PDF). Record World. 15 October 1966. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

Bibliography

  • Bell, Ian (2014). Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan. New York: Pegasus Books. ISBN 978-1-60598-627-2.
  • Gill, Andy (2011). Bob Dylan: the Stories Behind the Songs 1962-1969. London: Carlton. ISBN 978-1-84732-759-8.
  • Gray, Michael (2004). Song and Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-6382-1.
  • Heylin, Clinton (1995). Dylan: Behind Closed Doors – the Recording Sessions (1960–1994). Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-025749-6.
  • Heylin, Clinton (2010). Revolution in the Air - the Songs of Bob Dylan Vol.1 1957-73. Constable & Robinson. ISBN 978-1-84901-296-6.
  • Heylin, Clinton (2011). Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-27240-2.
  • Heylin, Clinton (2016). Judas!: From Forest Hills to the Free Trade Hall: A Historical View of Dylan's Big Boo (Kindle ed.). Route Publishing. ISBN 978-1-901927-68-9.
  • Heylin, Clinton (2021). The Double Life of Bob Dylan. Vol. 1 1941-1966, A restless, hungry feeling. London: Bodley Head. ISBN 978-1-84792-588-6.
  • Landau, Jon (1990) [1st pub. Crawdaddy!: 1968]. "John Wesley Harding". In McGregor, Craig (ed.). Bob Dylan : the early years: a retrospective. New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 248–264.
  • Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2022). Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track (Expanded ed.). New York: Black Dog & Leventhal. ISBN 978-0-7624-7573-5.
  • Marqusee, Mike (2005). Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-1-58322-686-5.
  • Nogowski, John (2022). Bob Dylan: A Descriptive, Critical Discography and Filmography, 1961-2022 (3rd ed.). Jefferson: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-4362-5.
  • Sanders, Daryl (2020). That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde (epub ed.). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-61373-550-3.
  • Shelton, Robert (1987). No Direction Home: the Life and Music of Bob Dylan. London: New English Library. ISBN 978-0-450-04843-2.
  • Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: the Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 978-0-8230-7974-2.
  • Wilentz, Sean (2010). Bob Dylan in America (Kindle ed.). London: Vintage Digital. ISBN 978-1-4070-7411-5.
  • Williams, Paul (1969) [1st pub. Crawdaddy!: 1966]. "Understanding Dylan". Outlaw blues; a book of rock music. New York: E. P. Dutton. pp. 59–69.


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