“I know of two versions of Mississippi. We thought we were done with “Love And Theft”, and then a friend of Bob’s passed him a note, and he said, oh, yeah, I forgot about this: Mississippi,” drummer David Kemper tells in 2008.For any other artist it would be a career highlight, but Dylan "forgets" he still has a masterpiece like Mississippi shelved in a drawer. The song has been in that drawer for almost five years. During the run-up to and the recordings for Time Out Of Mind, in 1996 and 1997, Dylan made a few attempts, but in the end, out of dissatisfaction with Daniel Lanois's approach, he rejects the recordings. The release of those rejected recordings, on The Bootleg Series: Tell Tale Signs (2008), doesn't really reveal what may have dissatisfied the master. Beautiful versions of an extraordinary song. The sound, perhaps - that hard to grasp quality …
“I know of two versions of Mississippi. We thought we were done with “Love And Theft”, and then a friend of Bob’s passed him a note, and he said, oh, yeah, I forgot about this: Mississippi,” drummer David Kemper tells in 2008.For any other artist it would be a career highlight, but Dylan "forgets" he still has a masterpiece like Mississippi shelved in a drawer. The song has been in that drawer for almost five years. During the run-up to and the recordings for Time Out Of Mind, in 1996 and 1997, Dylan made a few attempts, but in the end, out of dissatisfaction with Daniel Lanois's approach, he rejects the recordings. The release of those rejected recordings, on The Bootleg Series: Tell Tale Signs (2008), doesn't really reveal what may have dissatisfied the master. Beautiful versions of an extraordinary song. The sound, perhaps - that hard to grasp quality to which Dylan attaches so much importance. In any case, this umpteenth attempt, in 2001, for "Love And Theft" is apparently satisfactory to his ears. Textually there are small differences, an intro has been added, but decisive - presumably - is that sound. In "Mississippi. Bob Dylan's midlife masterpiece" Dylan scholar Jochen Markhorst dives into the grandiose lyrics, the irresistible musical accompaniment, the rich music historical roots and the literary brilliance of one of Dylan's majestic masterpieces - and demonstrates why the song belongs in the outside category of songs like Desolation Row, Like A Rolling Stone and Where Are You Tonight.
A very enjoyable short read. One for diehard Dylan fans and those very familiar with the great song - Mississippi. Markhorst unpacks the song’s sound and lyrics and discusses possible influences and parallels including 1930s prison songs, Lead Belly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Walter, Doc Watson, Henry Rollins, Bryan Ferry, Nietzsche and Dante. He indeed shows, once again, how Dylan is a master at blending all manner of influences into his music. The result being a stream of thoughts, images and sounds that just work together to produce one of his best songs.
