Editing Highway 61 Revisited (section)

==Recording==

===Background===
In May 1965, Dylan returned from his tour of England feeling exhausted and dissatisfied with his material. He told journalist [[Nat Hentoff]]: "I was going to quit singing. I was very drained" and added, "[i]t's very tiring having other people tell you how much they dig you if you yourself don't dig you."<ref name=hentoff>Hentoff, Nat. ''Playboy'', March 1966, reprinted in {{harvnb|Cott|2006|p=97}}</ref>

As a consequence of his dissatisfaction, Dylan wrote 20 pages of [[Song structure (popular music)#Verse|verse]] he later described as a "long piece of vomit".<ref name=Marcus70>Dylan interviewed by Marvin Bronstein, CBC, Montreal, February 20, 1966. Quoted by {{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (1)|p=70}}</ref> He reduced this to a song with four verses and a [[Refrain|chorus]]—"Like a Rolling Stone".<ref>{{harvnb|Shelton|1986|pp=319–320}}</ref> He told Hentoff that writing and recording the song washed away his dissatisfaction, and restored his enthusiasm for creating music.<ref name=hentoff/> Describing the experience to [[Robert Hilburn]] in 2004, nearly 40 years later, Dylan said: "It's like a ghost is writing a song like that&nbsp;... You don't know what it means except the ghost picked me to write the song."<ref>Hilburn, Robert. ''Guitar World Acoustic'', February 2006, quoted in {{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|pp=32–33}}</ref>

''Highway 61 Revisited'' was recorded in two blocks of recording sessions that took place in Columbia's Studio A, located on Seventh Avenue in [[Midtown Manhattan]].<ref>{{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|p=45}}</ref> The first block, June 15 and 16, was produced by [[Tom Wilson (producer)|Tom Wilson]] and resulted in the single "Like a Rolling Stone".<ref>{{harvnb|Heylin|1996|pp=75–77}}</ref> On July 25, Dylan performed his [[Electric Dylan controversy|controversial electric set at the Newport Folk Festival]], where some of the crowd booed his performance.<ref>{{harvnb|Heylin|1996|pp=77–78}}</ref> Four days after Newport, Dylan returned to the recording studio. From July 29 to August 4, he and his band completed recording ''Highway 61 Revisited'', but under the supervision of a new producer, [[Bob Johnston]].<ref>{{harvnb|Heylin|1996|pp=78–80}}</ref>

===Recording sessions, June 15–16===
{{see also|Like a Rolling Stone#Writing and recording}}
[[File:Al Kooper 22A.jpg|alt=Al Kooper seated|thumb|upright|Al Kooper's improvised organ riff on "Like a Rolling Stone" has been described as "one of the great moments of pop music serendipity".<ref name=polizzotti50>{{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|p=50}}</ref>]] In the first recording session on June 15 Dylan was backed by [[Bobby Gregg]] on drums, Joe Macho, Jr. on bass, [[Paul Griffin (musician)|Paul Griffin]] on piano, and Frank Owens on guitar.<ref>{{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (2)}}</ref> For lead guitar, the singer recruited [[Mike Bloomfield|Michael Bloomfield]] of the [[Paul Butterfield|Paul Butterfield Blues Band]].<ref>{{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (1)|p=110}}</ref> The musicians began the session by recording a fast version of "[[It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry]]" and the song "Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence", which was omitted from the album.<ref>{{harvnb|Bjorner|2010}}</ref> Dylan and the musicians next attempted to record "Like a Rolling Stone";<ref name=marcus234>{{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (1)|p=234}}</ref> at this early stage, Dylan's piano dominated the backing, which was in 3/4 time.<ref>{{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (1)|p=1}}</ref> "Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence", the fast version of "It Takes a Lot to Laugh", and an early take of "Like a Rolling Stone" were eventually released on ''[[The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991]]''.<ref name = "Bauldie"/>

The musicians returned to Studio A the following day, when they devoted almost the entire session to recording "Like a Rolling Stone". Present on this occasion was [[Al Kooper]], a young musician invited by Wilson to observe, but who wanted to play on the session.<ref>{{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (1)|p=104}}</ref> Kooper managed to sit in on the session; despite never having played electric organ before, Kooper improvised an organ [[riff]] that, critics such as [[Greil Marcus]] and Mark Polizzotti have argued, is a crucial element of the recording.<ref>{{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|p=53}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (1)|pp=215–218}}</ref> The fourth take was ultimately selected as the master, but Dylan and the band recorded eleven more takes.<ref name=bjornerjune16>{{harvnb|Bjorner|2012 (1)}}</ref>

===Recording sessions, July 29&nbsp;– August 4===
To create the material for ''Highway 61 Revisited'', Dylan spent a month writing in his new home in the [[Byrdcliffe Colony|Byrdcliffe artists' colony]] of [[Woodstock, New York|Woodstock]] in upstate New York.<ref>{{harvnb|Heylin|2003|p=206}}</ref> When he returned to Studio A on July 29, he was backed by the same musicians, except [[Harvey Brooks (bassist)|Harvey Brooks]] replaced Joe Macho on bass and his producer had changed from Tom Wilson to Bob Johnston.<ref name = "Polizzotti-p78">{{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|p=78}}</ref><ref group=a>Polizzotti writes that Wilson and Dylan had a falling out during the recording of "Like a Rolling Stone", perhaps over the prominence of Kooper's organ in the mix. ({{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|p=78}}) When questioned by [[Jann Wenner]] in 1969 about the switch in producers, Dylan gave a deadpan answer: "All I know is that I was out recording one day, and Tom had always been there—I had no reason to think he wasn't going to be there—and I looked up one day, and Bob was there [''laughs'']." (Wenner, Jann. "Interview with Jann S. Wenner", ''Rolling Stone'', November 29, 1969, in {{harvnb|Cott|2006|p=142}})</ref>

[[File:Charlie McCoy03.JPG|alt=McCoy holding a microphone onstage|right|thumb|upright|Nashville sessions musician Charlie McCoy's chance visit to New York resulted in the guitar flourishes accompanying "Desolation Row", the last track on the album.<ref name = "Polizzotti141">{{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|pp=141–142}}</ref>]] Their first session together was devoted to three songs. After recording several takes each of "[[Tombstone Blues]]", "It Takes a Lot to Laugh" and "[[Positively 4th Street]]", masters were successfully recorded.<ref>{{harvnb|Bjorner|2012 (2)}}</ref> "Tombstone Blues" and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh" were included in the final album, but "Positively 4th Street" was issued as a single-only release. At the close of the July 29 session, Dylan attempted to record "Desolation Row", accompanied by Al Kooper on electric guitar and Harvey Brooks on bass. There was no drummer, as the drummer had gone home.<ref>{{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|p=140}}</ref> This electric version was eventually released in 2005, on ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack|The Bootleg Series Vol. 7]]''.<ref name=gorodetsky>{{harvnb|Gorodetsky|2005}}</ref>

On July 30, Dylan and his band returned to Studio A and recorded three songs. A master take of "From a Buick 6" was recorded and later included on the final album, but most of the session was devoted to "[[Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?]]" Dylan was unsatisfied with the results and set the song aside for a later date; it was eventually re-recorded with [[The Band#1965–1967: With Bob Dylan|the Hawks]] in October.<ref name="encyclopedia117">{{harvnb|Gray|2006|pp=117–118}}</ref>

After Dylan and Kooper spent the weekend in Woodstock writing [[chord chart]]s for the songs,<ref>{{harvnb|Heylin|1996|p=79}}</ref> sessions resumed at Studio A on August 2.<ref name="Heylin 2009 259">{{harvnb|Heylin|2009|p=259}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Irwin|2008|p=178}}</ref> "Highway 61 Revisited", "[[Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues]]", "[[Queen Jane Approximately]]", and "Ballad of a Thin Man" were recorded successfully and masters were selected for the album.<ref name=Polizzotti145>{{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|p=145}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Irwin|2008|pp=163–190}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Heylin|1995|p=40}}</ref>

One final session was held on August 4, again at Studio A. Most of the session was devoted to completing "Desolation Row". Johnston has related that Nashville musician [[Charlie McCoy]] was visiting New York, and he invited McCoy to play guitar at the session.<ref name = "Polizzotti141"/> According to some sources, seven takes of "Desolation Row" were recorded, and takes six and seven were spliced together for the master recording.<ref>{{harvnb|Bjorner|2012 (3)}}</ref>

The resulting album, ''Highway 61 Revisited'', has been described as "Dylan's first purely 'rock' album",<ref>{{harvnb|Bell|2012|p=412}}</ref> a realization of his wish to leave his old music format behind and move on from his all-acoustic first four albums and half-acoustic, half-electric fifth album, ''[[Bringing It All Back Home]]''. Documentary director [[D. A. Pennebaker]], who [[Dont Look Back|filmed Dylan on his acoustic UK tour]] in May 1965, has said: "I didn't know that he was going to leave acoustic. I did know that he was getting a little dragged by it."<ref>{{harvnb|Bell|2012|p=400}}</ref>