I was recently watching the excellent D.A. Pennebaker doc Don't Look Back, which documents Bob's 1965 tour of England; it's a really unique view of Dylan from when he was mysterious, but not a complete asshole about it. Then, this tune pops up on my iPod from the opposite end of his career. Late-period Dylan is notoriously inconsistent and weak, but this 2001 album is a pretty great piece of clever songwriting, though nowhere near any of his 60s or early 70s output. The album as a whole looks back at old musical idioms: pop, blues, folk, ragtime, piano rolls, etc. This song, specifically, is in tribute to the original bluesman Patton, and Dylan throws in dozens of quick references to classic blues songs. Love & Theft is no substitute for any of the Dylan masterpieces, but we music snobs have fun with songs like this.
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