Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was recorded on August 2, 1965, at Columbia Studios in New York, the same day Dylan recorded "Ballad of a Thin Man", "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Queen Jane Approximately", three other songs that would appear on Highway 61 Revisited. However, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" took more attempts to perfect than the other songs recorded that day; it wasn't until take 16 that Dylan and his band captured on tape the version that was released on the album. Lyrically, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" in a way continues a descriptive road theme from the album's previous song, "Highway 61 Revisited." The singer finds himself at Easter in Juarez, Mexico, amidst sickness, despair, whores and saints. While there, he encounters corrupt authorities, loose women, drugs and alcohol. The song establishes an occasionally nightmarish vision as the singer is influenced by gravity, negativity, sex, drugs, drink, illness, remorse and memory. In the song's final verse, the singer decides he has had enough and announces his intention to leave and head back to New York City. Despite the sordid details of the singer's experiences in Juarez, the lyrics maintain a wry sense of humor, and William Ruhlmann of the AllMusic website wrote that the song would have been considered a "comic tour de force" if it hadn't tended to be overshadowed by Dylan's other songs of the period. Like many of the songs on Highway 61 Revisited, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" has abundant literary references, including images recalling Malcolm Lowry's novel Under the Volcano and a street name taken from Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The song also uses the phrase "Housing Project hill" from Jack Kerouac's novel Desolation Angels. A number of Dylan biographers, including Colin Irwin, Robert Shelton and Andy Gill, have suggested that the song's title makes reference to Arthur Rimbaud's poem "My Bohemian Life (Fantasy)", in which Rimbaud refers to himself as "Tom Thumb in a daze." In addition, some commentators have suggested that there may be a musical reference in the lines "And she takes your voice/And leaves you howling at the moon," since "Howlin' at the Moon" is the title of a song by the country singer-songwriter Hank Williams, whom Dylan admired. Musically, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" consists of no chorus, but six verses, varied by a handful of chords and Dylan's vocal emphasis. Keyboards, drums and vocals provide texture, while Mike Bloomfield plays Latin Americanesque fills on electric guitar. The keyboard parts in particular make innovative use of two different pianos, with Al Kooper playing an electric Hohner Cembalet and Paul Griffin adding a barroom feel on tack piano. ==Other appearances and acclaim==

In addition to its appearance on the Highway 61 Revisited album, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was included on the compilation album ''Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II (known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits in Europe) and The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966''. The song was also performed on May 17, 1966, by Dylan and the Band at the famous and controversial so-called 'Albert Hall' concert (which in fact took place at the Manchester Free Trade Hall), and consequently it appears on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. In November 2016, all Dylan's recorded live performances of the song from 1966 were released in the boxed set The 1966 Live Recordings, with the May 26, 1966, performance released separately on the album The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert. Dylan also played "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" regularly during his 1974 tour, and has played it in concert occasionally ever since. In 2002 Uncut magazine listed it as the number 38 all-time best Bob Dylan song. Music journalist Toby Creswell included "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" on his list of the 1001 greatest songs of all time, and music critic Dave Marsh ranked the live version from Liverpool as the 243rd-greatest single of all time and as one of the dozen or so truly great B-sides, noting that it demonstrated Dylan's prowess as a great live performer. ==Cover versions==

covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" in 1969.|thumb|right|alt=Head and torso of black woman at a piano in front of a microphone wearing a flowered kerchief in her hair Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" in 1965 in a version that reached number 3 on Canada's national RPM singles chart, and number 8 on Toronto's CHUM Chart. Billboard said of this version that "one of best but lesser known Dylan tunes serves as a blockbuster debut on United Artists for the Canadian performer-composer" and praised the vocal performance and the production. Cash Box described it as a "medium-paced chorus-and-orked folk-blueser about the problems women can cause men" and said Lightfoot's rendition was "impressive." Other covers recorded in the 1960s include those by Barry McGuire on his 1966 album This Precious Time and by Judy Collins, on her 1966 album In My Life. The Grateful Dead have, on occasion, performed "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" live in concert, with bassist Phil Lesh taking a rare turn as lead vocalist, and a recording of the song by the band appears on the album View from the Vault, Volume One. ==References==