Ballad of Hollis Brown
Encyclopedia
"Ballad of Hollis Brown" is a blues
song written by Bob Dylan
, released in 1964
on his third album The Times They Are A-Changin'
. The song tells the story of a South Dakota
farmer, who overwhelmed by the desperation of poverty, kills his wife, children and then himself.
style. The guitar is in 'double-dropped D tuning
': Both the 1st and 6th strings, which normally play two Es separated by two octave
s, are tuned down a whole step, down to D. Also, Dylan uses a capo
on the 1st fret. Therefore, while his fingers are positioned as if he were playing in the key of D minor
, the song actually comes out in Eb minor.
The song was recorded already for the previous album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
, but remained an outtake. On this first version he also played the harmonica
and just strummed the chords, rather than picking the strings. Also the live versions between 1962 and 1964 were played that way, but without the harmonica.
According to Michael Gray, the guitar-work and melodic structuring in "Hollis Brown" are taken from the Appalachians (see Old-time music
), "where such forms and modes had evolved, in comparative isolation, over a period of almost two hundred years." Hollis Brown is based, chords, tune and verse-structure, on the ballad Pretty Polly
, a song Dylan performed at the Gaslight Club only two years before. The song is a little over 5 minutes long.
farm, where a poor farmer (Hollis Brown), his wife and five children, already living in abject poverty, are subjected to even more hardships. In despair, the man kills his wife and children and himself with a shotgun. Critic David Horowitz has said of this song:
Bob Dylan claims that the song is based on a true story, taken from the newspaper during his 1964 concert at the Philharmonic Hall.
, and at Live Aid
in 1985. It has also made many an appearance on the Never Ending Tour
, up to and including his most recent tour of Europe
in spring 2007. An early live recording appears on the 2011 release Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963.
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
song written by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, released in 1964
1964 in music
-Events:*January 1 – Top of the Pops is broadcast for the first time, on BBC television.*January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show....
on his third album The Times They Are A-Changin'
The Times They Are a-Changin'
The Times They Are a-Changin opens with the title track, one of Dylan's most famous songs. Dylan's friend, Tony Glover, recalls visiting Dylan's apartment in September 1963, where he saw a number of song manuscripts and poems lying on a table. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" had yet to be recorded,...
. The song tells the story of a South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
farmer, who overwhelmed by the desperation of poverty, kills his wife, children and then himself.
Structure
Musically, this song is a very simple blues. The album-version is played by Dylan alone on an acoustic guitar in the flatpickingFlatpicking
Flatpicking is a technique for playing a guitar using a guitar pick held between two or three fingers to strike the strings...
style. The guitar is in 'double-dropped D tuning
Guitar tuning
Guitar tunings almost always refers to the pitch of the open string, though some tunings may only realistically be attained by the use of a capo on an unmodified instrument....
': Both the 1st and 6th strings, which normally play two Es separated by two octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s, are tuned down a whole step, down to D. Also, Dylan uses a capo
Capo
A capo is a device used on the neck of a stringed instrument to shorten the playable length of the strings, hence raising the pitch. It is frequently used on guitars, mandolins, and banjos. G.B...
on the 1st fret. Therefore, while his fingers are positioned as if he were playing in the key of D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
, the song actually comes out in Eb minor.
The song was recorded already for the previous album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in May 1963 by Columbia Records. Whereas his debut album Bob Dylan had contained only two original songs, Freewheelin initiated the process of writing contemporary words to traditional melodies....
, but remained an outtake. On this first version he also played the harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
and just strummed the chords, rather than picking the strings. Also the live versions between 1962 and 1964 were played that way, but without the harmonica.
According to Michael Gray, the guitar-work and melodic structuring in "Hollis Brown" are taken from the Appalachians (see Old-time music
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
), "where such forms and modes had evolved, in comparative isolation, over a period of almost two hundred years." Hollis Brown is based, chords, tune and verse-structure, on the ballad Pretty Polly
Pretty Polly (ballad)
"Pretty Polly", "The Gosport Tragedy" or "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" is a traditional English-language folk song found in the British Isles, Canada, and the Appalachian region of North America, among other places....
, a song Dylan performed at the Gaslight Club only two years before. The song is a little over 5 minutes long.
Lyrics
Lyrically, this song consists of 11 verses which bring the listener to a bleak and destitute South DakotaSouth Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
farm, where a poor farmer (Hollis Brown), his wife and five children, already living in abject poverty, are subjected to even more hardships. In despair, the man kills his wife and children and himself with a shotgun. Critic David Horowitz has said of this song:
- Technically speaking, "Hollis Brown" is a tour de force. For a ballad is normally a form which puts one at a distance from its tale. This ballad, however, is told in the second person, present tense, so that not only is a bond forged immediately between the listener and the figure of the tale, but there is the ironic fact that the only ones who know of Hollis Brown's plight, the only ones who care, are the hearers who are helpless to help, cut off from him, even as we in a mass society are cut off from each other.... Indeed, the blues perspective itself, uncompromising, isolated and sardonic, is superbly suited to express the squalid reality of contemporary America. And what a powerful expression it can be, once it has been liberated (as it has in Dylan's hands) from its egocentric bondage! A striking example of the tough, ironic insight one associates with the blues (and also of the power of understatement which Dylan has learnt from GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
) is to be found in the final lines of Hollis Brown:
-
- There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm,
- There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm,
- Somewhere in the distance there's seven new people born.
Bob Dylan claims that the song is based on a true story, taken from the newspaper during his 1964 concert at the Philharmonic Hall.
Live Performances
Dylan has played "Hollis Brown" live immediately following its composition in 1962, during the "comeback" Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 TourBob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour
The Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour was a two-month concert tour in early 1974 that featured Bob Dylan, in his first real tour in eight years, performing with The Band, who as The Hawks had once been his little-known backing band...
, and at Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
in 1985. It has also made many an appearance on the Never Ending Tour
Never Ending Tour
The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan’s endless touring schedule since June 7, 1988. During the past 23+ years, musicians have come and gone and the band has continued to evolve...
, up to and including his most recent tour of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in spring 2007. An early live recording appears on the 2011 release Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963.
Notable recordings by other artists
A large number of musicians and groups have covered "Ballad of Hollis Brown," including:- Nina SimoneNina SimoneEunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
: Let It All OutLet It All OutLet It All Out is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . Released in 1966, it was her fifth album with Philips Records. Some of the tracks are live recordings, yet it is unclear which.-Information about songs on this album:...
(1965) - Hugues AufrayHugues AufrayHugues Aufray is a French singer. He began his career singing in Spanish....
: Chante Dylan (1965), Au Casino de Paris (1996) - Stone the CrowsStone the CrowsStone the Crows were a blues band formed in Glasgow in late 1969.-History:The band were formed after Maggie Bell was introduced to Les Harvey by his elder brother, Alex Harvey...
: The BBC Sessions Volume 1 (1969-1970) (1998) - Cornelis VreeswijkCornelis VreeswijkCornelis Vreeswijk , was a singer-songwriter, poet and actor born in IJmuiden in the Netherlands.He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at...
: Kalle Holm (1972, SwedishSwedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
) - NazarethNazareth (band)Nazareth is a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the UK in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975...
: Loud 'N' ProudLoud 'n' Proud-30th Anniversary Bonus Tracks:-Salvo Records Remaster Bonus Tracks:Salvo Records released a version in 2010 with the following bonus tracks:-Band members:*Dan McCafferty - lead vocals*Darrell Sweet - percussion, drums, backing vocals...
(1974) - Leon RussellLeon RussellClaude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
: Stop All That Jazz (1974) - The StoogesThe StoogesThe Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
: Death Trip (1987), Open Up and Bleed (1988) - The Neville BrothersThe Neville BrothersThe Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in New Orleans, Louisiana.-History:The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art , Charles , Aaron , and Cyril The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in...
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(1989) - Stephen StillsStephen StillsStephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
: Stills AloneStills AloneStills Alone is an album released in 1991 by Stephen Stills. As its title suggests, it features only Stills on an acoustic guitar.Contemporary singer/songwriter Ray Lamontagne has noted in interviews that track ten on this album, "Treetop Flyer," is the song that convinced him to pursue a career in...
(1991) - Billy ChildishBilly ChildishBilly Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
: The Ballad of Hollis Brown (1992) - Old Blind DogsOld Blind DogsOld Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional Scottish folk music and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music rhythms...
: Legacy (1995) - Mike SeegerMike SeegerMike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Seeger, a half-brother of Pete Seeger, produced more than 30 documentary...
(performed with Bob Dylan): Third Annual Farewell Reunion (1995) - EntombedEntombed (band)Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
: Wreckage (EP, 1997), Black Juju (EP, 1998) - Hootie and the Blowfish: A Tribute to Bob Dylan, Volume 3: The Times They Are A-Changin (2000)
- The Pretty ThingsThe Pretty ThingsThe Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
: Balboa Island (2007)