Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Encyclopedia
"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" is a song by Bob Dylan
, from his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde
. Like many other Dylan songs of the 1965-1966 period, the song features a surreal, playful lyric set to an electric blues
accompaniment.
victim" who wears a leopard
skin pillbox hat
. The pillbox hat was a popular, highly fashionable ladies' hat in the United States
in the early-to-mid 1960s, and was most famously worn by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
. Dylan satirically crosses this accessory's high-fashion image with leopard-skin material, perceived as considerably more downmarket and vulgar. (Of course, genuine leopard skin was very upmarket, since it came from an endangered species
. It was not yet illegal to trade in leopard-skin, but it was rare and valuable.) The song was also written and released long after pillbox hats had been at the height of fashion, something that was very apparent to listeners at the time.
The song has been widely speculated to be inspired by Edie Sedgwick
, an actress/model known for her association with Andy Warhol
. Sedgwick is also often suspected as being an inspiration for other Dylan songs of the time, particularly some from Blonde on Blonde
.
"Automobile Blues", with Dylan's opening line of "Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat," echoing Hopkins' "I saw you riding 'round in your brand new automobile," and the repeated line of "...brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat," melodically descending in the same manner of the Hopkins refrain "...in your brand new fast car". The Dylan reference to "the garage door" in the final verse of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" may also be an allusion to the automobile of Hopkins' song.
recording studio
s in New York City
to record material for the Blonde On Blonde album. The song was attempted on both January 25 (2 takes) and January 27 (6 takes), but no recording was deemed satisfactory (one of the takes from January 25 was released in 2005 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
).
Frustrated with the lack of progress made with the Hawks in the New York sessions (only one song, "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
", had been successfully realized), Dylan relocated to Nashville, Tennessee
in February 1966, where the evening of the first day of recording (February 14) was devoted to "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat". Present at the session were Charlie McCoy
(guitar
/bass
), Kenny Buttrey (drums
), Wayne Moss (guitar), Joseph A. Souter Jr. (guitar/bass), Al Kooper
(organ
), Hargus Robbins (piano
) and Jerry Kennedy (guitar). Although earlier in the day Dylan and the band had achieved satisfactory, album-destined takes of "Fourth Time Around" and "Visions of Johanna
", none of the 13 takes of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" recorded on February 14 were to Dylan's satisfaction. Dylan soon left Nashville to play some concerts with the Hawks, though he returned in March for a second set of sessions. A satisfactory take of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" was finally achieved in the early hours of March 10, 1966 by Dylan along with Kenny Buttrey, Henry Strzelecki on bass, and the Hawks' Robbie Robertson
on lead guitar (though Dylan himself plays lead guitar on the song's opening 12 bars
).
covered the song on his 2002 Dylan tribute album Robyn Sings
. Beck
released a cover on the 2009 charity album War Child Presents Heroes and also performed the song during the closing credits of the 81st Academy Awards
.
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...
, from his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde is American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's seventh studio album, released in May or June 1966 on Columbia Records and produced by Bob Johnston. Recording sessions commenced in New York in October 1965, with a plethora of backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing...
. Like many other Dylan songs of the 1965-1966 period, the song features a surreal, playful lyric set to an electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
accompaniment.
Lyrics
Dylan's lyrics affectionately ridicule a female "fashionFashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
victim" who wears a leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
skin pillbox hat
Pillbox hat
A pillbox hat is a small woman's hat with a flat crown and straight, upright sides, and no brim.-History:Historically, the pillbox was also military headgear, often including a chin strap, and can still be seen on ceremonial occasions in some countries, especially former members of the Commonwealth...
. The pillbox hat was a popular, highly fashionable ladies' hat in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early-to-mid 1960s, and was most famously worn by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
. Dylan satirically crosses this accessory's high-fashion image with leopard-skin material, perceived as considerably more downmarket and vulgar. (Of course, genuine leopard skin was very upmarket, since it came from an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
. It was not yet illegal to trade in leopard-skin, but it was rare and valuable.) The song was also written and released long after pillbox hats had been at the height of fashion, something that was very apparent to listeners at the time.
The song has been widely speculated to be inspired by Edie Sedgwick
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn "Edie" Sedgwick was an American actress, socialite, model and heiress. She is best known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars. Sedgwick became known as "The Girl of the Year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films in the 1960s...
, an actress/model known for her association with Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
. Sedgwick is also often suspected as being an inspiration for other Dylan songs of the time, particularly some from Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde is American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's seventh studio album, released in May or June 1966 on Columbia Records and produced by Bob Johnston. Recording sessions commenced in New York in October 1965, with a plethora of backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing...
.
Influences
The song melodically and lyrically resembles Lightnin' HopkinsLightnin' Hopkins
Sam John Hopkins better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas...
"Automobile Blues", with Dylan's opening line of "Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat," echoing Hopkins' "I saw you riding 'round in your brand new automobile," and the repeated line of "...brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat," melodically descending in the same manner of the Hopkins refrain "...in your brand new fast car". The Dylan reference to "the garage door" in the final verse of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" may also be an allusion to the automobile of Hopkins' song.
Recording sessions
Bob Dylan began to include "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" in his live concerts with The Hawks in late 1965, and the song was one of the first compositions attempted by Dylan & the Hawks when in January 1966 they went into ColumbiaColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
s in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to record material for the Blonde On Blonde album. The song was attempted on both January 25 (2 takes) and January 27 (6 takes), but no recording was deemed satisfactory (one of the takes from January 25 was released in 2005 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack is the third most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially unissued recordings....
).
Frustrated with the lack of progress made with the Hawks in the New York sessions (only one song, "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
"One of Us Must Know " is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan. It is the fourth track on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde, and was released as the album's first single that February. The song is an emotional confession of misconnects and apologies from the singer to a woman who has tragically...
", had been successfully realized), Dylan relocated to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in February 1966, where the evening of the first day of recording (February 14) was devoted to "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat". Present at the session were Charlie McCoy
Charlie McCoy
Charles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
/bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Kenny Buttrey (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), Wayne Moss (guitar), Joseph A. Souter Jr. (guitar/bass), Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
(organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
), Hargus Robbins (piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) and Jerry Kennedy (guitar). Although earlier in the day Dylan and the band had achieved satisfactory, album-destined takes of "Fourth Time Around" and "Visions of Johanna
Visions of Johanna
"Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Dylan first recorded the song in New York City in November 1965, under the working title of "Freeze Out", but was dissatisfied with the results...
", none of the 13 takes of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" recorded on February 14 were to Dylan's satisfaction. Dylan soon left Nashville to play some concerts with the Hawks, though he returned in March for a second set of sessions. A satisfactory take of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" was finally achieved in the early hours of March 10, 1966 by Dylan along with Kenny Buttrey, Henry Strzelecki on bass, and the Hawks' Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
on lead guitar (though Dylan himself plays lead guitar on the song's opening 12 bars
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
).
Cover versions
Robyn HitchcockRobyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
covered the song on his 2002 Dylan tribute album Robyn Sings
Robyn Sings
Robyn Sings is a double album by Robyn Hitchcock, released in 2002. The set is made up entirely of Bob Dylan covers, performed live at various dates.The CD was the second release on Hitchcock's own Editions PAF! label.-Background:...
. Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
released a cover on the 2009 charity album War Child Presents Heroes and also performed the song during the closing credits of the 81st Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards
The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...
.
External links
- Lyrics, from bobdylan.com
- EDLIS Twice