"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" is a 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...

 that appears on 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...

. The album version also appears on 1971's Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II , also known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, was the second compilation album released by Bob Dylan. With Dylan not expected to release any new material for an extended period of time, CBS Records president Clive Davis proposed issuing a double LP compilation of...

. A live version of this song appears on the 1976 album Hard Rain; and was also released as a single with "Rita May

Rita May (song)

"Rita May" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally recorded during the sessions for the album Desire, but released only as the B-side of a single and on the compilation album, Masterpieces....

" as the B-side. An early studio take, done in a faster cut-time, was released 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....

. As the recording indicates, Dylan had difficulty fitting the words to the tempo, and evidently this led to its rearrangement, as heard on the official album, in a more "rock" oriented 4/4 time.

Recording

All twenty takes of "Stuck Inside of Mobile" were recorded on February 17, 1966, in Columbia's Music Row Studios in Nashville. Earlier that day, Dylan had been writing, and he continued to do so in the studio, revising lyrics and changing the song's structure as he recorded different takes. Eventually, a master take, the twentieth and final take, was chosen after recording the song for three hours. Take five would eventually be released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7.

Cover versions

The Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

 covered the song in their live shows during the 1980s and 1990s, and performed it when Dylan himself toured with them in 1987. Cat Power

Cat Power

Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...

 covered the song on the soundtrack

I'm Not There (soundtrack)

The soundtrack album for the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There was released as a double CD on October 30, 2007. It features only one recording by Dylan himself—his previously unreleased recording of the title song "I'm Not There" recorded during The Basement Tapes' sessions in 1967—plus...

 of the film I'm Not There

I'm Not There

I'm Not There is a 2007 biographical musical film directed by Todd Haynes, inspired by iconic American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Six actors depict different facets of Dylan's life and public persona: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw...

. Spanish artist Kiko Veneno

Kiko Veneno

José María López Sanfeliu born in Figueres, Girona is a Spanish musician better known by his stage name Kiko Veneno-Biography:...

 covered this song in a rumba (a subgenre of Flamenco) version. North Mississippi Allstars cover it on their latest album Keys to the Kingdom.

Cultural references

"Stuck Inside of Mobile" is used in the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1998 American drama film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as Dr. Gonzo. It was adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel of the same name....

, and is mentioned in the book by Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...

. John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 wrote a spoof titled "Stuck Inside of Lexicon with the Roget's Thesaurus Blues Again," pointing out that Dylan was using obscure lyrics too extensively. This line is found in the song "Satire #2" on the John Lennon Anthology

John Lennon Anthology

John Lennon Anthology is a box set of home demos, alternative studio outtakes and other unreleased material recorded by John Lennon over the course of his solo career from "Give Peace a Chance" in 1969 up until the 1980 sessions for Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey.The anthology was divided by its...

. The Sisters of Mercy

The Sisters of Mercy

The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...

 song "Dominion/Mother Russia

Dominion/Mother Russia

"Dominion/Mother Russia" is a song from the album Floodland by The Sisters of Mercy. It was written by Andrew Eldritch and produced by Jim Steinman...

" features the line "stuck inside of Memphis in a mobile home", as a play on words on this song's title. The song also inspired the name of the Memphis Group

Memphis Group

The Memphis Group was an Italian design and architecture group started by Ettore Sottsass that designed Post Modern furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass and metal objects from 1981-1987.-Origins:...

, a 1980s design movement, with its title.