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From a Buick 6
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Wikipedia article
"'From a Buick 6'" is a song by Bob Dylan from his album 'Highway 61 Revisited', which was also released as a single on the B-side of "Positively 4th Street". It was recorded on July 30, 1965.
Musical style
The song is a raucous blues song played recklessly by a band that included Al Kooper on organ and Mike Bloomfield on guitar. The guitar part is patterned after older blues riffs by Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Big Joe Williams. It also features a backbeat from drummer Bobby Gregg, a bass line from Harvey Brooks, and a soaring harmonica break. The song starts with a snare shot that is similar to the opening song of 'Highway 61 Revisited', "Like a Rolling Stone". It is essentially a 12-bar blues pattern, played with power chords, and is notable for Brooks' almost indiscernible substitution of an F in the tenth bar of all but the first verses, while the guitar and organ play the G-chord.
The song is partially based on Sleepy John Estes' 1930 song "Milk Cow Blues", even taking a few lyrics from the older song, but its approach is more similar to The Kinks' version of a Kokomo Arnold song that was also called "Milk Cow Blues".
'Cash Box' described it as a "rollicking, fast-moving blues-drenched folk rocker."
Legacy
* "From a Buick 6" has been covered by musicians such as Gary U.S. Bonds, Mitch Ryder, Treat Her Right, Mike Wilhelm, Alex Taylor and Johnny Winter.
* G. E. Smith performed "From a Buick 6" with Booker T. & The M.G.'s during the tribute concert for Dylan's 30th anniversary as a recording artist on October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Gardens in New York City.This performance was not included in The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration double-album.
* The name of a 2002 novel by Stephen King, 'From a Buick 8' is adapted from the title of this song.
* The Billy Bragg song "From a Vauxhall Velox" on the 1984 album 'Brewing Up with Billy Bragg' was written as a response to "From a Buick 6".
* In an Apple presentation held in 2006, Steve Jobs noted that this was his favorite track of all time.
References
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