Is it any wonder I reject you first?
Fame, fame, fame, fame
Is it any wonder you are too cool to fool? (fame)
Fame, bully for you, chilly for me
Got to get a rain check on pain (fame)
It seems that one thing the true greats of music have in common is a willingness to steal from each other and they don’t come much greater than James Brown and David Bowie. Both were innovators and both shameless ‘borrowers’ of ideas.
But if I were to ask you which of these two legendary musicians was the most likely to borrow from the other, what would you say?
I suspect you would nominate the magpie Bowie as the likely thief rather than the revered James Brown.
Take a listen to these two tracks.
Fame
In 1975 Bowie got together with John Lennon for an impromptu jam session in a New York recording studio. The result was the now classic track Fame. Its guitar riff is as funky a groove as anything James Brown ever conceived so did it originate with him?
Hot (I Need To Be Loved)
There is no mistaking the riff behind this funked up Brown cut. It is – note for note – the same as Bowie’s Fame. However, this was recorded in ’76. That’s a year after Bowie recorded his version.
Therefore, though Bowie ‘borrowed’ from a good many artists over the years, in this case, the riff was lifted by Brown.
That said, both tracks are good and the riff serves both very well. Bowie (but not his guitarist Carlos Alomar who actually created the riff) was flattered by the Godfather’s homage.
Alomar was upset that Brown’s band – all of whom he knew personally – had stolen his riff and wanted to sue but Bowie insisted that they not, unless Brown’s version became a big hit – which did not happen.
Oh, hear this Robert Zimmerman I wrote a song for you About a strange young man Called Dylan With a voice like sand and glue His words of truthful vengeance They could pin us to the floor Brought a few more people on And put the fear in a whole lot more
Bowie, Song for Dylan
I can think of several artists I love who have ‘borrowed’ (in large and small ways) from Bob Dylan. I didn’t put that in quotes because I actually meant ‘stole’. Rather it is an acknowledgement that almost all art is borrowed to one degree or another.
This Keynote address, given by Springsteen, covers that point very well, I think. He makes no bones about the fact he stole/borrowed heavily from those who went before.
Some of, perhaps all of, the examples below may well be considered tributes or nods to this singularly influential artist. Bowie’s, as an example, appears on the same album (hunky dory) that includes a track actually titled Song for Dylan (and unsurprisingly – considering it’s Bowie we’re talking about – features, not on that track, but one about Warhol).
Pay attention here to the seemingly impromptu intro.
Now listen to the intro to this Dylan track off Bringing it all Back Home.
Suddenly Bowie’s intro doesn’t seem quite so impromptu, eh? Interestingly enough, shortly after Bowie’s death, Kirk Hammett of Metallica admitted they had ‘borrowed’ the flamenco style guitar riff from his AW track for their own song Master of Puppets).
The Beatles spent the early part of their career aping American Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll bands but, once they found their own sound, moved from imitation to innovation. It, therefore, came as a bit of a surprise to me to discover the undeniable similarity between Dylan’s 4th Time Around and Lennon’s Norwegian Wood, especially as the latter song was actually the earlier release.
Lennon had been moving in a folksier direction since first hearing Dylan and the song I’m a Loserwas obviously very close to the Dylan school of songwriting. But if I’m a Loser was close, Norwegian Wood was smack on target. 4th Time Around released a year later, was Dylan’s playful(?) response.
I often struggle to hear Dylan’s influence in Springsteen’s music. There is, however, one lyrical passage that seems pretty close to an actual Dylan lyric. In Springsteen’s For You, we get the line “it’s not your nursery mouth I came here for” which is surely a nod to Dylan’s Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands with its opening line “your mercury mouth”.
Aaand back around to Bowie we go for the final ‘homage’. One of Bowie’s more highly regarded compositions was Changes, a song that dealt with an issue that was very hot-button at the time and came to be labelled – rather unhelpfully I feel – the Generation Gap. This song, imploring parents and the establishment not to stand in the path of the new generation’s quest for self-discovery, surely owed much to Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changing. I doubt Bowie would have argued that point as the direct link is pretty undeniable.
So there you have it. If being imitated and ripped off by others is an indication of greatness, then Dylan must be great indeed. Because some truly impressive people have picked at his table over the years.
Obviously, there were also those who simply covered him in toto, Hendrix, The Birds, Bryan Ferry and half the performers on the planet but I’m more concerned here with those who seed their own original work with his influences.
If anyone has any other good examples (I’m looking at you Mr Music Enthusiast) feel free to mention them in the comments.
Runaway American Dream 