First, here's the survey. Please take the survey! As always, the first questions are about what you want Record Club to cover as our annual Holiday Album. The remaining questions are designed to help me figure out what to do with the blog in the new year. It would be really helpful if you filled out a survey this year! Thank you!
Next: it's Thanksgiving this week! That gives you one fewer day than usual to do some good blogging. It's usually assumed that people will take the week off, and that's totally fine with me. If you want to send something over on Wednesday, that's great! If you are chilling on Thanksgiving and you want to do some recreational writing, then I'm not going to stop you! Hope you enjoy your week.
Next: it's Thanksgiving this week! That gives you one fewer day than usual to do some good blogging. It's usually assumed that people will take the week off, and that's totally fine with me. If you want to send something over on Wednesday, that's great! If you are chilling on Thanksgiving and you want to do some recreational writing, then I'm not going to stop you! Hope you enjoy your week.
Finally, and most pressing: it's FILM CLUB CROSSOVER WEEK. Meaning that, for the first and possibly only time, we'll be asking you, the community of PoYB, to watch a movie, listen to the soundtrack album, and write about both of them, separately! (Or together, if you want me to split one blog post for you and post it as a "to be continued" thing over two different days.)
If you're watching Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, get your thoughts in by tomorrow night, as it will be posted this Wednesday, 11/26/25. If you're listening to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, get your thoughts in by Thursday night, or sooner due to the holiday. If you're doing both, please note which one has the ampersand and which has the "and" in the title!
Actually, this is the most important thing: Thanks for being part of the PoYB community. I appreciate you. Hope to hang with you soon.
JOE'S PITCH FOR THIS ALBUM: It suddenly occurred to me one day recently that there would be a soundtrack that would be eligible for a movie on the Film Club list. We don't usually do soundtracks. In fact, we've never done a soundtrack for Record Club before. You might think there's a rule against them, and you're right. Up until the summer of 2023, the rule was: "No soundtracks."
But then a song pick from Maeve in June 2023 got me thinking about the nature of the RC rules and their intended purpose. Soundtracks, and compilations in general, are usually not a cohesive statement from a singular artist, but are instead a collection of songs from a variety of artists. That's why we don't do them here. But I proposed (both in the comments and now in the official rules) that if there was a soundtrack created by a sole artist with the intention of being a cohesive artistic statement (in addition to soundtracking a movie, of course), then it would be allowed. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid fits that criteria, so here we are.
And this is all ignoring the fact that this is Bob fucking Dylan. A man who needs no introduction, and an artist who is singular in so many ways to begin with. It's cool to fold him into Record Club after all this time, and it's funny that we're doing so with what is generally considered to be, if not his worst, then definitely one of his worst albums.
We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. I am happy to announce that during Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. I am also happy to announce that Week 420 of Record Club will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people.
THIS WEEK: We are 64 weeks away from Week 420.
Actually, this is the most important thing: Thanks for being part of the PoYB community. I appreciate you. Hope to hang with you soon.
Record Club:
WEEK 356 — November 23-29, 2025
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
by Bob Dylan
LISTEN:
~~~~~~~~~~
PICKED BY JOE
But then a song pick from Maeve in June 2023 got me thinking about the nature of the RC rules and their intended purpose. Soundtracks, and compilations in general, are usually not a cohesive statement from a singular artist, but are instead a collection of songs from a variety of artists. That's why we don't do them here. But I proposed (both in the comments and now in the official rules) that if there was a soundtrack created by a sole artist with the intention of being a cohesive artistic statement (in addition to soundtracking a movie, of course), then it would be allowed. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid fits that criteria, so here we are.
And this is all ignoring the fact that this is Bob fucking Dylan. A man who needs no introduction, and an artist who is singular in so many ways to begin with. It's cool to fold him into Record Club after all this time, and it's funny that we're doing so with what is generally considered to be, if not his worst, then definitely one of his worst albums.
~~~~~~~~~~
ALBUM DETAILS
GENRE: Film soundtrack, country, folk rock, singer-songwriter
RELEASED: July 13, 1973
LENGTH: 34:36
TRACKLIST:
- Main Title Theme (Billy)
- Cantina Theme (Workin' for the Law)
- Billy 1
- Bunkhouse Theme
- River Theme
- Turkey Chase
- Knockin' on Heaven's Door
- Final Theme
- Billy 4
- Billy 7
LYRICS: Genius.com
~~~~~~~~~~
ARTIST DETAILS
PRONOUNS: he/him/his
ABOUT: The most impossible "ABOUT" blurb to fill out in the history of RC, and it will remain so until we cover the Beatles in Week 500. Okay, what to say. Let's just do the basics here, and you can let your favorite Dylan details come out in your reviews if you'd like. Robert Allen Zimmerman was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota (his legal name is now Robert Dylan). He moved to New York City in 1961, and so on, so on. Folk music at first, then electrified it, to great consternation, but he played it FUCKING LOUD anyway. Crashed his bike, played around in the basement with the Band, shifted toward country music, converted to Christianity, converted back to Judaism, played in a supergroup, made a fucking Christmas album, started sounding like a bag of gravel when he sings, started a tour five months before I was born and ended that tour when COVID hit, started another tour as soon as he could and finished the tenth leg of that tour last week, banged Joan Baez according to that Timothée Chalamet joint that I'm halfway through as of this writing, ah jeez what else, what else... he's won an Oscar, ten Grammys, a Pulitzer, a Nobel Prize (no Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award Blimp yet!). Apparently he dabbles in iron sculpting? There's only so much I can learn about a man! Let's see how he does as an actor this week!
DISCOGRAPHY: This is Dylan's twelfth studio album, out of 40 total. The first was a self-titled 1962 album that is comprised mostly of folk covers. The most recent is 2023's Shadow Kingdom, which is also officially Dylan's second soundtrack (after Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid). If you know Bob Dylan, you know the big ones in between. I'm also counting 21 official live albums, as well as eighteen volumes in his Bootleg series.
~~~~~~~~~~
ADDITIONAL INFO
READING SOME SHIT: Roger Ebert's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid review, which I have not read yet, but totally will after I watch the movie
WATCHING SOME SHIT: ELDER ABUSE
RECORD CLUB CONNECTIONS: I'm sure if I tried, I could connect all previous 354 RC artists to our boy Bob Dylan. It's the week of Thanksgiving, though. Let's just see what we can do, something reasonable.
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid stars Bob Dylan and RC alumnus Kris Kristofferson. There are so many other movie connections to other movies in Film Club et al., but this is Record Club we're talking about. The concert film The Last Waltz features Bob Dylan, as well as Neil Diamond and Ringo Starr (drummer of the Plastic Ono Band). I'm gonna back off from movies, promise.
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid stars Bob Dylan and RC alumnus Kris Kristofferson. There are so many other movie connections to other movies in Film Club et al., but this is Record Club we're talking about. The concert film The Last Waltz features Bob Dylan, as well as Neil Diamond and Ringo Starr (drummer of the Plastic Ono Band). I'm gonna back off from movies, promise.
I owned a live album growing up called Dylan & the Dead, featuring Grateful Dead, and was shocked to learn later in life that it was critically reviled. Whoops, another movie—the I'm Not There soundtrack features a bunch of RC alumni, including: Cat Power, Sufjan Stevens, the Black Keys, and Calexico playing with no less than three other alumni, namely Iron & Wine, Willie Nelson, and Jim James.
Bob Dylan sang on "We Are the World" with: Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Willie Nelson, Hall & Oates, Huey Lewis and the News, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, Dan Aykroyd of Ghostbusters, and Bruce Springsteen. "We Are the World" is the only #1 song that Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen ever sang on, which is wild to consider.
Other random RC connections off the top of my head. The War on Drugs had a RC song, the title track off of I Don't Live Here Anymore, that referenced Dylan and "Desolation Row." My Chemical Romance covered "Desolation Row" for Watchmen (movies!), whose soundtrack also features Janis Joplin. Radiohead has a non-RC song called "Subterranean Homesick Alien," a reference to "Subterranean Homesick Blues." Cat Power recently covered Dylan's entire 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert live album. Kendrick Lamar also has a Pulitzer. Titus Andronicus covers "Like a Rolling Stone," but inserts lyrics about the Rolling Stones.
MENTIONS ON THE BLOG: As Bob Dylan is foundational to both my own personal understanding of music and to the history of music at large, he has been mentioned countless times. A blog search of "bob dylan" brings up 152 results, which probably doesn't include many offhand mentions as "Dylan" over the years. This is my attempt to succinctly point you toward the most important PoYB posts involving Bob Dylan.
- My top five Dylan songs in 2008, and in 2020
- A reluctant cover of "Yesterday" by the Beatles
- Fake concert poster
- An account of an August 2006 Dylan concert
- "Isis" on Song of the ___, regarding Rolling Thunder Revue
- Two albums covered in A Year of Blind Spots: "Love and Theft" and Slow Train Coming
- Dylan songs on three Monday Morning Mixtapes: "Positively 4th Street" on 011, "I Want You" on 022, and "Yazoo Street Scandal" on 027
- Two Dylan albums on The Albums That Matter: Another Side of Bob Dylan and Blonde on Blonde
- Five Dylan songs chosen for Summer Song Challenge: "Like a Rolling Stone" (Sam Day 3), "Forever Young" (fast version, Nate Day 15), "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" (Sam Day 45), "Forever Young (slow version, Maeve Day 77), "Hurricane" (Stephan Day 80).
- Seven Dylan songs chosen for Yearlong Song Challenge: "New Morning" (Boober Day 1), "Like a Rolling Stone" (Bridget and Maeve, Day 15), "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (Frank Day 15), "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" (Pat Day 44), "Like a Rolling Stone" (live version, Joe Day 130), "Hurricane" (Sara Day 146)
~~~~~~~~~~
OTHER ALBUMS TO CHECK OUT
LAST WEEK'S ALBUM: Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood, and make sure to check out the reviews if you wanna see what we thought of it!
RC@5: We're relistening to the Record Club album we featured exactly five years ago this week. The RC album for this week in 2020 was Daughter by Lydia Loveless.
RC f/u: We're attempting to catch up on all the new albums from our esteemed Record Club alumni. Mini-reviews coming next Saturday, this week for Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan by the Mountain Goats and Stardust by Danny Brown.
LAST WEEK'S ALBUM: Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood, and make sure to check out the reviews if you wanna see what we thought of it!
RC@5: We're relistening to the Record Club album we featured exactly five years ago this week. The RC album for this week in 2020 was Daughter by Lydia Loveless.
RC f/u: We're attempting to catch up on all the new albums from our esteemed Record Club alumni. Mini-reviews coming next Saturday, this week for Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan by the Mountain Goats and Stardust by Danny Brown.
SHADOW RECORD CLUB: Each week, we're exploring the genres of last week's album. If there is a genre that has a #1-rated album that I've never heard before, I'll download it. If not, I'll just give you my best recommendation. Last week's Titanic Rising was a baroque pop album. We're listening this week to Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. I've heard it before!
NEXT WEEK'S RC ALBUM: In case you need some extra time with an album to write a review for it, you can get a head start on Getting Killed by Geese!
~~~~~~~~~
COUNTDOWN:
69 Weeks Until Week 420
We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. I am happy to announce that during Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. I am also happy to announce that Week 420 of Record Club will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people.
THIS WEEK: We are 64 weeks away from Week 420.
~~~~~~~~~~
Happy listening, RC family!
Have a great week!
Have a great week!
No comments:
Post a Comment