I Shall Be Released
"I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song, written by Bob Dylan.
| "I Shall Be Released" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Band | |
| from the album Music from Big Pink | |
| Released | July 1, 1968 |
| Genre | Roots rock |
| Length | 3:19 |
| Label | Capitol |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
| Producer(s) | John Simon |
| "I Shall Be Released" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bob Dylan | |
| from the album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II | |
| Released | November 17, 1971 |
| Recorded | September 24, 1971 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:03 |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
| Producer(s) | Leon Russell |
| "I Shall Be Released" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Heptones | |
| Released | 1969 |
| Recorded | 1969 |
| Genre | Reggae |
| Label | Coxsone/Studio One |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
| Producer(s) | C.S. Dodd |
The Band recorded the first officially released version of the song for their 1968 debut album, Music from Big Pink, with Richard Manuel singing lead vocals, and Rick Danko and Levon Helm harmonizing on the chorus. The song was also performed near the end of The Band's 1976 farewell concert, The Last Waltz, in which all the night's performers except Muddy Waters, plus Ringo Starr and Ronnie Wood, appeared on the same stage. Additional live recordings by The Band were included on the 1974 concert album Before the Flood and the 2001 expanded CD reissue of Rock of Ages.
Dylan recorded two primary versions. The first recording was made in collaboration with The Band during the Basement Tapes sessions in 1967, and released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 in 1991. A remixed version of the 1967 recording was rereleased with a preliminary take on The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete in 2014. Of the initial demo, Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner said, "Curiously enough the music in this song and the high pleading sound of Dylan's voice reminds one of the Bee Gees."[1]
In 1971, Dylan recorded the song a second time with a different arrangement and altered lyrics. He was accompanied by Happy Traum and the song was released on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II.
Style and content
The song is influenced by gospel music, combining images of religious redemption with implied literal release from prison. David Yaffe described the song as a song about redeemed prisoners.[2] The song describes life behind a wall, hearing a man who "swears he's not to blame" and is "crying out that he was framed". While the narrator reflects on "every man who put me here", and says that "any day now I shall be released".
Author Mike Marqusee observed that the cruelty of the justice system is a recurring theme in Dylan's work, but that Dylan broadens the idea of imprisonment to social issues with an urge for freedom.[3] Clinton Heylin writes in his book Revolution In The Air:[4]
Prisons of the body and the mind seem to have preyed on Dylan's mind throughout his time spent with the boys on retainer. Among the songs recorded at early basement sessions were covers of "Folsom Prison Blues" and "The Banks of the Royal Canal" (the latter is particularly affecting), both songs written—metaphorically—from inside prison walls. Dylan then takes a leaf from Johnny Cash and Brendan Behan (brother of Dominic Behan), authors of those earlier songs, by writing his own prison song, "I Shall Be Released." He is characteristically careful not to confuse simplicity of construction with a commensurate simplicity of meaning. The release that he is singing about—and that Richard Manuel echoes—is not from mere prison bars but rather from the cage of physical existence, the same cage that corrodes on "Visions of Johanna".
Other versions
seated behind instruments: Garth Hudson (organ), Ringo Starr (drums), Levon Helm (drums)
standing: Dr. John, Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell (hidden), Neil Young, Rick Danko (Bass), Van Morrison, Bob Dylan (guitar), Ronnie Hawkins, Robbie Robertson (guitar)
not shown: Richard Manuel, Eric Clapton, Ron Wood
"I Shall Be Released" has been demoed by The Beatles (on 2 January 1969 during their Get Back / Let It Be recording sessions[5]) and recorded by The Youngbloods, The Earl Scruggs Revue, Jeff Buckley, The Marmalade, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Sun Araw, Joe Cocker, Tremeloes, Bette Midler, The Box Tops, The Byrds, Ricky Nelson, Aaron Neville, Melissa Etheridge, Coheed and Cambria, Tom Robinson Band, Nina Simone, The Slackers, The Heptones, Paul Weller, Jerry Garcia Band, Sting, The Deftones, The Hollies, Trinitones, Pearls Before Swine, OK Go, Beth Rowley, Ken Lazarus, Big Mama Thornton, Chatham County Line, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Jack Johnson, Gov't Mule, Martin Harley, Kiosk, Dino McGartland with Laurence Jones, James Blundell, Miriam Makeba, Boz (first release of that song, May 1968), Mahotella Queens, Jacob Miller, Bobby McFerrin, Black Oak Arkansas, Marion Williams, Lera Lynn, Wilco, Jack Johnson, Lisa Loeb, Zac Brown Band, Kesha, Half Moon Run, Greta Van Fleet, Hideki Saijo, Michael McDonald, and Elvis Presley.
Personnel on the Band version
- Richard Manuel – lead vocal, harmony vocals on chorus, piano
- Rick Danko – bass guitar, harmony vocal on chorus
- Levon Helm – drums, snare drum (strings strummed by hand), harmony vocal on chorus
- Garth Hudson – Rocksichord organ
- Robbie Robertson – acoustic guitar
Published print
- Lyrics: 1962-2001, Simon & Schuster, page 303
- Rise Up Singing, Hal Leonard Books, page 102
References
- Jann Wenner (1968-06-22). "Dylan's Basement Tape Should Be Released". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
- David Yaffe, The Many Roads of Bob Dylan, Yale University Press, 2011, p. 15
- Mike Marqusee, Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s, Seven Stories Press, 2005, pp. 238-40.
- Clinton Heylin, Revolution in the Air (The Songs of Bob Dylan 1957–1973)
- The Beatles' "I Shall Be Released" demo (1:54) available at 24:01 on the YouTube video "The Beatles - Get Back/Let It Be Recording Session, January 2 1969 (Part #1)" (1h17:52)
