The Armpit Tape - (my tape) 1. Gotta Travel On; 2. I'm a Roving Gambler; 3. *Doney Gal (missing on Armpit tape) && 4. *Go down ye Murderers (missing on Armpit tape); %% 5. Bay of Mexico (fragment) 6. The Two Sisters; && 7. Go Way from My Window; 8. This Land Is Your Land; %% 9. *Go Tell it onthe Mountain (missing) 10. *Fare Thee Well (missing) 11. Pastures Of Plenty; && 12. Rock a Bye My Saro Jane; %% 13. Take This Hammer; 14. Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out; %% 15. The Great Historical Bum; %% 16. Mary Ann; %% 17. Every Night When The Sun Goes In; 18. Sinner Man; %% 19. *Delia (missing) 20. *Wop Da Alana (missing) 21. *Who's gonna show your pretty feet (missing) 22. Abner Young; %% 23. 900 Miles; && 24. Blues Yodel No 8 (Muleskinner Blues); && %% 25. One Eyed Jacks; %% 26. Columbus Stockade Blues; %% 27. Payday At Coal Creek; && 28. Unidentified fragment (said to be Wop Da Alana) %% - original sample tape && - samples tape 2 The most complete of the recordings, The Armpit Tape has become part of Dylan folk lore. The story goes that Brian Stibal borrowed a tape recorder from Richard Weddle and, with his friend Paul, surreptitious recorded the tape when played for them by Mrs. Moynihan. The microphone is said to have been secreted in Mr. Stibal's arm pit - hence the moniker, "The Arm Pit Tape." The muffled sound, abrupt stops and starts, and overlying banter by Karen, Brian, and Paul lend some credence to the assertion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Original Samples Tape (P? 11.5 mins)- One Eyed Jacks (end)/ Columbus Stockade Blues (fragment removed to samples 2) 1. Go Down Ye Murderers (exerpt + fragment) 2. This Land Is Your Land (2 exerpts) 3. Rock a Bye My Saro Jane ( comment: I don't think .. I'm sorry (Dylan)) 4. Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out (2 exerpts) 5. The Great Historical Bum (2 exerpts) 6. Mary Ann 7. Sinner Man (2 exerpts) 8. Abner Young(3 exerpts) 9. Blues Yodel No 8 (Muleskinner Blues) (2 exerpts) 10. One Eyed Jacks (2 exerpts) 11. Columbus Stockade Blues Go Down Ye Murderers (repeated) removed This Land Is Your Land (partially repeated) removed I've attempted to tidy this tape up a bit by removing the repeats at the end of the tape (they are exactly the same exerpt). The opening track sounds more like it was from the other samples tape so it has been shifted there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Samples Tape 2 (I?)(with Karen Wallace)- 1. The Two Sisters 2. Doney Gal (end fragment)(comment when asked to play House of the Rising Sun - "you have to be in a special mood in order to play any song") 3. Pastures Of Plenty 4. Fragment of One Eyed Jacks(end) / Columbus Stockade Blues (transferred from other samples tape) 5. Fragment of Rock a Bye My Saro Jane (end) + comment 6. 900 Miles (end) 7. Blues Yodel No 8 (Muleskinner Blues) 8. Payday At Coal Creek I've added the fragment from the other samples tape after Pastures of Plenty. This fragment sits better with this tape (imho) but doesn't go where I put it as Karen refers to Pastures of Plenty referring to the previous song. Of course it doesn't go at the end either, but as it's probably just an unintended fragment it doesn't matter. These samples are a bit longer than the previous samples. Karen Wallace comments: Samples Tape 2 --------------------------- The Two Sisters: - I’m recording this using the external speakers. I can’t figure out how to go directly to the line. - I can’t figure out how to record right through the system so I’m gonna have to record using the external microphones on this recorder. House Of The Risin’ Sun Comment: - Now coming up is the comment he made when I asked him to sing House Of The Risin’ Sun. He’s saying something like “I guess you have to be in a special mood in order to sing any song.” Again I have to play it through the external speakers, so I’ll turn the volume up and see if you can hear, okay? - It’s the last bit of another song before we go into the talking. Pastures Of Plenty: - This is Green Pastures Of Plenty. - That last song I think he might have had on other recordings, so maybe you can compare them. I don’t know if it’s on your September recording or not, but there might be something to compare there. Blue Yodel #8 (Mule Skinner Blues): - I’m recording the next song, which is Mule Skinner Blues, which I call Good Morning Captain on some of my titles. - Mule Skinner Blues, I noticed from a letter I got from Steven Pickering, is on the 1960 September tape. So I thought you could compare this version of Mule Skinner Blues with the one on the other tape. I did have some of it on my Excerpt Tape, I think. - I can’t imagine that the two versions from six months or so apart could be too much different. They might be, but it should still give you a good comparison. It’s the only song I see that’s the same. Payday At Coal Creek: - This song runs out on the end of the tape. - That’s the end of this recording. I hope it gives you enough of an idea of what’s on the tape. If you need anymore information let me know. I could mention too when I made this one copy of the tape that I made, I used two different tape recorders. The first one that I used was recording... or was... the speed on it was going faster and slower, so some of the sound actually is distorted, probably. Then when we put it on the other side you could hear part of what’s on the other side of the tape too, so even this copy of the tape that I made isn’t a real good copy. The original is a lot better. Interview with Karen and Terri Wallace - my tape is the full version! Extra bits, I've added [] -------------------------------------- [Karen: Interviewing my sister Terri Ellison, formally Terri Wallace, about the Bob Dylan Recording, May 1960. Since she knows a lot more [than I do, there isn't much conversation to have off the actual tape. We'll put that at the end and make a little interview first.] Karen: Okay, you wanna introduce yourself? Terri: Okay. My name is Terri Wallace Ellison, and I met Bob Dylan at the 10 O’Clock Scholar when some friends and I decided that we wanted to try something different. I was a junior in high school at the time, and of course this was during the days when the espresso coffee places were the big rage. And so some friends and I decided to go over to Dinkytown, which is located by the University of Minnesota, and there we met Bob Dylan. From the first time I heard him sing, I was impressed by his voice, his... Karen: What kind of voice did he have at the time? Terri: Well... Karen: Did he have like he does now? Terri: No, not at all. Not at all. He just reminded me of a little choir boy. He had such a cute little cherub face and this beautiful voice, which I was really impressed with. I really thought he had a good singing voice, which I might add was somewhat of a disappointment after he became well known and I heard the voice that made him famous. It was really disappointing to me because it was so different from the voice that I first had heard come out of him. Karen: Okay, when did you first meet Bob Dylan? Terri: Well, I think that it was about the fall of 1959. That was many years ago and I really can’t remember the exact date or the exact month, but I think it was the fall of ’59. Karen: So how long did you know him then? Terri: Oh, it was about eight months. Karen: Okay, how often did you go over to Minneapolis to listen to him? Terri: As often as I could get my friends to go with me, which none of them were very crazy about him. So I exhausted a lot of my friends, but at least once a weekend. Sometimes it was both Friday night and Saturday night. I think also that he sang on Thursday night sometimes too, or it may have been one night during the week, ‘cause I remember going over there when there really weren’t very many people there, and that had to be either the early part of the week or a Thursday night. Weekends were usually pretty crowded there. [Karen: He had a pretty big following in Minneapolis there? [Terri: Yes, ah..I was probably one of his biggest fans. But yes he did. There were a group of musicians who would come in all the time [Karen: Were friends of his? [Terri: Yeah, and there were people that would go from coffee house to coffee house. Other musicians that would go from coffee house to [coffee house to hear what songs the different singers at the different coffee houses were singing. But he did have a following. Karen: How did you get to know him? Terri: Well, I remember the very first weekend, that very first time I heard him sing. He couldn’t help but notice me because I just stared and listened, and hung on to every word that came out of his mouth, because that’s how good I thought he was. So during one of his breaks he came over and introduced himself, and we talked. And one of my friends was very very pretty. My friend that went with me probably most often was a very attractive person, and so that may have been another reason why he noticed our table. But he liked people who were very attentive to his singing and appreciated his music, and I certainly did. My pretty friend didn’t. [Karen: How well were you acquainted with him then? [Terri: Well, I became quite well acquainted with him to the point where he certainly noticed if I wasn't there. In fact there were times [when he had called our house to ask if I was coming. Well, I should backtrack and say that it started out where after I had gone there, [maybe the second time, as my friends and I were leaving he would ask if we would be coming back the next weekend. And of course I was so [infatuated with this person that I wouldn't miss the opportunity to hear him. And I always made sure found another friend to go over [there with. And it got to the point where, the times I couldn't be there, because I couldn't find anyone to go with. We lived quite a [few miles from this area in Minneapolis. If I just could absolutely find no one else to go with, I couldn't go; I wasn't about to go by [myself. So when I would go back the next time he acknowledged the fact the I hadn't been there, and he asked for my phone number and he [called our house several times to ask if I'd be coming to hear him. It's not that he was interested in me, he was interested in someone [who could kinda boost his ego. Which I did. I told him over and over how good I thought he was he was, because I really did think he was [very good. Karen: He used to ask you how he looked? Terri: Oh yes. Karen: If he looked good on the stage or if his clothes looked alright? Terri: Well, I remember a pair of brown corduroy pants that he wore almost all the time, and I know that he wasn’t really concerned with his appearance, in that he wanted to look neat and clean, you know. He did want to look presentable, but he certainly was not concerned with his appearance. What he was most concerned about with this particular pair of brown corduroy pants was, because he had worn them so often that he had a rip in the crotch, and he was more concerned about people being able to... or him maybe being embarrased because he couldn’t cover up his rip. But he didn’t exactly have what one would consider a large wardrobe. [Karen: He dressed a little different, like a Beatnik at the time? [Terri: Yeah, yeah that was really kinda fascinating to me too because I was still into the skirts and bobby sox so.. Karen: What did he tell you about himself, as you were talking during his breaks? Terri: Well, he was not real easy to get information about himself out of him, because he... you know. He told me he was from Hibbing and that... Karen: He was using the name Bob Dylan when he performed? Terri: Yeah, yeah... Karen: But he did tell you what his real name was? Terri: Yeah. His real name was Bob Zimmerman, and... Karen: Well did he tell you about his family or life in Hibbing? Terri: No. No, I never remember him really saying... that wasn’t his main interest, in talking about his past. He was more focused on what he wanted to be, and he had an idol and that idol was Woody Guthrie. And that was... I remember one of his friends telling me one time that if you ever really wanted to make a good impression on him you were to tell him that he sounded like Woody Guthrie. Well, at the time I didn’t even know who Woody Guthrie was. I just liked the sound out of this person that was sitting on the stool singing his heart and soul out. And I did a little research into Woody Guthrie... quite frankly I thought Bob Dylan was better than Woody Guthrie, but that was just my personal opinion. [Karen: He didn't tell you about anything about where he had been .. or any other travels, or [Terri: No [Karen: ..Where he had performed before. Was this his first job? [Terri: As far as I knew, y'know, it was, he never talked about, that I remember anyway, that he had made the up north Minnesota, up [Northern Minnesota circuit and he was coming down to the cities to make it big it just.. I was under the impression for a while from him [that he was a college student at the U, but really I don't even think that was true because I remember one of his friends saying that he [wasn't really going to the U, he just liked people to think he was. [Karen: He had gone to the U and flunked out maybe? [Terri: Could've been, I just don't know He never really talked about a whole lot other than his music and that he wanted to be famous. Karen: I think when I met him it wasn’t only that he wanted to be famous, that he was going to be famous. Terri: Oh yes, yes. Karen: He was convinced that he would become famous. It wasn’t when he became famous this, or when he became famous that. Terri: Sure. Yeah, right. Karen: So over quite a few months then you attended his performances in Minneapolis. Then how about St. Paul? How often did you go to the Purple Onion? Or how did he get to sing at the Purple Onion? Terri: Well, if I remember correctly, the Purple Onion had just more or less opened, and he was looking for other places to sing. And so I remember him talking about a place much closer to my home that was another coffee house, but they also were gonna serve pizza, which the 10 O’Clock Scholar didn’t. But, that that might be a possible place where he could sing. And I don’t remember all the details, I just remember that he did sing there then, which was great as far as I was concerned because then I didn’t have to figure out a way to get all the way over to Minneapolis, because the Purple Onion was much closer to where I lived. Karen: Did he ever tell you anything about why he used the name Dylan? Terri: No. No I... I don’t remember. Maybe it had something to do with the poet. I don’t know... Karen: Probably... Dylan Thomas. Terri: Could be. Karen: Okay, when it comes to the tape recording now what were the circumstances surrounding that? Terri: In the months that I knew him he did seem to be a goal oriented person, and his goal was that he wanted to become famous. And his chances of doing it in this area were certainly not as great as if he went away to New York. I think that’s where Woody Guthrie was at the time, too. And if I remember correctly, Woody Guthrie was sick at the time and he wanted to see him. So actually he had two goals: he wanted to be famous, but he also wanted to meet his idol. And so through the months that I knew him he became more anxious to get away from this area to go to New York. So he had never heard his voice on tape and so he asked me if I had a tape recorder. Well I was living at home with my parents at the time, and my father did have a tape recorder. So I said, “Oh sure, my dad has a tape recorder, and I’m sure that you can use it.” And so I went home and checked with my dad and my dad said that my sister Karen, who was living in an apartment at the time, was borrowing it. So I checked with Karen to see if she had the tape recorder, which she said she did, and I told her about this wonderful person, this wonderful singer that wanted to make a recording. If I remember correctly, you weren’t really to crazy about taking the time to make the recording either. You had to do a little screening before you did that. Karen: Oh yeah, I wanted to see what he sounded like... if I thought he was any good, or if I was just wasting my time. Terri: Yeah. So we went... you kinda screened him, which I... Karen: Yeah, that’s when you and I and my roommate Julie went to the Purple Onion to listen to him sing. Terri: Yeah, right. And he passed the test for you too. Karen: Yeah. I was impressed with his singing, and with his dedication, or how serious he was about his work. Terri: Yeah. Karen: Did... when he was singing did he usually, when he came to talk to you on break, ask you how he sounded? Terri: Oh yes, yes. Always. He was much more concerned with that rather than chit-chat: "hi, how are ya", that kind of thing. He wasn’t... I never really felt that he was interested in me as a person. He was interested only in me as a critic and if I could critique what he was doing. You know, that was where it was at. Karen: Did he usually seem to be satisfied with the way he thought he sounded? Terri: More often than not he wasn’t. He always felt that he could do better. Karen: Mhm. That’s exactly what he said when he was... you know we’d listen to each song on the tape after we’d recorded it and he’d... after just about every one he said he could have done it better. Terri: Yeah... Karen: So he was very critical of himself. So then, okay after we went and listened to him, then you introduced me to him, and we sat and talked and made arrangements for the next weekend then I think, to make the recording... come and pick him up because he didn’t have a car. Terri: Right. Karen: So the next weekend then, my roommate and I went and picked him up after he was done singing at the Purple Onion, and went back and made the recording. Did you see him then? That was in May of 1960. Now I remember when he was there he took three of my record albums, and after that I kept asking you to ask him to give them back to me. He had borrowed them, and I don’t remember how long later it was that you said that he had left for New York. So you never actually talked to him after he made the tape recording then? Terri: Not that I remember. Because as I remember it, that was the reason why it was so important for him to make this tape recording, because he said that he had never heard himself on... he had never heard how he sounded before. And he knew he was gonna go to New York, and I was under the impression that he was going to leave right after he made that recording. So, I really don’t remember ever talking to him after he made that tape. [Karen: Okay, but after the tape was made, you did hear the tape a few days or a week or so later, I don't remember how long exactly it [was. I had the tape over at our parent's house and we all listened to it. [Terri: Right. [Karen: And you recognised that as being the voice of Bob Dylan. [Terri: Oh certainly, uh ha. [Karen: It was what he sounded like when he was singing at the Purple Onion and the 10 O'Clock Scholar. [Terri: Yes [Karen: The tape was a true representation of what he sounded like at the time. [Terri: Yes it is Karen: Okay, do you remember any songs in particular that he used to play, or that you used to ask him to play? Terri: My favorite was always Sinner Man, and House Of The Risin’ Sun of course. Karen: Mm.. You know I asked him on the tape, when we were making the recording to play House Of The Risin’ Sun and he said that he wasn’t in the mood. Terri: Yeah, he was always real fickle about that song. Karen: But he did play Sinner Man, and did sing Sinner Man. Terri: Yeah, right. Karen: Did he ever play the harmonica when... Terri: No, I don’t ever remember him playing the harmonica. Karen: Yeah, he didn’t play it on the tape and he... I don’t remember him playing it when we went to hear him either. Okay, other than going to the coffee houses, did you have any other personal contact with him, or his friends? Terri: One night after he was playing at the 10 O’Clock Scholar... he and his friends used to go down by the river and party, and so he did ask me if I wanted to come down by the river with him. And I was so honored. Oh, I just was so honored. Karen: Now this was when? Terri: This was during the spring. Karen: Of 1960? Terri: Yes, yes. This was shortly before he left. Karen: So you went to the party down by the river with him? Terri: I went to the party down by the river with him. Karen: And this was with his musician friends? Were there some other... Terri: Yes, with his musician friends. And then I realized that I was just a high school kid and I really didn’t belong down by the river, so I left. I wasn’t the adventuresome swinger that I thought I was. Karen: So he didn’t ask you to any other parties? Terri: No, he didn’t! No, no he didn’t. And I was probably relieved that he didn’t. Karen: So you were actually more interested in his performance, his musical performances than him? Terri: Well I was fascinated by him because he was a very different person from the high school boys that I knew, that’s for sure. Karen: He had kind of a magnetic personality. Terri: Yes, he did, yeah. Karen: Well he was just... something about him that was different was that he was so... Terri: He looked so sweet. He just looked so sweet. Karen: Quite a bit different from the way he looks now, too. Terri: Yeah. Karen: He was actually, at that time, a little on the chubby side. Terri: Sure. He was. Karen: And he looked quite a bit younger than what he must have been at the time. Terri: Although I don’t really think that he was that old. He may have been 19 at the most. But of course to someone 15 or 16, someone 19 is... Karen: Matured. Terri: Yes. Maybe it wasn’t so much that he was mature as I was immature. Karen: Well, he had me convinced actually that he would become famous, because I kept watching in the record stores and the newspaper, and everywhere to see his name or him. And the next time that I did see him was on TV when he was in Washington for the March On Washington, and he was performing at that. That... I think then you probably were in Sweden. Terri: Yeah. Yeah I was, because that was after President Kennedy was assassinated, right? Yeah, it was. And Joan Baez was another one of my idols, and their careers kind of meshed too for awhile. In fact I think during what you were talking about, when you saw him on a TV, at the March On Washington I think Joan Baez was involved in that too. Karen: Mmm, I think she was too. So then when you were in Sweden you said that I sent you some clippings from Life magazine when he had a write-up. Terri: A write-up, yeah. And you said when I stopped in New York, to stop in and see him and get your record albums back from him. And the next time we saw him was when he came to St. Paul, and was in concert. Karen: Mmm. And when he first went into the electronic, what a disappointment. Terri: Yeah, guitar. Yeah. Karen: So we went to the concert in Minneapolis with our father, and all three of us were the oldest ones there. Terri: But we could say, “We knew him when...” [Karen: Okay, is there anything else we can add to this, um.. [Terri: Nothing that I can think of.. [Karen: So just in wrapping up You've heard the tape recording. [Terri: Yes. [Karen: And this man is interested in .. since he sounds different from his records and from other tape recordings, he wants to know that [it is Bob Dylan and it really does sound like he sounded like in early 1960. [Terri: Well it truely is Bob Dylan and I can understand this person's concern in wanting to be sure that it is, because I think I said [previously that the sound that is on that tape is very different from the sound that most people are familiar with. [Karen: And, possibly, depending on your opinion, probably, it's a better sound at least, in our opinion. [Terri: Well, in mine it certainly was. I was very disappointed in the sound that he became well known with, because in my opinion his [voice was so much more pure and beautiful. When I used to tell people that that I thought Bob Dylan had a beautiful voice, they could [not believe that Bob Dylan ever had a beautiful voice, but I... ----------------- Olof's entry on this tape The Home Of Karen Wallace St. Paul, Minnesota May 1960 1.Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton - Larry Ehrlich - David Lazar - Tom Six) 2.Doney Gal (trad.) 3.Roving Gambler (trad.) 4.Go Down You Murderers (trad.) 5.Bay Of Mexico (trad.) 6.The Two Sisters (trad.) 7.Go Way From My Window (John Jacob Niles) 8.This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie) 9.Go Tell It To The Mountain (trad.) 10.Fare Thee Well (trad.) 11.Pastures Of Plenty (Woody Guthrie) 12.Saro Jane (trad.) 13.Take This Hammer (trad.) 14.Nobody Loves When You're Down And Out (J. Cox) 15.Great Historical Bum (Woody Guthrie) 16.Mary Ann (trad.) 17.Every Night When The Sun Goes In (trad.) 18.Sinner Man (trad.) 19.Delia (traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan) 20.Wop De Alano (trad.) 21.Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet? (trad.) 22.Abner Young (?) 23.500 Miles (trad.) 24.Blues Yodel No. 8 (Jimmie Rodgers - G. Vaughan) 25.One-Eyed Jacks 26.Columbus Stockade Blues (Woody Guthrie) 27.Payday At Coal Creek (trad.) Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar). Notes Tracks 9, 10, 19-21 not included on the circulating samples tape 1979. Tracks 6, 11, 24, 27 better quality samples circulated to prospective buyers in 1983. Private mono recording with many tracks cut, 30 minutes. =============================================================================================================== Bootleg Track 6 available on Genuine Bootleg Series,Vol.2. Original Samples tape available on Hollow Horn - Ten Million a Week Samples tape 2, Original Samples tape, Armpit tape, Wallace Sisters interview (ed) available on Pre-columbian Bob Dylan Volume 2 Samples tape 2, Original Samples tape, Armpit tape, Wallace Sisters interview (ed) available on I was so much younger then Volume 2 Bob Dylan - From Minnesota to New York 1958-61 - 10 tracks from the two samples tapes NOT a complete Muleskinners Blues but just 6&7 from Samples 2. For bootleggers list the end of Doney Gal as Unknown Song References 1. Winds of Change ed Brian Stibal (A new earliest Tape located) Changin' #10 (see scan) 2. If You Can Tell A Bigger Lie - On The 1960 St Paul Tape – article by Paul Loeber in Fourth Time Around #1 (1982).(see scan) 3. The Continuing Story Of The St Paul 1960 Tape – article by Gavin Diddle in Fourth Time Around $2 (1983).(see scan) 4. Whats Real and What is Not - The May 60 St Paul Tape - Clinton Heylin in The Telegraph #40 (see scan) No Direction Home - Robert Shelton p54 (One Eyed jacks) Bob Dylan Stolen Moments - Clinton Heylin p4-5 The Recording Sessions _ Clinton Heylin p1-4 Revolution in the Air - Clinton Heylin p29-30 (One Eyed Jacks) The Songs He Didn't Write Derek Barker (Doney Girl p90) plus appendix 1 (the last 5 references are readily available so I didn't scan them) =========================================================================== Final points to ponder. 1. Apart from the different titles used it is interesting that olof & Barker have a slightly different order (2-4), but Dundas in "Tangled" 2004 has a totally different order 14 -> 28, then 1->13. 2. (final reference) Barker gives some lyrics to Doney Girl, but these are not the lyrics on the fragment here. His listing of the"Tape Exerpts" in appendix 1, is typical of the mangled tapes that circulate. 3. "I am unable to explain the presence of the fragments of Bay Of Mexico and Go Way from My Window (probably the fifth and seventh song on the original tape) after the end of the tape." on the notes for "The Home of Karen Wallace, St. Paul, Minnesota (May)" probably just refer to leftover fragments (of the armpit tape!) on someones tape copy. I think the reference to "Fare thee well" is wrong and just misidentifying "Doney Gal". 4. (Clinton Heylin ["Bob Dylan The Recording Sessions 1960-1994", p. 3] writes that another tape in the hands of "a British collector contains just four songs, "The Two Sisters," "Pastures Of Plenty,"Muleskinner Blues," and "Payday At Coal Creek."). I think this is clearly the same tape as Samples Tape 2 with the hard-to identify bits left out. I don't believe there is a third samples tape!!