“Watching the River Flow” is a blues rock song by American singer Bob Dylan. It was written and recorded during a session in March 1971 at Blue Rock Studio in New York City. The song has been covered by the Earl Scruggs Revue, Steve Gibbons, Colin James, Leon Russell, and many others. Dylan used the second of two takes of the b-side of “Spanish Loving” in his hit single “Lonely Boy”
About Watching the River Flow in brief
“Watching the River Flow” is a blues rock song by American singer Bob Dylan. It was written and recorded during a session in March 1971 at Blue Rock Studio in New York City. The song was praised by critics for its energy and distinctive vocals, guitar, and piano. It has been covered by the Earl Scruggs Revue, Steve Gibbons, Colin James, Leon Russell, and many others. Dylan used the second of two takes of the b-side of “Spanish Loving” in his hit single “Lonely Boy” in the 1980s and 1990s. Dylan’s version of the song was released on the 1971 Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II compilation album, and was a minor hit in some countries worldwide. Dylan and Russell did not record an album together again, though they did tour together in 2011; Russell died of cancer in 2011, and Dylan played bass at the Concert for Bangladesh in November 1971. Heylin has pointed out that Dylan borrowed the line “If I had wings and I could fly” from the song “The Water is Wide” and words from “Old Man River” for his composition. Dylan wrote the lyrics in several minutes at the Blue Rock studio in 1971, and used a chord progression in the key of F major.
The recording has been praised for the dynamic way in which Dylan’s vocal mannerisms bounce off Russell’s characteristic stride piano playing. Dylan recorded and released a series of albums that incorporated country rock elements between 1967 and 1970. All were produced by Bob Johnston, but Dylan decided that he did not want to continue working with Johnston. For his next recording session, Dylan asked Leon Russell to assist in finding a new sound, and Russell assembled a backing group that included Carl Radle on bass, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar and Jim Keltner on drums. In November 1971, Russell accompanied Dylan into a studio again to record Dylan’s next single, “George Jackson” In 2011, five current and former Rolling Stones appeared on a recording of “WatchingtheRiverFlow” as part of a tribute project for pianist Ian Stewart. The Rolling Stones have not recorded with Russell again; however, in 2009, he had noted in 2009 that he had not recorded an album with Dylan, nor had he recorded with Dylan again in 2011. Dylan has said that he has no plans to release a new album in the next few years.
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This page is based on the article Watching the River Flow published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 17, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
