The singer Bob Dylan called the musical “king of the mountain”
There aren’t many songwriters out there who have not wished, at one point or another, that they had been blessed with the same literary skills as Bob Dylan.
Having personified the gold standard of songwriting for upwards of six decades at this point, it is fair to say that the Minnesota-born folk hero knows his way around a tune but, to his credit, he has never claimed to be the only beacon of songwriting excellence.
Given that Dylan has spent the vast majority of his existence performing to millions of adoring fans, being cited as a genius, and even winning a Nobel Prize, you could forgive the songwriter for having amassed a certain degree of ego. While there is probably some truth in that fact, it is worth mentioning that Dylan has never really been one of those musicians who seem to view themselves as superior to us mere mortals. In fact, the folk singer has routinely gifted his support to his various peers and a fair few up-and-coming artists as well.
After all, many of Dylan’s career highlights have been marked by collaboration. Whether it was his admittedly tumultuous relationship with Joan Baez, both on and off stage, or his famous friendship with Johnny Cash, Dylan always seemed happiest when surrounded by like-minded musical heroes. Even though it was Dylan’s name splashed across the record cover, a track like ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ wouldn’t have sounded nearly as good without the collaborative efforts of folks like Al Kooper.
It makes sense, then, that the songwriter has taken virtually every opportunity presented to him to espouse the joys of his own listening habits, and one figure in particular has always been heaped in Dylan’s praises: Randy Newman. Another visionary songwriter who forever changed the landscape in America, Newman first arose at around the same time as Dylan, and the pair have always maintained a mutual admiration for each other’s work.
“I heard a record on the radio one day back in the sixties by Julius La Rosa called ‘I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,’” Dylan recalled within A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman.
“Randy’s song was so mysterious – something about kicking a can down the street, like that’s how you treat a friend,” he explained. “I never heard a song like that before; it was so cynical. I actually never heard Randy himself sing it till much later.”
A classic colliding of beautiful music and miserable lyricism, the song is among Newman’s greatest works, although by the time he recorded it for his 1968 debut album, it had already been recorded by The Animals’ Eric Burdon as well as the aforementioned Julius La Rosa. In fact, it still stands among the songwriter’s most covered – and, by extension, most beloved anthems.
For Dylan, Newman’s version was the greatest, though. “What grabbed me was the sadness in Randy’s voice. Sadness and cynicism, it’s a strange combination but Randy always manages to pull it off,” the songwriter shared. “I like his singing. It’s the epitome of laid-back, and I think he’s got that covered all by himself. King of the mountain, that’s who he is and always was.”
The words pot, kettle, and black certainly come to mind with Dylan’s appraisal of Newman and his ability to blend sadness and cynicism so seamlessly into his writing. Nevertheless, the songwriter’s clear adoration for his fellow wordsmith is telling both of just how much attention Dylan has paid to the emerging sounds around him, and his ability to get to the root of what makes a song so universally beloved as ‘I Think It’s Going to Rain Today.’
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