One of my recent Friday iPod Random Ten sets featured the Old Crow Medicine Show song "Wagon Wheel," which may well be my favorite OCMS song of all. I learned this about the song from Wikipedia:
"Wagon Wheel" is a song composed of two different parts. The chorus for the song comes from a Bob Dylan outtake from the soundtrack for the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
Although never officially released, the Dylan song was released on a
bootleg and is usually named after the chorus and its refrain of "Rock
Me Mama." Although Dylan left the song an unfinished sketch, Ketch
Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show wrote verses for the song around
Dylan's original chorus. Secor's additional lyrics transformed "Rock Me
Mama" into "Wagon Wheel." Secor has stated the song is partially
autobiographical. The song has become extremely popular since its
inclusion on Old Crow Medicine Show's major label debut, O.C.M.S.
in 2004, although the song appeared in earlier form on the now out of
print "Troubles and Up and Down the Road" EP in 2001. The official
publishing information is Dylan/Secor.
In case you're not familiar with the song, here it is:
(Weird video, but I could listen to the song all day.)
Anyhow, Verbatim reader Kelly commented on that post, "I love 'Wagon Wheel' in its many incarnations." I hadn't realized there were any other versions, so I asked her about them. She pointed me to a few:
1. Matt Anderson’s version, which I like well enough—it stays true to the feel of the original.
2. Jeremy McComb’s slick, overproduced pop-country take on it—if I'd never heard the original, I'd probably think this was an OK song, but it has no heart.
3. Scottish band Bodega’s version, which is nice enough but doesn't add much to it.
2. Jeremy McComb’s slick, overproduced pop-country take on it—if I'd never heard the original, I'd probably think this was an OK song, but it has no heart.
3. Scottish band Bodega’s version, which is nice enough but doesn't add much to it.
Apparently there are others, too, but (1) I adore the original, and (2) as we've discussed here before, I generally tend to prefer whatever version of a song I hear first anyhow, so I won't bother looking for more.
Great Post - Loved the song...big Dylan fan! I use to attend Gospel sings in the south until I started listening to the dead in the late 60's. Talk about music diversity
Posted by: Mark Cooper | December 25, 2008 at 12:00 PM