Joey - Bob and the Boys
Full Name:
JP (J Bomb)
Forums:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvkeZbVe20Q
On a tour where he was routinely butchering his own material, Joey was a strong and consistent exception. Along with Slow Train, he found a way to make it work.
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Joey.
Born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the year of who knows when
Opened up his eyes to the tune of an accordion
Always on the outside of whatever side there was
When they asked him why it had to be that way, “Well,” he answered,
“just because”
Larry was the oldest, Joey was next to last
They called Joe “Crazy,” the baby they called “Kid Blast”
Some say they lived off gambling and runnin’ numbers too
It always seemed they got caught between the mob and the men in blue
Joey, Joey
King of the streets, child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away?
There was talk they killed their rivals, but the truth was far from that
No one ever knew for sure where they were really at
When they tried to strangle Larry, Joey almost hit the roof
He went out that night to seek revenge, thinkin’ he was bulletproof
The war broke out at the break of dawn, it emptied out the streets
Joey and his brothers suffered terrible defeats
Till they ventured out behind the lines and took five prisoners
They stashed them away in a basement, called them amateurs
The hostages were tremblin’ when they heard a man exclaim
“Let’s blow this place to kingdom come, let Con Edison take the blame”
But Joey stepped up, he raised his hand, said, “We’re not those kind of men
It’s peace and quiet that we need to go back to work again”
Joey, Joey
King of the streets, child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away?
The police department hounded him, they called him Mr. Smith
They got him on conspiracy, they were never sure who with
“What time is it?” said the judge to Joey when they met
“Five to ten,” said Joey. The judge says, “That’s exactly what you get”
He did ten years in Attica, reading Nietzsche and Wilhelm Reich
They threw him in the hole one time for tryin’ to stop a strike
His closest friends were black men ’cause they seemed to understand
What it’s like to be in society with a shackle on your hand
When they let him out in ’71 he’d lost a little weight
But he dressed like Jimmy Cagney and I swear he did look great
He tried to find the way back into the life he left behind
To the boss he said, “I have returned and now I want what’s mine”
Joey, Joey
King of the streets, child of clay
Joey, Joey
Why did they have to come and blow you away?
It was true that in his later years he would not carry a gun
“I’m around too many children,” he’d say, “they should never know of one”
Yet he walked right into the clubhouse of his lifelong deadly foe
Emptied out the register, said, “Tell ’em it was Crazy Joe”
One day they blew him down in a clam bar in New York
He could see it comin’ through the door as he lifted up his fork
He pushed the table over to protect his family
Then he staggered out into the streets of Little Italy
Joey, Joey
King of the streets, child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away?
Sister Jacqueline and Carmela and mother Mary all did weep
I heard his best friend Frankie say, “He ain’t dead, he’s just asleep”
Then I saw the old man’s limousine head back towards the grave
I guess he had to say one last goodbye to the son that he could not save
The sun turned cold over President Street and the town of Brooklyn mourned
They said a mass in the old church near the house where he was born
And someday if God’s in heaven overlookin’ His preserve
I know the men that shot him down will get what they deserve
Joey, Joey
King of the streets, child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away?
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Scott Schaffer
I was at this show at Giants
I was at this show at Giants Stadium, and the week before at Foxboro, as I am sure a lot of zoners were.
Hot as balls both shows- like 100 in the shade hot. I remember hearing Joey for the first and 2nd times, and absolutely hated the song.
Dylan sounded awful, the whole thing felt like hell on earth. Although now listening to some of the tapes, they sound not half bad.
Strange how that is
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
I was at Giants and Foxboro
I was at Giants and Foxboro too, Scott, and if it wasn't for the rumbling of What made them want to come and blow you away? Joey would have been a piss song for me.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Thumbkinetic
Dylan sounded awful, the
Dylan sounded awful, the whole thing felt like hell on earth. Although now listening to some of the tapes, they sound not half bad.<<
They still should've left it off the record in favor of something not so mediocre. 11 minutes (?) can be a lot of "meh".
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hello My Name Is
I was not there- but get the
I was not there- but get the impression that Dylan & the Dead was less than the sum of its parts- mostly because Dylan was a bit of a mess during this period. A few good moments though. The July 4 concert gets spun around here every once in a while...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
I saw 3 or 4 of the D&D shows
I saw 3 or 4 of the D&D shows back east, and I wouldn't say they were bad, they definitely had their moments, but I don't know that they lived up to the hype. It was cool getting to see JG play pedal steel though.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Scott Schaffer
Yea Mike, I was too blitzed
Yea Mike, I was too blitzed/hot/dehydrated to even remember Jerry on pedal steel.
I read a few interviews with Mickey and Bobby where they stated it was very difficult to play with Dylan at this time, as he would just change stuff up mid song, tempo changes, etc and was impossible to follow him.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
Giants was the end of an 8
Giants was the end of an 8 show run for me. I started with no set rides, 2 tickets and $20, and ended up seeing 8 shows and with $200 in my pocket. I didn't even sell anything illegal along the way. I don't remember too much, but really had the best time of my life.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Dylan and the Dead in Eugene
Dylan and the Dead in Eugene was nothing. Nobody played well, especially Dylan, when they played together. But I went down to Oakland for the next show and it was much better. Way way better.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
I saw the Oakland show. The
I saw the Oakland show. The GD really caught fire during their own sets and played way longer than they were supposed to, which forced Bill Graham to come out and announce that the last BART trains would be pulling out before the end of the show. Lots of people had to leave early and weren't happy.
I didn't have to leave, but I wish I had. I thought the Dylan set was awful from start to finish, and since I thought most of what the GD played that day was some of the best I'd heard from them in a loooooong time, I wished they had just kept playing.
At that point I'd seen Dylan live once or twice, but I hadn't figured him out yet and I thought he was just bad live, and that show didn't help my opinion.
It took me a couple more shows to discover that Dylan could be an excellent live performer, but he needs a very tight, well constructed band behind him. In their best times those descriptions would never fit the Grateful Dead, and CERTAINLY not in '87.
IMO, from a creative standpoint that collaboration was a bad idea, but I bet everybody made a few bucks from it.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
I thought this was an
I thought this was an interesting article about the Dylan and Dead 1987 collaboration, and not just because of this little nugget:
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Lance, imagine what Eugene
Lance, imagine what Eugene was like if Oakland was better.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Localcountyline
After seeing what I
After seeing what I considered the debacle of the Dead/Dylan collaborations in '86 at Akron and RFK, I elected to skip the DD shows that summer
and just went to Alpine Valley, Wonderland outside of Toronto, Rochester (hometown show), and Pittsburg. All of those shows were good,
a couple bordering on great.
I was certainly sorry to have missed Garcia on pedal steel, that was my main regret, as well as the band playing some of these Dylan songs he hadn't
played in a long time, which Garcia pushed him to do. It was rough then, but Dylan said this propelled him to change the way he sang live.
(I believe the Garcia quote was "I found myself in the weird position of teaching Dylan his own songs.")
I think the only show I would have gone to was Foxboro, which was hot as hell and ended up being a traffic clusterfuck of epic proportions.
And yes, one of the bumper stickers sold on that tour was:
DYLAN AND THE DEAD
ESTIMATE THE PROFIT
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: dj_easy_wind
'Joey' remains my favorite
'Joey' remains my favorite song from that '87 Dylan/Dead run.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Most Dylan records contain
Most Dylan records contain one long song. Usually it's boring as hell - Sad-Eyed Lady, Hurricane, Joey, Tempest - but sometimes it's pretty good - Chimes, Jack of Hearts, Ain't Talkin'.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: krab
Upgraded video of Foxboro 2nd
Upgraded video of Foxboro 2nd set, cleaned up real well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5MznpSW-wg
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: JP (J Bomb)
On February 12th, 1988, Dylan
On February 12th, 1988, Dylan called the offices of the Grateful Dead in San Rafael, CA, and asked to join the band.
https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/grateful-dead-bob-dylan-howard-wei...
Seems unlikely that Bob asked to join the band full time. Perhaps he inquired about more collaboration but "Hey guys can I be member of the Grateful Dead!?" is probably not entirely accurate.