GOOD OLD FASHIONED WILD GOOSE CHASE

I was listening to an episode of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour yesterday and in the introduction of "The Fool" by Sanford Clark he mentions two things. One is that the guitar player on the song is Al Casey. Al Casey, being a member of the Wrecking Crew, has played on tons of stuff you've probably heard, but he also did session work on his own, along with taking part in some of the fictional surf band LPs when surf music was big. Leave it to Dylan to realize that there'd be some geek that appreciated that info.

The other thing that Dylan mentioned was that he thought that Clark sounded a lot like Elvis. Personally, I think a more accurate description is a combination of Elvis and Ricky Nelson. That said, both items put me one step closer to getting his recent book "The Philosophy of Modern Song". One thing I really dig about Dylan, other than his music, is his sharing of that mother-lode of musical knowledge in that shaggy skull of his. Sort of passing the record nerd torch.

So, what about Sanford Clark? Well, he sounds like a cross...wait, already mentioned that. Check "The Fool". Some of you will recognize it. I sure did, though I have no idea where or when I first heard it. But thanks to Dylan, this time I listened intently to the guitar. Casey's still battin' a thousand.

After a couple more worthy Clark cuts I run into "It's Nothing To Me". I recognized it as the song Johnny Winter recorded as "Ain't Nothin' to Me", in 1973. I remembered that he hadn't credited the songwriter on the album (can't believe I remembered that).  Clark's version has the songwriter credit as Pat Patterson. Why hadn't Winter credited the songwriter? Thinking that reissues usually expand on the original liner notes, I checked the last released edition of Winter's LP.  It was credited to a E.Dunbar. What the hell. I backtracked and that credit was added in 2016. Considering that all other versions of the song prior to his 1973 release were credited Patterson, I can only guess why Winter omitted the songwriting credit. He did change the title and line in the song from "It's Nothing to Me" to "Ain't Nothin' to Me". Maybe he was waiting to see if he could claim the writing credit. Regardless, who is this E.Dunbar? Checked all sorts of sites, a songwriter database and all I could come up with was a credit at Wikipedia "(Leon Payne(as Pat Patterson))". I give up. Fuck you internet.

The Billy Strings video  above is really good. Looks to be the same setting as the "Dust In A Baggy" video.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Sanford Clark - The Fool mp3 at Rocky 52
Sanford Clark - Usta Be My Baby mp3 at Rocky 52
Sanford Clark - Modern Romance mp3 at Rocky 52
Sanford Clark - It's Nothing to Me (1966)(streaming) at YouTube
Johnny Winter - Ain't Nothin' to Me (1973)(streaming) at YouTube
Red Kirk - It's Nothing to Me (1957)(streaming) at YouTube