This episode of XM Radio’s “Theme Time Radio Hour With Your Host, Bob Dylan” first aired on November 14th, 2007. A lot of cigarettes have been smoked since then, but better late than never with the following play list and subjective summary of Bob’s verbal highlights.

( “This week, we’ve got kind of a controversial subject. Something you’re not allowed to do inside a restaurant, or even a bowling alley. It didn’t used to be that way. It’s something you used to be able to do while in public. You didn’t have to hide in your own house doing it. Today’s show is all about smoking. We’re not here to encourage it or to glorify it. You’re smart enough to look up all the facts. What we’re going to do, for the next hour, is give a look and a listen to what happens when the tobacco plant collides with popular culture. As Oscar Wilde once said, ‘The cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?’” )
Tex Williams and his Western Caravan — Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
( “Lipstick traces on cigarettes can get you into trouble, or remind you of the wonders of the night before.” )
The O’Jays — Lipstick Traces On A Cigarette
Joe Maphis and Rose Lee — Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Loud, Loud Music
Baron Lee and the Mills Blue Rhythm Band — Reefer Man
( Bob takes a phone call from T-Bone [Burnett]. T-Bone requests a record called “The Weed” by Steve Purdy and the Studs, which he says he heard only once on a distant radio station 25 years ago. Whaddya know, Bob has it at hand. Bob tells us that the band consisted entirely of fifteen year-olds. “Imagine a band of fifteen year-olds singing a song about smoking nowadays. The mind boggles!” )
Steve Purdy and the Studs — The Weed
The Replacements — More Cigarettes
( Bob talks at some length about the history of women and cigarettes. )
Reverend J.M Gates — Smoking Women On The Street (sermon) [more of the inestimable Rev. at this link]
Sam Cooke — Smoke Rings
Billy Briggs — Chew Tobacco Rag
( John Cusack talks about his preference for cigars over cigarettes. )
Paul Chaplain and His Emeralds — Nicotine
Brownsville Station — Smokin’ In The Boys Room
( Bob talks about Cub Koda’s writing, which promoted music that you wouldn’t normally hear on the radio. “Cub passed away in 2000 at the age of 51. We miss him.” )
The Hombres — Let It All Hang Out [clip]
Red Ingle and the Natural Seven — Cigareets, Whuskey and Wild, Wild Women
The Visions — Cigarette
( Bob talks about Erskine Caldwell’s book, “Tobacco Road.” )
J.D. Loudermilk — Tobacco Road
( Bob quotes movie director Luis Buñuel:
“If alcohol is queen, then tobacco is her consort. It’s a fond companion for all occasions, a loyal friend through fair weather and foul. People smoke to celebrate a happy moment, or to hide a bitter regret. Whether you’re alone or with friends, it’s a joy for all the senses. What a lovelier sight is there than that double row of white cigarettes, lined up like soldiers on parade and wrapped in silver paper? I love to touch the pack in my pocket, open it, savor the feel of the cigarette between my fingers, the paper on my lips, the taste of tobacco on my tongue. I love to watch the flame spurt up, love to watch it come closer and closer, filling me with its warmth.” )

Next week’s theme (i.e. for the show which aired the week of Thanksgiving in the U.S.): LEFTOVERS (which first aired in 2006).

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