Where else can you hear quotes from Mae West and the Bible during the same hour-long show, and a phalanx of great tunes to boot?

As it says in Proverbs, Chapter 19, verse 17, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.” Think it over.

King James version, one must note.

The wealthy DJ Bob Dylan introduced his show like this:

This week, we’re gonna take a look at two different kinds of people: Them that’s got, and them that needs. We’re gonna talk about a dichotomy between the rich man and the poor man.

Later Dylan also remarked, “I’ve known both; and there’s good in each.”

Kicking things off was Bob Miller with, aptly enough, “The Rich Man and the Poor Man,” about there being one law (and one set of lawyers) for the rich, and one for the poor — and who could argue with that? Or with this, the final verse of the song:

The rich man when he kicks off, has a casket made of gold,
While the poor man has a wooden box and his grave looks mighty cold
The rich man gets a sermon, but here’s one thing that’s sure,
When the rich man takes that long last ride he’s as much dead as the poor.

Dylan tells us that Miller also wrote, There’s a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere, but was greatly disturbed by its huge success, insisting that his music must only be performed by “a true son of the soil,” rather than fancy big-time bandleaders, I guess.

Next up was Tony Bennett and one of his big hits from the 1950s called Rags to Riches. Curiously, in his autobiography, Tony admits to absolutely hating the song before he was cajoled into recording it by Mitch Miller, but says he was charmed by the arrangement and grew to enjoy singing it. Further on the subject of songs that Bennett likes or doesn’t like, Dylan said this after playing that record:

I heard a story once about Tony. They wanted him to sing the national anthem at the nineteen and sixty-one Preakness. He didn’t want to. He said, ‘I don’t know. Bombs burstin’ in air are just not my thing.’ Way to go, Tony.

Hmmm. Due consideration of that remark would interrupt the flow of this sketch of Bob’s show, so … click here for due consideration of that remark.

Dylan played an early Little Richard track called Get Rich Quick:

… he was still Richard Wayne Penniman, and he sounds like it. … The song was written by jazz critic Leonard Feather. How come music critics don’t write songs any more?

Good question, Bob. But I’m not sure I really want to hear any songs by Greil Marcus or Michael Gray. Do you?

The e-mail this week was from “Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School,” (and how many earnest Dylan fans who write him every week are tearing their hair out every time they hear Bob pick another celebrity e-mailer?) and he asked Bob “where Buck Owens got his start.” (Could that possibly be for real?) Dylan tells Alan that Buck was a session guitar player for The Farmer Boys in the mid-’fifties, when their producer signed him up, launching his greater career. And so we heard The Farmer Boys do “Charming Betsy,” a song which Dylan later tells us dates back to “the minstrel tradition and the Salem witch trials.”

A milestone I’ve been waiting for, if no one else, has been the first Bing track on Dylan’s show. “Whether it was Black Friday or today, there are too many people out there who need to ask, ‘Brother can you spare a dime?’ Here’s Bing Crosby on Theme Time Radio Hour.” And so he played Bing from 1932, and described him afterwards as …

… one of the most influential singers in the twentieth century. He changed the way we listen to singers. Before him, singer had to belt it out, being able to sing over a large band in a concert hall. The emerging microphone technology allowed Bing to add a level of subtlety, nuance and insinuation.

And where would Dylan be without those things? Where also would the next guy be: Tom Waits. Dylan played On the Nickel, which is a real vocal tour-de-force for Tom in addition to being one of his greatest songs.

We had a continuity announcement from none other than Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Nice to hear a storied musician doing it for a change.

Oddball selection of the show has to go to “Fiddlin’ John Carson with Moonshine Kate,” and Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Them All, a song which Dylan tells us is “as relevant today as when it was recorded in the ‘thirties.” A minimalist but passionate performance, to be sure.

Following up on Bing, Dylan played one of the other great innovators of modern music, Louis Armstrong, and Hobo You Can’t Ride This Train. Dylan couldn’t restrain himself from inserting a “Sing it Louis!” a couple of minutes into the performance. Nice to hear.

Could Do Re Mi be the first Woody Guthrie track so far in the series, or am I forgetting one? In any case, Dylan played Woody’s classic song, and duly recommended afterwards that everybody read his book, “Bound For Glory.”

As Mae West said, “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better.”

Oh, I believe you, Bob.

An insinuatin’ tune from Lil Millet and His Creoles, called Rich Woman, was followed by the mellow shooby-doobies of of Johnny Rivers on the Poor Side of Town. Freddie King asked a question only more intensely relevant since about 1996: “What you gonna do when the welfare turns its back on you?”

In Sweden, they have a system of higher taxes, but welfare for everyone. They call it the “Swedish Model.”

Well, I could go for a Swedish model right about now.

Louis Jordan posed the same question I direct towards the mirror at least twice a day: “If you’re so smart, how come you ain’t rich?” A real swinging piece of music. Dylan tells us that Louis …

… got his start with Chick Webb, the famous hunchback drummer. Louis was one of the pioneers of rhythm and blues. Chuck Berry said that Louis was one of his main influences. And Chuck doesn’t reflect or transmit light falling on anybody.

Last track was Hobo’s Lullaby, sung in her usual achingly beautiful fashion by Emmylou Harris.

Bob’s last words: “Here’s a tip on how you can save your money. Use somebody else’s.”

Playlist:

Bob Miller – The Rich Man and the Poor Man
Tony Bennett – Rags To Riches
Little Richard – Get Rich Quick
The Farmer Boys – Charming Betsy
Bing Crosby – Brother Can You Spare A Dime?
Tom Waits – On The Nickel
Fiddlin’ John Carson with Moonshine Kate – Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Them All
Louis Armstrong – Hobo You Can’t Ride This Train
Woody Guthrie – Do Re Mi
Lil Millet and His Creoles – Rich Woman
Johnny Rivers – Poor Side Of Town
Freddie King – The Welfare Turns Its Back On You
Louis Jordan – If You’re So Smart, How Come You Ain’t Rich?
Emmylou Harris – Hobo’s Lullaby

Next Week’s Theme: DEVIL

Theme Time Radio Hour with your host, Bob Dylan, on XM Radio.

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