Trickster Treat: Bob Dylan's New Song Sounds Awfully Old ... And Familiar
Dylan's latest single, "False Prophet," sits in the same tempo and key as Billy "The Kid" Emerson's 1954 B-side, "If Lovin' Is Believing."
Shocker: Bob Dylan's new song "False Prophet" is not, entirely, a new song.
In what's become a familiar, recurrent aspect of his creative process, the 2016 recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature has reached back to another little-noticed gem for inspiration. "False Prophets," released last week, incorporates a guitar lead and other elements from the B-side of a 1954 single by Billy "The Kid" Emerson, a pianist, singer and composer whose songs were recorded by Elvis Presley and others.
"If Lovin' Is Believing," which features Emerson's vocals and along with another Emerson original, "No Teasing Around," on the A side.
