Meet Me At The Ryman

"Gotta get up near the teacher if you can
If you wanna learn anything."
-Bob Dylan, "Floater (Too Much To Ask)"

Bob Dylan’s duets with Jack White while in residency at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium last week had the feeling of a passing of the torch.

As you may have heard, The Bard of Hibbing did two shows at the home of the Grand Ole Opry Sept 19 & 20 which garnered some extraordinary press. Adding fuel to the fire was the presence of Jack White, who took the mike each night for a deep-catalog Dylan classic. On the first night, ‘twas a barn-burning, first-time-ever version of “Meet Me in the Morning." Dylan didn't sing a note. He handed Jack the keys and rasped, “You drive.”

As the audio clip below demonstrates, White completely makes the tune his own without losing the blues-soaked spirit of the Blood on the Tracks original. The excitement in the room is absolutely thrilling. The next night, they did two tracks that have long been part of the White Stripes repertoire: “One More Cup of Coffee” and “Outlaw Blues” which also received its first-ever live outing at a Dylan show.

White said to the crowd, “I have three fathers: my biological father, God, and Bob Dylan.”

Dylan seems to have a genuine affection for Mr. White and his music. The mutual admiration goes back to at least 2004, when Dylan invited White onstage in his hometown of Detroit. Tellingly, they played a song not by Dylan but by the White Stripes: “Ball and a Biscuit,” a very Meet-Me-in-the-Morning-ish blues from Elephant. An audio clip of this is below as well.

Dylan has shared the spotlight with many contemporary stars. For example, he brought out Sheryl Crow for an encore of “Highway 61 Revisited” in 1997. But is it even possible to imagine them doing “All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun”?

Let’s hope the thrilling apprenticeship between Bob & Jack continues. Dylan is supposedly heading into the studio soon with producer/Zen master/Columbia Records honcho Rick Rubin. Perhaps Mr. White could tag along.

MP3: Bob Dylan & Jack White, "Meet Me in the Morning" Nashville, 9/19/07 (Many thanks to Dr. Mooney)

MP3: Bob Dylan & Jack White, "Ball & Biscuit," Detroit, 3/17/04

YouTube: Bob Dylan & Jack White, One More Cup of Coffee, Nashville, 9/20/07