Talk:Like a Rolling Stone

Piano

In the text it says piano was by Paul Griffin but in the personnel list it says Frank Owens. Do we have a source ? This discrepancy has been there since the Personnel section appeared in 2016. -- Beardo (talk) 01:54, 17 June 2021 (UTC)

Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge liner notes state that it was Paul Griffin. I went ahead and changed it. Sebs26 (talk) 05:15, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

Pinging BennyOnTheLoose. Tkbrett (✉) 16:59, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

I think it was indeed Griffin. See Olof Bjorner's Still On The Road which although it doesn't please the eye, is a pretty reliable source for details like this. Regards, BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 20:38, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

I'm not sure why this personnel section has never been sourced. I sourced it with Olof Björner's research. Interestingly, Björner writes that "The Cutting Edge booklet ... b) incorrectly states Paul Griffin (organ) and Frank Owens (piano) on 'Like A Rolling Stone'." He instead credits organ to Owens and piano to Dylan. Tkbrett (✉) 19:03, 9 August 2024 (UTC)

Wasn't the organist for "Like a Rolling Stone" Al Kooper? Abebenjoe (talk) 03:02, 10 August 2024 (UTC)

The story of the recording of LARS is well known and recounted in the "Recording" section of this article and in all the major biographies of BD. Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan, Howard Sounes, 2001, pp 179-80, states: Kooper was invited to the recording session by Tom Wilson, initially hoping to play guitar. When he heard Mike Bloomfield warming up, Kooper was intimidated and realised Bloomfield was a superior guitarist. When Paul Griffin moved from organ to piano, Kooper sat down at the organ and proceeded to improvise an organ part. Al Kooper in his autobiography Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards, 2008, pp 34-36, adds: When the musicians went into the control room to listen to the playback, Dylan asked Wilson to turn up the organ part. Wilson replied: "Hey man, that cat’s not an organ player." Dylan replied: "Hey don’t tell me who’s an organ player and who’s not."

The recent biopic A Complete Unknown re-enacts this scene in the recording studio, with Kooper opportunistically sitting down at the organ. (The film contains the possibly invented detail that Kooper is so unsure of how to play the electric organ that he can’t turn the instrument on until another musician assists him.) Mick gold (talk) 12:24, 16 January 2025 (UTC)

Year

Under Accolades appears, 500 Songs That Shaped Rock, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 1995 . But the associated reference says that the list was compiled in 2004 , which was nine years later.98.149.97.245 (talk) 04:20, 30 May 2023 (UTC)

Like a rolling stone

I think Micheal Hedges should be mentioned in the who covered this song. 2600:1009:B14E:5B94:71B7:9A77:C475:4A43 (talk) 15:24, 22 April 2025 (UTC)

AllMusic says that Michael Hedges "often flirted with rock and pop, and included in his repertoire acclaimed covers of Bob Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' and 'All Along the Watchtower.'" That merits maybe one sentence here. I couldn't find any other WP:SECONDARY sources saying that the Hedges cover was remarkable. Binksternet (talk) 16:41, 22 April 2025 (UTC)

Is this the first 16th note-based pop/rock hit?

I don't know for sure that "Like A Rolling Stone" was what started the transition to 16th note-based rock music (e.g. "St. Pepper", "Purple Haze", "Good Times Bad Times", etc.) , but I'm not aware of an earlier example. If this is really true, it's something that definitely belongs in the article. Davidstuartbruce (talk) 22:55, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

Dig It?

Surprised the song isn't mentioned on this page since it's a direct reference (and that page links to this one). TariffedSparrow (talk) 06:02, 12 June 2026 (UTC)