"Positively 4th Street" | ||||||||||||||||
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Single by Bob Dylan | ||||||||||||||||
B-side | "From a Buick 6" | |||||||||||||||
Released | September 7, 1965 | |||||||||||||||
Format | 7" single | |||||||||||||||
Recorded | July 29, 1965 | |||||||||||||||
Genre | Folk rock | |||||||||||||||
Length | 3:54 | |||||||||||||||
Label | Columbia 43389 | |||||||||||||||
Writer(s) | Bob Dylan | |||||||||||||||
Producer(s) | Bob Johnston | |||||||||||||||
Bob Dylan singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||
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"Positively 4th Street" | |
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Song by The Byrds from the album (Untitled) | |
Released | September 14, 1970 |
Recorded | March 1, 1970, Felt Forum, New York City, NY |
Genre | Rock |
Length | 3:03 |
Label | Columbia |
Writer(s) | Bob Dylan |
Producer(s) | Terry Melcher, Jim Dickson |
"Positively 4th Street" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Dylan in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, reaching No. 1 on Canada's RPM chart, No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart.Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song as No. 206 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
The song was released between the albums Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, as the follow-up to Dylan's hit single "Like a Rolling Stone", but wasn't included on either LP. The song's title does not appear anywhere in the lyrics and there has been much debate over the years as to the significance or which individual the song concerns.
The master take of "Positively 4th Street" was recorded on July 29, 1965, during the mid-June to early August recording sessions that produced all of the material that appeared on Dylan's 1965 album, Highway 61 Revisited. The song was the last to be attempted that day, with Dylan and a variety of session musicians having already successfully recorded master takes of "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" and "Tombstone Blues". The studio band on "Positively 4th Street" featured Robert Gregg (drums), Harvey Brooks (bass), Frank Owens or Paul Griffin (piano), Al Kooper (organ) and Mike Bloomfield (guitar), with the song initially being logged on the studio's official recording session documentation under the working title of "Black Dalli Rue".