Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. With legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan back in the limelight thanks to the Oscar buzz generated by A Complete Unknown, the biopic about his life, we present “Diamond Ring,” a song he wrote in 1967 but never recorded.
“Diamond Ring” is one of more than 100 songs a then-26-year-old Dylan composed while recovering from a near-fatal motorcycle accident in his Big Pink home near Woodstock, NY. While 16 of those works went on to be included in Dylan’s highly regarded 1975 album, The Basement Tapes, many of the other songs, including “Diamond Ring,” remained forgotten — until 2014.
Taylor Goldsmith of the folk-rock supergroup The New Basement Tapes channels Dylan in his interpretation of “Diamond Ring,” a song about second chances.
In the tune, the song’s protagonist is heading back to St. Louis, where he’s hoping to reconnect with his old flame, Alice. This time, he’s ready to make the ultimate commitment.
He sings, “That old organ grinder’s gonna wind his box / And the knife sharpener’s gonna sing / When I get back to St. Louis again / I’m gonna buy that diamond ring / Diamond ring / Diamond ring / Shine like gold / Behold that diamond ring.”
With a nod from Dylan himself, producer T Bone Burnett assembled a supergroup of “musical archaeologists” — including Goldsmith, Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Jim James and Rhiannon Giddens — to re-imagine many of Dylan’s “lost” works.
The all-stars recorded dozens of Dylan songs during a two-week session at Capitol Records studio. The creative process saw members of the group swapping instrumental and vocal roles on the different album tracks, according to Rolling Stone magazine.
The group eventually released two editions of Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes in November of 2014. “Diamond Ring” appears as a bonus track in the deluxe 20-song version.
Goldsmith, who is best-known as a member of the Los Angeles-based folk rock band Dawes, had collaborated with Dylan before. His band toured with the music legend in 2013.
Just last week, A Complete Unknown was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Timothée Chalamet. Chalamet is one of only two actors to earn two Oscar nominations before his 30th birthday. The other was James Dean in 1957.
Please check out the video of Goldsmith and The New Basement Tapes all-stars performing “Diamond Ring.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“Diamond Ring”
Written by Bob Dylan and Taylor Goldsmith. Performed by The New Basement Tapes.
If I ever get back to St. Louis again
There’s gonna be some changes made
I’m gonna find old Alice and right away where I left off
It’s gonna be just as if I’d stayed
That old organ grinder’s gonna wind his box
And the knife sharpener’s gonna sing
When I get back to St. Louis again
I’m gonna buy that diamond ring
Diamond ring
Diamond ring
Shine like gold
Behold that diamond ring
If I ever get back to St. Louis again
Everybody’s gonna smile
One of the Mack girls dragged me up to Washington
I got stuck there for a while
She gave me more misery than a man can hold
And I took her bad advice
Now I don’t aim to bother anyone
I have paid that awful price
Diamond ring
Diamond ring
Shine like gold
Behold that diamond ring
If ever I get back to St. Louis again
That diamond ring is gonna shine
That old burlesque dancer is gonna bum around
And everything’s gonna be fine
I’m gonna settle up my accounts with lead
And leave the rest up to the law
Then I’m gonna marry the one I love
And head out for Wichita
Diamond ring
Diamond ring
Shine like gold
Behold that diamond ring
Credit: Bob Dylan photo by Xavier Badosa, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Screen capture of Taylor Goldsmith via YouTube / Philipp Schwarz.
