"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" is a song by
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, from his 1966 album ''
Blonde on Blonde''.
Like many other Dylan songs of the 1965–1966 period, the song features a surreal, playful lyric set to an
electric blues
Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...
accompaniment.
Lyrics
Dylan's lyrics affectionately ridicule a female "
fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion i ...
victim" who wears a
leopard-skin
pillbox hat
A pillbox hat is a small hat, usually worn by women, with a flat crown, straight, upright sides, and no brim. It is named after the small cylindrical or hexagonal cases that were used for storing or carrying a small number of pills. . The pillbox hat was a fashionable ladies' hat in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in the early to mid-1960s, most famously worn by
Jacqueline Kennedy.
Dylan satirically crosses this accessory's high-fashion image with leopard-skin material, perceived as more downmarket and vulgar. The song was also written and released after pillbox hats had been at the height of fashion.
Some journalists and Dylan biographers have speculated that the song was inspired by
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American actress and fashion model, known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars.Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, pp. 210& ...
, an actress and model associated with
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
.
It has been suggested that Sedgwick was an inspiration for other Dylan songs of the time as well, particularly some from ''
Blonde on Blonde''.
Influences
The song melodically and lyrically resembles
Lightnin' Hopkins
Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list ...
's "
Automobile Blues", with Dylan's opening line of "Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat," echoing Hopkins's "I saw you riding 'round in your brand new automobile," and the repeated line of "brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat," melodically descending in the same manner of the Hopkins refrain "in your brand new fast car".
In 2013 experimental hip-hop group
Death Grips
Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop group formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of Stefan Burnett, also known as MC Ride (vocals, lyrics), Zach Hill (drums, production, lyrics), and Andy Morin (keyboards, pr ...
released a song titled "You Might Think He Loves You for Your Money But I Know What He Really Loves You for It’s Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" named after the last lines in the song.
Recording sessions
Dylan began to include "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" in his live concerts with the Hawks in late 1965, and the song was one of the first compositions attempted by Dylan and the Hawks when in January 1966 they went into
Columbia recording studios in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to record material for the ''Blonde on Blonde'' album. The song was attempted on January 25 (2 takes) and January 27 (4 takes), but no recording was deemed satisfactory.
One of the takes from January 25 was released in 2005 on ''
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack''.
Frustrated with the lack of progress made with the Hawks in the New York sessions (only one song, "
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)", had been successfully realized), Dylan relocated to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
, in February 1966, where the evening of the first day of recording (February 14) was devoted to "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat". Present at the session were
Charlie McCoy
Charles Ray McCoy (born March 28, 1941) is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on r ...
(
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
and
bass),
Kenny Buttrey (
drums),
Wayne Moss
Wayne Moss (born February 9, 1938 in Charleston, West Virginia, United States) is an American guitar player, bassist, record producer and songwriter best known for his session work in Nashville. Moss was one of the founders of Area Code 615 and Bar ...
(guitar), Joseph A. Souter Jr. (guitar and bass),
Al Kooper
Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...
(
organ),
Hargus Robbins (
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
) and
Jerry Kennedy
Jerry Glenn Kennedy (born 10 August 1940)Cusic, Don. (1998) "Jerry Kennedy". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 277–278. is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar pla ...
(guitar). Earlier in the day Dylan and the band had achieved satisfactory takes of "
Fourth Time Around
"4th Time Around" (also listed as "Fourth Time Around") is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the 12th track on his seventh studio album ''Blonde on Blonde'' on June 20, 1966. The song was written by Dylan and ...
" and "
Visions of Johanna
"Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album ''Blonde on Blonde''. Several critics have acclaimed "Visions of Johanna" as one of Dylan's highest achievements in writing, praising the allusiveness and subtle ...
" (which were included on the album), but none of the 13 takes of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" recorded on February 14 were to Dylan's satisfaction. Dylan soon left Nashville to play some concerts with the Hawks. He returned in March for a second set of sessions. A satisfactory take of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" was finally achieved in the early hours of March 10, 1966, by Dylan along with Kenny Buttrey,
Henry Strzelecki
Henry Pershing Strzelecki (August 8, 1939 – December 30, 2014) was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Roy Orbison, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Ronnie Milsap, Merle Haggard, and ...
on bass, and the Hawks's
Robbie Robertson on lead guitar (though Dylan himself plays lead guitar on the song's opening 12
bars).
The recording sessions were released in their entirety on the 18-disc Collector's Edition of ''
The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966'' on November 6, 2015, with highlights from the February 14, 1966, outtakes appearing on the 6-disc and 2-disc versions of that album.
References
External links
Lyrics from bobdylan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
1966 songs
1967 singles
Bob Dylan songs
Columbia Records singles
Song recordings produced by Bob Johnston
Songs written by Bob Dylan