"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" is a

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

song written by the American musician

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. In 1965,

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

released it as a single, which reached number 58 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and number 17 on the UK chart in January 1966. While Dylan never included the song on any of his studio albums, it appears on compilations, such as ''Biograph'' and ''Side Tracks''.

Recording

The official single version, with the Hawks, is generally considered to have been recorded on November 30, 1965, although at least one Dylan scholar contends that the recording date was October 5. Dylan is accompanied on the song by the musical group then known as the Hawks, who would back the singer on his 1966 world tour and subsequently go on to fame in their own right as

the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

on guitar, Rick Danko on bass,

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Hel ...

on drums,

Richard Manuel Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in the Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of F ...

on piano, and

Garth Hudson Eric Garth Hudson (August 2, 1937 – January 21, 2025) was a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for The Band. He was a principal architect of the group's sound and was described as "the mo ...

on organ. The entire July 1965 and October/November 1965 recording sessions were released on the 18-disc Collector's Edition of '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966'' in 2015, while highlights from the outtakes appeared on the 2-disc and 6-disc versions of that album.

Releases and reception

Prior to the release by Dylan, the Vacels, a group from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, New York, recorded a version that was released as a single in October 1965, by

Kama Sutra Records Kama Sutra Records was started in 1964 by Artie Ripp, Hy Mizrahi, and Phil Steinberg as Kama Sutra Productions, a production house. The ''Kama Sutra'' is an ancient Sanskrit text. In 1965, the company was joined by Art Kass and the record labe ...

. Dylan's version was released on December 21, 1965 and was originally available as a single only, with it eventually being included (in its original mono form) on Dylan's compilations '' Masterpieces'' (1978) and '' Biograph'' (1985), and on the Band's box set '' A Musical History'' (2005). An extended stereo mix of the original single version appeared on the limited Collector's Edition of '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966'' (2015). ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described the song as "more strong folk-rock Dylan material which will have no trouble finding its way up the singles chart" and also praised the "strong material and performance." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as a "medium-paced funky,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

-drenched folk-rocker which effectively builds to an exciting pulsating

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending ...

." ''Cash Box'' described the version by the Vacels as a "hard-driving, bluesy message-song which utilizes some vastly different but interesting melodic constructions." Dylan allegedly played the song to fellow folk artist

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter, protest song, protest singer (or, as he preferred, "topical singer"), and Political Activist, political activist. Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic h ...

as the two were riding in a limousine. When Ochs expressed a lukewarm feeling about the piece, Dylan ejected him from his limousine, yelling "You're not a folk singer. You're a journalist."

Jimi Hendrix version

Prior to joining the Experience,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

became interested in the song. Jimmy Mayes, who played drums with Joey Dee and the Starliters (who Hendrix also played with for a short time), recalled Hendrix practiced "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" incessantly: "I think Jimi was trying to get his vocals together, but he used to get on my nerves with these different songs. After a while, I told him I don't want to hear no more of this Bob Dylan music." Later with the Experience, Hendrix performed the song live several times. A recording by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

is included on his album ''BBC Sessions''. In an album review, critic

Cub Koda Michael John "Cub" Koda (né Uszniewicz; October 1, 1948 – July 1, 2000) was an Americans, American rock and roll musician, songwriter, and critic. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine considered him best known for writing the song "Smokin' in the Boys ...

calls it an "oddball cover".

Notes

References

*Hornby, Nick (2002) Songbook, McSweeney's Books, {{authority control 1965 songs 1965 singles Songs written by Bob Dylan Bob Dylan songs Columbia Records singles Kama Sutra Records singles