"Mama, You Been on My Mind"

Music’s most famous breakup in the late 20th century was surely the failed love affair of youngsters Suze Rotolo and Bob Dylan. Or at least it was the most productive parting on record.

Following their split, 20-year-old Dylan wrote some his most plaintive songs of the era. “Don't Think Twice, It’s All Right” and “Boots of Spanish Leather,” “Tomorrow is a Long Time” and “One Too Many Mornings,” “Ballad in Plain D” and more were all clearly about Suze.

One of the lesser known of Bob’s breakup ballads from the same period was “Mama, You Been on My Mind.”

Europe

In mid-May 1964, Dylan completed a concert tour of England, afterward vacationing in France, Germany and Greece. During his ramble abroad, he wrote several songs for his upcoming album, Another Side of Bob Dylan.

Then back in the States, he went into Columbia's Studio A and in a single night (June 9, 1964) he recorded 14 new songs, including one take of "Mama, You Been on My Mind.”

When the album was released two months later, though, the song was not included. However, a few years later, “Mama, You Been on My Mind” became one of the earliest outtakes widely circulated on bootleg albums.

The boots documented the two drafts of "Mama, You Been on My Mind" that Dylan wrote on notepaper from the May Fair Hotel where he had stayed in London during the tour.

Dylan biographer Howard Sounes called it "one of the finest love songs he ever wrote.” Saying Dylan took responsibility for making a mess of his relationship with Rotolo, Sounes said the song showed Bob “could express himself with delicacy and maturity.”

Performances

In concerts over the years, Dylan has performed the song hundreds of times, most notably in duets with his erstwhile post-Suze squeeze, Joan Baez.

Their first duet was at Baez’s concert at Forest Hills tennis stadium in Queens, NY, on Aug. 8, 1964. It was repeated a couple of months later, on Oct. 31, during Dylan’s show at New York City's Philharmonic Hall. The two reprised their performance a decade later during Bob’s 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Revue tour.

Baez put a solo version — as “Daddy, You Been on My Mind” — on her 1965 Farewell, Angelina album.

Meanwhile, the song has had some superstar coverage over the years, by the likes of Judy Collins and by Johnny Cash, by Rick Nelson and by George Harrison, by Linda Ronstadt and by Rod Stewart, and by everyone from The Kingston Trio to Dion and The Belmonts.

Our Take on the Tune

Flood founders Dave Peyton, Roger Samples and Charlie Bowen all started listening to the music of Bob Dylan 60 years ago, so it is little wonder that his songs are deeply woven in the band’s fabric.

Still today, whenever The Flood gets feeling folkie — as the guys were at this rehearsal a week or so ago — it’s likely a Dylan tune will be the first to come to mind.

Do More Dylan?

Evidence of the band’s delight in doing Dylan is the fact that one of the first special playlists created for the free Radio Floodango music streaming service a few years ago was this one done to celebrate Bobby’s birthday.

For more of The Flood’s spin on Dylan tunes, give it a listen by clicking here.