weekend feast: one bob dylan, one birthday, one meat ball (+ recipe) (2024)

“I think of myself as a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I’ll die like a poet.” (Bob Dylan)

Just as he’s done for more than five decades, Bob Dylan is stillreleasing new albums (the latest is “Shadows in the Night,” a mellow collection of standards recorded live with his five-piece band), performing around the worldwith his Never Ending Tour, andreceiving more honors and accolades(2015 MusiCares Person of the Year).

To promote “Shadows in the Night” he gave only one interview — to AARP Magazine, where he discussed his creative process and influences, revealing that he’s a big Shakespeare fan, and had he not become “Bob Dylan,” he would have liked to have been “a schoolteacher of Roman history or theology.”

When receiving his MusiCares award, he delivered a riveting acceptance speech crediting his sources of inspiration, thanking his various and sundry supporters, and even confronting his detractors. To those who would criticize his singing voice, he reminded them of what Sam Cooke said when told he had a beautiful voice:

The voice of our generation — plain, real, everyman — endures. We need to hear and will always value the hard truths good poets tell.

Enjoy this bountiful three-course feast honoring Bob, who’ll turn 74 on Sunday, May 24. 🙂

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🎶 ONE BOB 🎸

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🍴 ONE MEAT BALL 🍴

Between 2006 – 2009, Dylan took to the airwaves with his Theme Time Radio Houron Sirius XM satellite radio. Each weekly program featured an eclectic mix of folk, jazz, blues, country, pop, rock-n-roll, soul, R&B and rockabilly all related to a central theme (Weather, Drinking, Weddings, Coffee, Mothers, Friends and Neighbors, Telephone).

Between tracks, Bob offered commentary on music and musicians, did poetry readings, played old-timey radio jingles, told jokes (“My grandmother is so tidy she puts newspaper under the cuckoo clock”), read mostly fictitious emails, sprinkled in random bits and bobs, and (yes!) shared recipes! 🙂

Dylan grew up listening to radio shows, and Theme Time Radio Hour was reminiscent of the golden days of radio, a time before canned top-40 playlists, when listeners could get a strong sense of a disc jockey’s musical quirks and personality. Nothing more intimate than to hear a familiar radio voice in your home on a regular basis. If anything, Dylan’s show exhibited his vast and diverse musical knowledge, the kind of artistic landscape that spawns truly great songwriters.

But about those recipes. 🙂 He shared recipes for Barbecue Sauce, Mint Julep, Rum & co*ke, Figgy Pudding, and Perfect Meat Balls(Season 2, Episode 62). The theme was“Number One.”

“For the next sixty minutes, we’re gonna be talking about one horse towns, one track minds, one armed bandits, one false move, one in a million, one too many, one way or another, one brick shy of a load, and one and only. So stay here one and all, and listen to songs on a singular subject, that subject being ‘number one.’”

So I’m listening to Harry Nilsson’s “One,” Elvis Presley’s “One Night,” and Anita O’Day’s “Johnny One-Note,” when all of a sudden Bob plays this song by Josh White called “One Meat Ball.”My, my, my, was there ever a more delectable song title? Let me say it again and wrap my lips around it: ONE MEAT BALL.

Turns out this little ditty has a very interesting backstory.Originally written by Harvard scholar and professor George Martin Lane back in 1855, it was based on a real incident and initially titled “The Lone Fish Ball.” Seems Lane returned to Boston hungry one time after a trip, but only had 25 cents in his pocket. He tentatively ordered a half portion of macaroni in a restaurant, much to the disdain of the waiter.

Lane’s ballad of an underfunded, intimidated diner became a favorite of Harvard undergraduates for decades, was translated into a mock Italian operetta, and was later updated into a bluesy version during the Tin Pan Alley era by Hy Zaret and Lou Singer, who renamed it “One Meat Ball” (1944).

As for Josh White, his recording of “One Meat Ball” became his biggest hit, earning him the distinction of becoming the first African American male artist to sell a million records. Mr. White was ‘number one’ in other ways, too — the first African American singer guitarist to star in Hollywood films and on Broadway, to give a White House Command Performance, to perform in previously segregated hotels, to make a solo concert tour of America, the first folk and blues artist to perform in a nightclub and to tour internationally.

ONE MEAT BALL

The little man walked up and down
To find an eating place in town
He read the menu through and through
To see what 15 cents could do

One meat ball
One meat ball
He could afford but one meat ball

He told the waiter near at hand
The simple dinner he had planned
The guests were startled one and all
To hear the waiter loudly call

One meat ball Everybody
One meat ball
Hey this here gent wants one meat ball

You know, the little man felt ill at ease
He said some bread sir if you please
The waiter hollered down the hall
You gets no bread with one meat ball

One meat ball
One meat ball
Well, you gets no bread with one meat ball

The little man felt very bad
One meat ball was all he had
And in his dreams he hears that call
You gets no bread with one meat ball

One meat ball and no spaghetti
One meat ball
You gets no bread with one meat ball

Let’s try it one more time, Now

One meat ball
One meat ball
That one was gooey
You gets no bread with one meat ball

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Give a listen, it’s positively hypnotic :):

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The ballad is dramatized in this fun 1940’s “soundie”:

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When George Martin Lane retired, Harvard gave him an honorary degree and the first pension ever given to a faculty member, enough to support him for the rest of his life. Now that’s some meat ball.

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🍝 ONE PERFECT MEAT BALL RECIPE 🍝

After playing “One Meat Ball,” Bob read his recipe for Perfect Meat Balls. Hearing him rattle off ingredients was cosmic music to my ears. Of course I had to try his recipe. Aperfect meat ball? Possibly life changing.

The recipe called for equal parts beef, pork, and veal — very democratic. I liked that. And precisely 9 saltine crackers. A mix of dried herbs, an egg, fresh parsley and minced garlic, a bit of grated parmesan and I was good to go.

I mixed everything with my bare hands as Bob suggested, and as I channeled my favorite troubadour, something strange happened: a mouthwatering banquet of songs filled the air — Bourbon Street, Country Pie, Orange Juice Blues, Copper Kettle, Catfish, Jelly Bean.

This was some recipe. Who knew it came with its own music?

I used a small ice cream scoop to shape the meat balls. Nice and round and adorable. I lined them up on a cookie sheet. Fried them gently in canola oil for about 5 minutes. Et voilà!

I closed my eyes, thought about George Martin Lane, Josh White, and Dylan’s startling blue eyes, and bit into one. meat. ball.

My, my, my. So tender, juicy and flavorful — adding those saltines was brilliant, and there’s nothing like fresh parsley and garlic to wake up the taste buds. One more, please. One more cup of coffee. One more shot of Jack Daniels!

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I’ll definitely make these again. They’re easily the best meat balls I’ve ever had, but there’s one teensy problem.

Now I really want Bob as my personal chef! 🙂 Just imagine the goodies he could whip up: The Chives of Freedom, Changing of the Gourd, Mr. Tamarind Man, Knockwurst on Heaven’s Door, People Get Bready, Submarine Sandwich Homesick Blues . . .

Somebody stop me!

Don’t Think Spice, It’s Alright.

(Help!)

Man of Peas, The Tines, They Are A Changin’ . . .

Better let Bob and friends sing us out. Enjoy this epic performance of “My Back Pages” featuring Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Neil Young from the 30th Anniversary Concert at Madison Square Garden (1992):

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB!

How does it feee-eel?

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The eminently talented hotTEA Matt Forrest Esenwine is hosting today’s roundup at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Wonder if he’s ever read any of his recipes on the radio? Check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up in the blogosphere this week and have a great holiday weekend. Make the Meat Balls and listen to Dylan on Sunday — treat yourself to an episode or two at the Theme Time Radio Hour Archive. It’s a discographic treasure trove, and Bob’s radio voice is a dream. 🙂

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This post is also being linked to Beth Fish Read’s Weekend Cooking, where all are invited to share their food-related posts. Put on your best aprons and bibs, and come join the fun!

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This post in loving memory of Kevin “Slatts” Slattery (November 16, 1954 – May 20, 2015).

“May your heart always be joyful, may your song always be sung.”

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Copyright © 2015 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.