abstract
| - %22Gotta Serve Somebody%22 is a song by Bob Dylan from his 1979 studio album Slow Train Coming. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male in 1979. The song was recorded in May of that year at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, Alabama. It stands as Dylan's latest hit single, peaking at #24 on the Billboard Magazine Hot 100 singles chart. The b-side, %22Trouble in Mind%22 was a Dylan original that did not appear on the album.In response to %22Gotta Serve Somebody%22, John Lennon wrote and recorded the song %22Serve Yourself,%22 which was a parody that mocked the injection of religion into Dylan's songwriting. In his diary, Lennon said of Dylan's song, %22The backing was mediocre by Jerry Wexler, the singing was really pathetic, and the words were just embarrassing.%22Notwithstanding Lennon's opinion, as of 2015 the song still enjoys airplay, and has been covered by Mavis Staples, Etta James, Willie Nelson and various blues musicians. The song was featured in the movie The Ultimate Gift and in an episode of %22The Sopranos%22.
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