Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole

’Wagon Wheel’: Bob Dylan Meets Old Crow Medicine Show at the Song We Love to Hate

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That's right, we did it. The unrelenting "Wagon Wheel" gets the deep dive in this episode, as Butch and Kevin grit their teeth and trudge forward. This tune, which is played now by pretty much every cover band in the galaxy, started with a Bob Dylan demo. It was then completed by Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. And then Darius Rucker, Hootie himself, decided to record it, thus ruining it forever. A few notes:

  • Beer of the Week took the form of Terrapin Hopsecutioner IPA. Nomnom.
  • We had to have a bourbon sidecar to get through this one, and that bourbon was Heaven's Door 10 Year. Heaven's Door, of course, is Bob Dylan's whiskey brand, so we deemed it appropriate.
  • The song describes a hitchhiking journey to Raleigh, N.C.
  • Is the song bigger than the group itself? How did it get so popular?
  • Kevin, of course, mentions the Knack. Again.
  • The song, of course, is based on a crude demo that Dylan recorded in the 1960s. Secor would later hear it and decided to "finish" the tune for Dylan. The two share songwriting credits.
  • Why, Hootie? Why?
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    Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit HoleBy Kevin Gibson/Butch Bays