From a Buick 6

"From a Buick 6" is a song by Bob Dylan from his album Highway 61 Revisited, which was also released as a single on the B-side of "Positively 4th Street". It was recorded on July 30, 1965.^[3]

"From a Buick 6"
US single picture sleeve
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Highway 61 Revisited
A-side	"Positively 4th Street"
Released	September 7, 1965 (1965-09-07)
Recorded	July 30, 1965
Studio	Columbia, New York City
Genre	Blues folk rock[1] garage rock[2]
Length	3:19
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Bob Dylan
Producer(s)	Bob Johnston
Bob Dylan singles chronology
"Like a Rolling Stone" (1965) "From a Buick 6" (1965) "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" (1965)
Audio sample
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Musical style

The song is a raucous blues song played recklessly by a band that included Al Kooper on organ and Mike Bloomfield on guitar.^[4] The guitar part is patterned after older blues riffs by Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Big Joe Williams.^[5] It also features a backbeat from drummer Bobby Gregg, a bass line from Harvey Brooks, and a soaring harmonica break.^[4][6] The song starts with a snare shot that is similar to the opening song of Highway 61 Revisited, "Like a Rolling Stone".^[3][6] It is essentially a 12-bar blues pattern, played with power chords, and is notable for Brooks' almost indiscernible substitution of an F in the tenth bar of all but the first verses, while the guitar and organ play the G-chord.

The song is partially based on Sleepy John Estes' 1930 song "Milk Cow Blues", even taking a few lyrics from the older song, but its approach is more similar to The Kinks' version of a Kokomo Arnold song that was also called "Milk Cow Blues".^[4]

Cash Box described it as a "rollicking, fast-moving blues-drenched folk rocker."^[1]

Legacy

• "From a Buick 6" has been covered by musicians such as Gary U.S. Bonds, Mitch Ryder, Treat Her Right, Mike Wilhelm, Alex Taylor and Johnny Winter.^[7]
• G. E. Smith performed "From a Buick 6" with Booker T. & The M.G.'s during the tribute concert for Dylan's 30th anniversary as a recording artist on October 16, 1992, at Madison Square Gardens in New York City.^[8]
• The name of a 2002 novel by Stephen King, From a Buick 8 is adapted from the title of this song.
• The Billy Bragg song "From a Vauxhall Velox" on the 1984 album Brewing Up with Billy Bragg was written as a response to "From a Buick 6".^[9]