PRISONERS AND GUARDS: BOB DYLAN’S COVERAGE OF THE …

PRISONERS AND GUARDS: BOB DYLAN'S COVERAGE OF THE AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM

By THEODORE G. PETERSEN

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1

? 2010 Theodore G. Petersen 2

To Lisa for supporting me, Wesley for inspiring me, and Audrey for motivating me 3

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my adviser, Dr. William McKeen, for his guidance and support. Working under a true Dylan expert has been invaluable. I would like to thank my doctoral committee at the University of Florida, which includes Drs. Ronald Rodgers, Lisa Duke Cornell, and Paul Ortiz, for their guidance and encouragement. The courses I took from each of these professors guided my thinking and research. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Kellie Roberts, Dr. Stephanie Webster, and Cher Phillips at the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication at the University of Florida. They provided me with my first teaching experience and an excellent working environment. I learned so much while a part of that program. Drs. Ed Bonahue and Bill Little at Santa Fe College provided another forum for me to develop my skills as a teacher. I also want to thank Dr. Julie Dodd for her guidance during my time teaching in the College of Journalism and Communications and her support in my pursuit of a career in academia. Several advisers and mentors from my undergraduate and graduate work deserve mentioning, especially Dr. Janna Jones at Northern Arizona University and Drs. Steven Reagles and Tom Kuster at Bethany Lutheran College. These wonderful scholars and teachers planted and fertilized the seed of academic curiosity that continues to grow. I also need to thank my parents, Steve and Kathy Petersen, for their support through my education. They encouraged me to set high goals and stand up to challenges. They were excellent examples professionally and personally. Any success that I might achieve is a direct reflection on them. I would like to thank the copyright owners of the following songs for granting me permission to use Bob Dylan's lyrics: "The Death of Emmett Till," Copyright ? 1963, 1968 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1991, 1996 by Special Rider Music. "The Lonesome Death of Hattie

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Carroll," Copyright ? 1964, 1966 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1992 by Special Rider Music. "George Jackson," Copyright ? 1971 by Ram's Horn Music; renewed 1999 by Ram's Horn Music. "Hurricane," Copyright ? 1975 by Ram's Horn Music; renewed 2003 by Ram's Horn Music.

Most importantly, I want to thank my wife, Lisa, for putting up with six years of graduate school and six years of Bob Dylan. He's grown on her, as I knew he would. The last two years have been probably the most stressful years in our lives, and Lisa handled everything with grace, courage, and faith. I'm so proud of her. This dissertation and degree wouldn't happen without her.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................................... 4

ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................................... 8

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 10

Literature Review........................................................................................................................ 12 The History of American Song ........................................................................................... 12 The Role of Music in Specific Movements........................................................................ 16 The Literature on Objectivity.............................................................................................. 22 The Literature on Bob Dylan .............................................................................................. 24

Methodology................................................................................................................................ 30 Dissertation .................................................................................................................................. 31

2 VERSE ONE: BOB DYLAN'S VERSION OF EMMETT TILL AND THE CREATION OF MEMORY....................................................................................................... 34

The Story...................................................................................................................................... 36 The Murder of Emmett Till................................................................................................. 36 The Background................................................................................................................... 38

The Song ...................................................................................................................................... 41 Bob Dylan's "The Death of Emmett Till" ......................................................................... 41 National/Northern Press Coverage ..................................................................................... 42 The Southern Press .............................................................................................................. 43 William Bradford Huie........................................................................................................ 43 The Making of the Myth ..................................................................................................... 44 Race............................................................................................................................... 44 Whistle/Motive ............................................................................................................. 50 Justice............................................................................................................................ 55 Bob Dylan's Version ........................................................................................................... 60 "The Death of Emmett Till"................................................................................................ 60

Music as History.......................................................................................................................... 65

3 VERSE TWO: HOW BOB DYLAN'S "THE LONESOME DEATH OF HATTIE CARROLL" FUNCTIONS AS ALTERNATIVE JOURNALISM......................................... 68

The Story...................................................................................................................................... 69 Carroll's "Lonesome Death"............................................................................................... 69 The Background................................................................................................................... 72

The Song ...................................................................................................................................... 76 The Coverage of Hattie Carroll's Death by the Mainstream Media.................................76 The Local Reporting from the Baltimore Sun.................................................................... 81

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Bob Dylan's Version of Hattie Carroll's Death................................................................. 85 "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" .......................................................................... 86 The Baltimore Afro-American ............................................................................................ 91 Music as Underground Journalism............................................................................................. 97

4 THE BRIDGE: "GEORGE JACKSON"--Bob Dylan's OBITUARY FOR A REVOLUTIONARY ................................................................................................................ 103

The Story.................................................................................................................................... 104 Jackson's Life and Death ..................................................................................................104 The Background................................................................................................................. 106

The Song .................................................................................................................................... 108 A National Perspective: The New York Times.................................................................108 A Black Perspective: The Chicago Defender ..................................................................110 The West Coast Perspective: The Los Angeles Times.....................................................113 Bob Dylan's Obituary for a Revolutionary: "George Jackson" .....................................114

Music as Obituary ..................................................................................................................... 117

5 VERSE THREE: BOB DYLAN'S "NEW JOURNALISM" COVERAGE OF RUBIN "HURRICANE" CARTER'S BATTLE FOR JUSTICE .......................................................121

The Story.................................................................................................................................... 122 The Background................................................................................................................. 122 The Saga of the Hurricane.................................................................................................125

The Song .................................................................................................................................... 130 Analysis of the Mainstream Press's Coverage of Rubin Carter .....................................130 Bob Dylan's "Hurricane" ..................................................................................................134

Music as Literary Journalism ...................................................................................................140

6 CODA: BOB DYLAN, JOURNALISM AND THE TRUTH ...............................................145

A Look at Dylan's News Ledes ...............................................................................................146 The Framing of Dylan's News .................................................................................................148 Bob Dylan, Journalism, the Truth ............................................................................................150 Keeping the "Old" in New Media ............................................................................................155 Final thoughts ............................................................................................................................ 156

BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................. 160

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...........................................................................................................173

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Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

PRISONERS AND GUARDS: BOB DYLAN'S COVERAGE OF THE AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM

By Theodore G. Petersen

May 2010 Chair: William McKeen Major: Mass Communication

This study examines four narratives of injustice in America's criminal justice system: Emmett Till's lynching in the Mississippi Delta; Hattie Carroll's death at the hands of a Baltimore, Maryland, tobacco farmer; George Jackson's troubled life and violent death inside the prison walls of San Quentin State Prison, and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's two-decades-long struggle for exoneration. These narratives are connected in many ways, one of which is that singer-songwriter Bob Dylan recorded a musical narrative of each of these stories.

This study argues that Bob Dylan's music functions as a type of journalism, serving as an important, yet obviously flawed system of information transfer. The songs analyzed in this study demonstrate how music can work as different types of journalism, specifically as a retrospective, underground journalism, an obituary, and literary journalism. Dylan's music doesn't uphold the ideals of journalism, such as objectivity, detachment, balance, and accuracy. Instead, his music distorts, ignores, and reframes the facts to fit his vision of the events.

Using Kenneth Burke's idea of "terministic screens" and the theory of framing, this dissertation examines the way people tell stories and the way language leads to multiple interpretations of a single event. By examining Dylan's music and comparing it to different types of national, local, black, and underground news organizations, such as the New York Times, the

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