Controversy and Re-recording
Dylan was forced to re-record the song, with altered lyrics, after concerns were raised by Columbia's lawyers that references to Alfred Bello and Arthur Dexter Bradley as having "robbed the bodies" could result in a lawsuit. Neither Bello nor Bradley were ever accused of such acts. Because there was too much leakage on the multitracks to make a vocal "punch in", Dylan decided to re-record the entire song. At this time, Dylan was already rehearsing for his upcoming tour, and the musicians from the Rolling Thunder Revue were still at his disposal. Dylan took them back into the studio, and a new, faster version of "Hurricane" was recorded again with Don Meehan at the board, with Ronee Blakley providing a harmony vocal. There were no edits in the song that ran over eight minutes. Even though some offending lyrics were rewritten, the song still drew some legal action, from eyewitness Patricia Graham Valentine. Her lawsuit was dismissed by a federal district court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal.
Even with the revised lyrics, "Hurricane" still raised controversy. The song included a description of Carter as the "number one contender"; according to the May 1966 issue of The Ring, he was ranked ninth around the time of his arrest and had never been ranked higher than third. Reporters for the Herald News, a New Jersey newspaper published not far from the scene of the crime, questioned Dylan's objectivity at the time of the song's release and accused him of excessive poetic license. Dylan biographer Howard Sounes praised the song but noted "there was no reference to his antagonistic rhetoric, criminal history, or violent temper."
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Famous quotes containing the word controversy:
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)