"Rita May" (sometimes spelled as "Rita Mae") is a song by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, originally recorded during the sessions for the album ''

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

'', but released only as the B-side of a single and on the compilation album, ''

Masterpieces A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

''. The song is based on the 1957

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

song " Bertha Lou". Some listeners believe that the lyrics of the song refer to writer

Rita Mae Brown Rita Mae Brown (born November 28, 1944) is an American feminist writer, best known for her coming-of-age autobiographical novel, '' Rubyfruit Jungle''. Brown was active in a number of civil rights campaigns and criticized the marginalization of l ...

, who had complained of the lack of opportunities for casual lesbian sex.

Live version

Dylan rehearsed the song in New York City before the first leg of the

Rolling Thunder Revue The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–76 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who was a major recording artist and concert performer, to play ...

in 1975, a performance that was officially released on the '' Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings'' box set released in 2019. The only time Dylan played the song live, however, came on the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

on May 3, 1976.

Notable cover

"Rita May" was covered by

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...

on his 1979 self-titled album.

Other songs with the same title

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

wrote a song titled "Rita Mae" which appears on his 1981 album ''

Another Ticket ''Another Ticket'' is the seventh solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Recorded and produced by Tom Dowd at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas with Albert Lee, it was Clapton's last studio album for RSO Records before the label shut do ...

'' and was also released as a single, reaching No. 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

Personnel

Original Dylan version *

– guitar, vocal, harmonica *

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

– vocal *

Rob Stoner Robert Rothstein (born April 20, 1948), known professionally as Rob Stoner, is an American singer and multi-instrumentalist known for his role as the musical director for three Bob Dylan tours and his contributions to hit albums, including Bob Dy ...

– bass *

Howard Wyeth Howard Pyle Wyeth (April 22, 1944 – March 27, 1996), also known as Howie Wyeth, was an American drummer and pianist. Wyeth is remembered for work with the saxophonist James Moody (saxophonist), James Moody, the rockabilly singer Robert Gordon ( ...

– drums *

Scarlet Rivera Donna Shea, better known as Scarlet Rivera is an American violinist. She is best known for her work with Bob Dylan, in particular on his 1976 album ''Desire'' and as part of the Rolling Thunder Revue. Life and career Born Donna Shea in Joliet, ...

– violin *Sheena Seidenberg – tambourine, congas *

Don DeVito Don DeVito (September 6, 1939 – November 25, 2011) was an American record producer, music business executive and guitarist. His career was spent at Columbia Records, where his production credits included Bob Dylan's albums ''Desire'', '' ...

– Producer

References

External links

Lyrics
at Bob Dylan's official site
Chords
at Dylanchords {{Bob Dylan singles Songs written by Bob Dylan Bob Dylan songs 1977 singles Songs written by Jacques Levy Song recordings produced by Don DeVito Jerry Lee Lewis songs Columbia Records singles 1976 songs