 15 Great Covers of Lesser Known Bob Dylan SongsBy
Douglas Newman Share:
Sphere: Related Content
(Page 2 of 2)
 “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”
The Handsome Family
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Dylan’s music seems to be well suited to country music. Indeed, Nashville Skyline had a significant influence on the country rock that would become commonplace just a fews years after its 1969 release. The Handsome Family takes “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” from 1965’s Highway 61 Revisited, and turns it into a lovely boy/girl country duet adorned with beautiful accordion and pedal steel flourishes.
 “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?”
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Originally recorded in 1965, this outtake from Highway 61 Revisited is a fun romp that was covered by The Jimi Hendrix Experience during a 1968 live session for BBC Radio. While not as widely lauded as the band’s take on Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” this version is nonetheless vintage Hendrix and further demonstrates the guitarist’s mastery at interpretation. Great use of cowbell too!
 “Gotta Serve Somebody”
Etta James
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. The motorcycle rev at the start of the track is a little odd, but once Etta chimes in it’s pure rhythm and blues at its best. Another song from Dylan’s “Christian phase,” this one taken from 1979’s criminally underrated Slow Train Coming, “Gotta Serve Somebody” is a stern warning to unbelievers. Etta spices it up with deep Hammond organ, punchy horns, and her powerful blues bellow.
 “She Belongs to Me”
Buffalo Tom
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Leon Russell did a great cover of this 1965 song from Bringing It All Back Home, but for some reason I prefer Buffalo Tom’s decidedly indie guitar rock approach even more. There’s something about the messiness of this version that appeals to me.
 “I’ll Keep It With Mine”
Fairport Convention
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. “I’ll Keep it With Mine” was written for Nico’s 1967 album Chelsea Girl and later recorded by Marianne Faithfull in 1987, but I’m partial to Sandy Denny’s sublime performance found on Fairport Convention’s What We Did on Our Holidays LP.
 “Wicked Messenger”
Faces
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. The Faces turn in a gloriously grimy rendition of this great track from Dylan’s 1967 album John Wesley Harding. The band is firing on all cylinders with Ian McLagan adding some nasty organ and Ronnie Wood matching his every move with thrilling guitar lines. Add to this already potent mix the scruffy growl of Rod Stewart at his best and you have a version of “Wicked Messenger” that’s wickedly tasty.
 “Boots of Spanish Leather”
Nanci Griffith
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. I’ve come to really love Nanci Griffith’s plaintive take on one of Dylan’s best love songs. Hearing this lovely tale from a woman’s perspective adds a nice twist to the poetic turns of phrases and the wispy harmonica (played by none other than Dylan himself) is icing on the cake. Pages: 1 2
Add a Comment
COMMENTS (25)
bokhara said:
How could you not include something from Coulson, Dean, McGuinness, and Flint’s 1972 classic album of Dylan covers “Lo and Behold”? That is hand’s down the best album of Dylan covers ever done and it exposed people to many basement tracks that had never been officially released, including “Sign On The Cross” (one of Dylan’s greatest songs ever) and “Get Your Rocks Off.” Certainly in the category of “lesser known” Also what’s your definition of lesser-known Dylan songs? Bob won a grammy for “Gotta Serve Somebody.” And “Idiot Wind,” “This Wheel’s on Fire,” and “Tom Thumb” are lesser known Dylan songs? Leaving “Absolutely Sweet Marie” by Jason and the Scorchers off this list is also hard to understand. george said:
Fairport Convention begins with a dangling modifier; you were not written and later recorded, yet that is what you say. Watch those dangling participles. Henry Porter said:
Great list – not that gone on the Willie Nelson version of ‘Senor’ though. I’d add a few by Cat Power – ‘Paths of Victory’ for example is stunning. I also like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings doing ‘Billy’ from ‘Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid’. Then there’s Bob’s own favorite – The King hamming ‘Tomorrow is a Long Time’. Fairport Convention make a great job of both ‘Percy’s Song’ and ‘Si tu doit partir’. And finally Gram Parsons/The Flying Burrito Brothers ‘To Ramona’ is what got me hooked on Parsons (ok – it’s a well known song to Dylan fans but…) Larry Kosofsky said:
Try “Gospel Dylan” by the Voices of East LA Choir – spectacular version of MJGillmer said:
I became hooked on Dylan in the late ’60’s through Nina Simone’s version peter said:
Have you heard “I’ll Keep It With Mine” by O Susanna? dave lawrence said:
up to me by roger mcguinn. mike said:
How about the beautiful rendition of “When I Paint my Masterpiece” by Eliott Smith? Chris said:
Heart of Mine by Norah Jones. Sean said:
British neo-soul singer Adele does a great version of “Make You Feel My Love” Billy Watson said:
Check out To Ramona by Sinead Lohan. Superb. Marty Katz said:
Not many “lesser” known songs here, but why quibble? It’s hard to go wrong when you couple great songs with great artists. Thanks. save said:
Nary a mention of a Garcia cover dictates this site as wanting, to say the least. Perhaps a second listen of Jerry doing ‘Going Going Gone’ will hammer home the point. chet said:
What about “Man In Me” by the Clash ?? Chris Stone said:
Elvis-Tomorrow is a Long Time Denise said:
Another great cover is the O’Jays Emotionally Yours…really great, just shows how Bob Dylan is covered by everyone, and his real genius is laying down the frame of a good song and allowing others to put their style on it. Liuzhou Laowai said:
In what way are these “Lesser Known Bob Dylan Songs”? robert said:
Jerry Lee Lewis did a great version of “Rita May” on “Rockin’ my life away”. Adam said:
Black Jack Davey – The White Stripes check it out bj said:
God I love the handsome more than life. Stephan said:
How could you possibly have added Gotta Serve Somebody… If by lesser known you mean Not-Mr.-Tambourine-Man… yes you are right… if not: you’re an idiot eli said:
elliott smith’s cover of moonshiner. landon said:
‘nobody cept you’ one of my fav bob tunes… heartwrenchingly sad tho… 16 horsepower do a fantastic version of it on banjo. highwater said:
Sufjan Stevens Ring Them Bells … Laura said:
I find that this list was exceptional and have to say I can’t argue. The loves of bob tunes everywhere inspires the artists in all of us. While recording careers have been found at http://www.recordingconnection.com for over 20 years from inside the music industry. |
Recent EntriesDateTitle11 | 20New Release Round-up: Forge Your Own Slits 11 | 19The Beyoncé of Pancakes and Other Bodacious Breakfast Bonanzas 11 | 18Blown Away by a "Landslide" 11 | 16Don Henley: Building the Perfect Beast 11 | 13The Pleasure of Pain Teens 11 | 13Overlooked Albums from the 1970s 11 | 11Norah Jones: The Fall 11 | 11The Simon Cowell of Urinals and Other Preposterous Potty Problems 11 | 10Self-Destruction (The Fun Kind) 11 | 10OOIOO: Armonico Hewa 
Buffers, Bridges & Bubbles
Love is Strange
The Birds, the Bees & Me
|
