Miscellaneous ramblings...

» The Allman Brothers Band played Blind Willie McTell at three shows (3/12-3/16-3/20) of their recent run in New York City. The shows are available on disc from hittinthenote.com

» Fedayien III, the 1992 album by Japanese free-jazz trio Fedayien is now available again on CD and from digital sources. Their 10:51 Blowin' In The Wind instrumental is recommended only if you like screeching sax.
[CD Baby][amazon.com]

» The Georgia Guitar Quartet teams with baritone Robert Sims for a classical rendition of Blowin' In The Wind on their new album GGQSims.
[CD Baby]

» Scottish band Tangled Up In Folk have five Dylan songs and several Dylan-related traditionals on their MySpace player.
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue / Simple Twist Of Fate / Girl From The North Country / Ballad Of Hollis Brown / To Ramona

» Andy Hill & Renee Safier's DylanFest 2009 DVD is nearing completion, more details will be posted when available.

» Help support DylanCover.com by shopping at CD Baby, amazon.com or the other retailers listed in the right sidebar >

Al Diesan concert

Al Diesan presents Bob Dylan: between music & poetry April 1st in Italy. The show can be heard on radiolevelone.com. Scheduled at 10:30 p.m. Italian time Thursday April 1st.
View the poster

DataBase update: +122

Today's DataBase update added 122, new total 29,337.
Click the "UPDATE" link in the right sidebar to browse the new additions.

This week's update includes many new covers available from livedownloads.com. I have also updated the DataBase entries for Ratdog, Dark Star Orchestra, The Black Crowes, The Dead (2009) and Yonder Mountain String Band to include these official soundboard recordings. Some shows at livedownloads.com are also available on CDR.

Miscellaneous ramblings...

» Eddy Mitchell sings Frappe aux portes du paradis (Knockin' On Heaven's Door) on his latest album Gran Ecran.
[amazon.com]
Thanks to Jean Fernandez

» Les Fradkin's latest album Hyper Midi Guitar includes an instrumental All Along The Watchtower. Les' albums are digital only releases.
[CD Baby][amazon.com][iTunes]

» Zimming Point has added several new recordings to their MySpace player

» Esteban Páez of Argentina has a new live album available for free download at his new website. En vivo en la Plaza de los Inmigrantes includes four Dylan songs:
Political World, Romance In Durango, Jokerman and Knockin' On Heaven's Door.
His 3 albums of Dylan covers are also still available.

» The upcoming various artist CD Divided By A Common Language, "a collection of UK Americana,'' includes Girl From The North Country by Oxford UK band Dusty & The Dreaming Spires.
[amazon.com]
Thanks to Michael Tearson

» Brooklyn NY band Dirty Projectors performed Dark Eyes on Australian radio recently. A mp3 of the performance is available at stereogum.com.

» more CD Baby dis-cover-ies:
Blowin' In The Wind - Global Jazz Project
It's Alright Ma (2 versions) - Tommy & Ptolemy
Girl From The North Country - Andy Hedges

» I continue to be selective about YouTube covers added to the DataBase, being "complete" would be an impossible task for a one-man operation - and there doesn't seem to be much interest in them. At present I am only adding covers from performers who feature Dylan covers (121 of the 148 recently added are from just the two Japanese singers mentioned in an earlier post,) Together Through Life songs, and select rare or unusual covers.

» Only one response to my call for comments in the last Miscellaneous ramblings.

New in 3 or More: GuessWorks

Added to 3 or More:
GuessWorks
GuessWorks
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Boots Of Spanish Leather
Forever Young

[Band website][CD Baby]

YouTubers

Two singers from Japan with many Dylan covers on their YouTube channels:

Ogata Kazuhiko (57)
artmnet0 (64)

These will appear in the next DataBase update.

Miscellaneous ramblings...

» Chicago blueswoman Zora Young and French bluesman Bobby Dirninger duet on Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You on Zora's 2009 album The French Connection. Dirninger is a long time member of Zora's touring band. The track can be heard on YouTube.
[CD from amazon.com]

» That Guy from ELO has added a unique rendition of Tombstone Blues to his MySpace player.

» Austrian band Who Cares? has added several more Dylan cover mp3s to their website, including a Forgetful Heart.

» The 2006 album Careless Russian Rover (translated title) by the Russian band Aquarium - led by Boris Grebenschikov - includes a Russian version of Up To Me. [amazon.com]
Thanks to Michael Tearson for the tip

» The Manfred Mann's Earth Band boxset Bootleg Archives Volumes 1-5 includes seven Dylan cover performances from 1986-99
[amazon.com]

» Don't Think Twice is an album of duets by New Zealanders Naomi Ferguson and Graham Wardrop. In addition to the title track the duo sing Make You Feel My Love.
Thanks to Bill Hester for the tip

» The Rumpke Mountain Boys, Cincinnatti's self-described "trash grass" band, continue to cover many Dylan songs. Some recent shows have included Dylan's Rollin' and Tumblin' (or a cover of Bob's version for you naysayers.) Most of their shows are available at the Live Music Archive.

» More CD Baby dis-cover-ies:
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Hurricane Jerry & Stormfront
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You - The Riders
Tomorrow Is A Long Time - Steve Schenkel & Ashley Mason
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Donna Loren

» Do you like the return of these "Miscellaneous Ramblings" posts? Or at least find them useful? Do you read them thoroughly? Ignore them? Skim through them? Prefer individual posts? Prefer only major news and not minor details? Comments welcome.

(Almost) Everything Is Covered

Once again, all the songs from Bob's "regular" albums (i.e. albums of all new songs) have been covered. Most of Dylan's other songs have been covered too, but still notably uncovered is Brownsville Girl (though it's precursor Danville Girl has been,) and some of the “PG&BtK” instrumentals.
Comments welcome.

Miscellaneous ramblings...

» Folksinger Bonnie Koloc has self-released Beginnings, a CD of live recordings made in 1969, including Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Just Like A Woman. [CD Baby]

» Barbara Dickson's In Concert CD, recorded in 2007 and released last year, includes live versions of The Times They Are A-Changin' and Don't Think Twice.
[amazon.com - CD or mp3]
Thanks to Michael Tearson for the tip

» An audience recording of Robyn Hitchcock's 1996 show at The Borderline in London is now available at Live Music Archive. The 15-song all-Dylan show was originally included on his Beautiful Queen promo CD, and some tracks later appeared on the Robyn Sings CD.

» The Mud City Ramblers show of 2/28 included three Dylan songs: Don't Think Twice, Oxford Town and Shelter From The Storm. [Live Music Archive]

» Reports are circulating that an upcoming album by R&R Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson will include a cover of Dylan's Thunder On The Mountain, suggested to album producer Jack White by Bob himself.

» CD Baby dis-cover-ies:
Down Along The Cove - Bryan Teal
Tangled Up In Blue - Antonio Andrade
It Ain't Me Babe - The Lees (Australia / country)
Shelter From The Storm - Word of Life Church
Gotta Serve Somebody - Vince Weber (Germany)
I Shall Be Released - TallBoys Band (Mexico)
Mr. Tambourine Man - Wayne Brasel Trio (jazz instro)
Mr. Tambourine Man - Dave Hahn Group
Mama You Been On My Mind - Buck & Deanne (Australia / country-blues)
When I Paint My Masterpiece - Greensky Bluegrass

New in the DylanCover.com collection: Rairbirds

It's Alright, Ma (5:55)
Rairbirds
Rairbirds 1
CD: One Little Indian Tplp336cd (UK - 2007)

UK electronica band (MySpace) sings It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) over a techo beat backing with little semblance to the original melody.
Used copies are less than a dollar!
Promo versions of the album include an "Instrumental Version" bonus-disc, but without vocals It's Alright, Ma is a cover in title only.
Available from: amazon.com

Michel & Bob Dylan Fest 2010

Michel Montecrossa's Michel & Bob Dylan Fest 2010 has now been added to Dylan Cover Albums' Near Miss page.
The annual concert was recorded Feb. 20. 14 of the album's 32 tracks are Dylan songs, including the first cover I know of My Wife's Hometown, all 9 of the other songs from Together Through Life, plus four others.
More info at Mira-Sound.
ADDED: Available digitally from iTunes

The Dylan songs:
Beyond Here Lies Nothin' / Life Is Hard / My Wife's Hometown / If You Ever Go To Houston / Forgetful Heart / Jolene / This Dream Of You / Shake Shake Mama / I Feel A Change Coming On / It's All Good / Like A Rolling Stone / Born In Time / Long Ago, Far Away / Long Time Gone

Miscellaneous ramblings...

» Jeffrey Foucault offers a home recording of Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You on his website jeffreyfoucault.com [>Music][>Outtakes & Live Cuts]

» More Winter: new releases offer both early and recent versions of Highway 61 Revisited by Johnny Winter: Live at The Fillmore East 10/3/70 (amazon.com) and Live at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (amazon.com)

» The Mick Taylor Band performs Blind Willie McTell on their new DVD The Tokyo Concert (amazon.com)

» Rock Classics Covers, a series of live covers collections at dimeadozen.org include three 2-disc Dylan volumes:
Vol. 7: Blonde On Blonde
Vol.11: Blood On The Tracks
Vol.18: Highway 61 Revisited
Most of the tracks are culled from the Nobody Sings Dylan series, but there are a few new ones.

» DylanRadio.com has posted a podcast featuring their ten favorite entries from last year's Battle of the Dylan Cover Bands. This year's Battle continues until April 30.

» Several bands debuting at the Live Music Archive include Dylan songs in their sets, look for Phuncle Sam (Silvio, Simple Twist Of Fate), Ruha (You Ain't Going Nowhere), and Stockholm Syndrome (Where Are You Tonight?)
These and more will appear in future DataBase and LMA updates.

» New finds at CD Baby:
Rob Tognoni - Like A Rolling Stone
on Capital Wah (blues-rock / Tasmania-Australia)
The White Lines - One Too Many Mornings
on Rockabilly Memories (rockabilly / Germany)

Jef Lee Johnson's The Zimmerman Shadow added to Dylan Cover Albums

Philadelphia jazz/session guitarist Jef Lee Johnson has released The Zimmerman Shadow, an album of Dylan songs on the French label Hope Street. The album is a mix of vocals and instrumentals (see tracklist below.)
The album has now been added to Dylan Cover Albums HERE.

Most sources categorize the album as "jazz," but much of the music here is not what you'd expect. Don't judge the album by on-line samples, as many tracks change into something entirely different. Most notably on the 11-minute As I Went Out One Morning. The track starts as a mellow guitar instrumental - instantly recognizable as the Dylan tune - for the first few minutes, then morphs through a spacey, feedback-drenched bridge and into an extended rockish power-trio jam with little semblance to Dylan's original. In general, think jazz-influenced Hendrix-style rock. Or Hendrix-influenced jazz! The album is certainly an interesting experiment and a challenging listen. If you like your Dylan covers "outside the box" this is one for you.
Guitar & vocal: Jef Lee Johnson, bass: Yohannes Tona, drums: Charlie Patierno

The physical CD is packaged in a 5¾" x 5¼" (14.5cm x 13cm) hard-bound book with 56 pages of illustrations, many with Dylan themes.
More info (in French) at the Nato/Hope Street website or MySpace
CD available direct from the label or amazon.fr
Digital version is available world-wide from amazon.com, iTunes, and other digital services.
Thanks to Jean Fernandez for the tip.
Thanks to Nato Music.

The tracklist (*-instrumental):
I Am A Lonesome Hobo / Highway 61 Revisited / *As I Went Out One Morning / *Knockin' On Heaven's Door / *Idiot Wind / Ballad Of A Thin Man / *Blind Willie McTell / One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below) / *Knockin' On Heaven's Door / From a Buick 6 / Not Out of the Book [Jef Lee Johnson - 0:20] / *Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Notes on BITW: 20 Versions

I now have the Blowin' In The Wind: 20 Versions CD in hand. Unfortunately little information about the tracks is provided. Below are my own notes.

Dionne Warwick - normal version
The Hollies - studio version
Cher - normal version
Bob Dylan (Live) - the 1963 Westinghouse Studios TV version, incorrectly labeled as Canada 1962! (see: searchingforagem.com)
Duke Ellington - normal version (Jazz instro)
Marie Laforet - normal version
Marc Bolan - normal "Toby Tyler" version
Edwin Hawkins Singers - edit version (2:52)
Dr. Mock & The Flocks - (labeled as "grunge punk") - this is the Me First & Gimme Gimmes cover, without the "how-how's" at the start. Don't know why the name change.
The Seekers - normal version
Trini Lopez - a re-recording, but a different one than on Trini's "Prime Cuts" collection.
Marianne Faithful - normal version
Bobby Darin - normal version
Johnny Rivers - normal version
The Ventures - the instrumental medley with Don't Think Twice from their 10th Anniversary LP. DTT is not mentioned in the CD tracklist.
Marlene Dietrich - "Live in Amsterdam" - original source and other details unknown
Lester Sterling Group - normal version (Reggae instro)
Stanley Turrentine - normal version (Jazz instro)
Stan Getz - normal version (Jazz instro)
Joan Baez - "Live in Buenos Aries" - Sounds like a duet with Bob, but experts tell me it's an immitator. 2nd vocal low in mix so it's hard to tell.

Tracks listed as "normal version" are the versions already listed in the DataBase (by my memory - please advise if you notice any differences.)

17 New in Dylan Title Tracks

The first-of-month update of Dylan Title Tracks added 17 items, for a new total of 1,643.
Shown here is a French 1966 Joe and Eddie EP with Walkin' Down The Line.

Thanks to Manuel Garcia Jara for his submissions this month