Monocled Alchemist

Episode 11

Dylanisms | Podcast Mixes Celebrating Bob Dylan Cover Versions |‘Dylanisms’ is my 10-song mix podcast project, building an extensive archive of (mostly) 1960s recordings of Bob Dylan songs as recorded by various solo performers and groups many years ago.

I will zoom in on the well known and the very obscure outfits who covered Dylan’s numbers, in particular those unknown teenage garage bands from USA. There are many but this list on Wikipedia doesn’t even acknowledge them.

My ‘Dylanisms’ project will be regular and will uncover everything worth hearing. It will last for a one-year paid subscription with my hosting platform RSS.com. By then, my mission will have been accomplished and the Gods shall anoint my feet with patchouli oil . . .

Honourable cover versions:

Tracks in order of appearance:

01 The Myddle Class – “Gates Of Eden”
single B-side on Tomorrow Records, Nov 1965

02 Cliff Aungier – “Down Along The Cove”
From the LP “The Lady From Baltimore” LP Pye NSPL 18294 (1969) Produced and Directed by Mike Margolis. Aungier was a folk-blues guitarist whose first album, “Wanderin’”, a blues/skiffle hybrid, teamed him with harmonica player Royd Rivers and was produced by Jimmy Page in 1965.

Aungier’s next venture found him listed among Alex Campbell And His Friends on Campbell’s 1967 Saga album alongside Sandy Denny. Further Aungier singles appeared on Polydor, RCA and Pye which gave him the opportunity to record an album following an initial baroque pop version of Tim Hardin’s ‘The Lady From Baltimore’.

“The Lady From Baltimore” album mixed Aungier’s trademark bluesy guitar instrumentals, two Dylan songs (the other is ‘One Too Many Mornings’) and further covers (Hardin and the Bee Gees) which were tastefully enhanced by orchestral arrangements. Ultimately, it failed to re-position Aungier beyond his familiar folk club audience.

Dylanisms | Podcast Mixes Celebrating Bob Dylan Cover Versions

03 Country Fever – “Tears Of Rage”
single on Bell BLL 1052 (1968) Produced by Derek Lawrence Formed in 1968 by Albert Lee and Chas Hodges, Country Fever debuted with a single on Bell Records coupling ‘Tears Of Rage’ and ‘Too Much Of Nothing’.

The group’s earlier ‘That’s Alright Mama’ had been credited solely to Albert Lee. They gigged regularly; both Lee and Hodges were sought-after session men who relished an outlet to play country and rock’n’roll in pubs and clubs.

The same nucleus of musicians also recorded as Black Claw, although it would be 20 years before the various sessions recorded under both aggregations between 1968 and 1970 were gathered together on an album released as “Albert Lee: That’s All Right Mama — The Country Fever & Black Claw Sessions”. Lee was very briefly a member of Fotheringay, recommended to founding members Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas by Country Fever’s bass player Pat Donaldson.

Sheffield Gas Board fitter

04 Joe Cocker – “Just Like A Woman”
taken from “With A Little Help From My Friends” LP Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1006 (1969) Produced by Denny Cordell. Mix engineer: Tony Visconti One of two Dylan covers that appeared on Cocker’s makeshift debut album “With A Little Help From My Friends”, the title track had been a smash hit, confirming the interpretive skills of the former Sheffield Gas Board fitter and pub singer.

Cocker’s raw, throaty, powerful blues voice and flamboyant but anguished manner of performance was often at odds with the songs he covered, but his take on ‘Just Like A Woman’ from “Blonde On Blonde” is warm, sensitive and more restrained. It features a latter-day outing for Jimmy Page as a session man; his new group Led Zeppelin was making its tentative live debut the same month Cocker’s ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ single — which also featured Page — reached the UK #1 spot.

Dylanisms | Podcast Mixes Celebrating Bob Dylan Cover Versions

05 Dave Edmunds – “Outlaw Blues”
taken from the LP ‘Rockpile’, 1972

06 Judy Collins – “I Pity The Poor Immigrant”
B-side of Elektra single, 1970

07 The Walker Brothers – “Love Minus Zero”
taken from the LP ‘Take It Easy’ (Philips) 1965

08 The Byrds – “Nothing Was Delivered”
taken from the LP ‘Sweetheart Of The Rodeo”, 1968

09 Chrissie Hynde – “Standing In The Doorway”
10 Chrissie Hynde – “Sweetheart Like You”
taken from the album ‘Standing In The Doorway’ (BMG, 2019)