Monocled Alchemist

Episode 16

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 Remains – “Like A Rollin’ Stone”
live in the studio

02 Bryan Ferry – “Make You Feel My Love”
03 Bryan Ferry – “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
taken from the album ‘Dylanesque’, 2007

04 Mary Lou Lord – “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”
recorded live in the subway in Boston and Harvard Square. Taken from the LP ‘Live City Sounds’, 2002

Dylanisms | Podcast Mixes Celebrating Bob Dylan Cover Versions

05 Cassandra Wilson – “Shelter From The Storm”
taken from the LP ‘Belly Of The Sun’, 2002

06 The Nice – “She Belongs To Me”
live version

07 Paul Weller – “I Shall Be Released”
unreleased version from 29/07/96

08 Laurel Aitken – “Blowin’ In The Wind”
ska pioneer Lorenzo Aitken started his music career in the late 1950s in the nightclubs of his native Jamaica before coming to the attention of legendary Duke Reid who produced and released his first single in 1958.

Already popular in the UK, Aitken moved to England in 1960 to capitalise on his success and stayed in the country for the rest of his life.

09 Flatt & Scruggs – “Girl From The North Country”
Bluegrass legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs had started out in Bill Monroe’s group and were key to the development of that band’s sound and the initial popularity of Bluegrass as a fledgling genre.

They parted ways with Monroe in the late 1940s and immediately became one of the most popular Bluegrass acts in the US.

Understanding the need to adapt to stay relevant, Scruggs incorporated numbers by contemporary artists such as Dylan into the band’s songbook but the old-school Flatt was resistant and so the band broke up in 1969.

10 Cher – “Masters Of War”
By the time the 22-year old Cher recorded ‘Masters Of War’ she had already released four albums and fifteen singles. Early releases were issued under various names such as Bonnie Jo Mason, Cherilyn, and Cherilyn’s Group, before she settled as Cher with her first single under that name being a cover of Dylan’s ‘All I Really Want To Do’ in May 1965.

A couple of months later she released a duet with husband Sonny Bono – ‘I Got You Babe’ – which was Bono’s response to Dylan’s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’.