Bob Dylan: Never-Ending Covers (Cover By Cover)

The original;

 

"Moon River"
NET Premiere - 8/27/90, Merrillville, IN.

Audio of Dylan's (one-off) performance: Moon River (8/27/90) »

Stevie Ray Vaughan died shortly after midnight on 8/27/90, and that night Dylan dedicated this performance of "Moon River" to him. While not a song associated with SRV in any way (not that I know of, anyway), it was clearly a song that resonated deeply with Dylan.

From Chronicles:

"I loved songs like "Without a Song," "Old Man River," "Stardust"
and hundreds of others. My favorite of all the new ones was "Moon
River." I could sing that in my sleep.'

While Audrey Hepburn and Andy Williams recorded popular versions of the song, I'm putting my money on this one as the influential version:

 

"Friend of the Devil"
NET Premiere - 8/27/90, Merrillville, IN

Dylan follows "Moon River" with another NET premiere cover. While "Moon River" was a one off, "Friend of the Devil" would eventually make its way into the regular rotation and get nearly 100 NET plays.

A later acoustic performance (it was done electrically the first time out):



Up to this point in the NET Dylan had performed a number of songs associated with, but not written by, The Grateful Dead and/or Jerry Garcia ("Been All Around This World". "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie", "Two Soldiers"). "FOTD" is the first of many Dead originals that Dylan would cover.

 

A latter-day Garcia-Grisman performance:

 

Bob Dylan on Stevie Ray Vaughan:
He was a sweet guy. Something else was coming through him besides his guitar playing and singing.

Cesar Diaz:
When Stevie Ray died, Bob called me in and asked what happened . . . That's a beautiful version of Moon River, and he never did it since. That was the only time, and it was all rehearsed with G.E. and stuff. He was all teary-eyed. He was really highly affected by friends that die.

 

"Stand By Me"
NET Premiere - Merrillville, 8/28/90

Night 2 at the Holiday Star Theatre, and another career one-off performance. This is not the popular Ben E. King song of the same title, it is a turn-of-the-century gospel number.

No luck on an online link to Dylan's performance.

The song has a long recorded history and a number of potentially influential versions suggest themselves.

There is a 1928 recording (Pace Jubilee Singers & Hattie Parker - Leave It There 78 rpm! ») that more or less matches Dylan's version, but I'm guessing that Dylan came to the song through a more obvious source.

Dylan favorite Sister Rosetta Tharpe recorded a version in 1941, but she rewrote the lyric, and Dylan does not follow her template.

The two most likely candidates:

Another Dylan favorite, The Staple Singers:



And, as always, you can't discount The King, although Dylan's performance is not a 100% match lyrically: Elvis Presley - Stand By Me [ CC ] »

 

Backtracking for a moment to one I missed:

"No More One More Time"
NET Premiere - 5/29/90 - Montreal

Here is a portion of a performance from Hamburg on 7/3/90:



A live performance by the original artist (Jo-El Sonnier), featuring soon-to-be NET lead guitarist John "J.J." Jackson. Dylan performed the song 5 times on the NET - 4 before JJ's arrival, and 1 after his departure, but never with him.

Jo-El Sonnier w/ John JJ Jackson - No More, One More Time (Live on Nashville Now 1988) »

Looks like another case of a contemporary (1988) country song that just struck Dylan's ear.

 

Starting on August 29th, Dylan opened the majority of shows for the rest of 1990 with 1 of 4 short instrumentals. I'm going to go a bit out of order to cover them all here.

"Marines' Hymn"
NET Premiere - 8/29/90 - St. Paul

Marines' Hymn (The Halls of Montezuma) /w lyrics »

"Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
NET Premiere - 9/5/90 - Oklahoma City

I don't know that I've ever heard Bob declare himself a Spike Jones fan, but here's hoping: Spike Jones And His City Slickers-"Old MacDonald Had A Farm" »

"Dixie"
NET Premiere - 10/16/90 - New York

A version of "Dixie" was eventually released on the "Masked and Anonymous" soundtrack. Here's the performance from the film:



The fourth, "Shenandoah" (premiered 10/28/90 in Athens, Ga.) had already been released on "Down in the Groove", so it falls slightly outside of this thread.

Was Bob making some sort of political statement with these choices? Was his tongue in his cheek? Was "Old MacDonald" something he was singing to "Gabby Goo Goo" at the time? Got me.

 

"Willin'"
NET Premiere - 9/6/90 - Dallas

A performance from three days later in Austin:



The original:

LITTLE FEAT /// 5. Willin' - (Sailin' Shoes) - (1971) »

 

Another nice cover of WILLIN'.

Sung by Gene Parsons with Roger McGuinn and Clarence White on harmony.

 

"My Head's in Mississippi"
NET Premiere - 10/25/90 - Oxford, Mississippi

Two huge surprises at this show - one being the first ever (and thus far only) live performance of "Oxford Town". And sticking with the topical geographical theme, Dylan dips into the 1990 charts (and the 1990 TV commercials - Was it Budweiser? I can't remember) for his first of 3 performance of ZZ Top's "My Head's in Mississippi".

 

Thanks again for this thread. I'm loving it.

Dylan is one strange cat. Imagine writing a protest song with the lyrical power and musical beauty of Oxford Town and only playing it live once!

 

"Hey Good Lookin'"
NET Premiere - 10/26/90 - Tuscaloosa

Dylan opened the 1/14/90 show at State College with "Lonesome Whistle" and opens with another Hank Williams song in Tuscaloosa. This is a career one off. No Dylan link online, unfortunately. Here's the original:

 

And to wrap up 1990 ..

"Detroit City"
NET Premiere - 11/12/90 - East Lansing, Michigan

His proximity to Detroit surely inspired this career one-off performance. A link isn't available to the performance, but I wrote in my review:

The show opens with a one-off performance of the Mel Tillis-Danny Dill country nugget “Detroit City.” Dylan seemingly knows only one verse and the chorus, and the band has little more than a cursory knowledge of the tune.

This song has been covered by a great many country performers. The likely influential version (IMO):



I'm going to take a breather for a few days before rolling into the darkest days of the NET - 1991, when both covers and solid concerts were hard to come by.

 

Great thread RayS! I miss your old avatar BTW

I've been following the thread and doing a little utube mining, and found this one and bookmarked it.
I had assumed it wouldn't be needed, but low and behold. (audio only)

 

Awesome, thanks for finding that and sharing!

 

1991 - Or, in Dylan concert history - The Dark Ages

Some context: For 3 years ('88 to Fall '90) Dylan scheduled his concerts around G.E. Smith's "Saturday Night Live" commitments. In the fall of 1990 the decision was made (mutually, apparently) that this could not continue if the NET was going to, well, never end. Dylan staged an "on stage audition" with various guitarists (included his guitar tech, Cesar Diaz) joining Smith. On October 19, 1990, at the Beacon Theater in NYC, Smith played his final NET show. The remaining fall shows were uneven, but certainly had plenty of high points (with a few getting 4/5 "stars" in my reviews).

The 1991 NET opened on January 28 in Zurich with John "J.J." Jackson on lead guitar and Ian Wallace on drums. Despite featuring the first "Bob Dylan's Dream" in nearly 30 years (sadly, he murdered it, sports fans) and the live premiere of "God Knows", this concert earned a single star. An under-rehearsed band, a disinterested lead singer ... a mess. Unfortunately, it rarely got better from there. An added "bonus" arose from the poor, under-rehearsed performances and Dylan's apparent lack of self-application and interest - the set lists grew far more static than during the first three years of the NET, and the covers virtually disappeared. Not just NEW covers, ANY covers. The 8 night residency at the Hammersmith Odeon in London that wrapped up the European leg featured no NET premieres, and not a single cover (old or now). It did feature back-to-back "one star" shows on February 10 and 12. The "anything can happen" days of the NET appeared over. There are only two fresh covers from the European leg to discuss (one today, one tomorrow).

"Mountains of Mourne"
NET Premiere - 2/3/91 - Glasgow



A short instrumental to open the show (which was standard procedure in the fall of 1990 but dropped for virtually all of 1991). This is an old Irish folk song about an Irishman away from home. Perhaps Dylan figured the narrator was in Scotland, or perhaps he was readying this number for the upcoming shows in Dublin and Belfast (but, alas, they didn't play it in Ireland, or ever again, for that matter).

 

"Tupelo Honey"/"Why Must I Always Explain?"
NET Premiere - 2/6/91, Belfast

Dylan and Van Morrison performed "Tupelo Honey" during one of Van's guest appearances on Dylan's 1984 European Tour. In 1991, Van recorded "Why Must I Always Explain?", which essentially put fresh lyrics to the tune for "Tupelo Honey". Here, they put the two songs together (as Van himself has often done in concert).



Tupelo Honey: Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey »
Why Must I Always Explain?: Van Morrison - Why Must I Always Explain? »

If Dylan's look and somewhat incomprehensible (maybe we can blame the quality of the audience recording) song introduction seem familiar, it's because we're two weeks shy of his performance of "Masters of War" when he received his Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Performing with Van, though, always seems to bring out huge smiles from Bob (not to mention JJ and Tony).

Dylan follows Belfast with 8 nights in London - generally poor performances with relatively static set lists (and no covers at all). The Grammy performance follows, then 2 quick US shows before his first 4 shows in Mexico (also devoid of covers and NET premieres). The tour restarts in April, when Dylan premieres "New Morning". Covers make a brief return - "Trail of the Buffalo" on 4/19 and "Barbara Allen" on 4/20, but then they're gone again for the rest of the US leg (excepting a brief "Dixie" instrumental opener). So tomorrow we already roll into the June European leg.

 

Dylan and Morrison have such a wonderful energy together. Perhaps a pairing only equaled by... Dylan and Simon.

As much as I would hate to see it become a novelty, I due wish Dylan would have some interaction with the other acts on the bill nowadays (since he doesn't interact with the audience very much!) In 2014, he did bring on a bunch of Americanarama friends for the Weight, although not the night I saw him, and that was the one show with Beck. I've seen him share a bill with Mavis Staples and Leon Russell, artists he has recorded with, but there was no duet or nothin'. He did bring Mark Knopfler onstage for a few songs, but in recent years that's the exception over the rule. Although if he's only gonna bring out a friend to help on Knockin' On Heaven's Door, don't bother! I do believe that holds the record for the song Dylan has had a guest with. I Shall Be Released probably coming in second.

 

Being the uniquely-skilled singer that he is, I've found Bob's spontaneous or near-spontaneous concert collaborations to be all over the boards. For instance, Bob stuck out horribly on the "all star" "My Back Pages" at Bob Fest. But when it's good, it can be great! My personal pick for the best collaboration I was ever present for:

 

oops, another great one that I forgot about!

Rolling Stone has an article up that relates to all this... Flashback: Bob Dylan Sings 'Blowin' in the Wind' With Bono »

 

In the Fall '91 performances of "All Along The Watchtower" Dylan would joke that HIS version had the "correct lyrics", as compared to the version on "Rattle & Hum".

Bono did a mix & match on this "twisted Bob Dylan song" as well.



Being an equal opportunity singer, Bono changed the words to "Cold Turkey" too.

 

On June 6th Dylan started another 3 week swing through Europe with a show in Rome. After the paucity of surprises so far in 1991, we got three in one shot at this opening concert. Dylan couldn't pass up the opportunity to open a show in Rome with "Oh the streets of Rome ..." - the NET premiere of "When I Paint My Masterpiece" (last done during the 1987 "Temples in Flames" tour). During the course of the show we also get Bob covering two of his most brilliant songwriting contemporaries (IMO).

"Homeward Bound"
NET Premiere - 6/6/91, Rome

Dylan wound up covering "Homeward Bound" on 3 occasions - acoustically in Rome, and then electrically in Innsbruck on 6/14 and Nashua on 7/6. Here's the audio for 7/6:

Bob Dylan's Music - Timeline | Facebook »

This song of a lonely, weary, traveling musician seems a pretty good fit for a guy on a never-ending tour. Unfortunately, the Rome performance is marred a bit by inappropriate clapping along from the audience, and Dylan's inability to get the words right (he sings the same line 3 times in a row when reaching for lyrics!) The electric performances suffer a bit from an unsympathetic backing from the band (the drums in particular), but Dylan covering Simon & Garfunkel is a treat no matter how you slice it.

 

"People Puttin' People Down"
NET Premiere - 6/6/91, Rome

Dylan on John Prine from a 2011 Huffington Post interview:

Prine's stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind trips to the Nth degree. I remember when Kris Kristofferson first brought him on the scene. All that stuff about "Sam Stone" the soldier junky daddy and "Donald and Lydia", where people make love from ten miles away. If I had to pick one song of his, it might be "Lake Marie".

Since the long-rumored Dylan performance of "Donald and Lydia" has yet to pop up, "People Puttin' People Down" represents Dylan's only cover of Prine's work. Dylan performed the song on one other occasion - Sao Paulo, Brazil on 8-17-91, but the circulating tape is of exceptionally poor quality (and incomplete to boot).

Bob Dylan live, People Putting People Down, Rome 1991 »

Prine on Dylan's performance:

"It's the only defense some people have. As long as you got somebody to look down on, you ain't on the bottom. So cold. I have a tape a kid gave me at a radio show last year. I came out to the parking lot after the show, and there was the usual crowd. This mailman walked up to me and whispers, "You want to hear a tape of Bob Dylan doing one of your songs?" I said, "Sure!" He hands me a tape from Rome, Italy, with Dylan doing about 30 Dylan songs and "People Puttin' People Down." Great version too. Incredible. So I saw Dylan last year and told him about this tape. And he goes, "Where did you get it? Where'd you get it?" I told him a mailman gave it to me. I'm sure he believed that."

An interesting song choice to be sure, considering Dylan's well-known propensity for "puttin' people down".

Bringing it full circle, Prine covering Dylan (with long-time Dylan band member Larry Campbell, and a couple of other guys who famously played with Dylan):

 

A bit more searching revealed a VIDEO for the Rome performance:



Prine's original: People Puttin' People Down - John Prine »