All posts by Hallgeir

Bob Dylan, Cover versions

Bob Dylan Pressing On: 2 great originals and 7 fine cover versions

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Bob Dylan Pressing On: Cover versions audio and video

When I heard Alicia Keys’s cover of Bob Dylan’s Pressing On I felt compelled to search out some of the other great versions of this overlooked gem.
Saved was the second album of Dylan’s “Christian trilogy”, following his conversion. It expanded on themes explored on its predecessor Slow Train Coming, with gospel arrangements and lyrics extolling the importance of a strong personal faith.

Let us start with a couple of Dylan’s own takes on the song, the album version and a great live interpretation from a classic concert in Toronto in 1980:

Bob Dylan – Pressing On, from the album, Saved:

The fantastic Toronto 1980 version of Pressing On:

And now the cover versions.

Continue reading Bob Dylan Pressing On: 2 great originals and 7 fine cover versions →

Bob Dylan

May 19: Bob Dylan The Night We Called It A Day at Letterman 2015

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May 19: Bob Dylan The Night We Called It A Day at Letterman 2015

From BobDylan.com:

BOB DYLAN TO PERFORM ON “LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN”

In a rare television appearance, legendary musician Bob Dylan will perform on the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN, Tuesday, May 19 (11:35 PM-12:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

This will be Dylan’s first performance on the LATE SHOW in nearly 22 years. His only performance on the CBS broadcast took place Nov. 18, 1993, during the show’s inaugural season on CBS. Previously, he had performed on Letterman’s “Late Night” show twice, on March 22, 1984 and on “Late Night’s” 10th anniversary show Jan. 18, 1992.

Dylan joins the previously announced Bill Murray on the Tuesday, May 19 show, part of the LATE SHOW’s final three broadcasts. As part of this three-night event, Tom Hanks and musical guest Eddie Vedder will appear Monday, May 18. Letterman’s final broadcast of the LATE SHOW will take place Wednesday, May 20

Here he is with a very fitting song, The Night We Called It A Day. Dressed in a black suit with red trim, and a white shirt with a black string tie, BobDylan sang this a jazz standard from the 1940s. It appeared on Dylan’s latest album,  Shadows in the Night. Dylan’s voice was incredible.

Bob Dylan – The Night We Called It A Day:

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– Hallgeir

Bob Dylan, Cover versions, Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith covers Bob Dylan

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Elliott Smith covers Bob Dylan

“My father taught me how to play ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’. I love Dylan’s words, but even more than that, I love the fact that he loves words.”
– Elliott Smith

Steven Paul “Elliott” Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived for much of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity. Smith’s primary instrument was the guitar, but he was also proficient with piano, clarinet, bass guitar, drums and harmonica. Smith had a distinctive vocal style, characterized by his “whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery”, and used multi-tracking to create vocal layers, textures and harmonies.

In his time, Elliott Smith did some very fine cover songs. From rock, country and folk standards, to Neil Young, Oasis, Beatles, Bob Dylan and his beloved The Kinks (and many more), Smith took covering a song very seriously.

We have found some of his Bob Dylan covers, all live and some with terrible sound. But, he adds a touch of sadness to most of them and he sings them like he loves them.

Elliott Smith @ Newbury Comics in Boston (10/05/1998) covering Bob Dylan’s When I Paint My Masterpiece:

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Bob Dylan, Cover versions

6 good cover versions of Bob Dylan’s Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)

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Senor, senor, can you tell me where we’re headin’?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
Seems like I been down this way before.
Is there any truth in that, senor?
– Bob Dylan

“One of the most interesting Street Legal songs is “Senor.” Dylan sings it magnificently, with real purpose, and the song’s melody is highly original and infectious. …  “Senor” could have been one of Dylan’s finest songs of the 1970s. As it stands, however, it is an ambitious song which doesn’t quite come off.”
– Thomas Ward (allmusic)

I agree it is an interesting song, however I do not agree that it doesn’t “come off”, I love the song!
It has proven rather difficult to cover but there are some good ones out there. I have dug up six of the best.

Jeffrey Foucault – Señor (live, may 14, 2009, Spijkerboor):

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