5 wonderful acoustic Bob Dylan covers by Ron Sexsmith
Ronald Eldon “Ron” Sexsmith (born 8 January 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario.Sexsmith started his own band when he was 14 years old and released recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21. He was the subject of a 2010 documentary called Love Shines.
We really like Ron Sexsmith here at Alldylan, and Ron really knows how to sing Bob Dylan’s songs. He has a great YouTube series where he covers a lot of artists, he picks songs across a many genres. He has done a lot of Bob Dylan songs, I’ve picked my 5 favourites. Let’s start with the best:
“I love Bruce like a brother. He’s a powerful performer, unlike anybody. I care about him deeply.”
– Bob Dylan
“The first time that I heard Bob Dylan I was in the car with my mother, and we were listening to, I think, maybe WMCA, and on came that snare shot that sounded like somebody kicked open the door to your mind, from ‘Like a Rolling Stone.'”
– Bruce Springsteen
Bootleg that collected some of Springsteen’s Dylan interpretations
Bruce Springsteen was once called the “New Dylan” back in the early 1970’s. Springsteen escaped that tag to become a major rock star in his own right. Bob Dylan has been a major influence (among several others) and Springsteen has sung many of his songs. I have picked some of them for this post.
Bruce Springsteen inducts Bob Dylan into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 1988 Hall of Fame Inductions.
Sometimes I feel so low-down and disgusted
Can’t help but wonder what’s happenin’ to my companions
Are they lost or are they found
Have they counted the cost it’ll take to bring down
All their earthly principles they’re gonna have to abandon?
There’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the bend
Sportpaleis Ahoy Rotterdam, The Netherlands 19 September 1987
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Tom Petty (guitar)
Mike Campbell (guitar)
Benmont Tench (keyboards)
Howie Epstein (bass)
Stan Lynch (drums)
The Queens Of Rhythm: Carolyn Dennis, Queen Esther Marrow, Madelyn Quebec (backing vocals)
Bob Dylan’s second recording session for Blood On The Tracks continued on September 17, 1974. Another important day in the studio.
Here are some quotes, facts & music….
We cut the entire album in one day like that. Now that blew my mind. I was 19-years-old and trying to learn how to make art. The style of the time was set by guys I was working with like Paul Simon, who would take weeks recording a guitar part only to throw it away. I thought that was the way one was supposed to do it: one note at a time and a year to make an album. Dylan cut the whole thing in six hours on a Monday night. I was confused. It was like the floor, barely built under my young soul, was being ripped apart, board by board. Then Dylan came back in on Tuesday, and recorded most of the album again.
~Glenn Berger (Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks: The Untold Story)
It can be explained in just one word: sincerity. When a hillbilly sings a crazy song, he feels crazy. When he sings, ‘I Laid My Mother Away,’ he sees her a-laying right there in the coffin. He sings more sincere than most entertainers because the hillbilly was raised rougher than most entertainers. You got to know a lot about hard work. You got to have smelt a lot of mule manure before you can sing like a hillbilly. The people that have been raised something like the way the hillbilly has…. knows what he sings about and appreciates it
~Hank Williams (on the success of Country Music)
Nobody had a talent for making suffering enjoyable like Hank Williams
~Kris Kristofferson
Hank Williams was the first influence I would think.
~Bob Dylan (to Billy James, Oct 1961)
I started writing songs after I heard Hank Williams.
~Bob Dylan (The Les Crane Show, 17 Feb 1965)
