Nashville Skyline is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 9, 1969, by Columbia Records.
Building on the rustic style he experimented with on John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline displayed a complete immersion into country music. Along with the more basic lyrical themes, simple songwriting structures, and charming domestic feel, it introduced audiences to a radically new singing voice from Dylan—a soft, affected country croon.
I’ve picked 10 fine interpretations of the songs on this country classic from Bob Dylan.
My two favourites are The Black Crowes with Girl From The North Country and Scott Avett’s fine take on One More Night.
1. The Black Crowes – Girl From The North Country( live, 2008):
“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:
Richard Thompson has done a lot of other people’s songs, often with great result. Today we see/listen to how he copes with Dylan’s songs. First solo then with Fairport Convention.
Girl from the North Country, very good version, the guitar playing is sublime! It is taken from a concert at the City Winery, New York, 15th Feb 2012:
“I love Bob Dylan, I really do. I love his early work, I love the first time he plugged in electrically, I love his Christian albums, I love his other albums.”
~Johnny Cash
In this series of post I’ll present all the Dylan covers by Johnny Cash I could find. They will be presented chronologically with facts related to the recording.
One Too Many Mornings Date: October 29, 1965 Location: Columbia Studio, Nashville, TN. Producers: Don Law – Frank Jones. Released: Johnny And June (1979), Bootleg Volume II: From Memphis To Hollywood (2011) & The Man In Black 1963-1969, Plus (1995)
