Bob Dylan, A Cover Story. By guest blogger Keith Toop.

Today’s blog is from one of our regular guest writers, Keith Toop, who’s been considering Bob Dylan’s influence on other artists, following a recent trip to the cinema. So without further ado, Keith's going to run you through the best and most varied cover versions he's found, and you can have a listen on youtube and check them out. No need to thank either of us, don't think twice, it's alright ;-)

I recently watched the film “A Complete Unknown”, about the life of Bob Dylan. It was an interesting watch, which had me wondering just how many of his songs have been covered. In the film it had Joan Baez singing and releasing many of his songs even before Dylan released them himself. They were said to have had a relationship, in the early 60’s and sang on stage many times together, so it is not so strange for this to happen. Baez’s sixth studio album was all songs by Dylan.

There have been some big songs by other artists, which have been covers of Dylan songs, but many people might not have known that Dylan was the original writer.

#1 : Blowing In The Wind

There are too many to go through them all, so here are ten big covers. Starting with “Blowing In The Wind” which was covered by Sam Cooke a great soul singer. The song itself was seen as a civil rights anthem.

#2 : One More Cup Of Coffee

“One More Cup Of Coffee” was covered by Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame and also by The White Stripes. Both good covers but I like the White Stripes version best as it was early White Stripes from their first album.

#3 : Maggie's Farm

The band “Rage Against The Machine” are seen as a controversial band so not surprising that they covered “Maggies Farm”. It is quite a heavy version, but fits the song well. It was also covered by Solomon Burke, who was one of the first black artist to cover a Dylan song.

#4 : Just Like A Woman

Nina Simone, an amazing artist, who is no stranger to being covered, did a lovely Jazz/Soul version of “Just Like A Woman” . This song was also covered by Jeff Buckley in 1993, which was described as “gorgeous”.

#5 : Farewell Angelina

I had to include a song by Joan Baez. “Farewell Angelina” had critical and commercial success and was also the title track of the album.

#6 : A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall

“A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall was a protest song, like many of his songs, but this song in particular covered many issues including generation gap, racism, social injustice, Vietnam war, civil rights movement and cold war tension. This was covered by Bryan Ferry in 1973.

#7 : Mr Tambourine Man

In 1965 “The Byrds” released “Mr. Tambourine Man”, just weeks after Dylan had released his original version. This was a significant song as it is said that this is the point he went from folk act to international star, and when he “went electric”. The Byrds also covered Dylan’s “My Back Pages”.

#8 : The Mighty Quinn

“Quinn the Eskimo-The Mighty Quinn” by Dylan gets a name change by the band “Manfred Mann” in 1968. Their title was simply “The Mighty Quinn”, which charted at no.1. This song has been covered by some other artists, each recording it under “The Mighty Quinn” banner. Always great to see some classic TOTP footage ;-)

#9 : All Along The Watchtower

The song “All Along The Watchtower” is synonymous with Jimi Hendrix. This version charted at No. 5. It was covered by some big artists including U2 and Pearl Jam, both supplying creditable versions. “All Along The Watchtower” is reported to be the most performed by Dylan himself, reputed to be well over two thousand times.

#10 : Make You Feel My Love

Last but not least is a song that when it was released, many thought it was her own song. The song in question is “Make You Feel My Love”. This was originally released by Dylan in 1997 and reached 4 in the charts. Adele released her version just eleven years later and also charted at 4! This song has been covered by over 450 different artists.

In Conclusion

I don’t believe that there are many artists around the world that have been covered so many times. So even if Dylan is not your cup of tea I think that it’s a remarkable achievement within his lifetime. The number of artists that have covered his songs are around 600, the number of his unique songs are around 300 and the number of recordings are around 1,500 in total.

All in all he is without a doubt an amazing artist that has had an amazing career.

Keith Toop

I'd like to thank Keith for compiling this list and blog. Like Keith said, even if Dylan isn't your cup of tea, hopefully you'll have found something here you've enjoyed listening to. It's not only the sheer quantity of covers and artists, it's the variety of genres that he's had an impact on that's equally as impressive.

Next week we've got another guest blog, this time from one of our other regular contributors, Tess Henley. Tess is always interested in how classical guitar music interacts with pop, rock and blues. This time she'll be having a look at Americana. I swear I didn't put her up to it! But with my next single, 'Horses' coming out on Wednesday March 19th, it's a well timed piece exploring what the genre of 'Americana' actually constitutes. See you then! - Jon.