Johnny Rivers, Positively Fourth Street.
Of all the versions of my recorded songs, the Johnny Rivers one was my favorite. It was obvious that we were from the same side of town, had been read the same citations, came from the same musical family and were cut from the same cloth. When I listened to Johnny’s version of “Positively 4th Street,” I liked his version better than mine. I listened to it over and over again. Most of the cover versions of my songs seemed to take them out into left field somewhere, but Rivers’s version had the mandate down — the attitude and melodic sense to complete and surpass even the feeling that I had put into it. It shouldn’t have surprised me, though. He had done the same thing with “Maybellene” and “Memphis,” two Chuck Berry songs. When I heard Johnny sing my song, it was obvious that life had the same external grip on him as it did on me. Bob Dylan , Chronicles
Mary Travers interviews Bob Dylan. Not a cover but interesting to the true Dylan aficionado.
Joan Baez, Hard Rain
Gary U.S. Bonds, From a Buick Six
Peter, Paul, and Mary, Too Much of Nothing
Arlo Guthrie, Percy's Song
Byrds, Chimes of Freedom
Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower
Stephen Stills, Ballad of Hollis Brown
McGuinn, Harrison, Clapton, Petty et al., My Back Pages
Marianne Faithful, Visions of Johanna
But nothing touches the original. This is the bard at his incandescent best. Mid-'60s. Blonde on Blonde album.
More later. Time to rustle up some vittles for wifey, pour myself a stiff one and get tuned up for Bongino. Enjoy your Saturday night.
IMHO, Ricky Nelson does a splendid cover of She Belongs to Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiogMC2kTxg
'She's got everything she needs ...
Posted by: Robert Allen | Thursday, July 28, 2022 at 05:59 PM
Good choice, Robert.
But it lacks the 'magic' that captivated me when I was 15. De gustibus, et cetera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRgk6v2o9RY
Posted by: BV | Thursday, July 28, 2022 at 06:29 PM