# What's your favorite Bob Dylan cover **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 29, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887 "2023-09-29T22:07:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/1 "2023-09-29T22:07:24Z")
That is, what is your favorite cover of a Bob Dylan song? Full disclosure; I’m not a big Dylan fan but I respect his song writing abilities. Still, to me he’s like the Babe Ruth of songwriting - throw that much stuff against the wall, some of it’s bound to stick (and don’t get me started on ‘Like a Rolling Stone’). But I digress, he did write some good stuff. A couple of things Inspired this thread, going back to when I was a youg’un, I always like Ray Stevens’ I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (back before he went so right-wing). I was shocked later on to discover it was written by Dylan. Same could be said for Manfred Mann’s The Mighty Quinn. and much later, Garth Brooks’ To Make You Feel My Love. I’m sure there are others that have snuck by me as well. Several weeks ago, I heard Maggie’s Farm by Rage Against the Machine. Not bad for metal. But the thing that really cinched it was One More Cup of Coffee by The White Stripes, that I heard for the first time last night. Man, that’s good. But I think my number one would be Rod Stewart’s [Mamma You’ve Been On My Mind (1972)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSJl4lbX_G0/). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/2 "2023-09-29T22:12:16Z")
Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “All Along the Watchtower” is one of the greatest songs of all time. That’s pretty hard to beat. But of course personal taste will trump everything. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/3 "2023-09-29T22:16:29Z")
Off the top of my head, [Jason & the Scorchers’ “Absolutely Sweet Marie.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-cF40OWeak) I’m sure I’ll think of more over the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/4 "2023-09-29T22:16:55Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > _Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “All Along the Watchtower” is one of the greatest songs of all time._ Yes! Dylan himself was a fan of Jimi’s take on it. Within the folk/rock realm, I might pick “My Back Pages” by the Byrds. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/5 "2023-09-29T22:19:51Z")
I dunno, Maybe the Byrds doing _My Back Pages_. But for the this thread I’ll link to the young [Rod Stewart singing _Only A Hobo_](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Du0EsLz0IyU&pp=ygUXUm9kIHN0ZXdhcnQgb25seSBhIGhvYm8%3D). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/6 "2023-09-29T22:23:32Z")
I always liked the ones where the arrangement is essentially the same but with a a voice that doesn’t make you want to drive a nail through your eardrums. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CAIQ8unomcw/maxresdefault.jpg "Pete Seeger - A hard rain's a-gonna fall HD (alta calidad)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAIQ8unomcw) ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/7 "2023-09-29T22:29:08Z")
One of my favorite Dylan songs. > **[Richie Havens Tombstone Blues](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOQXvUiKnYM%2F)** > > Richie Havens doing "Tombstone Blues" by Bob DylanFrom the "I'm Not There" Soundtrack ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/8 "2023-09-29T22:44:19Z")
My latest favorite is by Swiss singer Sophie Hunger. Even allowing for the odd episodic nature of the clip. [It’s alright ma I’m only bleeding](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyEhLRaK3B4) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/9 "2023-09-29T22:58:44Z")
The Byrds’ version of “Chimes of Freedom” or “Mr Tambourine Man”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/F2nKFmXlY38/maxresdefault.jpg "The Chimes of Freedom, The Byrds") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2nKFmXlY38) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/10 "2023-09-29T23:06:00Z")
Michael Hedges did a pretty mean version of Watchtower… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XqGHE5GqZ44/hqdefault.jpg "Michael Hedges All Along the Watchtower Live") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqGHE5GqZ44) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/11 "2023-09-29T23:08:39Z")
I prefer William Shatner’s version of "Mr. Tambourine Man”. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/12 "2023-09-29T23:59:40Z")
In the middle of a different song, Chris Thile of Nickel Creek jumps into a rapid-fire rendition of Subterranean Homesick Blues during his solo, breaking it up with a Bach lute piece performed on mandolin in the middle, then back to Dylan, and then finally the band finishes the original folk song. [Nickel Creek - The Fox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCIbhAD6WMU) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/13 "2023-09-30T00:11:39Z")
[George Harrison - If Not for You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XscuV_R6tr4) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/14 "2023-09-30T00:17:24Z")
I actually prefer Dylan’s versions of his own songs more than most versions made my someone covering them. But I admit Jimi’s cover of “Watchtower” is pretty damn awesome for the guitar work. I think Dylan spins the lyrics better there, though. John Cruz does a nice [cover of Dylan’s “Jokerman”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpInpgRMUSM). I should add that I mean his album versions of his songs. Dylan’s current voice can technically be described as ‘ruined’. I saw him last in person just before he got his Nobel, and I couldn’t even recognize some of my very favorite tunes of his. Still worth it to see the man, but for his later albums, I’m now grateful for autotune. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/15 "2023-09-30T00:21:44Z")
My brother and I couldn’t get tickets to the Bob Dylan 30th tribute at Madison Square Garden in 1992. When I heard Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam start off “Masters of War” I was like, “Cool!” - and now I know he has performed it since so that’ll be my pick (as Jimi and the Byrds are taken). I was massively pissed off that a New York crowd (they were probably not from New York) booed Sinead O’Conner when she started to sing, “I believe in you”. I’ve no great love for any of the tracks on “Slow Train Coming” and it was courageus of her - yet in Madison-fucking-Square Garden at a **Bob Dylan tribute** to get booed off the stage pisses me off to this day. Anyways, her version from a rehearsal of “I believe in you” is a great Dylan cover and really, good on Kris Kristofferson for his support that night but Dylan should have done more than release the song 17 years later. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/16 "2023-09-30T00:25:01Z")
Let’s give Johnny Winter a little love. > **[Highway 61 Revisited](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUXhoIf1eQU%2F)** > > Provided to YouTube by ColumbiaHighway 61 Revisited · Johnny WinterSecond Winter℗ Originally released 1969. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a divisi... I can’t get these things to embed, but I can do this. 🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/17 "2023-09-30T00:45:21Z")
> [@](#): > > [George Harrison - If Not for You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XscuV_R6tr4) Wait, what!? See I told you others had gotten by me… I had no idea that was not a Harrison tune. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/18 "2023-09-30T00:47:52Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > I can’t get these things to embed… The way I do it is to put a slash after the YouTube link. Strangely though, if you edit the post it doesn’t let you re-embed it. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/19 "2023-09-30T00:57:15Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > The way I do it is to put a slash after the YouTube link. Strangely though, if you edit the post it doesn’t let you re-embed it. I tried that but still couldn’t get it to work. I don’t know which is more likely: that it’s just the internet being the internet or that I’m not capable of following simple directions. (Or both?) ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887/20 "2023-09-30T01:08:04Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I had no idea that was not a Harrison tune. The first track from “All Things Must Pass” - " I’d Have You Anytime" is also a Harrison-Dylan song. Dylan doesn’t play anything (credited) so does that make it a cover? Probably not, yet worthy to say that drums are Alan White (Yes), Klaus Voormann (the 7th Beatle?) on bass and Eric Clapton on electric. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-bob-dylan-cover/990887.md?page=2)