Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan Goes Acoustic (The Dylan Covers, Vol.4)
Various Artists

Here it is folkies: the long awaited acoustic volume of my Dylan covers series. What songs! What singers! What performances!
Enjoy! JS

1. John Wesley Harding - Jeff Tweedy (3-4-05, The Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL)
2. Mississippi - Sheryl Crow (10-31-99, Bridge Benefit, Mountain View, CA)
3. Blind Willie McTell - Elliott Murphy (2-2-02, Steinhaus, Solingen, Germany)
4. Not Dark Yet - Robyn Hitchcock with John Paul Jones (9-26-05, Barbican Theatre, London)
5. To Ramona - Ron Sexsmith (9-30-97, TT the Bear's Place, Cambridge, MA)
6. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bill Morrissey (1-11-97, Left Bank Cafe, Blue Hill, ME)
7. Tomorrow is a Long Time - Tom Russell (3-4-05, Columbus Music Hall, Columbus, OH)
8. Boots of Spanish Leather - Dervish (6-17-06, Festate, Chiasso, Switzerland)
9. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Lloyd Cole (??-??-93, Black Session Studio, Paris, France)
10. Positively Fourth Street - Lucinda Williams (8-9-91, McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica,
CA)
11. Buckets of Rain - John Doe with Jennifer Jason Leigh (12-27-95, KCRW Studio, Santa
Monica, CA)
12. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere - Elvis Costello and Roger McGuinn (10-30-98, Premio Tenco, San
Remo, Italy)
13. Going Going Gone - Jerry Garcia (4-10-82, Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ)
14. Desolation Row - Bob Weir (4-28-86, Wolfgang's, San Francisco, CA)
15. Chimes of Freedom - Warren Zevon (12-2-2000, Theater of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA)
16. I Shall Be Released - Neil Young and Eddie Vedder (10-31-99, Bridge Benefit, Mountain
View, CA)
17. The Times They Are a-Changin' - Bruce Springsteen (12-7-97, Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.)
18. Every Grain of Sand - George Harrison (2-10-88, Rockline, KLOS Studios, Los Angeles,
w/Bob "BC" Coburn)

A few notes:

1) Sheryl Crow's studio version of "Mississippi" predated Dylan's release on "Love and Theft" by a few years, and it made this major song sound minor. Here, stripped down at the 1999 Bridge show, she redeems herself.

2) Ron Sexsmith's melancholy version of "To Ramona" is the best performance I've ever heard of this song--the composer's versions included.

3) Dervish is an Irish folk band--I'd never heard of them before I started this project, but what a lovely rendition of "Boots of Spanish Leather"!

4) John Doe and Jennifer Jason Leigh were promoting the movie "Georgia," in which she played a would-be singer and he was a member of her band. Here, she wisely lets him take the lead.

5) "The Times They are a-Changin'" is probably as familiar as Shakespeare's "To Be or Not To Be." Only a performer of Springsteen's stature can bring something new to it at this point.

6) George Harrison was goofing around when he played "Every Grain of Sand" as part of a medley on the syndicated radio show Rockline, but he still brought a deep affection to the performance. I suspect their spirituality--though very different--was part of the bond these two Wilbury brothers shared. Stick around to the end of this one for a surprise!

Due to the many different sources, I am not including lineages. The Tweedy is a matrix, the Zevon an excellent audience recording, the rest are soundboards or FM. I have done nothing to the original files but normalize the levels and fade in and out on each track (using Cool Edit). Thanks, of course, to the tapers, the original uploaders, and especially the performers and composer. Pdiamond has been kind enough to create art for the first two volumes, and hopefully someone will do the same for this one.

FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE VOLUMES, especially if you are willing to get me files to include; thanks to those of you who have already made suggestions and sent files! I am still looking for an audio copy of the Rosanne Cash/Bruce Cockburn version of "Don't Think Twice" from Austin City Limits (1992), if anyone can help me out. Also, any versions of Paul Westerberg performing "All I Really Want to Do" would be appreciated. Look for Volume 5 after Thanksgiving.

Happy holidays! JS