September 7: Buddy Holly birthday – Bob Dylan covers Buddy Holly

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]I saw Buddy Holly two or three nights before he died. I saw him in Duluth [Minnesota], at the armory. He played there with Link Wray. I don’t remember the Big Bopper. Maybe he’d gone off by the time I came in. But I saw Richie Valens. And Buddy Holly, yeah. He was great. He was incredible. I mean, I’ll never forget the image of seeing Buddy Holly up on the bandstand. And he died – it must have been a week after this. It was unbelievable.
~Bob Dylan (to Kurt Loder, March 1984)

Buddy Holly. You know, I don’t really recall exactly what I said about Buddy Holly, but while we were recording [Time Out Of Mind], every place I turned there was Buddy Holly. You know what I mean? It was one of those things. Every place you turned. You walked down a hallway and you heard Buddy Holly records, like “That’ll Be the Day.” Then you’d get in the car to go over to the studio and “Rave On” would be playing. Then you’d walk into this studio and someone’s playing a cassette of “It’s so Easy.” And this would happen day after day after day. Phrases of Buddy Holly songs would just come out of nowhere. It was spooky. [laughs] But after we recorded and left, you know, it stayed in our minds. Well, Buddy Holly’s spirit must have been someplace, hastening this record.
~Bob Dylan (to Murray Engleheart 1998)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

On this day in 1936 Buddy Holly was born.

Here are some Buddy Holly songs covered by Bob Dylan:

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Van Morrison’s 50 Greatest Songs Countdown – #13 In The Garden

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]The streets are always wet with rain
After a summer shower when I saw you standin’
In the garden in the garden wet with rain[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

TOC

  1. Facts
  2. Quotes
  3. Lyrics
  4. Live versions
  5. Cover versions

Facts

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Van Morrison’s 50 Greatest Songs Countdown – #15 Troubadours

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]And for everyman all across the land and from shore to shore
They came singin’ songs of love and chivalry from the days of yore[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

TOC

  1. Facts
  2. Quotes
  3. Lyrics
  4. Live versions
  5. Cover versions

Facts

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The Story of the unreleased Now and Then by John Lennon and The Beatles

Now and Then” (sometimes referred to as “I Don’t Want to Lose You” or “Miss You”) is an unfinished song by John Lennon, recorded in 1978 as a solo piano/vocal demo. After his death, it was considered as a third possible reunion single by his former band, the Beatles, for their 1995 autobiographical project The Beatles Anthology, following “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”.

Lennon wrote “Now and Then” in the late 1970s. He recorded the unfinished piece of music in a demo form at his home at the Dakota Building, New York City, 1978. The lyrics are typical of the apologetic love songs that Lennon wrote in the latter half of his career. Despite reports, for the most part the verses are nearly complete, though there are still a few lines that Lennon did not flesh out on the demo tape performance


I think it’s already, in this form, a beautiful melancholic ballad. Full of sadness about estranged friends and lost possibilities, and hope.

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Van Morrison’s 50 Greatest Songs Countdown – #17 Bulbs

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]I’m kicking off from center field
A question of being down for the game
The one shot deal don’t matter
And the other one’s the same[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

TOC

  1. Facts
  2. Quotes
  3. Lyrics
  4. Live versions
  5. Cover versions

Facts

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Warren Zevon sings Bob Dylan songs

“This is a song by my hero”
– Warren Zevon (intro to Dark Eyes in Cleveland, 2000)

“Buffett I guess. Lightfoot. Warren Zevon. Randy. John Prine. Guy Clark. Those kinds of writers.”
– Bob Dylan (on his favourite songwriters)

 

Let’s listen to Warren Zevon’s renditions of Bob Dylan’s songs. He has done quite a few and they are wonderful.

We found 6 Dylan songs in his repertoire, if there are more, please tell us in the comments.

“’Lawyers, Guns and Money’. ‘Boom Boom Mancini’. ‘Down hard stuff’.” And then he adds, “‘Join me in LA’ sort of straddles the line between heartfelt and primeval. His musical patterns are all over the place, probably because he’s classically trained. There might be three separate songs within a Zevon song, but they’re all effortlessly connected. Zevon was a musician’s musician, a tortured one. ‘Desperado Under the Eaves.’ It’s all in there.”
– Bob Dylan on what he likes about Warren Zevon (Huffington post)

Let us start with Warren’s last Dylan song, his heart breaking performance of Knocking on Heavens Door.

 

Mama, take this badge off of me
I can’t use it anymore
It’s gettin’ dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door

Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door

Warren Zevon – Knocking on heavens door (audio):

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