Roger McGuinn – Up To Me – The Best Dylan Covers

Roger McGuinn – Up To Me – The Best Dylan Covers

Up To Me was released on the album Cardiff Rose, a solo studio album by  ex-The Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, released in 1976. The album, produced by Mick Ronson, was recorded on the heels of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue 1975 tour, in which both McGuinn and Ronson had participated  (the personnel on the album also include Rob Stoner, Howie Wyeth, and David Mansfield from the Rolling Thunder tours). The album includes a pirate tale “Jolly Roger”, a song about King Arthur’s “Round Table”, and a classic version of Joni Mitchell’s “Dreamland”.

Stylistically, the album varies from traditional sounding folk and sea chanty music (such as the aforementioned “Jolly Roger”) to hard, gritty rock tunes strongly influenced by the burgeoning punk rock movement (such as “Rock and Roll Time” that sound very much like a Clash song!). Continue reading “Roger McGuinn – Up To Me – The Best Dylan Covers”

Gene Clark sings Bob Dylan

Harold Eugene “Gene” Clark was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds’ principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band’s best-known originals from this period, including “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”, “She Don’t Care About Time”, and “Set You Free This Time”.

Although he did not achieve commercial success as a solo artist, Clark was in the vanguard of popular music during much of his career, prefiguring developments in such disparate subgenres as psychedelic rock, baroque pop, newgrass, country rock, and alternative country. We are very fond of Gene Clark and we think he is an overlooked artist.

He has done some incredible Bob Dylan covers, we have collected some of them here (some alone and some with others):

Mr Tambourine Man, from the Gene Clark album Firebyrd and The Byrds classic rendition :

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July 13: Happy 77th Birthday Roger McGuinn

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Roger McGuinn’s sparkling, chordal 12-string Rickenbacker riffs on the Byrds’ early hits were the sonic bridge between folk and rock – and an irreplaceable color in rock’s palette: Every indie band who’s more interested in beatific strumming than screaming solos owes him a debt (the striking break in “Bells of Rhymney” could be on a Smiths record). McGuinn could do a lot more than chime, however, as demonstrated by his still-astonishing psychedelic-raga-Coltrane licks on “Eight Miles High.
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James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III on July 13, 1942) known professionally as Roger McGuinn and previously as Jim McGuinn, is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds‘ records. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with The Byrds.

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (aka Jim McGuinn) remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973.

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March 4: Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn Capitol Theatre Passaic, NJ 1978

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Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn March 4 1978 Capitol Theatre (Passaic, NJ)

This is a very fine set, good songs from Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn (who also played together in The Byrds) and some very fine covers, among them three Bob Dylan songs.

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