Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice
Date: 12 Apr 08 - 11:07 AM

''Celebrity Worship' has a lot to answer for!'

Dylan's music is good and is worth covering, it's as plain and as simple as that.

Charlotte R

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: GUEST,Graham Bradshaw
Date: 12 Apr 08 - 07:32 AM

To answer the original question - not many.

Steve Gibbons Dylan Project (with members of Fairport) has already been mentioned. Steve and Fairport have always done Dylan songs, so this was a logical extension. Never seen or heard of Dylanesque, but know of their existence.
I have long been friends with Bob Phillips from Warwick, who has always done Dylan songs, and he put a band together which is very reminiscent of the Band period. I think Bob P knows every single Dylan song, and going to see his band is a pretty fair sustitute for the real thing (better sometimes given Dylan's somewhat variable output in recent years). But Bob P is very sensitive about NOT being labelled as a tribute band and all it's naff connotations.
He was increibly embarrassed when some friends in the pub put him forward for Stars in their Eyes (or one of those progs). The good sport that he is, he went along with it, but was horrified when they made him wear a Bob Dylan wig!! I think he came third.
We recorded a CD live on Bob Dylan's 60th birthday, and at that time did some research to see how many other tribute bands there were. As I said at the beginning, hardly any.
We even tried to get him signed up with one of the Tribute Band Agencies, but there were no takers. Perhaps Dylan doesn't have the same popular appeal as Queen/Abba/Beatles/Stones etc, of which there are hundreds.
Or maybe Dylan's music, the people that play it and those that like it, do not fit into the normal entertainment world.
Obviously a good thing.

Graham

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Apr 08 - 07:07 AM

You just can't stop people loving Dylan's songs no matter whether they listen to his records or go out and sing his songs! The most famous of our British stars of the mid fifties and early sixties such as Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard were, in the beginning, little more than tribute artists long before the expression was coined! There was nothing wrong in having two exact rubber balls. Nobody seems to object to Mozart or Beethoven passing on down through the ages in this fashion. Don't forget it was the live performer before the gramaphone and not the other way round. A man who greatly appreciates Bob Dylan's art is Paul Williams. The dedication for his book 'Bob Dylan Performing Artist 1974-1986' reads   'this book is for the ones who walk on stage and open their mouths and sing'

Michael Crimmins

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Lowden Jameswright
Date: 12 Apr 08 - 06:52 AM

"The first duty of the singer is to make the song their own and put something of themselves into it but still put the song first. "

I don't see it "as a duty" but I am in sympathy with these sentiments. I can do a pretty tight impersonation of Dylan's vocal style and delivery but only ever do it for a few phrases as a bit of fun. Any more than that and I feel I might be mocking him, and that is the last thing I'd want to do.

Dylan's recordings are a very rich treasure house and deserve to be kept alive (as part of the folk tradition) by varied interpretations via thousands of performers.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 12 Apr 08 - 04:33 AM

At first I thought that this thread was some sort of joke - but, no - quite few people seem to be taking it seriously.

'Celebrity Worship' has a lot to answer for!

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 12 Apr 08 - 12:20 AM

Absolutely.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Arkie
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 11:23 PM

Attempting to mimic Dylan often becomes more of a caricature and I cannot recall one instance in which I would not have preferred Dylan to the mimics. On the other hand, Maria Muldaur, Andrew Byrd, Richie Havens, Little Miss Higgins, The Vitamin String Quartet some of the bluegrassers, Mike Seeger, and others who approach Dylan as a songwriter and perform the songs with their personal touch often add something to the songs and create a meaningful experience. The first duty of the singer is to make the song their own and put something of themselves into it but still put the song first.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Karin
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 09:30 PM

Go see the new film about Dylan 'I'm not there'...it has 6 actors playing dylan...He certainly had more than one hat.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Bluegrassman
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 07:20 PM

Have a look and listen to some of the songs on this web site of Dylanesque, a band based in the North East of England. They are always worth seeing and the web site leads on to many interesting Dylan topics.

http://www.dylanesque.co.uk

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Acorn4
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 05:08 PM

I think the word "inimitable" might be introduced hear -although you can make a pretty good fist of sounding like him.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 02:26 PM

Some people do great covers of Dylan, but that doesn't mean they have to sound the same.'

and some don't
Fairport Convention's interpretations of

Jack O'Diamonds [Bob Dylan, Ben Carruthers]

from Fairport Convention

I'll Keep It With Mine

from What We Did On Our Holidays

Si Tu Dois Partir (If You've Gotta Go, Go Now)
Percy's Song
Million Dollar Bash

from Unhalfbricking

Charlotte R

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 01:31 PM

Yeah, I know that phenomenon, PG. ;-) What really amuses me, though, is the people who try to sound exactly like Neil Young when they sing one of his songs...and they do their utmost to sing in this sort of high, quavery voice that sounds like Neil. Heh! Then there are the females who try to sing "Bobby McGee" exactly as Janis Joplin did. Sheesh. Drives me around the flippin' bend. I prefer that song the way Kristofferson did it by a long shot.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Lowden Jameswright
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 12:40 PM

Dylan's songs are covered by hundreds (if not thousands) of "folk" performers; I can't see the point of Dylan tribute artists.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 12:14 PM

We saw The Dylan Project at The Lowry in Salford. They were very good and very Dylan.Trouble is Dylan is Dylan. I would have liked more interesting interpretations of his music.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 09:03 AM

LH: Your approach seems much like my own; sorry if I misjudged. I'm sure you DO know the phenomenon to which I referred, don't you?

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Arkie
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 10:48 PM

I realize the previous post does not address the idea of a Dylan Tribute group but there were several such groups among the CDs I found. I assumed that since the topic was initiated by folk who appreciate Dylan the link might be of interest to those who had not seen it. It turns out the translations were a part of the same site. The link below will take you to a list of titles. On that page click on TRANSLATIONS in the page link column to get the actual translations of the songs on the CDs.

Translations

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 10:47 PM

Well, it wasn't that I tried to sound exactly like him...but I was strongly influenced in a certain sensibility. It was something more in the underlying spirit of the songs. They always worked for me. It was like he was thinking my thoughts and using the words I would use. It was totally natural to my way of being.

Some people do great covers of Dylan, but that doesn't mean they have to sound the same.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Arkie
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 10:37 PM

For my own amusement I have been compiling Dylan covers from my own collection and taking tracks found on emusic. I have three CDs at present with 55 tracks. There are 46 different songs. I have screened more than a hundred songs and taken ones that I personally liked. There are bluegrass arrangements from the CMH Pickin' On Dylan, and Del McCoury, classical treatments, covers sung in Catalan, Norwegian, and German, Maggie's Farm, by Mike Seeger, David Grisman, and John Hartford and overall some really excellent music. I purposefully stayed away from artists who tried to sound like Dylan. After listen to some covers I concluded that Dylan's version is by the best on some songs but he really got some first class treatment by quite a few different artists.

The variety I found caused me to look around a bit and found this site listing Dylan cover recordings. It is divided into three sections. The link is to section A-H. My guess is that there are more than 50 albums listed at the site and I am not sure they have some of the CDs I found.

Dylan Covers

I also found a site that provided translations of titles for recordings in languages other than English.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 05:59 PM

I include quite a few Dylan songs in my repertoire, but I don't try to sound just like Bob, and (although I am greatly influenced by his phrasing and other aspects of his vocal performance) I'm quite sure that I sound very different.

Back in the 60s/70s, there were always guys with harmonicas in racks who were interested only in sounding as much like Dylan as humanly possible, and often succeeding. The best among them earned my repect for their skill, while the less-competent simply bored me (although I've always enjoyed hearing most of the songs, even when served up in the least imaginative interpretations).

No offence, George. I assume you were one of those guys, and probably one of the best.

Subject: RE: Early Bob Dylan, Guthrie tribute artist?
From: peregrina
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 04:41 PM

Bob was the original tribute artist for Woody at first, singing Woody's songs to him in the hospital...

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Peter T.
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 04:24 PM

would be nice if someone sang Dylan's songs rather than Dylan, he is such a crappy singer these days (he was never Frank Sinatra, but there are limits).

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 02:55 PM

Because of that, in fact, I used to be the local Dylan tribute artist around here. Not officially, mind you...but I definitely was. I have more or less retired now, but Bob is still touring. He's a tough old trooper.

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 02:53 PM

There is this Dylan tribute band in the UK, you might recognise a name or two...

The Dylan Project

Charlotte R

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 02:48 PM

The real thing is great, but what if he can't make it to your town this weekend?

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 02:47 PM

Kind of like that recent movie, come to think of it.

"I'm Not There"

Have you seen it?

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: GUEST,????
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 02:46 PM

Something wrong with the real thing?

Subject: RE: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 02:46 PM

It's an idea that has crossed my mind many times. Even more interesting would be a multi-part Dylan tribute act that does the different phases of Dylan...both in terms of appearance and performance. This would require some real shape-shifting talent.

Subject: Review: Bob Dylan tribute artists?
From: GUEST,Bernie
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 02:37 PM

There are countless tribute acts out there, copying performers both living & dead... Tina Turner, Elvis, Rod Stewart, etc. etc. Vegas has a year round show which is all tribute acts. Does anybody know of a Dylan tribute act?
Not someone who just sings in the style of Dylan, but something like the Elvis impersonators who do "Early Elvis", "Vegas Elvis" etc.
As I write this I can see all kinds of possibilities ..... pre Newport 'electric Dylan, Dylan with The Band, etc. etc.
What d'ya think?