Almanac Music: Dylan Cover Songs – Aussie Style Potpourri

 

This Dylan Covers – Aussie Style article continues a year-long journey aimed at entertaining, informing and connecting the songs of Dylan to the musical landscape that is uniquely Australian. Hopefully, this article will also throw in a few surprises to delight the reader.

 

Unlike previous articles in the series, there is no specific ‘theme’ weaving its way through this collection of Dylan cover songs. Instead, this article is a potpourri – a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant Dylan cover songs used to provide a gentle natural tonal motif, for personal wellbeing, energetic healing and re-alignment of chakras.

 

 

The Breakaways

 

There have been numerous bands called ‘The Breakaways’, including the NZ based mid 1960’s The Breakaways, who featured in my first Dylan Covers – Kiwi Style  article with a cover of Dylan’s ‘She Belongs To Me’.

 

Australia’s own The Breakaways, formed in 1961 in the Frankston-Mornington Peninsula area. They were an instrumental group comprising Colin Turnbull (born in Scotland/lead guitar), Mike Davenport (born in India/rhythm guitar), Pat Turpin (born in Canada/bass guitar) and Murray Anderson (born in Australia/drummer).

 

By 1963, the band was signed to the W&G label. Their first commercial recording (released as a single in August 1963) was an instrumental cover of Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. The Breakaways’ cover is historically significant, as it is the first Dylan cover (albeit an instrumental) to be recorded and released by an Aussie artist or band.

 

It is also the first instrumental cover of ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ to be released worldwide, nudging out US-based Billy Strange’s 12 string guitar version by a month.

 

 

 

 

Like many Aussie bands of the time, The Breakaways were short-lived – releasing six singles and an album, Meet The Breakaways, between 1963 – 1965.

 

 

Somebody’s Image

 

Somebody’s Image were a five piece pop/R&B band that formed in Melbourne in 1966 and disbanded in 1969. The band’s most notable member was 18 year-old lead singer Russell Morris.

 

By 1967, Somebody’s Image released their first single ‘Heat Wave’, which was produced by Ian Meldrum. The follow-up successor was a cover of Joe South’s ‘Hush’, which peaked at a respectable #14 on the Go Set Top 40 chart. The B-side to the ‘Hush’ single was a cover of Dylan’s ‘Its All Over Now, Baby Blue’.

 

 

 

 

This cover is notable on two counts. Firstly, it sounds uncomfortably similar to The Groop’s 1967 Motown-inspired/Ian Meldrum produced version of the same Dylan cover song, which was featured in a previous article. Secondly, Russell Morris has championed ‘Its All Over Now, Baby Blue’ throughout his 50+ year recording career – although he reverted from the Motown sound to a traditional folk rock vibe, as showcased in this article.

 

Russell left Somebody’s Image in 1968 to pursue the ‘real thing’ – i.e. a solo career under the management of Ian Meldrum.

 

 

$cattered Ace$

 

$cattered Ace$ were a short-lived Sydney based band (August 1983 – mid 1984), comprising Peter Wells (guitar – ex Buffalo, Rose Tattoo); Ronnie Peel/aka Rockwell P Jones (lead vocals/bass guitar – ex La De Da’s, The Missing Link); Chris Turner (guitar/vocals – ex Buffalo); and Paul DeMarco (drummer)

 

The band released one single and one six track extended play, titled Six Pack. The second song on the EP is a cover of Dylan’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited’.

 

 

 

 

Tex, Don & Charlie

 

In between being extraordinary Aussie singers, songwriters, musicians and band members, Tex, Don & Charlie have collaborated on four studio albums released between 1993 and 2017.

 

Tex is better known as Tex Perkins and has founded & fronted The Cruel Sea, The Beasts of Bourbon, The Dark Horses.

 

Don is better known as Don Walker and was keyboardist & songwriter for Cold Chisel from its inception in 1973 until it disbanded in 1983. Post Cold Chisel, Don has pursued solo work and collaborations.

 

Charlie is better known as Charlie Owen and has worked with Tex in The Beasts Of Bourbon, and The Dark Horses as well as with other Aussie singer/songwriters, such as Louis Tillett and Paul Kelly.

 

In 1993, Tex, Don & Charlie were invited to contribute a track to Totally Wireless (The Triple J Acoustic Sessions). As explained by the album’s Executive Producer, Terri Robert:

‘All tracks on this album are live, straight to tape. No mixing, no overdubs. No Marshall stacks, no sequencers or samplers — just talented musicians with great songs. While this record may be absent of all the gloss and trimmings of a full-blown studio recording, it more than compensates with a depth of emotion that proves what really counts is the song and the performance.’

 

The song chosen by Tex, Don & Charlie was Dylan’s ‘Blind Willie McTell’ – an outtake from Dylan’s 1983 Infidels recording session that was finally released on the March 1991 The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991 box set.

 

 

 

 

The Ross Hannaford Trio

 

Ross Hannaford was born in Newcastle, NSW in 1950 and is highly regarded in Aussie music circles. By his late teens, Ross alongside long-time collaborator Ross Wilson was plying his rock guitar trade….and by 1970, the two Ross’s had formed the iconic Aussie band, Daddy Cool.

 

Following the ‘second separation’ of Daddy Cool in 1975, Ross formed a variety of bands and by 1996 had settled into the comfort of The Ross Hannaford Trio, comprising Ross on guitar, Nicky Bomba on drums and Howard Cairns on double bass. On the Trio’s first self-titled album, they dabbled with a cover of Dylan’s ‘If Not For You’ – originally released on Dylan’s 1970 New Morning album.

 

 

 

 

Fatal Shore

 

Fatal Shore were based in Berlin and comprised Englishman Phil Shöenfelt (guitar, vocals), and Australians Bruno Adams (electric guitar, vocals) and Chris Hughes (drums, percussion, electronics). The band released four studio albums between 1997-2011. The band’s music style can best be described as dark psycho-delic blues.

 

On Fatal Shore’s debut self-titled album, they do a rare cover of Dylan’s ‘I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine’ – originally released on Dylan’s 1967 John Wesley Harding album.

 

 

 

 

Damien Leith

 

Damien won the 2006 edition of Australian Idol and he has since maintained a profile in the music industry with the release of ten studio albums, including several to chart in the top 10.

 

Damien’s 2008 cover of Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ was showcased in a previous article. Missing from this year-long series of Dylan covers are songs related to Dylan’s 1998-1991 Traveling Wilburys collaboration with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, George Harrison & Tom Petty. Fortunately, Damien has covered two songs from that era: ‘Handle With Care’ and, this articles featured song, ‘End Of The Line’.

 

 

 

 

Aboriginal People Yolingu of Yalakun (Arnhem Land, Northern Territory)

 

Throughout my journey of discovering and uncovering Dylan cover songs, I occasionally come across a true gem. The 2013 album From Another World – A Tribute To Bob Dylan fits that description perfectly. The album is a collection of recordings of Dylan songs interpreted by musicians from Cuba, Bangladesh, Macedonia, Taiwan, Burma, Iran, Egypt and from diverse musical traditions, including Aboriginal singers and musicians from Arnhem Land.

 

One of the more interesting inclusions on the album is Indian Bengali singer Purna Das Baul (who appeared on the cover of Dylan’s 1967 album, John Wesley Harding), backed by his son for a song that can just be identified as ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’.

 

The final track on the album has an Australian Aboriginal treatment of Dylan’s ‘Father of Night’ – the shortest recorded song in Dylan’s anthology, from his 1970 New Morning album. The song has never been performed by Dylan in concert and has only been covered by eleven artists. Although unrecognisable from the original version, the Aboriginal People Yolingu of Yalakan’s cover is the latest (11^th) verified cover version of the song.

 

 

 

 

As the album promotion goes: ‘You’ve never heard Bob Dylan songs sound like the recordings on From Another World.

 

 

Turner & Simmons

 

Chris Turner is a rock & blues rock guitarist and has been featured earlier in this article as a member of $cattered Ace$. Less is known about Phill Simmons apart from an entry on the *starnow webpage that states:

‘I am a self contained Sydney based solo artist and have been a professional musician for the last 25 years. I play guitar bass & drums and sing’.

 

During 2014, Chris & Phill teamed up to record a 16-track album titled Double Header. The final track on the album is a cover of Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’.

 

 

 

 

Timbakat

 

Timbakat is a Bayou-Psych-Blues project from Bendigo/Melbourne two-piece Matt Katsis (vocal, guitars, bass) and Simon Wood (vocals, drums, percussion. The band can be found busking the Melbourne CBD and on Triple J Unearthed.

 

In 2022, the duo decided to take on the ambitious task of recording a musical/sung version of Dylan’s one-off epic ‘live’ 1963 194-line 7m:08s spoken word poem ‘Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie’. As it turned out, the ambition only lasted for 9 lines (the first 8 lines plus line 22 of the poem) but repeated to create a 3m:30s track.

 

 

 

 

Dylan only recited the poem once, at New York City’s Town Hall, on 12 April 1963. Bootleg copies of the entire Town Hall concert, including the poem, were circulating by the early 1970’s. Fortunately, ‘Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie’ was officially released on the March 1991 The Bootleg Series Vols 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991 box set.

 

 

More from Karl Dubravs can be read Here.

 

 

 

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