Almanac Music: Dylan Cover Songs – Aussie Style: YouTube Missing In Action

 

In this final Dylan Covers – Aussie Style article (for now) I will offer up my wish list of Dylan cover songs by Aussie artists that are missing YouTube song clips.  As such, I remain hopeful that someday, somewhere, somehow, someone will upload an audio or video clip to share these selected gems for our listening pleasure.

 

For the purposes of this article, I have included the back of the relevant album sleeve in order to better reveal the context of the times when the Dylan cover songs were released. I apologise if the quality of the artwork is, sometimes, less than satisfactory: especially for those of us with eyesight < 20/20.

 

 

 

Trevor Lucas –’ Talkin’ World War III Blues’

 

 

 

Trevor’s debut 1964 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean album include a cover of ‘World War 3 Talking Blues’ – originally recorded by Dylan on his April 1963 Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album. This cover is most likely the very first complete cover of any Dylan song by any Aussie artist. It is also the first cover of ‘Talkin’ World War III Blues’ by any artist worldwide. On both counts this is a song of significant interest and should be available on YouTube.

 

Trivia: There have only been seven covers of ‘Talkin’ World War III Blues’ in the 60 years since it was released – and only four of those have been sung in English. A 2011 cover by Billy Bragg is included on the UK-based The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan: A Folk Tribute compilation album.

 

 

Lionel Long – ‘Farewell’

 

 

 

Lionel was a country and folk singer as well as a TV actor – best known for his role as Detective Bert Costello in the TV drama ‘Homicide’, until he was ‘killed off’ in a mine collapse in 1969.

 

Lionel’s recording career saw the release of 15 albums between 1961 – 1980.  Amberwren And Other Folk Songs, released in 1964, was Lionel’s seventh studio album and his first to feature a Dylan song. What is interesting about his selection of ‘Farewell’ is that although recorded by Dylan in March 1963, it did not appear on any Dylan recordings of the time. It is most likely that Lionel would have heard a version of the song from recordings by Anita Carter, Judy Collins or The Kingston Trio.

 

Lionel also covered Dylan’s ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit’ on his 1967 Today album.

 

Trivia: ‘Farewell’ was also covered in the mid-60’s by Adelaide-based folk duo Graham & Lyn McCarthy and in 1971 by New Zealander Christine Smith.

 

 

Margaret Kitamura – ‘Chimes Of Freedom’

 

 

Margaret’s 1968 cover of ‘Chimes Of Freedom’ – originally on Dylan’s June 1964 Another Side Of Bob Dylan album – remains the only cover of this song by an Aussie artist.

 

The sleeve notes include the following:

 

‘…listen to Chimes Of Freedom and hear how she has reflected the full brilliant spectrum of Dylan’s imagery without having to resort to the empathised rhyme trick that do so many singers of this song (Dylan included).’

 

Trivia: The story of how Margaret’s acoustic guitar (partly) saved Dylan’s 1966 Australian tour was featured in my ‘Aussie Females Take On Dylan’ article.

 

 

The Party Boys – ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35′

 

 

 

The Party Boys’ 1983 cover of ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’ – originally on Dylan’s June 1966 Blonde On Blonde album – remains the only cover of this song by an Aussie artist and the only Dylan cover by the band.

 

Trivia: The first cover version of the song was, surprisingly, recorded immediately after the Dylan original by Blonde on Blonde producer Bob Johnston, using the pseudonym Colonel Jubilation B. Johnson, and numerous musicians from the Blonde On Blonde recording sessions.  That cover version can be found on an album titled:  Moldy Goldies: Colonel Jubilation B. Johnston And His Mystic Knights Band And Street Singers Attack The Hits.

 

 

Billy Baxter – ‘Girl From The North Country’

 

 

Billy is perhaps best known as a Melbourne based radio presenter, member of the Coodabeen Champions and the subject of the Paul Kelly song ‘Billy Baxter’. Billy has also released two solo studio albums. The first such album, Holler (1991), contains a cover of ‘Girl From The North Country’ – originally on Dylan’s May 1963 The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album.

 

Trivia: Despite being covered by over 140 artists worldwide, Billy version is the only one by an Aussie artist.

 

Lisa Miler – ‘You’re A Big Girl Now’

 

 

Quiet Girl With A Credit Card is Lisa’s 1996 debut album. Seven of the tracks are originals. The inclusion of a cover of ‘You’re A Big Girl Now’, originally on Dylan’s January 1975 Blood On The Tracks album – resulted from a simple domestic situation:

 

‘Lisa’s husband Ben, who contributes the odd bass to the album, was just running through old Dylan LP’s. “I thought you’d like that one” he said when Lisa responded to the song in question. It’s a Dylan song that a lot of women have especially staked a claim on.’

 

Trivia: Whilst Lisa’s version was the third of around 40 cover version to be released to date, it was not the earliest version by an Aussie artist. That honour belongs to The Sports, who can rightfully claim the first ever cover version of the song. A third Aussie, Emma Swift, also covered the song in 2020.

 

 

Dave Tice – ‘Maggie’s Farm’

 

 

Dave has been part of the Aussie music scene since the early 70s when he founded and fronted Buffalo. On his 2000 Lay Down With Dogs solo studio album, Dave covers ‘Maggie’s Farm’ – originally on Dylan’s April 1965 Bringing It All Back Home album.

 

I wonder what possessed Dave to credit ‘Maggie’s Farm’ to ‘Zimmerman’ (i.e. Dylan’s birth name)?

 

Trivia:  The only other Aussie to cover ‘Maggie’s Farm’ is Ray Brown (of Ray Brown & The Whispers fame) on his 1966 Hits And Brass album.

 

 

The Woodstock Sessions: Songs Of Bob Dylan (various Aussie artists)

 

 

The Woodstock Sessions: Songs of Bob Dylan, is an Aussie tribute album, originally recorded to coincide with Dylan’s 1998 tour.

 

Rhythms magazine founder-editor Brian Wise assembled the cast of performers (11 icons of the Aussie music scene) plus a core rhythm section comprising Paul Kelly’s Casuals (Stephen Hadley, Peter Luscombe and Bruce Haymes).  Joe Camilleri provided his Woodstock Studios at Elwood.

 

This album is the first and only Aussie-based ‘various artists’ Dylan tribute albums to be recorded and released – the songs span the entire period of Dylan career at that time (i.e. 60’s – 90’s), including some rarely covered songs (e.g. ‘Seven Curses’, ‘Born In Time’, ‘Outlaw Blues’) – and for those reasons, it has a recording of significant interest and the entire album should be available on YouTube.

 

Trivia: Several songs recorded for this tribute album have found their way onto solo albums and been featured in earlier Dylan covers articles – e.g. Ross Wilson’s ‘She Belongs To Me’ and Christopher Marshall’s ‘Every Grain Of Sand’.

 

 

Ed Kuepper – ‘If Not For You’

 

 

 

Ed has a distinguished reputation as a co-founding member of The Saints, Laughing Clowns and The Aints, as well as a prolific solo career. Ed’s 2001 album (featured above) is a grab bag of outtakes, and includes a cover of ‘If Not For You’ – originally from Dylan’s October 1970 New Morning album. I am most curious to hear how Ed treats this song, even if it is an outtake.

 

Trivia: There have been over 80 cover versions of ‘If Not For You’ to date – the first cover was by George Harrison on his November 1970 All Things Must Pass album, followed three months later by Olivia Newton-John’s trans-Atlantic charting single, which adopted the George Harrison arrangement and was also recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London.

 

 

The Mercurials – ‘You Angel You’

 

 

The Mercurials are a Melbourne-based band active in the early 2000s.  Members include Mark Ferrie (ex Models, Slaughtermen, Sacred Cowboys) and Andrew Pendlebury (ex Sports, Slaughtermen).  Their self-titled, 2005 debut album, includes a cover of ‘You Angel You’ – originally from Dylan’s January 1974 Planet Waves album.

 

Although Ferrie and Pendlebury have been associated with bands that have previously recorded Dylan covers, as well as being featured in the Woodstock Sessions tribute album above, ‘You Angel You’ is their only joint Dylan cover song and the only time the song has been covered by an Aussie band.

 

Trivia: Excluding ‘Forever Young’, the songs on the Planet Waves album are some of the least covered of Dylan’s anthology. Five of the ten songs on the album have been covered less than five times. Equally, Dylan has not embraced the songs in his 3700+ live performances since the album was released – in fact, three of the ten songs have been played live less than ten times and a further three song have not been played live at all.

 

 

Tim Draxl – ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’

 

 

Tim is primarily an actor but also a competent cabaret performer. He has released four albums since 1999. On his 2009 Live At The Supper Club album, Tim covers ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’ – originally from Dylan’s January 1975 Blood On The Tracks album.

 

Not only is this the only Dylan cover recorded by Tim, this is the only cover of this song by an Aussie artist.

 

 

Shane O’Mara – ‘Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)’

 

 

Shane was a founding member of Rebecca’s Empire (1994 – 2000) along with Rebecca Barnard. Since then he has pursued solo and collaborative projects as well as music production from his Yikesville Studio.

 

On his 2020, Music From Yikesville album, Shane covers the relatively unknown ‘Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)’ – originally from Dylan’s August 1979 Slow Train Coming album. Shane’s cover is one of only three covers released worldwide and the only cover by an Aussie artist.

 

Trivia: The most notable other cover of ‘Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)’  is on Bettye LaVette’s 12-track 2018 Dylan tribute album Things Have Changed.

 

 

Van Walker – ‘Paths Of Victory’

 

 

Van Walker has been releasing albums at a consistent rate since the early 2000s. His latest album, 2022’s Greetings From Newtown Geelong has a very captivating ‘bandcamp’ cover of ‘Paths Of Victory’ – originally recorded by Dylan in 1963 but not officially released until 1991’s The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3: Rare & Unreleased boxset.

 

Van’s cover is one of only seven cover versions and the only cover by an Aussie artist

 

Finally, some final comments:

 

Since the beginning or 2025, I have discovered and added a further nine artists & eleven songs to my Aussie-based Dylan covers database.  At the time of this publication, the database contains:

 

151 bands/singers and 231 cover songs

 

The 12 Aussie-style articles published on the Footy Almanac site since January 2024  have showcased and/or mentioned:

120 bands/singers and 199 cover songs

 

With 31 Aussie bands and 32 songs still waiting patiently to be revealed, there is clearly the opportunity to flesh out this Aussie-style series a couple more times……however, my plan is to shift my focus and future articles into the broader international spotlight.

 

Although the definition of what constitutes a Dylan cover can vary, my articles will be restricted to cover songs that are commercially available and supported by a YouTube clip/audio. Even with those limitation, there are in excess of 5,000 Dylan cover songs to work with – and I am looking forward to sharing my selections with fellow Almanackers and others who are drawn to these articles for a few more years to come – ‘god willing, and if the power stays on’.

 

More from Karl Dubravs can be read Here.

 

 

 

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