Almanac Music: Dylan Cover Songs – International Style #2: Thespians Do Dylan

 

In this second article in the ‘International’ series of Dylan cover songs, we take a wander through the theatre foyers where the stars of the silver screen (and occasionally, the TV screen) decide to add another string to their artistic bow and venture into the sound of music & song.

 

What follows are eleven thespians (eight of whom have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame) who not only have recorded an album or two, but have also seen fit to include a Dylan cover song along the way – more often than not, with surprising results.

 

 

Mae West

 

Spoiler Alert – this is, and will probably be, the first and only time I include a Dylan cover by someone born in the 1800’s!

 

Born: 17 August 1893/Died: 22 November 1980 (aged 87).

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame star at 1560 Vine Street.

 

In a career that spanned seven decades, Mae was a star on Broadway (1911 – 1961) and the silver screen (1932 – 1978). Her credits include: actress, screenwriter, playwright and bona fide sex symbol.

 

Mae’s career as a recording artist commenced in 1932 and progressed from 78rpm to 45rpm singles and onto studio albums. In total, Mae released 21 singles between 1932 – 1973 and four full length studio albums between 1956 – 1972.

 

On her 2^nd studio album, the 1966 Way Out West, Mae does a very captivating rendition of ‘If You Gotta Go, Go Now’ (originally recorded by Dylan in January 1965 as a single but not released until a year or so after Mae’s recording). It is most likely that Mae’s cover of the song was based on the September 1965 top 10 charting cover by English band Manfred Mann.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: at age 72, Mae’s Way Out West album success (modest though it was – #116 on the Billboard Hottest 200) gave Mae the distinction of being the oldest woman to ever have a solo album in the top 200. Mae retained that title until 2011, when Wanda Jackson, aged 73, released When The Parties Over – an album that peaked at #58. Is it pure coincidence or some higher force at play that Wanda’s album also includes a Dylan cover – ‘Thunder On The Mountain’?

 

 

Eddie Albert

 

Born: 22 April 1906/Died: 26 May 2005 (aged 99).

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame star at 6441 Hollywood Blvd.

 

A flick through Eddie’s highlights reel reveals:

 

• 80 movie roles between 1938 – 1994, including Carrie, Roman Holiday & Oklahoma!;
• 45 TV roles between 1952 – 1997;
• 2 Academy Award & 2 Golden Globe Award nominations;

 

Eddie is best known in Australia for his lead role as Oliver Wendell Douglas in the absurdist sitcom Green Acres opposite Eva Gabor, who portrayed his wife Lisa Douglas. The sitcom ran for 170 episodes between 1965 – 1971.

 

Although Eddie’s ‘Wikipedia’ page also lists odd jobs such as newspaper boy, trapeze performer and insurance salesman, there is no mention of Eddie’s recording career. Nevertheless, between 1956 – 1975, Eddie released 3 solo studio albums and 14 singles.

 

On his 1967 The Eddie Albert Album, Eddie covers two Dylan songs – ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ and ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right’.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: In a surprise twist, Eddie’s and Bob’s recording careers have a single degree of separation. During 1966 and 1967, when Eddie recorded the two abovementioned Dylan cover songs as well as the iconic ‘Green Acres’ single, the Columbia Studios, NY record producer was Bob Johnson. Is it pure coincidence or some higher force at play when it is the same Bob Johnson who produced Dylan’s 1965  Highway 61 Revisited’and 1966 Blonde On Blonde albums? What chance that Eddie and Bob sang into the same studio microphone?

 

 

Patty Duke

 

Born: 14 December 1946/Died: 29 March 2016 (aged 69).

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame star at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

 

Patty’s thespian credits are very impressive. To summarise:

 

• 20 movie roles between 1958 – 2012, including Valley Of The Dolls;
• Over 120 TV roles between 1956 – 2015;
• Won the Academy Award in 1962 for Best Supporting Actress in The Miracle Worker;
• Won two Golden Globe Awards and three Emmy Awards.

 

Patty is probably best known for her dual lead roles in the Patty Duke Show, which ran from 1963-1966. In the show, Patty portrayed both main characters: Patricia ‘Patty’ Lane, a fun-loving American teenager who occasionally got into trouble at school and home, and her prim and proper ‘identical cousin’ from Scotland, Catherine ‘Cathy’ Lane.

 

Patty’s prime time on-screen exposure and popularity coincided with her entering the recording studio. Between 1965 to 1968, Patty recorded five studio albums and eight singles, although only the first two singles (‘Don’t Just Stand There’ and ‘Say Something Funny’) had any significant top 40 impact on the US Billboard charts.

 

Patty’s fifth and final studio album, Patty Duke Sings Folk Songs: Time To Move On (1968) remained unreleased until it became available on CD and digital download in 2013. This album’s final track is a cover of Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: A commentary of Patty’s final studio recording reads:

 

‘The final recording sessions for Duke had her doing folk songs that apparently nobody told her were about 6 years out of date. With her rendition of “The Bells of Rhymney” she doesn’t even attempt to sing it; she talks her way through it, sparing us and her further embarrassment. United Artists deemed the results uncommercial, and cancelled the release of Patty Duke’s foray into folksinging, fortunately for all’.

 

 

William Shatner

 

Born: 22 March 1931 and still going strong at 94 years of age.

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame star at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.

 

Of course, William is familiar to us all. He starred as Capt. James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise from the original 1966 Star Trek TV series through to the 1994 seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations.

 

William’s seven-decade thespian career also includes starring roles in T.J. Hooker (1982-1986) and Boston Legal (2004-2008). He has won several acting awards, including two Emmys and a Golden Globe.

 

William made his recording career debut in 1968 with the release of an album titled The Transformed Man. The album pairs monologues of classical writings with spoken word interpretations of contemporary ‘pop’ songs. Track 2 on the album pairs the ‘Theme From Cyrano’ with Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: In 2000, The Transformed Man was voted the 3^rd worst album in the ‘All-Time Worst Albums Ever Made’ from Colin Larkin’s All-Time Top 1000 Albums.

 

 

Julie London

 

Born: 16 September 1926/Died: 18 October 2000 (aged 74).

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame star at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

 

Julie’s thespian credentials include:

 

• 24 movie roles between 1944 – 1968;
• 30 TV roles between 1954 – 1978, including portraying Nurse Dixie McCall in all 128 episodes of the medical drama series Emergency, that ran between 1972-1978.

 

It is, however, Julie’s recording career that overshadows her acting career.

 

Julie’s debut album Julie Is Her Name was released in 1955 and includes the most iconic version of ‘Cry Me A River’. This version became an international hit and was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2001.

 

Julie’s discography includes 29 studio albums released between 1955 – 1969; and this equates to an average of 2 studio albums per year. Her first four studio albums entered the top 20 on the US Billboard charts.

 

Julie’s final studio album, 1969’s Yummy Yummy Yummy was the only one to feature covers of contemporary songs by popular 1960s acts (e.g. Beatles, Doors, Bob Dylan). It is on this album that she covers Dylan’s ‘The Mighty Quinn’ (although Dylan didn’t release his original version until his 1970 Self Portrait album).

 

 

 

 

Trivia: It seems most likely that Julie’s version of ‘The Mighty Quinn’ was derived from a cover of the song on the 1910 Fruitgum Company’s 1, 2, 3, Red Light album. This was also the album that provided Julie with her final studio album title and title song ‘Yummy Yummy Yummy’.

 

 

Telly Savalas

 

Born: 21 January 1922/Died 22 January 1994 (aged 72).

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame star at 6801 Hollywood Blvd.

 

Telly’s three-decade (55 movies, 70 TV shows) thespian credits would be worthy of an article by itself. The TV titles alone would stir countless vivid black and white memories in most of us: Ben Casey, The Untouchables, 77 Sunset Strip, The Twilight Zone, Burke’s Law, The Fugitive, Combat!, Bonanza, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

 

Then, there is Telly’s 1973-1978, 118 episode, Gloden Globe & Emmy award winning role as lollipop sucking Lieutenant Theo Kojak.

 

During the popularity of his ‘Kojak’ era, Telly found the time and desire to venture into the recording studio – releasing five studio albums between 1972 – 1980. It is on his debut 1972 This Is Telly Savalas album that the gun-toting, cigar smoking Telly covers Dylan’s ‘I Shall Be Released’.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: this may be the one and only opportunity I have to recognise Telly’s contribution to popular culture; so, allow me this once in a lifetime moment to offer a nod to his role as ‘El Sleezo Tough’ in the 1979 Muppet Movie.

 

 

Goldie Hawn

 

Born: 21 November 1945 (currently 79).

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame star at 6201 Hollywood Blvd (right next to Kurt Russell).

 

Goldie’s first acting gig was in 1968 as a ‘dumb blonde’ on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and she hasn’t looked back. In 1969, she had won an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for her Best Supporting Actress role, playing a ‘dumb blonde’ in Cactus Flower.

 

All-in-all, Goldie has had 33 movie acting roles between 1968 – 2020, with the most notable being: Shampoo (1975); Private Benjamin (1980); Wildcats (1986); and Bird On A Wire (1990).

 

Goldie’s recording career is easily captured – her one and only album was recorded with the assistance of Dolly Parton and Buck Owens, and released in 1972. Simply titled Goldie, the album included a cover of Dylan’s ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: In a recording career that has involved covering over 340 songs by other people, Dolly Parton has only covered two Dylan songs. For her 2005 Those Were The Days album, Dolly invited Dylan to duet with her on ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, but Dylan declined the invitation. Instead, Nickel Creek took Dylan’s vacant guest spot on the recording.

 

 

Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon

 

Joaquin: Born: 28 October 1974 (currently 50). Starless on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

Reese: Born: 22 March 1976 (currently 48). Hollywood Walk of Fame star at 6262 Hollywood Blvd.

 

Joaquin and Reese came together to respectively portray Johnny Cash and June Carter in the 2005 biographical drama film Walk The Line, directed by James Mangold. Reese won the Academy Award for Best Actress, while Phoenix had to settle for a Best Actor nomination.

 

Joaquin and Reese perform (individually and/or together) on eleven of the tracks on the soundtrack album. They share vocals on a cover of Dylan’s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: Johnny and June’s 1964 cover of ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

 

Walk The Line director James Mangold was also at the helm of the 2024 Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. Although the movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Mangold) and Best Actor (Timothee Chalamet), it failed to win in any category.

 

 

Jeremy Irons

 

Born: 19 September 1948 (currently 76).

 

Starless on the Hollywood Walk of fame.

 

On 17 November 1971, the stage curtain opens at the Roundhouse Theatre, London and a 23 year old Jeremy Irons is performing his first professional role, as John The Baptist, opposite David Essex in Godspell.

 

Fast forward 50 years, and Jeremy has outshone the best of them with a unique Quintuple Crown Of Thespian Awards – Oscar, Golden Globe (2), Emmy (3), Tony and Screen Actors Guild for film, television and theatre.

 

In 2006, Jeremy agreed to record a song for a charity album. The album, Unexpected Dreams – Songs From The Stars, features fourteen various lullabies and songs about dreams, all sung by celebrities not usually known for their singing talent, including Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Garner and Lucy Lawless. Jeremy’s contribution was a cover of Dylan’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: Jeremy’s selection of ‘Make You Feel My Love’ is interesting insofar as the song, at that time, was an inconsequential Dylan track from the solid but not classic 1997 Time Out Of Mind album. Adele‘s cover, that ‘launched the song as a twenty-first century standard’ (Rolling Stone, October 2019), was still 18 months’ away from even being considered as a potential song for her debut 19 album.

 

Put simply, in the 9 years between the original being released and Jeremy’s version, there were 14 covers in total (i.e. approx. 1.5/yr). In the 9 years following the release of Adele’s cover, there were a further 120 covers (i.e. approx. 13/yr). The ‘Adele’ factor has now made ‘Make You Feel My Love’ the 3^rd most covered song from Dylan’s catalogue – something I find astonishing and bordering on ‘criminal’.

 

 

David Lynch

 

Born: 20 January 1946/Died: 16 January 2025 (aged 78).

 

Starless on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

Sadly, but not surprisingly, David passed away just over two months ago. His contribution to film and TV has been profound and widely recognised.

 

David’s career is most often showcased by the 30 episodes of Twin Peaks (Seasons 1-2), that beamed into lounge room across the world between 1990-1991. The 18-episode Twin Peaks (Season 3) (2017) while less known is equally worthy.

 

Bookending David’s Twin Peaks exploits, are the movies: Eraserhead (1977), Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984), Blue Velvet (1986), The Lost Highway (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001).

 

David’s inquisitiveness extended to studio recording, where he recorded and released two albums: Crazy Clown Time (2011) and The Big Dream (2013). It is on this latter album that David records a cover of Dylan’s ‘The Ballad Of Hollis Brown’.

 

 

 

 

Trivia: David extended his interest and talent to music production – most notably Julee Cruise’s 1989 Floating Into The Night album. With music by Angelo Badalamenti and lyrics by David, the song ‘Falling’ peaked at #1 on the Australian charts. The instrumental version of the song was used as the introductory theme to Twin Peaks.

 

David also had a genuinely deep interest in transcendental meditation and this led to a close relationship with Donovan. On Donovan’s 75^th birthday – 10 May 2021 – a music video of ‘I Am The Shaman’ was released. The video was produced by David and recorded at David’s Asymmetrical Studio in Los Angeles.

 

 

A brief word about the Hollywood Walk of Fame

 

It is not just thespians and those associated with the silver screen who have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Many recording artists – from Elvis to The Beatles to Alice Cooper to Crosby Still & Nash (no Young) to Quincy, Spike & Tom Jones to Olivia Newton-John – have stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

 

At the same time, there are many worthy thespians (e.g. Jeremy Irons, David Lynch) & deserving recording artists (e.g. Neil Young, Bob Dylan) who remain ‘starless’.

 

So, what’s the ‘go’ with getting a coveted coral ‘star’ on Hollywood Blvd? There are several professional achievement and red tape hurdles to get through on the way to receiving a ‘star’.

 

1. The nominee must have at least five years of professional, critical success in film, TV, radio, recording, theatre &/or sports entertainment;
2. The nominee must have made a contribution to the community via charitable acts &/or advocacy work;
3. The nominee must be nominated by someone and have the ‘application form’ completed and submitted to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (HCC) during the annual nomination window (usually April/May) along with the US$250 application fee;
4. The nominee must provide a written guarantee (i.e. a promise) that they will attend the star ‘unveiling’ ceremony;
5. On successful consideration of the application by the HCC, the honoree (or a benefactor on behalf of the honoree) must pay US$75,000 to cover the cost of creating and installing the ‘star’.

 

 

A final word on Thespians Do Dylan

 

There are three other thespians that were omitted from the main article above for several reasons. Firstly, I try to keep my articles to an easy-to-digest ‘top 10’; secondly, I avoid duplicating the same song; and finally, I may be keeping a person back for another article.

 

And so, with that in mind, honourable mentions befall:

 

• Ed Ames (aka Mingo in the Daniel Boone TV series) for his cover of ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ on his 1968 Who Will Answer? album.
• Bette Midler (aka The Divine Miss M) for her cover of ‘I Shall Be Released’ on her self-titled 1973 album.
• Elvis Presley (aka The King) for his cover of ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’. In this case, I am holding Elvis back for a bigger, better, brighter Dylan covers article – so stay tuned!

 

 

More from Karl Dubravs can be read Here.

 

 

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