Almanac Music: Dylan Cover Songs: International Style #5 – Complete albums of Dylan covers by female artists (Take 1)

 

The realm of Dylan cover songs is vast, with well over 10,000 cover songs currently commercially available and growing by the day. From 1963 onwards, Dylan cover songs were released as singles or included on an album alongside a recording artist’s original songs and/or other cover songs.

 

Over time, given the number, quality, impact and diversity of songs that Dylan has released, there has been a growing number of complete albums featuring only Dylan cover songs. Sometimes, these complete albums are released by a single artist or band or alternatively, as a compilation sourced from various artists.

 

In this article, the focus will be solely on female artists who have released a complete album of Dylan cover songs. To date, I have uncovered 27 albums that fit the brief. For this article I will dive, chronologically, into the first 10 albums.

 

Linda Mason

There is little known about Linda Mason – but her place in Dylan folklore is assured, if only as a footnote. Afterall, she was the first recording artist (male, female, duet or band) to release a complete album of Dylan cover songs.

 

There are several surprising/unusual aspects about her release, including the album title – How Many Seas Must A White Dove Sail / Linda Mason Sings Bob Dylan:

 

• The album was recorded between 15 – 22 May 1964, and at that time Dylan had only recently released his third studio album The Times They Are A-Changin’. When the ten original songs from that album are added to the eleven original songs from Freewheelin’ and the two original songs from Bob Dylan, then the number of songs that Dylan had officially released totaled a moderate 23 original songs;
• Linda was an independent artist and as such was not ‘pressured’ to record Dylan songs (let alone an entire album of Dylan songs). Her decision to do so at such an early stage of Dylan career shows personal courage;
• Linda’s album comprised twelve Dylan cover songs: five from Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, four from The Times They Are A-Changin’; and three that had not been officially released (i.e. ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’; ‘Farewell’ and ‘Who Killed Davey Moore?’.) This suggests some inside knowledge of Dylan’s unreleased demoes;
• Harmonica on the album was performed by John B Sebastian, who is best remembered as a founding member of the The Lovin’ Spoonful (1964-68); his impromptu solo performances of ‘Rainbows All Over Your Blues’ & ‘I Had A Dream Last Night’ at Woodstock 1969; and the 1976 hit ‘Welcome Back’, which was the theme song to the Welcome Back, Kotter TV series;
• The final surprise was that How Many Seas Must A White Dove Sail / Linda Mason Sings Bob Dylan was Linda’s first album. It also proved to be Linda’s only album before she disappeared from the recording scene altogether and forevermore.

 

The closing paragraph of the album’s liner notes is worth noting: ‘with this recording, Linda stands on the brink of national recognition. She has a small but dedicated following in Greenwich Village, but now she bids to speak for others who find in folk music in general, and the songs of Bob Dylan in particular, a new way of looking at, thinking of and singing about the world’.

 

The selected cover song from Linda’s album is also the first ever cover of ‘One Too Many Mornings’, which originally appeared at track 4 of Dylan’s February 1964 The Times They Are A-Changin’ album:

 

 

 

 

Odetta

Odetta has been a respected and recognized singer within the US blues, spiritual, world and folk genres since the mid-1950s.

 

In a March 1966 Playboy interview, Dylan said: ‘The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta. I heard a record of hers ‘Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues’ in a record store. Right then and there, I went out and traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustical guitar, a flat-top Gibson’. That album by Odetta was released in 1956 and Dylan was in his mid-teens.

 

At the time of that album, a 30 year old Albert Grossman, had just started his career as an entrepreneur and talent manager and Odetta became one of his first clients. By 1962, Grossman had expanded his client list to include Peter, Paul & Mary, Ian & Sylvia, John Lee Hooker, Hamilton Camp, Richie Havens, and Bob Dylan.

 

It is, therefore, no surprise that Odetta would, in due course, record a complete album of Dylan cover songs. Grossman deliberately ‘used’ his client list to get Dylan’s songs into the marketplace. Odetta’s album of Dylan covers was the third such album to be released, following albums released in 1964 by Linda Mason (mentioned above) and fellow Grossman stable artist Hamilton Camp.

 

Odetta’s album of Dylan covers, released in 1965, is simply titled Odetta Sings Dylan. By early 1965, Dylan had released five studio albums, comprising some 45 original songs. It is somewhat surprising then that Odetta’s covers album only included five songs drawn from those albums (two songs each from Freewheelin’ and The Times They Are A-Changin’, zero songs from ‘Another Side’ and only one song from Bringing It All Back Home).

 

The remaining 5 cover songs were from Dylan’s unreleased demo recordings. It is not unreasonable to suggest that Grossman would have been keen to have Dylan’s demo songs showcased in the public arena. Unfortunately, from a financial perspective, four of the five demo songs recorded by Odetta (‘Baby I’m In The Mood For You’; ‘Long Ago, Far Away’; ‘Walkin’ Down The Line’; and ‘Long Time Gone’) generated little interest from other recording artists.

 

The one previously unreleased song that did generate interest from a wide array of recording artists and is the featured song from Odetta’s album is ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’:

 

 

 

Note: It was this version of ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’ that was played to Elvis in mid-1966 and led him to record his own version of Odetta’s cover version for his October 1966 Spinout album.

 

Other notable artists to record a cover of ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’, although most likely based on Dylan’s original live demo recording, are: Nick Drake (1968); Harry Belafonte (1969); Rod Stewart (1971); Sandy Denny (1972); Nana Mouskouri (1979); Margo Timmins (2009); Chrissie Hynde (2021).

 

 

Dorinda Duncan

Dorinda’s incursion into the world of ‘folk music’ and ‘recording artist’ is short but fascinating. In 1963, at the age of eighteen, Dorinda joined the Miami based quintet The Briarwood Singers as the groups’ only female singer. By late 1963, the group was signed to United Artists and released their debut album Well, Well, Well. The album contained twelve folk standards, including ‘The Roving Gambler’, ‘Silver Dagger’ and ‘Pastures Of Plenty’.

 

In breaking news!!!!……The Beatles will tour the USA for the first time in early 1964.

 

As fate would have it, United Artists had recording interests in The Briarwood Singers and film interests in The Beatles. And, so it came to pass that The Briarwood Singers were invited to perform as the opening act to The Beatles two concerts at Carnegie Hall on 12 February 1964. The story goes that Carnegie Hall was filled to capacity (i.e. 2900 screaming fans) and The Briarwood Singers did a 20-minute set (without the screaming) before both of The Beatles concerts – which were scheduled at 7.45pm and 11.15pm and planned to go for a very modest 34 minutes each.

 

Unlike The Beatles, by early 1965, The Briarwood Singers had broken up and the 20 year old Dorinda went on to sign a solo recording contract with United Artists. During 1965 she released a studio album, quaintly titled: The Songs of Bob Dylan Through the Heart of a Girl.

 

The album covers twelve Dylan songs – interestingly, no matter how long the original song, each cover has been condensed to between 2m19s – 2m53s and the entire album takes just over 32 minutes. Equally interesting is the use of a lilting flute on each track.

 

Much like Linda Mason’s recording career (mentioned above), Dorinda’s recording career came to an abrupt end following the release of her Dylan covers album.

 

The following link to the YouTube clip is to the entire album, with the first track being a cover of ‘Bob Dylan’s Dream’.

 

 

 

 

How far into the album the reader wishes to go will be entirely at the readers discretion; however, for the readerships’ benefit, here is the album’s running order:

 

Side 1: Bob Dylan Dream 00:00 – 02:45/Don’t Think Twice 02:45 – 05.05

Boots Of Spanish Leather 05:05 – 07:50/It Ain’t Me Babe 07:50 – 10.35

Mr. Tambourine Man 10:35 – 12:57/Girl Of The North Country 12:57 – 15:20

Side 2: When The Ship Comes In 15:45 – 18:20/Farewell 18:20 – 21:45

The Times Are A Changin’ 21:45 – 24:20/Tomorrow Is A Long Time 24:20 – 27:00

Blowin’ In The Wind 27:00 – 29:40/One Too Many Mornings 29:40 – 32:05

 

 

Joan Baez

It is no secret that Joan admired Dylan as a songwriter – and she covered a fair number of his songs on several albums released between 1963 – 1965.

 

It is also no secret that between May 1963 – late 1964, Joan and Dylan were romantically linked as they shared a symbiotic relationship both on and off the spotlit stage.

 

By 1968, Dylan was living in Woodstock, with wife Sara and two children (Jesse aged 2; Anna aged 1), plus step-daughter Maria (aged 7) and child number three (Sam) well on the way; and Joan had married David Harris.

 

Also, by 1968, Dylan had released eight studio albums and published over 150 original songs.

 

It is not surprising then that once the dust between Dylan and Joan had settled, that Joan would release a complete album devoted to Dylan cover songs – except she took it one step further and made it a sixteen-song double album titled Any Day Now.

 

Recorded in September 1968 and released three months later, the double album is an intriguing selection of songs from Dylan’s anthology – with not a single song coming from the ‘classic’ Dylan songbook. To summarise, the sixteen songs are drawn chronologically from:

 

• Witmark demo – October 1962: ‘Walkin’ Down The Line’;
• Freewheelin’ Outtake – April 1963: ‘Walls Of Red Wing’. Joan’s cover was the first of only two covers ever released;
• Times Are A-Changin’ – May 1964: ‘North Country Blues’, ‘One Too Many Mornings’, ‘Boots Of Spanish Leather’, ‘Restless Farewell’. Joan’s covers of ‘North Country Blues’ and ‘Restless Farewell’ were the first to be released;
• Bringing It All Back Home – March 1965: ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit’. There is every reason to believe that this song was, at least partly, written about Joan;
• Unreleased/unfinished song – mid 1965: ‘Love Is Just A Four Letter Word’. Dylan ‘gave’ the song to Joan who recorded it, for the first time, on this double album. Dylan has never recorded a version of the song;
• Blonde On Blonde – June 1966: ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands’. This song is a dedication from Dylan to his first wife Sara – a dedication that took 11mins:23secs and the entire side of a vinyl album to fully express. It seems strange (at least to me) that Joan would wish to do a cover of the song – in fact, she did the first ever cover of the songs and at 11mins:18secs, Joan didn’t cut any corners in doing so;
• Basement Tape recordings – 1967: ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’, ‘Tears Of Rage’, ‘I Shall Be Released’. Joan would have picked up these songs from covers by The Band and The Byrds in early 1968. Dylan’s own versions would not surface until his 1971 Greatest Hits Vol.2 album, although bootleg versions were circulating freely by the late 60’s;
• John Wesley Harding – December 1967: ‘Drifter’s Escape’, ‘I Pity The Poor Immigrant’. ‘I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine’, ‘Dear Landlord’. Not surprisingly, Joan’s cover versions of these four recent Dylan songs were the first to released. In the context of Dylan’s entire catalogue, I find these song selections the most intriguing of all.

 

Of the sixteen songs on offer, there are many that would make a fine audio contribution to this article. However, I couldn’t go past Joan singing the song that Dylan most likely write about her – ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit’:

 

 

 

 

Interlude

After this initial 1960’s foray into complete Dylan cover albums by the fairer sex, the sub-genre takes a breather until the early 90’s.

 

By the time female interest in complete Dylan cover albums is re-ignited, Dylan has released over 20 studio albums with over 400 original songs to select from.

 

 

Barbara Dickson

Barbara is a Scottish based folk singer with a career that spams 1970 – 2020 and comprises some twenty-five studio albums, mostly of cover songs. Barbara’s claim to fame, at least in Australia, was a duet with Elaine Page of ‘I Know Him So Well’, from the musical Chess that peaked at #21 on the Australian charts in 1985.

 

Despite showing no interest in Dylan cover songs in the fourteen albums released up to 1989, Barbara decided to make up for that oversight in 1992 by releasing a complete Dylan covers album titled Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.

 

This 12-song covers album does a scattered, and somewhat unbalanced, representation of Dylan’s career, with:

 

• Four songs from Freewheelin’ (1963): ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right’; ‘Oxford Town’; ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’; ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’;
• Three songs from The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964): ‘With God On Our Side’; ‘When The Ship Comes In’; ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’;
• One song from Bringing It All Back Home (1965): ‘Maggie’s Farm’;
• Two songs from Greatest Hit Vol.2 (1971): ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’, ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’;
• One song from Basement Tapes (1975): ‘Tears Of Rage’; and
• One song from Oh Mercy (1989): ‘Ring Them Bells’.

 

The selected song for this article is ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’ – if only for the YouTube clip that reveals so much about live TV and dubbed recordings:

 

 

 

 

Judy Collins

Judy has been a stalwart of the US folk and pop music scene since the early 1960’s. She has released over 35 studio albums, with the majority charting inside the Billboard top 50. Her latest album, titled Spellbound, was released in February 2022 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.

 

Romantically involved with Stephen Stills in 1968, Judy was the subject of Still’s classic song ‘Suite: Judy Blues Eyes’.

 

Over her career, Judy has included multiple Dylan cover songs on seven of her albums. However, in 1993 Judy took her admiration of Dylan’s songwriting talents to another level by releasing a complete album of Dylan cover songs – titled Judy Sings Dylan … Just Like A Woman.

 

This 11-song retrospective of Dylan anthology is drawn from across the decades:

 

• 1960’s: ‘Bob Dylan’s Dream’; ‘With God On Our Side’; ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit’; ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’; ‘Like A Rolling Stone’; ‘Just Like A Woman’;
• 1970’s: ‘Simple Twist Of Fate’; ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’; ‘I Believe In You’;
• 1980’s: ‘Sweetheart Like You’; ‘Dark Eyes’.

 

The selected cover song for this article is ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’ – a song Dylan originally released on his 1979 Slow Train Coming album:

 

 

 

 

Footnote: In 2017, Judy & Stephen Stills collaborated on an album titled: Everybody Knows. The album includes a cover of Dylan’s ‘Girl From The North Country’.

 

 

Beth Scalet

I have never heard of Beth Scalet before – so here is an excerpt from her bio page:

 

Sometimes lyrical, sometimes bluesy, Beth is a fine songwriter, guitarist, and singer, and her harmonica playing sets her apart from the pack. In 2008 she was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.

 

Beth’s entry into this article is due to the release of her 2001 album Beth Loves Bob – The Songs Of Bob Dylan. {No holding back in that album title!}

 

Beth’s 14 cover song album is dominated by 60’s Dylan:

 

• Freewheelin’ 1963: ‘Don’t Think Twice’, ‘Girl Of The North Country’, ‘Corrina Corrina’;
• The Times They Are A Changin’ 1964: ‘The Times They Are A Changin’’, ‘Boots Of Spanish Leather’;
• Highway 61 Revisited 1965: ‘It Tales A Lot To Laugh’, ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, ‘Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues’;
• Blonde On Blonde 1966: ‘Just Like A Woman’;
• John Wesley Harding 1967: ‘All Along The Watchtower’, ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’.

 

The remaining three songs are: ‘Knockin’ On Heavens Door’ from Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid soundtrack (1973); ‘Down In The Flood’ from The Basement Tapes (1975); and ‘Blind Willie McTell’ from the 1983 Infidels recording session, but not released until The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3 (1991).

 

The chosen cover song is ‘Down In the Flood’, which clearly displays Beth’s bluesy voice, fine guitar style, harmonica playing and love of Bob:

 

 

 

 

Barb Jungr

Barb is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and theatre writer, who has been most active on the fringes of mainstream music and theatre. Over her career, which accounts for 27 albums, Barb has recorded complete albums dedicated to Elvis, Nina, Leonard and Sting {surnames not required!}.

 

In 2002, Barb turned her entire attention to the Dylan songbook and released her first complete Dylan covers album, titled Every Grain Of Sand: Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan. What I find most pleasing about this album is that the fifteen cover songs are drawn from fourteen different albums released by Dylan between 1963 – 2001.

 

The diversity of songs gathered together on this album is worth checking out:

 

• Freewheelin’ 1963: Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right;
• Bringing It All Back Home 1965: It’s all Over Now, Baby Blue;
• Blonde On Blonde 1966: I Want You;
• John Wesley Harding 1967: I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight;
• New Morning 1970: If Not For You;
• Planet Waves 1974: Forever Young;
• Blood On The Tracks 1975: Tangled Up In Blue;
• Street Legal 1978: Is Your Love In Vain**;
• Shot Of Love 1981: Every Grain Of Sand;
• Oh Mercy 1989: Ring Them Bells, What Good Am I?**;
• Under The Red Sky 1990: Born In Time**;
• Time Out Of Mind 1997: Not Dark Yet**;
• Wonder Boys Soundtrack 2000: Things Have Changed**;
• Love & Theft 2001: Sugar Baby**.

 

This song selection shows creative courage and confidence and Barb’s interpretations are of the highest quality. Barb’s courage is also reflected in songs marked **, which have rarely been covered, and Barb’s cover has been the first or one of the first covers to be released.

 

Every song on this album has been thoughtfully crafted, but for this article I have chosen ‘What Good Am I?’:

 

 

 

 

Note: Following the release of this album, Barb continued to consistently cover Dylan songs – releasing a further fourteen Dylan covers spread over seven studio albums between 2003 – 2011. Thirteen of these Dylan covers were eventually collected together and released in 2011 on Barb’s second complete Dylan covers album, which will feature in Complete Albums of Dylan Covers by Female Artists Take 2.

 

 

Julie Felix

The life & times of Julie Felix would easily warrant an entire article on this site, but for now I offer a highlights package with a smidgeon of name-dropping:

 

• In 1962, aged 24, Julie left her job as a sports teacher and part-time night time café singer in Los Angeles and with $1000 in her pocket set of on a 2-year adventure around Europe;
• While visiting the Greek island of Hydra she befriended Leonard Cohen, who was then part of an ‘artists salon’ founded by Australian writers George Johnstone and Charmian Clift;
• In 1964, Juie arrived in London and became the first female solo folk performer to be signed to a major record label;
• In 1965, Julie became the first folksinger to fill the Royal Albert Hall and the first pop performer to perform at Westminster Abbey;
• Also in 1965, Julie met Paul McCartney and they had a brief secret affair, as Paul was still ‘officially’ dating his long-time girlfriend Jane Asher;
• In 1966, Julie happened to share an elevator ride with David Frost – this led to a long running romantic relationship during which Frost championed Julie’s career on his own newly launched BBC program (The Frost Report) and well as Julie hosting & performing on her own weekly BBC2 radio musical variety show;
• On 9 December 1967, Julie’s premiere episode of the Once More With Felix music-variety show on BBC TV, was the first program to ever be televised in colour;
• In 1968, The Julie Felix (TV) Show included guests such as: Leonard Cohen (in his British TV debut); Jimmy Page giving a rare solo guitar performance; The Kinks, Tim Buckley, The Hollies;
• In 1969, Julie was invited to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival, which also happened to see Dylan return to the stage after his multi-year performing hiatus.

 

In a career that ran between 1964 – 2018, Julie released just over 20 albums. Within that discography, Julie covered 35 Dylan songs spread over 12 of those albums, including a 20-song double album of Dylan covers – released in 2002 and titled Starry Eyed And Laughing … Songs By Bob Dylan. Sixteen of those twenty songs come from Dylan’s 60’s period – mostly classic/greatest hits Dylan but with a few surprises (e.g. ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’; ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands’; ‘Visions Of Johanna’; ‘Gates Of Eden’; ‘It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’). The remaining four songs are from:

 

• Desire (1976): ‘Romance In Durango’; ‘One More Cup of Coffee’;
• Shot Of Love (1981): ‘Every Grain Of Sand; and
• Time Out Of Mind (1997): ‘Not Dark Yet’.

 

After discovering that a good number of YouTube clips from the album do not align with the actual song, I have decided to showcase ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’:

 

 

 

 

Note: I am not sure if it is just me, but on listening to a fair amount of Julie’s recordings I am struggling to align her extraordinary career highlights package with the quality of her commercially available performances.

 

 

Mary Lee Kortes

Mary Lee is a Michigan born singer-songwriter. She has released four studio albums of original material between 1997 – 2006.

 

In 2002, Mary Lee took an interesting detour and recorded a complete version of Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks album – except that she did it ‘live’ from Arlene’s Grocery (a bar & music venue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan) with her backing band ‘Corvette’.

 

To quote Rolling Stone magazine’s review of the album: ‘The bold reimagining was applauded for its “quaintly direct magnificence” and “the bright bite in Mary Lee Kortes’s voice—the high-mountain sunshine of Dolly Parton, with a sweet iron undercoat of Chrissie Hynde”.

 

The chosen song from the album is: ‘If You See Her Say Hello’:

 

 

 

 

Note: In 2018, Mary Lee released a book titled Dreaming of Dylan: 115 Dreams About Bob. The book is based on Mary Lee’s personal dreams involving Dylan plus those from well-known and completely unknown individuals. Interestingly, Dylan wrote the song ‘Bob Dylan’s 115^th Dream’, which appeared on his 1965 Bringing It All Back Home album. Hopefully, by the time this article is published, a hard copy version of Dreaming of Dylan: 115 Dreams About Bob will be arriving on my front door step and may prove useful in a future article (or two) on this site.

 

 

Concluding comments:

One of the great pleasures of researching this type of article, is learning about those who have decided to explore and expose the Dylan songbook. From the moment I realised that a completely unknown Linda Mason was the ‘first’ to release a complete Dylan covers article, I was compelled to find out more about her…..and in my own small way I have now been able to give her some small recognition and her rightful place in the annals of Dylan cover song history.

 

With regard to the next ‘Complete Albums of Dylan Covers by Female Artists’, I plan to publish ‘Take 2’ sometime circa late 2026. Female artists that will feature include: Maria Muldaur, Thea Gilmore, Joan Osborne and Bettye LaVette. With that line-up, it should be worth waiting for.

 

 

More from Karl Dubravs can be read Here.

 

 

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