Almanac Music: Dylan Covers – Aussie Style: The Bands Take On Dylan
This is the ninth article in my ongoing Dylan covers series and the seventh to focus solely on Australian artists and bands.
In earlier articles I have showcased Dylan covers by the following Aussie bands: The Seekers, The Missing Links, Duck, The Sports, The Triffids, Masters Apprentices, Died Pretty, The Revelators, Bondi Cigars, The Wilson Pickers, Warumpi Band, The Wiggles, The Stetson Family, and Moonshine String & Jug Band.
In this article I have focused my lens of all those other Aussie bands who have recorded a Dylan cover but have not yet featured in any of the previous articles.
The Groop
The Groop formed in Melbourne in 1964 as a folk, R&B and rock band. Brian Cadd joined the band in late 1966. The band released three studio albums between 1966-67.
The band’s best known song, a co-write between Cadd and Richard Wright (drummer & co-vocalist), was ‘Woman You’re Breaking Me’ – which became a national top 10 hit. In July 1967, the band won Hoadleys National Battle Of The Sounds. The prize included a trip to the UK, on board Sitmar’s ‘Castel Felice’ cruise liner. They arrived in early 1968, hoping to make a mark on the other side of planet Earth, but by October 1968 had returned to Australia and broke up shortly thereafter – with Cadd and Mudie (lead guitarist) teaming up with Glenn Shorrock to form Axiom.
The opening track on their final studio album is titled Baby Blue. It happens to be a musical ‘motown-style’ re-imagining of Dylan’s ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’, and I think it’s brilliant!
The Flying Circus
The Flying Circus formed in Sydney in 1968 as a country/folk-rock band, with a balanced mix of New Zealand and Australian musicians. The band’s self-titled debut album, released in late 1969, features their two biggest hits ‘Hayride’ & ‘La La’, which peaked at no.23 & no.9 respectively on the national charts.
On side two of their debut album is a cover of Dylan’s ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ – a cover that is based on The Byrds version, where Roger McGuinn mixes up the original lyrics in verse two. What should be sung as ‘pick up your money and pack up your tent’ becomes ‘pack up your money and pick up your tent’. On a later remake of the song (released on 1971’s Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol II), Dylan parodies McGuinn’s ‘mix up’ with the following lyric: ‘Pack up your money, put up your tent, McGuinn/You ain’t goin’ nowhere’.
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During 1970, the band released a 4-track extended play, which featured a cover of Dylan’s ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’. In July, the band won Hoadleys National Battle Of The Sounds competition (edging out fan favourites ‘Zoot’). The winners prize included a free airline trip to USA.
The band arrived in San Fransisco in mid-1971 and then relocated to Toronto, Canada – releasing studio albums in 1972 and 1974. After a modicum of success in Canada, but with no commercial traction in either the USA or from their native Australia (including a lukewarm reception at the 1973 Sunbury Pop Festival), the band broke up in late 1974.
Flake
Flake formed in Sydney in 1968 as a prog rock group. The band’s first charting single was a cover of Dylan’s ‘This Wheel’s On Fire’, featuring Sharon Sims on lead vocals. The song peaked at no.20 on the Go-Set National Top 60 and remained on the chart for 22 weeks.
The band released its one and only album How’s Your Mother’ in 1971, which also included the Go-Set charting cover of Marmalade’s ‘Reflections Of My Life’. The ‘Daliesque’ album cover is well worth checking out. With limited commercial success, Flake followed in the footsteps of numerous late 60’s/early 70’s Australian bands and disbanded by late 1974.
Stars
Stars formed in Adelaide in 1975 as a country rock band. In July 1976, Andrew Durant joined the group as guitarist and principal songwriter and the band relocated to Melbourne. The band released studio albums in 1977 and 1979. Around June 1979, Andrew Durant was diagnosed with cancer and the band played its final concert on 5 November 1979. Andrew died on 6 May 1980, aged 25.
In July 1980, an album of ‘live’ material was released – titled 1157. The album was recorded at Bombay Rock in Melbourne on 18 October 1979 and the ‘1157’ refers to the number of gigs the band had performed since it formed. The opening track on 1157 is a cover of Dylan’s ‘Watching The River Flow’.
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel probably need no introduction but, for the record, they formed in Adeliade in 1973 as a pub rock band. The founding members included Ian Moss, Don Walker and Steve Prestwich. By December 1973, Jimmy Barnes (aged all of 17yrs, 8mths) had joined the band.
The band released nine highly acclaimed studio albums of original material between 1978 – 2019. Occasionally, the band showcased a cover song – and it is on their ‘live’ 1981 Swingshift album that they do a cover of Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’.
Weddings Parties Anything
Weddings Parties Anything was formed in Melbourne in late 1984 as a punk rock folk band. Founding and ongoing member Mick Thomas is the mainstay of the band, providing guitar, vocals & principal songwriting duties.
The band released seven studio albums between 1987 – 1996. On their sixth studio album, 1995’s Donkey Serenade, the band do a cover of Dylan’s ‘If You Gotta Go, Go Now’.
The Whitlams
The Whitlams formed in Sydney in 1992 as an indie rock band, with mainstay Tim Freedman on keyboards, lead vocals and principal songwriter.
The band released seven studio albums between 1993 – 2022. On the ‘live’ 1996 Stupor Ego album, the Whitlams released their first Dylan cover – ‘Ballad Of A Thin Man’.
Those who have followed The Whitlams ‘career’ will know that on the highly praised 1997 Eternal Nightcap studio album, there is another Dylan cover – ‘Tangled Up In Blue’.
The Sacred Cowboys
Sacred Cowboys formed in Melbourne in 1982 as a post punk and rock band with Garry Gray & Mark Ferrie as mainstay members. It is reported that following an appearance on Countdown, Molly Meldrum rated the band as the worst that he had encountered in five years.
The band released five studio albums between 1984 – 2007. On their second album – 1984’s We Love You… Of Course We Do!, the band do a live, demo cover of Dylan’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited’.
However, it is their cover of Dylan’s ‘Outlaw Blues’ on the 1996 Things To Come album that is the featured song in this article – if only because it is the only time Dylan references ‘Australia’ in a song.
The Blackeyed Susans
The Blackeyed Susans formed in Perth in 1989 as a rock band. The mainstays of the band have been Rob Snarski (vocals, guitar) and Phil Kakulas (bass).
The band released eight studio albums between 1992 – 2017. Their sixth studio album, 2001’s Dedicated to The Ones We Love, is devoted to cover songs from artists such as Sinatra, Presley, Velvet Underground, Springsteen, Tina Turner, The Crystals. The album also includes a cover of Dylan’s ‘I Threw It All Away’.
The Waifs
The Waifs formed in Albany, WA in August 1992 as a folk-rock band. The band’s founding and ongoing members are the Simpson sisters (Donna & Vicki) and Josh Cunningham.
The band released eight studio albums between 1996 – 2017, with the latter five albums peaking in the top 5 on the Australian charts. The Waifs supported Dylan on his Australia tour in March 2003, as well as having a support slot on Dylan’s subsequent North American tour – a tour that ran from mid-April to mid-August.
It is perhaps no surprise that the band’s first ‘live’ album – 2004’s A Brief History…features a cover of Dylan’s ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’.
The Black Sorrows
The Black Sorrows were formed in Melbourne in 1983. Apart from the mercurial Joe Camilleri, the band has had a fluid membership.
The band has released nineteen studio albums since 1983, with album number twenty The Way We Do Business due for release later this week (i.e. 18 October 2024). Two of their albums (1988’s Hold on to Me and 1990’s Harley and Rose) have peaked well inside the national top 10 charts. On their eighteenth album, 2019’s ‘Citizen John’, the band offers a studio plus a live cover version of ‘Silvio’ – a co-write between Dylan and Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter.
For the ‘Dylan completists’, The Black Sorrows also covered the little known Dylan song ‘Wallflower’ on their 2015 Endless Sleep (Chapter 47) album. Although recorded by Dylan in November 1971, it was not released until the 1991 Bootleg Series Vol 1-3: Rare & Unreleased 1961-1991 boxset. A version of the song was also recorded by Doug Sahm, with Dylan on backing vocals, and released on the 1973 Doug Sahm and Band album.
….and the winner is…..
Let’s assume that the eleven bands featured in this article were battling it out for the old fashioned Hoadleys National Battle Of The Sounds competition – who do you think should win? If you want to make your vote count, place your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices in the comments section below. Points will be awarded – 3 for 1st; 2 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd. The count will be tallied and the winner announced on Tuesday 29 October 2024 – i.e. 2 weeks after this article has been published.
The votes have been counted…
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About Karl Dubravs
I was born in 1956 to Latvian parents who migrated to Australia in the late 1940's following WWII. My career was mostly in Human Resources within University and Public Service settings & allowed me to work & live in Sydney, Cabramurra (Australia's highest township), Townsville, Bathurst, Canberra & Shellharbour. I have now left paid employment & settled in the Blue Mountains. My true passion, ever since I was 16, has been songwriting - and my anthology is creeping towards 400 songs. In 2019, I unexpectedly crossed paths with a talented music producer & musician, who helped to produce my one & only album - 'Life & Love'.
Thanks for this excellent piece, Karl – very interesting, detailed and well researched, as always.
A cracking selection Karl, some of my favourite Bob songs there with some ripper interpretations. I think you can pick any of them as No 1 but I narrowed my selections down to three, Flying Circus, The Sacred Cowboys, and The Groop.
I finally decided upon ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ covered by Flying Circus, who I believe to be one of Australia’s most underrated bands.
Thanks for your comment Kevin. Don’t forget to make your vote count and select your top 3 bands!
Thanks Colin – I agree with you on how good these Dylan covers are and how any one of them could be picked at No.1.
Your selections have been noted by the adjudicating committee and scores allocated accordingly.
Great piece Moondance and neat idea to turn it into a comp!
3 Votes Rob Snarski, I mean The Blackeyed Susans, it is such a moving song (I love Dylan sincerity) and Snarski delivers on the emotional, narrative and character in his singing. Especially on these heartbreaking lines: No matter what you think about it/You just won’t be able to do without it/Take a tip from one who’s tried.
2 votes Stars, sounds great because they imbue the song with their truth (that’s what I hear) and that truth includes the lyrics (natch) as well as the rocking arrangement and band’s playing.
1 vote (against my better judgement) The Waifs, thanks Moondance for the info on them playing the Dylan support, which you can hear clearly (better harp than Bob). I love the appropriately confident singing emphasising the song’s wit and the character’s pov and the jam to take the song out.
HM: Ian Moss guitar on Heaven’s Door, lifts an already good version to another level. And Flying Circus sounding almost like The Byrds. Almost.
Finally, what the hell was Joe C thinking covering Silvio. It’s a passable song at best.
Thank you for your comment & commentary Rick. You selections have been validated & forwarded to the adjudicating committee for input into the Selective Sequence Electronics Calculator (TM 1944).
I’m loving the diversity of selections so far.
Great stuff Karl. Cold Chisel; the Whitlams; The Groop
Thanks for your work, Karl. Some gems here, and all but one were new to me. I think some of the earlier ones mentioned at the top might trump all of these
I reckon The Groop’s ‘Woman You’re Breaking Me’ is one of the all-time great Australian singles, but they’re disqualified here for their intro, an utterly shameless rip-off (right down to the xylophone) of the Four Tops’ ‘The Same Old Song’ (compare here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZLG9MV5GvQ )
Agree with Rick about ‘Silvio’. Bob made it a pillar of his setlist for several years, and I never understood why.
3 votes: Flying Circus. Loved ‘Hayride’ at the time. The Byrdsishness of this is fine by me, and it’s funny that they obviously picked up their lyrics from that recording. At that stage you needed a Basement Tapes bootleg to hear Dylan singing it, so maybe that explains it.
2 votes: The Waifs. What can I say, I’m a fan. They supported Bob in the dustbowl near Jeff’s Shed, most uncomfortable Dylan concert I’ve ever been to. Got there at opening, prime possie, sat down on the rug. Several hours later the rug had disappeared under the boots of strangers, and I’d been standing for longer than at a footy match. Eventually left the kids there and retreated to the tiered seats in the distance.
1 vote: The Stars, great rockers. What a tragedy they were done so soon.
Well done Karl – great memories of some Hoadley’s National Battle of the Sounds winners. Whenever you can see Russell Morris live, you’re almost certain to hear his version of “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue”…and, stranger than fiction, Kylie recorded her version of “This Wheel’s On Fire” for the AbFab movie (2016).
Great work again, Karl. I look forward to checking out these links when I get a spare moment. From memory, for the Cold Chisel version of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ the great Don Walker even sings a verse – perhaps the only time he ever sings lead on a Chisel song?
Moin Karl, I might have missed this somewhere in your series but the Party Boys did a great version of Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35.
Glen!
H Karl. As an exercise, I listened to all the the contenders in one sitting, back to back.
My top three is first – Stars, ‘Watching The River Flow’; second – WPA, ‘If You Gotta Go, Go Now’ and third – The Blackeyed Susans – ‘I Threw It All Away’. For me, Stars inhabited their chosen song most fully – and in a highly enjoyable, unpretentious manner. Basically, their version just rocked!
Thanks Phillip – your selections have been added into the calculator!
Nice review of the article Andrew. Not sure about the ‘disqualification rule’ for The Groop – Dylan himself was known to borrow a tune here & there (eg ‘Nottamun Town’ for his ‘Masters Of War’ – although he did finally settle for $5k).
Your selections have now been inserted into the calculator – the competition is starting to heat up.
Thank you for your selections Kevin. Good to see WPA get their first vote as well as your thoughtful comment on your no.1 choice.
I may need a better calculator to keep track of the votes!
Once again, Karl, you have excelled yourself.
I am continue to be impressed by your research and have thoroughly enjoyed this Dylan series.
3. Weddings Parties Anything – because I am a Weddo from way back, saw them many times, and saw them play this song live.
2. Blackeyed Susans – great song, and I just love Rob Snarski’s voice,
1. Cold Chisel – just because.
Andrew Durant.
What a talent; taken far too soon at the age of 25.
He was easily on track for the mantle of Australia’s greatest song writer
The votes for the Holden from Dusting’s of Burwood:
3. Flake
2. The Groop
1. Blackeyed Susans
Thank you Smokie for your kind words & your selections.
Your justification of ‘just because’ for a 3rd place for Cold Chisel has been accepted by the adjudicating committee as a valid ranking methodology. Your votes have been entered in the ‘enhanced calculator’ which has been programmed to keep the overall result secret until midnight 29 October.
Congratulations Ian – your votes have been accepted!
Nice to see Flake finally receive some love from TFA community.
Now as for the Holden – I think we need to talk :)
Must be time to offer my top 3:
1. Stars – Watching The River Flow
2. The Whitlams – Ballad Of A Thin Man
3. The Groop – It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
1. Flake The Wheels on Fire
2. Stars Watching the River Flow
3. Cold Chisel Knockin on Heaven.’s Door
Well done Karl & Peter. Your votes have been inserted into the calculator.
Only two more days until the final result is revealed.
Groovy Man!
Cold Chisel, The Waifs, Flake.
Thanks Gazza. With only a day to go before voting ends, the competition is hotting up!
Very interesting selection Moondance. My picks, no 1 …Flake. No. 2 Cold Chisel and No. 3 … Flying Circus ?
Thank you Amanda for your vote – you have the honour of casting the last valid vote.
The votes have been counted…
The winner, on 11 points: Stars.
The equal runners-up, on 10 points: Flake & Cold Chisel.
Thank you to all those who participated in the competition.