Better in disguise

What I am about to say is possibly heresy in the eyes of anyone who is a self-proclaimed aficionado of American classic rock but, secretly, I think some of them feel the same: I sometimes find myself preferring cover versions of Bob Dylan's songs much more than his original studio versions. Don't get me wrong: I am not slamming the man's musical and songwriting talent, and I am not even dismissing his singing those songs, even though it seems that way. I just happen to think that his overwhelming strength is not as a recording artist, but as a creative artist and, if at a venue that is personal and small and not stadium sized, a performing artist.

The original (for as long as youtube allows it; it is insanely hard to find Dylan's own versions online anywhere; I suspect this one has lasted as long as it has because it is one of many versions by Dylan, and is slightly mislabeled, probably intentionally. Also, I've had great trouble getting this particular video to play all the way through, so you might just skip ahead). It turns out this was originally rejected for the album it was intended to appear on, which makes me wonder if that is why, even though I like the cover(s) better, I enjoy listening to his version almost as much--possibly because it sounds more like the real Dylan than the recorded Dylan.

Mamma You've Been On My Mind - Bob Dylan



Mamma You've Been On My Mind - Jeff Buckley
Every time I listen to him sing, I just can't help but think (again) how colossally unfair life is. (Another interesting tidbit about Buckley's recording: this also was actually an 'out-take' and not a real album version...)



Now, as I understand it, the definitive cover of this song by a woman is supposed to be Joan Baez's version (actually, her version was the only commercially released and successful one for quite some time)...

Daddy You've Been On My Mind (cover) - Joan Baez



...but this little live gem I found on youtube is lovely (hmmm, do we see a pattern here?!)

Daddy You've Been On My Mind (cover) - Judy Collins



but I saw this on Pitchfork's site a while ago--the name caught my eye, as it is also the name of a well known, classic literary giant in Iran--and right now it's my favorite of them all:

Daddy You've Been On My Mind - Saadi