With the reading of Self-Portrait and Schopenhauer, I have been prompted to think a lot about how I value and distinguish "covers" of songs and imitation in music in general. Of course the question always is, what makes a song authentic? How is it that one cover can be just as good as the original or better, while another fails to capture the original genius of the song?
So far we have just been exposed to Dylan's covers of others and what Greil Marcus (often) sees as the failures of those covers; I thought it might be interesting to look instead at other people covering Dylan songs.
The above song is sung by Odetta, whom is most known for participating in the folk revival and Black Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Dylan has often cited her as an inspiration for his own work. To repay the compliment, in 1965 Odetta recorded Odetta Sings Dylan: a tribute to the Bard and the first album ever dedicated to covers of his songs.
Personally, I love this album (I also have a soft-spot for Dylan as well. . .what can one do?). I love Odetta's bluesy, full voiced nuanced interpretations of the song(s). I struggle though with questions of hierarchy: is it better or worse than Dylan's? does it capture something that which Dylan doesn't or can't? In the end, I am not quite convinced that it matters. I love Odetta for Odetta and I love Dylan for Dylan.
So far we have just been exposed to Dylan's covers of others and what Greil Marcus (often) sees as the failures of those covers; I thought it might be interesting to look instead at other people covering Dylan songs.
The above song is sung by Odetta, whom is most known for participating in the folk revival and Black Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Dylan has often cited her as an inspiration for his own work. To repay the compliment, in 1965 Odetta recorded Odetta Sings Dylan: a tribute to the Bard and the first album ever dedicated to covers of his songs.
Personally, I love this album (I also have a soft-spot for Dylan as well. . .what can one do?). I love Odetta's bluesy, full voiced nuanced interpretations of the song(s). I struggle though with questions of hierarchy: is it better or worse than Dylan's? does it capture something that which Dylan doesn't or can't? In the end, I am not quite convinced that it matters. I love Odetta for Odetta and I love Dylan for Dylan.
No comments:
Post a Comment