Since the beginning of Bob Dylan’s imprint on popular culture his material has had the rare ability to transcend race, space and time. While you may have a number of these covers scattered throughout your collection, there is no denying Ace Records did a commendable job last year gathering up and framing twenty Dylan tracks covered by black America. The collection’s focus concentrates on the 1960s and 70s highlighting big names in soul and r&b; e.g. Nina Simone, Solomon Burke, Howard Tate, Booker T, etc.
Dylan’s early ‘protest’ songs have long lent themselves to, and were informed by, the African American spiritual traditions of the deep south. Not surprisingly it is this era of his career that feels the most congruent amongst the selected covers; as evidenced below by O.V. Wright’s rendition of “Blowin’ In The Wind” and the Staple Singers haunting take on “Masters of War.”
MP3: O.V. Wright :: Blowin’ In The Wind
MP3: The Staple Singers :: Masters of War
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O.V. Wright is one of the more underrated soul singers of the greats who came out of Memphis – fantastic voice!
1 | Jeff from Sun February 2nd, 2011 at 8:09 ami have many many dylan covers by many artists i think it shows just how good he is soul rock jazz reggie blues classic mr dylan has to be one of the best artists ever and i hope we still have more to come from him
2 | m graham February 2nd, 2011 at 9:33 amOV Wright version is great but sounds note for note like the Stevie Wonder version.
3 | ericpatrickclapp February 2nd, 2011 at 11:48 am“Dylan’s Gospel”, by The Brothers and Sisters of L.A., is probably the some of the best Dylan covers of all time….
4 | Colby February 2nd, 2011 at 3:35 pmSolomon Burke’s What Good Am I is amazing. Love it. R.I.P. He also does a fabulous It Makes No Difference, the Band song.
5 | Jengiz Haas February 2nd, 2011 at 10:47 pmMavis Staples and Bob Dylan were a couple on the downlow for about 10 years I heard. So it isn’t a stretch to see the Staples Singers covering his music.
6 | Phil D February 5th, 2011 at 2:55 pmNina Simone – Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues is another beautiful cover.
7 | marcelino March 1st, 2011 at 5:05 pm[...] How Many Roads :: Black America Sings Bob Dylan (Compilation) [...]
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