Various Artists
Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan, Vol. 17: You’re Jammin’ Me

Beginning with the Grateful Dead, Dylan’s songs have always provided ripe pickings for the so-called jam band scene, so it seems fitting to dedicate a volume of NSD to the best of these covers. Not surprisingly, this volume has fewer songs than any other so far, given these groups’ tendencies to stretch things out. So we have nine tracks (three new songs, six new artists to the series), averaging almost nine minutes each. We kick things off, of course, with the Dead, and end with the band that did the most to keep their grateful spirit alive, Phish. But my favorites here are two rarely covered songs from the pen of Born Again Bob, “Solid Rock” and “When You Gonna Wake Up,” given powerful run-throughs by Widespread Panic and Little Feat, respectively.

If you like this sort of thing, there’s plenty more to be had at the Live Music Archive (www.archive.org/details/etree), which features free dowloads from artists who have given their explicit approval. Also, this seems like a good time to heap praise upon DylanCover.com, a veritable encyclopedia of information on all things DylanCover, which has been a boon to my research as I’ve put this series together.

As usual, thanks to the tapers, the original uploaders, the folks who’ve sent me recordings, the fine artists who’ve created cover artwork, and especially the performers and composer. Due to the many different sources, I am not including lineages. I have done nothing to the original files but normalize the levels and fade in and out on each track (using Cool Edit). Please keep the suggestions and files coming–if you’ve got something good, please PM me.

Enjoy!

01 Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again – Grateful Dead (Jul 18, 1989, Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI)
02 Isis – moe. (Mar 10, 2004, Observation Lounge, Norwegian Sun Cruise Ship)
03 Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – Tea Leaf Green (Sep 21, 2001, Henflings Firehouse Tavern, Ben Lomond, CA)
04 Outlaw Blues – Radiators (Oct 31, 1991, Tipitina’s, New Orleans, LA)
05 Like a Rolling Stone – Zero (Dec 31, 1996, Maritime Hall, San Francisco, CA)
06 Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) – Phil Lesh and Friends with Chris Robinson (Nov 25, 2005, Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL)
07 Solid Rock – Widespread Panic (Oct 29, 2006, Vegoose Festival, Las Vegas, NV)
08 When You Gonna Wake Up – Little Feat with Sam Bush and Vince Herman (Jan 28, 2006, Grand Lido, Negril, Jamaica)
09 All Along the Watchtower – Phish with Buddy Miles and Merle Saunders (Oct 22, 1996, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY)