Various Artists
Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan, Vol. 13: Mercy Walks the Plank

This volume should actually be subtitled “Merci Walks the Plank,” because it features a batch of songs from the 1993 KCRW special “Oh Merci,” hosted by John Wesley Harding on July 4, 1993 (not May 24, as I mistakenly wrote when I included one song, Paul Kelly’s “I Threw it All Away,” on Volume 11). In response to my plea for someone to make this show available, I got a PM from Michel, who told me he had a copy, but that the CDs had deteriorated since he got them in 1993. He got me the files, and sure enough, much of the show was unusable due to diginoise. What I present here is everything I could salvage (aside from the previously included Paul Kelly song). I’m especially sorry I can’t include the show’s first song, “Black Crow Blues” done by Peter Case, as I’d love to get a Peter Case performance in here, and Wes’s own two contributions, “Dear Landlord” and “Tears of Rage,” which are fantastic. But I’m thrilled to finally include a Dave Alvin cover, and the Rosie Flores performance is also great. Hopefully this partial set will spur someone to upload the whole thing, or PM me with the missing songs. If you have the Dylan bootleg “Inside the Rain,” you have one track I don’t: “Mr. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” performed here by Was (Not Was); see http://www.bobsboots.com/CDs/cd-i-48.html for details.

The rest of Vol. 13 is a hodge-podge of soundboard or fm cuts that fit the spirit of the “Oh Merci” songs. Special treats include a Dylan Medley by Richard Thompson, from an all-requests show, and Jack Johnson’s musical version of Dylan’s poem on Woody Guthrie. The last track is by Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom, the infamous early Bruce Springsteen group that featured something like a dozen members (including a Monopoly player) and only played a few shows in 1971. I count a twelve new acts in this set, and eight new songs not featured in previous NSD volumes.

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, and if anyone has a live version of Waylon Jennings doing “Things Have Changed” or Roger McGuinn doing “Golden Loom” live (there are soundboards from Apr 30, 1977 and May 2, 1977 in existence, perhaps listed as Byrds reunion shows) please PM me.

Enjoy!

OH MERCI, KCRW-FM, Santa Monica, Jul 4, 1993
01 Watching The River Flow ñ Steve Wynn
02 The Times They Are A-Changiní ñ The Williams Brothers
03 Everything Is Broken ñ Will T. Massey
04 Pledging My Time ñ Russ Tolman
05 Just Like A Woman – Ronee Blakley
06 Youíre A Big Girl Now ñ Dave Alvin
07 Girl From The North Country ñ George Gerdes
08 Tonight Iíll Be Staying here With You ñ Rosie Flores

NO MERCI (From the NSD Archives):
09 Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie – Jack Johnson (Feb 11, 2002, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA)
10 Love Sick – White Stripes (Jun 9, 2002, Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, BC)
11 Up To Me – Roger McGuinn (Sep 14, 1976, WLIR Living Room, Glen Cove, NY)
12 Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – Danny and Dusty (May 19, 1985, Club Lingerie, Los Angeles, CA)
13 Oxford Town – Tim O’Brien (Mar 27, 2002, Canopy Club, Urbana, IL)
14 Don’t Think Twice – Billy Bragg (Oct 1, 2006, The Triple Door, Seattle, WA)
15 Mama You’ve Been on My Mind – Jeff Buckley (Oct 11, 1992, WFMU, Orange, NJ)
16 Not Dark Yet – Mercury Rev (Apr 1, 2000, Zenith Cinerama, Tel Aviv, Israel)
17 Hard Times in New York – Cat Power (Jul 20, 2000, BBC Studio, London)
18 Medley: Tears of Rage/ Desolation Row/ Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues/It Takes a Lot to Laugh – Richard Thompson (Mar 4, 1992, Bottom Line, New York, NY)
19 I Wanna Be Your Lover – Blue Aeroplanes (Jul 3, 1993, Roskilde Festival, Denmark)
20 It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry – Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom (May 15, 1971, Newark State University, Union, NJ)