Tune du Jour: “Big Yellow Taxi” – Joni Mitchell
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: Keb Mo vs. Bob Dylan vs. Nena
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The Original
Joni Mitchell:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Keb Mo vs. Bob Dylan vs. Nena
Keb Mo:
Bob Dylan:
Nena:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On!??!
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
cover me impressed 
I like the harder edge to the Nena version
I like the harder edge to the Nena version
Timeless song.
Brother, Frank, introduced me to Keb Mo. Said he was somewhat reminiscent of Ted Hawkins. So naturally I was intrigued and ended up liking what I found. Here he offers a simple and alluring cover of the song. If you like his sound, then check out his “I’ll Be Your Water”. Beautiful song.
Dylan does what he always does, delivers a superb product. I did not realize until I started researching earlier this year how many songs that Dylan covered. I found a semi-punk cover on youtube of “You Are My Sunshine” that is attributed to Bob. It blew me away. I thought, damn does this guy have range and the foresight to see where music was heading was amazing. I was quite excited about putting it on the blog. Further research revealed that it was actually Screeching Weasel and whoever posted it, along with a nice picture of Bob playing guitar, was just messing around. Kinda still worth giving it a listen.
I have been impressed with pretty much every cover that I have heard from Nena. Love her voice. Nicely done sped-up version here.
Ended up going with Keb.
We’ve had a couple of Nena songs on the blog that have been decent, and have exceeded expectations. All I knew by her was her big hit from the eighties (although two versions got air play).
That particular Dylan cover wasn’t bad, but I recall being disappointed with that album when I first bought it decades ago, so I’ll hold that against him and vote Keb Mo.
I like everything I’ve heard from Keb Mo, but if I were to compare him to another artist, I’d be more likely to say Taj Mahal.
I’m pretty sure Dylan never expected this version to see the light of day. He was in a weird spot when he released Self Portrait, called by one the major critics of the day possibly the worst album produced by a major artist. It had to be on purpose, right? It was like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music a little later. Prank? Columbia got him back into the studio to quickly rebound with New Morning which featured The Man In Me that The Big Lebowski resurrected and If Not For You but was otherwise a modest album. He moved to Asylum the new Geffen label then Columbia pissed off that he owed them a record released outtakes from these sessions. The dregs of the dregs. That is where this cover comes from. Nena does a really fresh take on this. Sexy vocal. Exuberant and fun. Worthy of a vote but I liked Keb Mo even Mo. So sweet and easy with that amazing voice mellow in the right places and playful at the end just like Joni.
I’ve always liked this song. I thought for sure you’d include Counting Crows’s version here, which I like as well. I have to say, I’ve always just dismissed Nena as a silly one-hit wonder band, but I was very impressed with this version, so much so that they got my vote. I did like the other covers, too, including the one by that Dylan guy. With a voice like that, I’m not sure he has much of a career ahead of him, but at least he picked a song by a good songwriter.