Tune du Jour: “One More Cup of Coffee” – Bob Dylan
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli vs. Roger McGuinn & Calexico vs. Big Fish Ensemble vs. The White Stripes
VOTE, COMMENT, then DO SOMETHING NICE FOR YOURSELF
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A Pete Black Request …
The Original
That’s Emmylou Harris doing harmonies (one YouTube video mistakenly credits Joan Baez 🙂 )
Bob Dylan:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli vs. Roger McGuinn & Calexico vs. Big Fish Ensemble vs. The White Stripes
Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli:
Roger McGuinn & Calexico:
Big Fish Ensemble:
The White Stripes:
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 
Such an interesting and different kind of spiritual song. Wonderful!
Steve’s vocals and Lucia’s fantastic violin are spot-on. Tremendous cover!
From the excellent film, I’m Not There, Roger and Calexico choose to use the trumpet as the dominant instrument along with guitar, accordion, cello and keyboards. Different take but excellent all the same.
As you all know by now, Big Fish Ensemble is my favorite Atlanta band never to make it. Extremely talented, excellent original material and well chosen covers, highly creative and loads of fun! Always loved Sheila’s classical violin’s touch in a rock band. Here she soars, as she always did.
My admiration for Jack White continues to grow with each scathing rebuke of the madness that is trump. Jack’s amazing vocals stand out in this piece. I love it but the lack of a violin saddens me.
All beautifully, endlessly enjoyable, reverent tributes. As I have said in many posts, I could have voted for any one of these tracks (Duh, I am the one choosing the contestants!). For whatever reason, went with Steve Earle and Lucia Micarelli.
One of my favorite Dylan songs which makes it one of my favorites by anyone. The lyrics are so poetic and cinematic. They insinuate but leave so much room for the imagination. The fiddle, the harmony vocal, the Arabic sounding melody. I don’t know that anyone can sing this better than Dylan. All four vying for the vote brought strong efforts. Big Fish was my second favorite. Vocals were good and they changed leads, Sheila’s fiddle sounds great but the final minute plus with the slow fade out was exquisite. The plucked strings like cacti evoking a hot desert feel. The horns and mariachi approach of Calexico work well as I could just see horses pulling up to the camp. Steve Earle did a fine job with a version featuring mandolin and a soaring fiddle. I expected Lucia Micarelli to have more of an impact. Perhaps it was her musicianship as well as some vocal harmonies. I went with the White Stripes striped down electric version. Jack keeps Dylan’s wavering, keening vocal and there is definitely an edge to the proceedings. A sense of foreboding. What is it that awaits in the valley below. The vocal is ghostly. It definitely seems like he knows something and it’s probably not good.
Steve Earle and Roger McGuinn are two of my favorite artists, but I didn’t know either of them covered this.
Turns out Earle’s version is from the 2012 compilation Chimes of Freedom, which is seventy-something songs over four discs. I remember when this came out, and a facebook friend recommended it, but I never bought or heard it myself.
McGuinn’s version is from the soundtrack to the 2007 film I’m Not There. I saw the film at the theater when it came out, but never bought the soundtrack. The soundtrack has thirty-four songs over two discs, and I figured there had to be many tracks that didn’t appear in the film, as often is the case. Wikipedia says “Fragments from less than half of the titles are heard in the film”.
Steve Earle gets the vote today, although I don’t know Lucia Micarelli. Good violin.
As for the original, any fan of Emmylou Harris can recognize her voice, no need for confusion on that one.