Ahead of his gig in the 3Arena tonight, we’re looking back on five times other people stole the 2016 Nobel Laureate’s thunder.
Bob Dylan plays Dublin’s 3Arena on Thursday night, giving Irish fans another chance to see the greatest songwriter of them all up close and personal.
For almost 60 years, Dylan has been writing and performing some of the most important songs in the history of popular music.
Never the greatest vocalist, his voice often thin and reedy, some of his best work has shone brightest through the performances of others…
1. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
The Guns N’ Roses single shot to the top of the Irish charts in June 1992, with the Los Angeles quintet showing that blues rock was far from dead. To modern ears, this is the song that comes to mind when you mention visiting God’s gaff, but Dylan actually wrote the song in 1973, for the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Though his version reached No. 12 in America, we can’t help but prefer Axl Rose’s roaring chorus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tmc8rJgxUI
2. Make You Feel My Love
Long before Adele and a host of others brought this song to a global audience, Mr. Zimmerman cut a 1997 blues version. It was notably covered by Billy Joel and Drumcondra’s most hated man, Garth Brooks.
3. All Along The Watchtower
The best guitarist of all time and the greatest songwriter of all time was always going to be a decent combination.
Less than a year after Dylan released All Along The Watchtower in 1967, Jimi Hendrix released his era-defining version, brimming with energy and the roar of generational rebellion.
4. Mr. Tambourine Man
California rockers The Byrds, one of the leading bands of the 1960s, got their breakout hit from Dylan, reaching No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. A definitive example of the folk rock explosion in the late 60s, Dylan cites 8½ director Federico Fellini as an influence for the lyrics.
5. Wagon Wheel (sort of)
When the Old Crow Medicine Show were searching for something new, multi-instrumentalist band member Keith Secor found an old bootleg discarded by Dylan when he was writing for Pat Garrett in 1973. Expanding on the lyrics Dylan had written, the result would become a huge hit, being covered years later by Darius Rucker and redefining the drunken culchie party piece.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
