by Jochen Markhorst
In this series, we shine a spotlight on a thriving, fascinating, and polarizing fringe phenomenon within Dylanology: the semi-professional cover artist. And more specifically, on a veteran from the southern part of a small country on the North Sea: Jan Barten from Breda, the Netherlands.
Jan: “The track begins with Fons’ acoustic guitar accompanied by piano. In the background, we can hear the steel guitar played by guest guitarist Arnold Hoekstra. Then strings (an organ on the left, the Korg Ping Wave on the right), bass (finger bass from the Roland RD600) and drums (Roland TR-626 drum machine) all kick in simultaneously. Following a spacious piano solo and the final verse, there’s a powerful closing chord. All of this was recorded on the Roland VS-2400CD (as were all the tracks).”
A girlfriend of Dylan’s childhood friend Lou Kemp, a certain Martha, is said to have remarked to Dylan after hearing the demo recordings of “Forever Young”: “Are you getting mushy in your old age?”
It’s an apocryphal story and, at first glance, not particularly credible. This is set in November 1973, when Dylan had already been hardened for years and years by harsh, worldwide and often unfounded criticism; when he had already been booed by packed concert halls, dismissed at length in leading magazines and publicly called to account in songs by Baez, Bowie and others. It is, all in all, highly unlikely that a teasing pinprick from some silly little dimwit could have affected Dylan.
On the other hand, producer Fraboni also recounts that “Martha incident” and recalls his horror when, in the aftermath, Dylan decided to scrap the album’s highlight. Following Fraboni’s dismay, Dylan then decided to record at least a different, tougher version of “Forever Young” and eventually, after much wrangling, agreed to that strange – and in Dylan’s oeuvre, unique – compromise of putting both versions on the record. From that eyewitness account, it can therefore be concluded that the unknown girl managed to strike a chord, and that even Dylan himself wasn’t entirely comfortable with the mushiness of the song.
Which did not affect the song’s popularity, though. “Forever Young” is one of Dylan’s most covered songs, a favourite with fans and non-fans alike, and – despite that alleged embarrassment – features on Olof Björner’s list of songs that have been performed more than 500 times.
It is, of course, a charming, fragile song which, in every rendition by any artist, possesses a deeply moving power. Johnny Cash, Norah Jones, Eddie Vedder, The Pretenders, Deacon Blue… well, any true artist who manages to avoid pathos and melodrama hits the mark.
The song takes on a special, added dimension when the eternally young Pete Seeger, then aged ninety-two, contributes to Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honouring 50 Years of Amnesty International (2012). The producers had to travel to Seeger’s home in Beacon, New York, because the elderly singer wanted his choir of schoolchildren, The Rivertown Kids, to sing along. The recording, beautifully orchestrated, featuring the frail, sing-talking, elderly folk legend, may not be the most polished, but it is undeniably the most moving version of “Forever Young”. And a strong indication that the Fountain of Eternal Youth does not bubble up somewhere in Ethiopia, as Herodotus tried to make us believe, nor on the elusive island of Bimini, which the Spanish conquistadors were searching for, nor in Alexander the Great’s Land of Darkness, but must be found somewhere along the banks of the Hudson, near Beacon, New York.
Or perhaps in a small town in the south of the Netherlands: Jan Barten produces a remarkably clean version, but above all: whilst most covers opt for grandeur, solemnity and elegance, Jan manages to bring out the melancholic undertone. A faint reverberation, distant, drawn-out notes on the steel guitar, hesitant arpeggios on a warm piano – this is a storyteller who may well wish his child eternal youth, but who, above all, misses his own youth. May he find his Fountain of Eternal Youth.
To be continued. Next up Jan’s Take 13: From A Buick 6