By Tony Attwood
Over the years we have put on this site one or two recordings created by readers who have been performing Dylan songs. Often these have been songs that Dylan himself hasn’t performed, or indeed their own arrangement of a Dylan song.
I would like to pull this together and have a section of this site which is dedicated to such performances. The items, which can either be audio files or audio+video, and can be any of the following:
a) A cover of a Dylan song, which adds something to Dylan’s original
b) A recording of a Dylan song, which Dylan has not recorded.
c) A recording of a song that you have composed which emerges in some way from your interaction with Dylan’s music. So not necessarily a cover – it could be a completely new song but one which has in a way been influenced by Dylan. You don’t have to explain how or why, as long as you feel that there is something “Dylan” within the song, that’s fine.
Now I must admit I have no idea where this notion is going to take us. If I end up with some items which very few members of our audience listen to, then I’ll abandon the idea, but if people listen, and some people like what they hear, then fine.
To the audience, I would say, if I do get any submissions these are likely to be from amateur performers, naturally, and so I would ask those listening and looking to keep in mind that there is no connection between an amateur performing on his or her own in a home recording environment, with a piece performed by a professional musician in a professional studio.
Thus I would like to see respect from the viewing / listening audience for the fact that these amateur performers have put themselves on the line by offering their work for a wider audience. To help this, I will be ensuring that the phrase “Dylan Showcase” is used along with a note stating that this is not a professional recording.
I’m doing this because I’ve worked in the creative arts all my life, and I know how hard it is to get any exposure for one’s art. I’m not saying that record company producers will be queuing up to look and see what we’ve got, but I just have the feeling we might come across something interesting.
So if you would like to send me a recording with the right for me to put it up on this site, please email it to Tony@schools.co.uk. It can be a link to a youtube site, or a recording as an mp3 or mp4 file.
Tony Attwood
Publisher, Untold Dylan
What else is on the site?
We have a very lively discussion group “Untold Dylan” on Facebook with over 3400 active members. (Try imagining a place where it is always safe and warm). Just type the phrase “Untold Dylan” in, on your Facebook page or follow this link
You’ll find some notes about our latest posts arranged by themes and subjects on the home page of this site. You can also see details of our main sections on this site at the top of this page under the picture.
The index to all the 598 Dylan compositions and co-compositions that we have found on the A to Z page.
If you are interested in Dylan’s work from a particular year or era, your best place to start is Bob Dylan year by year.
On the other hand if you would like to write for this website, or indeed have an idea for a series of articles that the regular writers might want to have a go at, please do drop a line with details of your idea, or if you prefer, a whole article to Tony@schools.co.uk
And please do note our friends at The Bob Dylan Project, which lists every Dylan song in alphabetical order, and has links to licensed recordings and performances by Dylan and by other artists, plus links back to our reviews (which we do appreciate).