A Dylan cover a Day: Peggy Day and Pledging my time

By Tony Attwood

Two songs today, because they come next to each other in the alphabetical order of Dylan songs and because in both cases cover versions are hard to find.   In the case of “Peggy Day,” this is a song for which I don’t think we’ve ever published a cover version – not even within Jochen’s five-part series on the song (there’s an index to the series at the top of part five).

And indeed with a little time on my hands before going out for my weekly walk with the Ramblers in the winter’s sunshine, I can only find one on the internet.

It’s a jolly bit of fun, which shows this is certainly a song that has cover possibilities – in terms of a second vocalist – the harmonies in the middle 8 are gorgeous as is the instrumental break.

The 1937 Flood

So that’s it, and even for me that seems a bit feeble for a complete article so I move on to the next song in the alphabetical order, which turned out to be just as problematic.

Pledging my time: Luther Johnson.

The problem with “Pledging” is that it is a dead straight 12 bar blues and for those who want to re-work Dylan there are so many other songs to try, why go for this one?  Here the band do a decent job, but in the end it is still as 12 bar blues.

By far, by far, by far +the best “Pledging” comes from Old Crowe Medicine Show, but it is one of their songs that they have not put on the internet.  However, it is on Spotify and really, really, really worth a listen.  They take it at full gallop, and by full gallop, I mean faster than you could ever imagine and then double the speed.   And then some.

If you have a Spotify subscription do go and listen to it.  I promise you will not go away disappointed – it is an absolute scream, played to perfection.   The whole song in under two minutes including the two instrumental breaks.

Glas Yngstrom

Back to the blues as blues, and it is, well, the blues.

Big Brass Bed

To be fair to this band they do try something a little different with the accompaniment which is well thought through and gives a far more relaxed, thoughtful approach which gives the listener time to contemplate the lyrics – perhaps for the first time in this sequence.   If one is going to approach this song as a straight blues, this is exactly how to do it.

There are plenty more versions if you want to go looking, but really I couldn’t find anything better.  It’s not that inspiring a song, so it does take a real bit of creative flair to get much more out of it… and I think if I were still in the music business, then once I had heard Old Crowe I would certainly be saying to the rest of the band, “First, we can’t do what they have done, and second even if we could we couldn’t do it that well, and third, having heard what Old Crowe did, what is the point of doing anything else?”

If you don’t want to pay for a Spotify subscription, then go and find a friend who has one.

The Dylan Cover a Day series

1. The song with numbers in the title.
2. Ain’t Talkin
3. All I really want to do
4.  Angelina
5.  Apple Suckling and Are you Ready.
6. As I went out one morning
7.  Ballad for a Friend
8. Ballad in Plain D
9. Ballad of a thin man
10.  Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
11. The ballad of Hollis Brown
12. Beyond here lies nothing
13. Blind Willie McTell
14.  Black Crow Blues (more fun than you might recall)
15. An unexpected cover of “Black Diamond Bay”
16. Blowin in the wind as never before
17. Bob Dylan’s Dream
18. You will not believe this… 115th Dream revisited
19. Boots of Spanish leather
20. Born in Time
21. Buckets of Rain
22. Can you please crawl out your window
23. Can’t wait
24. Changing of the Guard
25. Chimes of Freedom
26. Country Pie
27.  Crash on the Levee
28. Dark Eyes
29. Dear Landlord
30. Desolation Row as never ever before (twice)
31. Dignity.
32. Dirge
33. Don’t fall apart on me tonight.
34. Don’t think twice
35.  Down along the cove
36. Drifter’s Escape
37. Duquesne Whistle
38. Farewell Angelina
39. Foot of Pride and Forever Young
40. Fourth Time Around
41. From a Buick 6
42. Gates of Eden
43. Gotta Serve Somebody
44. Hard Rain’s a-gonna Fall.
45. Heart of Mine
46. High Water
47. Highway 61
48. Hurricane
49. I am a lonesome hobo
50. I believe in you
51. I contain multitudes
52. I don’t believe you.
53. I love you too much
54. I pity the poor immigrant. 
55. I shall be released
56. I threw it all away
57. I want you
58. I was young when I left home
59. I’ll remember you
60. Idiot Wind and  More idiot wind
61. If not for you, and a rant against prosody
62. If you Gotta Go, please go and do something different
63. If you see her say hello
64. Dylan cover a day: I’ll be your baby tonight
65. I’m not there.
66. In the Summertime, Is your love and an amazing Isis
67. It ain’t me babe
68. It takes a lot to laugh
69. It’s all over now Baby Blue
70. It’s all right ma
71. Just Like a Woman
72. Knocking on Heaven’s Door
73. Lay down your weary tune
74. Lay Lady Lay
75. Lenny Bruce
76. That brand new leopard skin pill box hat
77. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
78. License to kill
79. Like a Rolling Stone
80. Love is just a four letter word
81. Love Sick
82. Maggies Farm!
83. Make you feel my love; a performance that made me cry.
84. Mama you’ve been on my mind
85. Man in a long black coat.
86. Masters of War
87. Meet me in the morning
88. Million Miles. Listen, and marvel.
89. Mississippi. Listen, and marvel (again)
90. Most likely you go your way
91. Most of the time and a rhythmic thing
92. Motorpsycho Nitemare
93. Mozambique
94. Mr Tambourine Man
95. My back pages, with a real treat at the end
96. New Morning
97. New Pony. Listen where and when appropriate
98. Nobody Cept You
99. North Country Blues
100. No time to think
101. Obviously Five Believers
102. Oh Sister
103. On the road again
104. One more cup of coffee
105. (Sooner or later) one of us must know
106. One too many mornings
107. Only a hobo
108. Only a pawn in their game
109. Outlaw Blues – prepare to be amazed
110. Oxford Town