By Tony Attwood
“Silvio” is one of those songs that sounds to me as if it ought to make a great cover version, and yet, somehow no one has managed to break away from the boundary that Dylan himself placed around the song.
That boundary is the constantly repeated chord sequence with its inherent rhythm. For what we get are the chords, G F C G, G F C G, over and over and over again. It is in effect a straight jacket from which no one has truly managed to break free.
But perhaps the best attempt is from Grayson Capps who manages to replace the dominance of that chord sequence by giving the percussion a major part to play. Indeed most of the time the sequence is no more than hinted at – and so we really do get a new version, rather than just a re-run of the original.
For me this really works, and truly did deserve its place on the Dylan in the 80s collection. I do hope you have time to play it through to the end – the last 20 seconds are unexpected and a nice bit of fun.
Shane Howard however takes us back to that dominant bass and the chords that it demands. The harmonica helps, but so determined is the bass that there can be no escape from the song’s origins. It’s a nice listen, but as much as the band works, and as much as a bass player adds in some decent improvisations, and again as much as the harmonica player works, it is still that same chord sequence, over and over.
Suicide Seven however let their bass player go for a meander and add a whole raft of effects and variations. As a result I guess this is very much a matter of taste. Although they do have some fun, as suddenly the guitarist stops half way through a verse and then comes back again – all for reasons I can’t really discern. And maybe that’s the point: there doesn’t have to be a reason.
But I’m not really sure I can understand where all this is going, or come to that where it has come from, as the Dylan original gets more and more lost inside the variations, sudden changes, variations on the variations, and well, just about anything. It’s one of those versions that I am glad I have listened to, for the experience, but I really have no desire to listen to again,
And just in case you are wondering, yes, it does finish just after three minutes, as far as I know. After that it is another song.
Pasaria Colibri is the name of the band, “Oameni buni” is Romanian for “folks” (according to the online dictionary). According to Wiki Pasărea Colibri means “The Humingbird”. And they are a Romanian folk supergroup. “Aside from typical Romanian folk instruments and acoustic/electric guitars, the band also made use of digital and analogue synthesizers, pedal steel guitars, and fretless bass.”
I don’t really know, but it’s a bit of fun, and quite likable as least for one play through. Not sure I would want to go back. But then I’m not Romanian, so that’s probably very unfair.
The Dylan Cover a Day series
- The song with numbers in the title.
- Ain’t Talkin
- All I really want to do
- Angelina
- Apple Suckling and Are you Ready.
- As I went out one morning
- Ballad for a Friend
- Ballad in Plain D
- Ballad of a thin man
- Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
- The ballad of Hollis Brown
- Beyond here lies nothing
- Blind Willie McTell
- Black Crow Blues (more fun than you might recall)
- An unexpected cover of “Black Diamond Bay”
- Blowin in the wind as never before
- Bob Dylan’s Dream
- BoB Dylan’s 115th Dream revisited
- Boots of Spanish leather
- Born in Time
- Buckets of Rain
- Can you please crawl out your window
- Can’t wait
- Changing of the Guard
- Chimes of Freedom
- Country Pie
- Crash on the Levee
- Dark Eyes
- Dear Landlord
- Desolation Row as never ever before (twice)
- Dignity.
- Dirge
- Don’t fall apart on me tonight.
- Don’t think twice
- Down along the cove
- Drifter’s Escape
- Duquesne Whistle
- Farewell Angelina
- Foot of Pride and Forever Young
- Fourth Time Around
- From a Buick 6
- Gates of Eden
- Gotta Serve Somebody
- Hard Rain’s a-gonna Fall.
- Heart of Mine
- High Water
- Highway 61
- Hurricane
- I am a lonesome hobo
- I believe in you
- I contain multitudes
- I don’t believe you.
- I love you too much
- I pity the poor immigrant.
- I shall be released
- I threw it all away
- I want you
- I was young when I left home
- I’ll remember you
- Idiot Wind and More idiot wind
- If not for you, and a rant against prosody
- If you Gotta Go, please go and do something different
- If you see her say hello
- Dylan cover a day: I’ll be your baby tonight
- I’m not there.
- In the Summertime, Is your love and an amazing Isis
- It ain’t me babe
- It takes a lot to laugh
- It’s all over now Baby Blue
- It’s all right ma
- Just Like a Woman
- Knocking on Heaven’s Door
- Lay down your weary tune
- Lay Lady Lay
- Lenny Bruce
- That brand new leopard skin pill box hat
- Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
- License to kill
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Love is just a four letter word
- Love Sick
- Maggies Farm!
- Make you feel my love; a performance that made me cry.
- Mama you’ve been on my mind
- Man in a long black coat.
- Masters of War
- Meet me in the morning
- Million Miles. Listen, and marvel.
- Mississippi. Listen, and marvel (again)
- Most likely you go your way
- Most of the time and a rhythmic thing
- Motorpsycho Nitemare
- Mozambique
- Mr Tambourine Man
- My back pages, with a real treat at the end
- New Morning
- New Pony. Listen where and when appropriate
- Nobody Cept You
- North Country Blues
- No time to think
- Obviously Five Believers
- Oh Sister
- On the road again
- One more cup of coffee
- (Sooner or later) one of us must know
- One too many mornings
- Only a hobo
- Only a pawn in their game
- Outlaw Blues – prepare to be amazed
- Oxford Town
- Peggy Day and Pledging my time
- Please Mrs Henry
- Political world
- Positively 4th Street
- Precious Angel
- Property of Jesus
- Queen Jane Approximately
- Quinn the Eskimo as it should be performed.
- Quit your lowdown ways
- Rainy Day Women as never before
- Restless Farewell. Exquisite arrangements, unbelievable power
- Ring them bells in many different ways
- Romance in Durango, covered and re-written
- Sad Eyed Lady of Lowlands, like you won’t believe
- Sara
- Senor
- A series of Dreams; no one gets it (except Dylan)
- Seven Days
- She Belongs to Me
- Shelter from the Storm
- Sign on the window