A Dylan cover a day: “What was it you wanted?” From soulful soul to bouncy bounce

By Tony Attwood

Bob only gave “What was it you wanted?” 22 outings on the Tour, and yet as the cover versions below show there is a lot in the song that an inventive musician can play with. Is it to be soulful, secretive, accusatory, even a trifle amusing in parts… however you see the song you can make it into something new.

Willie Nelson takes the song with a lot of reverence to Bob’s original as you might expect, not least because from the last news I heard the two old timers are playing together on the Outlaw Music Festival Tour this year.

Thus this version pays total respect to Bob’s original, including even the details of the harmonica part. The vocal is fractionally more delicate and there are a few more twists in the background music, but in essence this is a copy of what Bob laid down. There are some guitar variations at the end, but they almost seem like doing something different just for the sake of it. You’d buy this if you are a Willie Nelson devotee, but if you are a Dylan fan, you’ve pretty much already got it.

Chris Smither however gives us some interesting guitar work at the start and a really offbeat but very light percussion from the beginning, which gives me a greater sense of time passing in its regular manner. As a result this is all about the atmosphere which is in fact the essence of the song. Although I know the song inside out, hearing this did bring back the magic of the lyrics… that puzzlement and uncertainty of the situation.

Indeed it is very easy to lose the thoughts behind these lyrics as the singer loses track not only of what was wanted but who the person is that he is confronting. This version re-finds that spookiness and delivers it as the main part of the message. There is also a gorgeous background to the last few seconds that leaves me with a shiver.

Roli Frei and the Soulful Desert

Here we get a very laid back opening to the point of almost being hidden which looks to take the atmosphere even further. And indeed it really works, while keeping the guitar effects quiet and in the background until the “somebody looking” verse where the singer expresses the anger in the lyrics very successfully, I felt. Indeed this sort of contrast is harder to do than you might imagine.

Same again with the middle 8 – he takes it right up but then successfully brings it back down. It’s a version I will need to play several times to get the full measure of, but on the first run through I have to say I’ve really enjoyed this.

The Lucky Losers

It is a shock to move away from Roli Frei to this version. Yet the harmonies of the vocals really do work for me – I suppose in part because in listening to Roli Frei I felt it wasn’t really possible to take the mystery approach any further. And here are a couple who haven’t tried, but have gone in the opposite direction.

And this is a major part of the joy of Dylan covers… the songs have so much in them they can be re-worked in all sorts of ways. I must admit I would never have thought of an approach like this in a million years, but it is fun.

Now I must admit part of the fun comes from having listened to the cover versions above first, and I really needed to be taken up and out of the gloom. That this version comes next is pure chance – I’ve put them here in the order of finding the recordings, nothing more sophisticated than that. But sometimes serendipity works.

I love the “who are you anyway” in this version. It gives a totally new thought about the whole piece.

Bettye LaVette featuring Trombone Shorty

Bettye Lavette has sung so much Dylan we can always be sure that she knows the song and its context and has given a lot of thought to how approach the piece. Here she uses her voice to give a new extra layer of uncertainty and the anger that uncertainty can bring.

There are some lovely unexpected elements in the accompaniment. Indeed if you can, take your mind away from her voice and listen to exactly what is happening behind her. And even if not, just focus on the fact that we now have a trombone playing a solo. Whoever would have thought of that for this song? Certainly not me. If someone had said that I’d have said “Noooo” in no uncertain terms, but within the context of this total re-write it works.

It’s a version that is full of surprises and no less enjoyable for that. I’m not sure I’m going to come back to it, but I’m glad I found it.

Stef Kamil Carlens and the Gates of Eden

Now we are back to where we started with the mystery, and as can happen with these articles I feel almost overloaded by the song by the time I get to the end. This is a fairly standard interpretation, taking the music and lyrics as they are, and letting the instrumentalists add their bits and pieces behind.

But I think I’m a bit overwhelmed by all that has gone before, and maybe if I came back to this version in a few days without hearing the other editions first, I’d get more out of it. Which is of course the problem with the series and this style of writing while I listen to the music. It helps me to get down my first impressions but maybe loses some perspective.

However, the addition of the chorus in the latter parts of the song really did make me think. It might have been interesting to give the organ a break sometimes, but still, it’s enjoyable and another insight. And do stay with this to take in the instrumental section at the end. It’s worth it.

Previously in the series

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