The Covers We Missed: Blowin’ in the Wind (part 1)

By Jürg Lehmann

Blowin’ in the Wind is one of the Bob Dylan songs that was first released by another artist. The circumstances surrounding the first recordings and releases are somewhat confusing, involving several people appearing as protagonists.

The first artist to cover ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ was Bobby Darin, who recorded his version of the track weeks after Dylan created the original in Columbia Recording Studios. Remarkably, Dylan’s recording of the track wasn’t officially released for almost a year after he got it down on tape, and it’s unknown how it ended up in the hands of Darin. Although, Darin also didn’t share the track until 1963, when the singer included it on his album, Golden Folk Hits.

The first musicians to release a version of the song was the Chad Mitchell Trio, who released it on their album, Chad Mitchell Trio in Action, which came out in early 1963 (Bob Dylan himself released it second, in May 1963 on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.)

Mitchell’s record company didn’t dare to release it on single, being hesitant about the use of the word death in the song. Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman took advantage of that misjudgement. His troupe of artists also included the successful Peter, Paul and Mary and that trio released their cover just three weeks after Dylan. It became a huge hit that landed at number two in the Billboard Chart. Dylan, though, at least performed the song on TV before anyone else, in March of 1963.

So there you go, Bobby Darin was the earliest to record the song, the Chad Mitchell Trio released the first cover and Peter, Paul and Mary released the first single and made it a hit. The trio then continued to perform Blowin’ in the Wind for decades, with one of the last recordings dating from 2017.

No track by Bob Dylan has been covered more often than ‘Blowin’ In the Wind’, it has been recorded by hundreds of artists since its original release and that’s without calling out on-stage covers. The song has been translated into more than 20 languages and there are cover versions in practically every genre, including performances by opera stars.

Unfortunately, the sheer number of covers doesn’t mean there are lots of great new versions out there. Listening to all these covers can be pretty painful. Many of them are basically the same, and they lack imagination, emotion and depth and even worse, some stage kitschy pathos. But we’ll have to deal with this, Dylan’s song is part of the cultural common property.

As Jochen Markhorst puts it: “Blowin’ In The Wind’ is what the Mona Lisa is to Da Vinci, Sonnet 18 (‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’) to Shakespeare, the Symphony No. 9 in D minor to Beethoven and The Thinker to Rodin – not necessarily the best work of a genius artist, but the best known, the work that immortalises the artist. ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ is an art transcending masterpiece that elevates and connects people, which is quoted by judges, popes and presidents and will still be sung by our great-grandchildren.”

The obvious quality of the song, the acclaim from Peter, Paul and Mary and the promotion by Joan Baez launched the career of young Dylan. A few months later, he was already the undisputed crown prince of the folk community. At the Newport Festival in July 1963, Dylan was joined on stage by Peter, Paul and Mary and Joan Baez. Together they sang Blowin’ in the Wind.

Meanwhile, Blowin’ in the Wind attracted many other colleagues. In 1963 alone, the song was covered 24 times. In 1963 alone, the song was covered 20 times. In 1964, 22 times, in 1965, 23 times, and in 1966, 25 times. The list of performers reads like a who’s who of the most famous artists of the time including, to name just a few:

The Staple Singers (1963), Odetta (1963), The Kingston Trio (1963), Jackie De Shannon (1963), The Bee Gees (1963), Linda Mason (who released the first ever album exclusively with Dylan covers in 1964.)

I don’t think any of these contributions really developed Dylan’s song further, let alone reinvented it. The inflation of covers was relentless. Cher (1965) jumped on and Bobby Bare (1965), Marlene Dietrich (1965) recorded a German version of the song (titled “Die Antwort weiss ganz allein der Wind”), Johnny Mathis soon joined (1965), Chuck Jackson (1966), and even Elvis Presley was tempted to cover the song, he did a recording in 1966 at his home in Hollywood wherein he played the piano (released in 1997), but then decided against it – for whatever reason.

‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ was raging around the world by then and had already left a crater in the United States, Jochen Markhorst writes in an interesting article. The black community also picks up the song, probably in part due to the gospel undertones of the melody. It contributes to the unifying, universal power of the song – apart from the non-specific, poetic vagueness of the lyrics, the chosen music also has a race- and culture-transcending quality…Black artists, and not the leasts, put the song on the repertoire. It motivates one of the greatest names, Sam Cooke, to write that other hymn of the civil rights movement, ‘A Chance Is Gonna Come’, the song that shortly after Cooke’s premature death in December ’64 will reach mythical significance. In his biography Peter Guralnick reconstructs the influence of ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ on Sam Cooke: ‘When he first heard that song Sam was so carried away with the message, and the fact that a white boy had written it, that . . . he was almost ashamed not to have written something like that himself.”

Cooke introduced ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ to his live set upon hearing it and he put his own easy-swinging spin on the song.

The amazement that a white boy can write something like this, Sam Cooke shares with Stevie Wonder. During the ’60s, young Stevie Wonder was strongly engaged with political and social issues. His mentor and assigned producer Clarence Paul sung him “Blowin’ in the Wind” and Stevie began performing the song in concert. One time Wonder couldn’t remember the second verse and Paul appeared on stage coaching him. Stevie decided that Paul would duet with him every time he sang the song. After performing it for two years, the audience demand grew to the point that Wonder had to record his cover. As a Stevie Wonder/Clarence Paul duet, “Blowin’ in the Wind” went to number one in R&B charts in the summer of 1966. Though, according to Stevie, the real achievement was that a white folk protest song could penetrate deep into the black neighbourhoods of a big city. On the occasion of the 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at the Madison Square Garden in 1992, Stevie made another memorable appearance with Blowin’ in the Wind.

The Covers of Blowing in the Wind will continue in the next episode.

Previously in the “Covers we missed” series…

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