Covers in Depth: Boots of Spanish Leather (part 1)

Covers of Boots of Spanish Leather

by Jürg Lehmann

A list of previous articles in the “Covers we Missed” series is given at the end.  The blue links in the article will also take you to recordings.

There is a vast number of covers of this song, many of them are beautifully presented and exquisitely executed. Most of the arrangements are characterised by their simplicity and restraint. Which is the best and most beautiful therefore depends very much on personal taste.

Shortly after the release, several of the usual suspects jumped on the bandwagon. Linda Mason in 1964, The Silkie and Dorinda Duncan in 1965, Richie Havens and Joan Baez in 1968, Dan McCafferty in 1975.

 In the 90s the song had finally crossed that lonesome ocean. Valerio Billeri, singer-songwriter from Rome, with more than 10 albums to his credit, is passionate about folk, rock and blues music, his repertoire ranges from ballads à la Fabrizio De André to Nick Cave. His compositions mix different influences, ranging from Mediterranean folk sounds to American folk music, including delta blues, while also absorbing suggestions from northern Europe. Today, Billeri specialises in demanding productions, including soundtracks with texts by Italian poets. Boots of Spanish Leather from 1991 was one of his first recordings.

From the gentle Mediterranean sounds of Valerio Billeri to the Irish Dubliners, the leap could hardly be greater. The Dubliners formed in 1962, and they soon were regulars on the folk scenes in both Dublin and London in the early ‘60s. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-year career, but the group’s success was centred on lead singers Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew. The Dubliners became well known, not just in Ireland, but also as pioneers for Irish folk in Europe and (though less successful) in the United States. They influenced many generations of Irish bands and their legacy can to this day be heard in the music of artists such as The Pogues. They also gained popularity amongst famous musicians such as DylanRoy OrbisonJimi Hendrix, who were all self-proclaimed Dubliners fans. Boots of Spanish Leather is from the 1992 double album 30 Years A-Greying.

Nanci Griffith performed Boots of Spanish Leather with Carolyn Hester at Dylan’s star-studded 30th Anniversary Concert in 1992. He liked it enough to add his own harmonica to Griffith’s studio version, released the next year on her signature covers record Other Voices, Other Rooms. Griffith plays ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’ completely straight, laying bare the song’s heartbreak and agony by letting the song speak for itself, praises the Rolling Stone magazine.

 Ida is an American indie rock band from New York City. They are known for their sparse, minimal, often quiet arrangements, but there are also avant-garde and experimental aspects to their sound. The band began in 1991, and their second album, 1996’s I Know About You, received much critical acclaim from the independent music press. Ida’s touring earned them a devoted following of listeners, and the attention of both the press and major labels. In 1998 they contributed their Boots of Spanish Leather cover to the Sister Ruby tribute album The Times They Are a-Changin’. Ida have released around a dozen albums before they unofficially went on hiatus in 2010, having never played live since, but reformed in 2023 for a show in Los Angeles.

Renowned Australian folksingers Ruth Hazleton&Kate Burke came up with one the first duets of Boots of Spanish Leather in 2000, what actually seems appropriate for this song. Unfortunately, the two female voices are almost indistinguishable from each other, which detracts considerably from the effect.

During his long career, English guitarist and folk singer Martin Simpson has repeatedly recorded Dylan songs. Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather was released in 2001 on A Nod to Bob: An Artists’ Tribute to Bob Dylan on His 60th Birthday, an album with an array of great covers. Simpson talked about his Spanish Boots version in an interview with Tradfolk magazine for his 70th birthday:

That’s one of my favourite arrangements I ever did in my entire life. I learned that song when I was 15, probably, and I sang it and played it like Dylan. The way Dylan used the guitar on that was old-fashioned, kind of thumb and fingers kind of picking – beautifully done, lovely chordal harmonisation and stuff – but when I arranged this I was going through a period during which I refused to play that style. I’d just go miles out of my way to avoid playing regular American fingerpicking. My arrangement is a very odd piece of guitar playing, actually. It’s got a break in it, which is almost classical in construction, in a way. It took me months of working to get that arrangement to the point where I could play and sing it. And it’s another one where I can pull time forever.

 Coming from an eclectic family of classic New York personalities working as taxi drivers, SoHo artists, musicians and even a jailbird or two, Julia emerged from it all a sensitive badass who rides vintage Triumph motorcycles and sings with smouldering expressivity. 

From Julia Haltigan’s self-description on her website, you wouldn’t necessarily expect her to be keen on covering a sad, romantic song like Spanish Boots. Haltigan has written and released several records under her name, many of her songs pay tribute to the street-tough poetics and gritty rock n’ roll of Big Apple icons like Television, Blondie, Suicide and Lou Reed. Nevertheless, she took on Spanish Boots for the 2002 tribute album Listen to Bob Dylan. And she did radically, but not by transforming it into gritty rock ‘n’ roll, as one might expect. Rather, she recites the song, slowing it down to the limit of possibility. Stretching Dylan’s original from 4 and a half to over 7 minutes sounds like a rather strange experiment – but you can trust Julia Haltigan.

Born in Santa Barbara, Julie Felix gained her love of music and connection to the land from her parents, who both had Native American blood. Her mother, an American with Welsh heritage, often sang the ballads of Burl Ives, while her father Lorenzo was a Mexican mariachi ensemble musician, who played guitar and accordion. In 1962 she travelled with the guitar her father had given her and a friend across to Europe. On the bohemian Greek island of Hydra she met Canadian Leonard Cohen, where he was living with his muse, Marianne. They became friends, he would borrow her guitar, and she helped him turn his poems into songs. She spent two years hitchhiking across Europe, hanging out with musicians, and playing in bars. When she eventually arrived in the UK, Julie was ‘discovered’ by David Frost. After featuring on Frost’s satirical show (she sang That’s No Way To Say Goodbye with Cohen, who made his TV debut), she got her own primetime show on BBC ‘Once More With Felix’, the first broadcast in colour on TV.

In 1964, even the British record label ‘Decca Records’ didn’t know whether to place her debut album in the classical folk category or take the risk in marketing her music as ‘pop’ and mainstream. It was eventually decided she was a pop singer. Felix quickly became a household name, TV star and Top Twenty recording artist. Despite her Californian accent, and even though she sang the songs of Americans Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Paul Simon, she was claimed as ‘Britain’s answer to Joan Baez’. In 2002, Felix recorded a double album of Bob Dylan’s songs, Starry Eyed and Laughing, including her version of Boots of Spanish Leather. Julie Felix passed away in 2020; she is also remembered for her endeavours as a humanitarian and activist, dating back to her involvement in the peace movement singing protest songs.

Elsewhere in the “Covers we missed” series…

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