by Jochen Markhorst
In this series, we shine a spotlight on a thriving, fascinating, and polarizing fringe phenomenon within Dylanology: the semi-professional cover artist. And more specifically, on a veteran from the southern part of a small country on the North Sea: Jan Barten from Breda, the Netherlands. (Links to the previous articles in this series are given at the end of this piece).
Jan: “We start with a drum roll featuring cymbals (played via the keys of the Roland RD 600) and then right away bring everything in: Wurly, organ, bass (all played on the Nord Stage) and electric rhythm guitar. After a few bars, the vocals complete the picture – once again powerfully sung by Fons Havermans – and we have a track with a strong, positive vibe. Plus a cheeky electric guitar solo to round it off.”
“Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” (1969) never quite made it to the very top. In a – fictional – list of the most covered Dylan songs, the track would probably hardly make the Top 30 – at best, it’s a decent mid-table entry. In 1969, almost immediately after the release of Nashville Skyline, the song’s soul potential was recognised by both Cher (on her finest LP, 3614 Jackson Highway) and Esther Williams.
And in 1972, Jeff Beck did his best to elevate the song to classic status with a spectacular soul/rock hybrid, but after that, things went quiet. Even the spectacular Rolling Thunder (1975–76) rendition of the song did not really lead to a widespread, general reappraisal of the song at the time. From the late 1970s, really only the 1979 version by British blues veteran Dave Kelly is worth mentioning. A rather unadventurous, country-style arrangement, but still – the first years following Rolling Thunder have little else to offer. Plus, it features a pleasantly nostalgic piano.
In the 1980s, the song remained just as obscure. Dylan himself never played it, and his peers also ignored “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”. With one exception: the energetic soul veteran Nappy Brown made a comeback in the 1980s following his glory years (he scored his biggest hits between 1954 and ’58). Following in the footsteps of Jeff Beck, Cher and Esther Williams, Nappy also recognised the song’s soul potential and recorded a catchy, swinging mid-tempo soul anthem for his strong album Tore Up (1984).
From 1990 onwards, Dylan began performing it himself again, at irregular intervals, and that, along with perhaps Albert Lee’s fairly successful cover version (1991), led to a steady resurgence in its popularity.
The song then appeared sporadically on the setlists of artists ranging from second-tier acts to top-flight performers throughout the 1990s, until Premier League star and Dylan disciple Jimmy LaFave fully revived it in 1999. Once again showcasing its blues potential, but above all – as usual – appealing for Jimmy’s husky, cracking vocals and his unique phrasing.
The successful film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity in 2000 seems, just as it does for “Most Of The Time” – which also features on the soundtrack – to have definitively thrown open the door; after 2000, “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” finally entered the canon. In all categories, too; among blues, country and rock artists, naturally. But also in jazz, in a somewhat safe, sultry, yet not unattractive rendition by Janet Planet.
And soul, especially soul – which usually yields some truly captivating covers, such as the delightful Ann Peebles, accompanied by the old master Allen Toussaint on piano in 2005 – demonstrating, in passing, why the veteran soul diva (“I Can’t Stand the Rain”) was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
The song’s resurgent popularity seems to have tempted even the die-hard Dylan fans from the Britpop band The Charlatans to record the only Dylan cover that Tim Burgess and his band of merry West Midlanders have ever done in the studio, producing one of the finest “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” covers of the twenty-first century. Carried by the exceptionally beautiful, driving Hammond organ, interspersed with elusive Madchester psychedelia, particularly in the bridge, and above all: Burgess’s irresistible, weirdly alluring back-and-forth yo-yoing between falsetto and tenor.
Still, its particular beauty is best showcased in a hybrid style, in a mash-up of rock, soul, blues and country, as Jeff Beck demonstrated half a century ago. For a next example of this winning formula, we must head to the European mainland, to a small town in the south of the Netherlands. In Breda, Jan Barten and Fons Havermans produce Dylan covers in which Muscle Shoals-style piano, funky guitar, driving Hammond organ, Kenny Buttrey-style drums and jazz-rock-style Steely Dan guitar solos create the perfect blend of Memphis, Nashville and New York. Demonstrating it in “One Of Us Must Know”, with brilliant, percussive Stevie Wonder-style keyboard work, in “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”, and perhaps the finest example is their “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”. With an – probably unintended, but still charming – echo of “Tell Me What You See” in the final second.
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To be continued. Next up Jan’s Take 9: You’re A Big Girl Now
Previously in the series
- Jan’s Take 1: It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
- Jan’s Take 2: It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Jan’s Take 3: 4th Time Around
- Jan’s Take 4: To Be Alone With You
- Jan’s Take 5: Ballad Of Hollis Brown
- Jan’s Take 6: I Want You
- Jan’s Take 7: I Pity The Poor Immigrant