Monday, August 13, 2012

Dylan Cover #53 Duran Duran "Lay Lady Lay"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by Duran Duran playing "Lay Lady Lay"

Thoughts on Original:
My thoughts from when we tackled a different cover of this one:  Excellent track and the first time the world heard Dylan's new singing style, which would only last for Nashville Skyline.  This song is the standout track from this album, it is a classic and so simple, yet sweet and timeless.  One of Dylan's best tracks, the closest to country he ever got and an fantastic piece of music.   
Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
Duran Duran broke big in music a few years before I really started listneing to things, hence they always struck me as my older sisters friends band...most new wave acts fit that bill.  I never dug their style or substance except for their big hits.  "Rio" is a decent track and "Hungry Like A Wolf" is by far their best song...then again I am not a huge fan and someone should feel free to correct me if I am wrong.    

Thoughts on Cover:
Woof.  Surprisingly this one was done in the early/mid 90's and appeared on Duran Duran's  Thank You album but it still has all the trappings of early 80's cheese. The almost Caribbean sounding keyboards are bizarre when the track starts.  The one thing that I found interesting was the loud/quite dynamic, and Simon Le Bon's singing in the chorus.  Other then that the song some how manages pulling off being overly dramatic and boring...Not the best combination for a cover.

Grade: D-   

Wilson's Take:

Janasie's Take:
 

7 comments:

  1. my sister was/is a huge fan of these misfits. Funniest thing about this band is that they had to teach the bass player how to play the songs before going on tour. He had no idea how to play, so they taught him the songs and rolled him out for his looks. Says all you need to know about their "music".
    Ceez

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  2. Ha! Doesn't speak to highly of us bass players either! He is quite dreamy though:
    http://scm-l3.technorati.com/09/11/10/1307/DuranDuranJohnTaylor.jpg

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  3. Yeah. She was in love with John Taylor. I give him credit for speaking openly about the experience. No different than any of these boy bands they throw together nowadays. Or Glee. Not sure if you saw the Olympics where the Brits were calling "One Direction" the new Beatles. You know, except for musical ability, songwriting or any talent whatsoever.

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  5. I love it when people think that they know Duran Duran and actually they know nothing! :)

    First things first! Here is a quote from BOB DYLAN about Duran Duran's cover of 'Lay Lady Lay'...

    "It's the best yet. It beats mine by a country mile". (Bob Dylan)

    If Bobs thinks it's great, then maybe you people struggling should possibly think about getting your ears syringed! ;)

    Lastly, John Taylor is a superb bass player. In fact last month (March 2013) he was voted the greatest bass player of all time by musicradar.com.

    - SID -

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    1. What Graham said- John Taylor was a geeky, gawky, glasses-wearing teen when Duran Duran was formed (not thrown together by some manager like a boy band, formed the old-fashioned way by music-loving kids who wanted to start a band). They wrote songs, learned their instruments and paid their dues in seedy clubs and as a support act before making it big. It was only by coincidence that when his glasses came off and he got a cool haircut he turned out to be male-model gorgeous- they were an art-school band and never wanted or sought the teen-idol thing.

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  6. Read john`s book pleasure groove and learn about theem a bit before saying they are bad or just watch them live

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