Monday, July 8, 2013

Dylan Cover #94 Coulson-Dean-McGuiness-Flint "Let Me Die In My Footsteps"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. For the month of July we are focusing on a full album of cover's done by the British band Coulson-Dean-McGuiness-Flint, today the group tackles: "Let Me Die In My Footsteps"

Thoughts on Original:
A Dylan track that for once you don't have to wonder what he is singing about. Dylan's reaction to nuclear war and the cold war scare that was happening "Let Me Die In My Footsteps" is a defiant reaction to the idea of bomb shelters and fear. A proud American song that still resonates today and an early Dylan track we go back to periodically. Also sounding a whole hell of a lot like "Long Black Veil" helps things out too. Quick side note, it was the first Dylan song we put on the morning of September 11th 2001.   
Cover:

Thoughts on The Cover Artist:
I had never heard of this collection of British Rockers until I started this series and found out the 4 piece crafted a full album of Dylan covers back in 1972. The coolest thing about this must have been that Dylan had not released any of these tracks yet officially. Bootlegs were skirting around but to get these fully flushed out covers is pretty damn cool. What makes it special today is that these songs are still under represented in the world of Bobby D, making these takes still sound fresh. It is going to be a fun July with these Englishmen and Lo and Behold.
Thoughts on Cover:
The band takes a few liberties with this cover, and in the end I am not so sure they work out. The hand drums and strumming give it almost a tropical feel which I think takes away from the power of the lyrics. I won't totally discount it because I do love it when artists put their own spin on things, and the ending organ is pretty cool, but I will stick with the original with this one. 
Grade: C-

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