Dylan I Quit

Following the construction of the new studio there needed to be a period of testing all the new equipment and being accustomed to the nuances of blending analogue and digital in a sympathetic manner. Empathy was some distance off.

What better way than to attempt a pile of well-known covers. I had recently become reacquainted with Dylan’s early material and I liked the notion of getting back to basics with microphones and acoustic guitars. There was now a setup to challenge these daft notions.

The first track ever done in the new studio was Patti Smith’s ‘Dancing Barefoot.’ [2001] We used to play it in rehearsals in 1983. It’s a very understated version with some fuzzily-treated guitars on top of the acoustic rhythm. A resounding success and a promising start. A couple of mixes were produced with some piano and a lone acoustic guitar. For copyright reasons there are no clips of the cover versions on this site, unfortunately.

Dylan’s ‘Positively 4th Street’ [2001] got an outing, as did his classic ‘Like A Rolling Stone.’ [2001] The latter is a blistering guitar-heavy version, replete with the appropriate ‘La Bamba’ coda, which many of Dylan’s biographers feel was the bedrock of the track. Cool. The only person who’s heard this is Rob Lewis, a Dylan afficianado, who lectures in Psychology in Cardiff.

A turgid version of ‘Heroes’ [2001] was committed to tape, with some crazy lead guitar toward the climax of the tune. As the studio became hotter, the strings began to slip out of tune. It makes for a strange listen. It’s still better than the horror-show covers by others who shall remain nameless. It will be redone sometime, properly.

At the Thief of Baghdad sessions in 1983 we wanted to record Soft Cell’s ‘Loving You Hating Me’ [2001] but never got round to it. A loose demo was done here, with backing vocals mirroring those on Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer.’ Why not?

Madonna got a seeing-to as well. ‘La Isla Bonita’ was butchered lyrically to reflect her infatuation with her body parts. So, an acoustic synth-laden version was recorded, renamed ‘La Vulva Aperta,’ [2001] complete with rude mock Spanish phrasing. The whistling is astonishing.

Finally, there was a nod to the fab four, since Dylan had connections internally with the song, ‘Norwegian Wood.’ [2001] A sitar-flavoured version was the result, a pleasant if unspectacular cover.

Following such successes it was time to bite the bullet and put some of our own earlier stuff onto tape/disc. There are some clips below of the end results.

Hypnosis [2001] had been around since 1984. It was always going to be a stoner. It’s one for the razors & the wrists.

Euthenasia [2001] is no happier. It has a weird chorus change and the Stones get acknowledged near the end. It was originally written by Dick Sick & the Vomits. Incidentally, the originals couldn’t sing, let alone spell (spelling was NOT a prerequisite of punk), so they were not concerned with the Greek prefix “eu” or the root “than” - good death indeed! So, please refrain from inundating the website with complaints of “bad spelling.” We love etymology here, honest.

Dark Dark Days [2001] was my homage to Tone H, when he was killed. It was the last thing I did in 87 before packing the instruments away. His mum offered me his prized Telecaster, but you don’t touch a dead man’s gun. Great title for a song, that.

Moving On [2000] was written by Tone H as a quiet reflective piece with light acoustic playing. It was definitely completed in the earlier Throne of Blood sessions but had the string overdubs added a bit later. Here it gets the full orchestral treatment. Somebody should cover it.