Your Weekly Dylan Cover [#27]

"Maggie's Farm"

Solomon Burke

Original Dylan version found on Bringing It All Back Home (1965)

One of the bigger losses to the music world in 2010 came on 10 October when the "King of Rock and Soul" Solomon Burke died at the age of 70.

A man seemingly bigger than life literally (he was over 300 pounds) and figuratively, Solomon Burke had essentially been on stage since he was seven years old when he delivered his first sermon at his church in Philadelphia. Like many to-be soul artists, Burke's roots were in gospel. "The Wonder Boy Preacher" stepped into the secular world with a recording of Patsy Cline's "Just Out of Reach (Of y Two Open Arms)." The country standard became a surprise R&B hit, and Burke's career on Atlantic records was born.

Classic titles followed. "Cry To Me" (1962) a gospelish pot-boiler, was a top five hit in 1962 which found another life on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack in the 1980s. The swinging "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love" (1964) would be covered by the Rolling Stones and again earn popularity in The Blues Brothers; ironically, Burke saw the film - incorrectly crediting the song to Wilson Pickett - and called his old Atlantic boss Jerry Wexler to complain. The story goes that Wexler was simply happy to hear that Solomon was still alive, and sent him a sizable royalty check the next day. And then there was the fantastic "Got To Get You Off My Mind" (1965), a tune Burke wrote in the throes of a divorce and mourning the tragic death of Sam Cooke.

Burke's on stage presence was memorable. Back in the day, his contemporaries were in awe of his raw power. "Solomon could command a stage better than anybody," said Sam Moore. "We (Sam & Dave) used to finish our set and go sit in the audience and watch him." L.C. Cooke, Sam's brother, was quoted as saying: "On one tour with James Brown, Solomon started with 20 minutes, but he was kicking James Brown's butt so bad that he cut Solomon's time down to one song!"

Solomon Burke got a second encore on the popular music stage. He was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. And rock's royalty lined up to play and write with him. The remarkable Don't Give Up On Me (2002), produced expertly by Joe Henry, saw Burke perform original contributions from Bob Dylan ("Stepchild," apparently culled from the Street Legal sessions circa 1978), Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson and others. The record won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. He followed with three other solid efforts: Make Due With What You Got (2005); the duets LP Nashville (2006); and Like A Fire (2008).

Burke's take on "Maggie's Farm" is notable as it is probably the first significant recording of a Dylan song by a soul singer, recorded shortly after the original was released in 1965. The majesty of the melody and lyric are perfect for the King of Rock and Soul's muscular style and hearing the song on 45 rpm just drives home how truly memorable Solomon Burke is to the history of popular music.

Original Listening: Bob Dylan, "Maggie's Farm" (Bringing It All Back Home, 1965)

Another Cover: U2, "Cold Turkey/Maggie's Farm/Help" (Live, Los Angeles, 1986)

Still Another Cover: Ben Sidran, "Maggie's Farm" (Dylan Different, 2010)

Carry The News

The Thin White Duke helps all the boogaloo dudes at TNOP troll the web for the latest news. . .

Sufjan Stevens gives a lengthy interview with Brandon Stosuy in Interview magazine, discussing his new work The BQE, why he doesn't perform on TV and whether there will ever be anymore "state" records.

The seventh CD from TNOP faves Spoon will be released on January 18 in Europe on Anti- and on January 19 on Merge. It's called Transference and both NPR and Stereogum have a stream of the first single, "Written in Reverse." Sounds cool to us. The new material will probably get a workout when they ring in the New Year with Jay Reatard at The Riverside in Milwaukee on December 31.

Overdosing on the decade and year end "best of" lists? (We hope not, because TNOP's are still to come.) In addition to the Spoon record, here are some of the releases we are looking forward to in 2010:
The National (TBA)
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks (March 9)
MGMT - Congratulations (Spring)
Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring (January 26)
LCD Soundsystem (March)
++++ Ten Questions for James Murphy (Drowned In Sound)
Interpol (Early 2010)
Midlake - The Courage of Others (February 1)
The Hold Steady (TBA)
Massive Attack - Heligoland (February 9)
Arcade Fire (TBA)

Jim DeRogatis profiles Matthew Santos in advance of his appearance at Lincoln Hall in Chicago this Friday.

The Times of London catches up with Brian Ferry and finds him pretty grumpy. But he still looks good and offers you a free download for putting up with him.

Paul McCartney wrote the closing song for the new Robert DeNiro movie, "Everybody's Fine." He talks about it as well as his recent CitiField shows in New York and the coming Gershwin Prize For Popular Song, which Macca will receive in the spring at the Library of Congress.

A few weeks ago we wrote about the pending release of Ben Sidran's album of Bob Dylan covers. Dylan Different is released tomorrow. Rob Thomas of The Capitol Times talks with the Madison based jazz pianist about his passing encounters with the Patron Saint of TNOP. Sidran's put his own stamp on familiar, but sometimes daunting, material.

Paste continues its list-o-mania with the 30 Best Covers of the Decade. Audio included.

And happy birthday to John Densmore, drummer with The Doors. Instead of a cake, this dynamic live performance of "Love Me Two Times" is served up for your listening pleasure.

Bobby D Covered (Again)

You'll find that we here at TNOP are obsessed with most anything Dylan, and covers of his songs are high on the list. So it was with great pleasure that we discovered that jazz man extraordinaire Dr. Ben Sidran announced on his website that Dylan Different will be released by Bonsai Music via iTunes and CD Baby on November 16. Even better, we've got a taste of his take on Highway 61 Revisited on video. Cool as expected from the sometime UW-Madison music professor and past collaborator with Boz Scaggs, Mose Allison, Steve Miller and Van Morrison.

Track listing:

Everything Is Broken
Highway 61 Revisited
Tangled Up In Blue
Gotta Serve Somebody
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Ballad of a Thin Man
Maggie's Farm
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Subterranean Homesick Blues
On The Road Again
All I Really Want To Do
Blowin' in the Wind

[Now if it was only easier to buy Sidran's old classic The Doctor Is In. The grooves on my LP are just about worn out. Suffice to say on that album his band includes Larry Carlton, Richard Davis, Phil Upchurch, Blue Mitchell and John Guerin. It's a safe bet this title will come up on the ALBUMS YOU MUST OWN list in the near future.]