Your Weekly Dylan Cover [#8]

"Mama, You Been On My Mind"
Jeff Buckley
Original Dylan version recorded during Bringing It All Back Home sessions (1965); studio recording first officially available on The Bootleg Series, Vols 1-3 (1991)

Jeffrey Scott Buckley was born in Anaheim, California in 1966, the only son of musicians Tim Buckley and Mary Guibert. Tim Buckley won critical notoriety for his folk albums in the 1960s, but died of a drug overdose in 1975. Young Jeff recounted that his sole encounter with his father was when he was eight years old.

Nevertheless, Jeff was surrounded by music as he grew up and was attracted to the guitar. After graduating high school, he formally trained for a year at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. For the ensuing decade, Buckley made a living as a side musician in the Los Angeles area, and then in New York City.

In 1991, Buckley took part in a tribute to his father at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn. Singing a quartet of songs, he saw this opportunity as a way to honor his absentee father's memory.

Buckley then started to make a name for himself in small clubs in New York, particularly the Sin-e, where he became the house act, mostly performing covers of a diverse array of artists, including Van Morrison, The Smiths, Leonard Cohen, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He also began writing original songs with Gary Lucas.

Creating a buzz in the musical community, record execs started to court Buckley. In 1992, the singer-songwriter signed a three album deal with Columbia Records. The first, Live at Sin-e, was released in 1993. But it was the next long-player in August 1994, Grace, that became a critical smash.

Jeff Buckley tragically drowned in the Wolf River near Memphis, Tennessee on 29 May 1997. He had been living in the city, working on a new album.

In 2004, in honor of the tenth anniversary of Grace, Columbia released the "Legacy Edition," a two CD set including a number of covers. It is from this compilation that Buckley's version of Bob Dylan's "Mama, You Been On My Mind" is culled.

Dylan recorded this song during the Bringing It All Back Home sessions back in 1965, but the understated studio recording was not officially released on record until 1991 on The Bootleg Series (Vol. 1-3). It is classic Dylan, with a simple melody and chord structure that lends itself to interpretation by other artists.

Buckley, in particular, makes it his own. At times simulating Dylan's chords with his spare electric guitar, his fantastic voice embodies the lyrics. It is amazing how mature Dylan's poetry was at this early stage of his career; via Buckley, the words have emotional heft whether one envisions the narrator pining for his lost lover after a separation of one year or twenty.

In an interview with Now magazine back in 1998, Buckley's mother Mary Guibert concluded her talk with Kim Hughes as follows:

"And you know," she offers, her composure finally crumbling, "Even Bob Dylan, in an interview with a French magazine, named Jeff as one of the great songwriters of this decade." Guibert, for the first time, begins to weep. "I don't think you can find any higher praise than from the lips of that gentleman."

Original Listening: Bob Dylan, "Mama, You Been On My Mind"

Live Listening: Bob Dylan & Joan Baez with The Rolling Thunder Revue, "Mama, You Been On My Mind" (Live 1975)

Cover Versions:

Rod Stewart, "Mama, You Been On My Mind" (highly recommended) (Never A Dull Moment, 1972)

Johnny Cash, "Mama, You Been On My Mind" (Orange Blossom Special, 2002 reissue)

The Beatles, "Mama, You Been On My Mind" (George Harrison on lead; studio session 1969)

Just Like A Paper Tiger

From TNOP Worldwide Headquarters, here's the news . . .

The last of the Rick Rubin produced acoustic compilations from the late Johnny Cash, American VI: Ain't No Grave, arrives in stores and on-line on 26 February. Two pieces on the record and its origins are worth your time: James Reed in The Boston Globe and Greg Kot in the Chicago Tribune.

The reviews on the new Peter Gabriel album have been quite positive, and now the focus will switch to the "flip side" of the Scratch My Back project, presumably titled I'll Scratch Yours. Gabriel talks to Uncut about one particular song, Radiohead's "Street Spirit," and whether Thom Yorke intends to return the favor. Stay tuned.

One of our musical heroes, Randy Newman, took the stage in Los Angeles Friday night for one of his all-too-rare live performances. Pop & Hiss was there.

When we first were introduced to Billy Bragg back in the early 1980s, he was rattling The Man's cage. Not surprisingly, he still is now that he's "some grey-haired 52 year old geezer." The Times of London provides a lengthy profile on the British singer-songwriter who was selected to bring the long-ago lyrics of Woody Guthrie to the public with Wilco.

And speaking of Standing Up To The Man, Part II: Bruce Springsteen fans went to court and successfully obtained a judgment against Ticketmaster for over one million (pinky finger to lips here, please) dollars. Seems the company most known to fans for charging mysterious fees essentially scalped their own tickets. Maybe that's why the moment you log on to try to get tickets when they go on sale you're locked out . . .

And speaking of Sticking It To The Man, Part III . . .

And speaking of Trying To Stick It To The Man IV: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Gil Scott-Heron is back with a new album. And he's got alot to say to the Telegraph.

Spoon's Brit Daniel and Jim Eno talk to NPR's Bob Boilen about the band's new record, Transference.

Crawdaddy remembers gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson on the fifth anniversary of his death. Obligatory Dylan mention included.

Saunter over to MBV and take a listen to the new single from Tracey Thorn, one of favorite voices from her days with Everything But The Girl and Massive Attack. "Oh The Divorces!" takes a nice Joni Mitchell route, accompanied by piano and strings. We're looking forward to Love and Its Opposite, dropping on 18 May (Merge).

Spinner brings us "In Living Color: 20 Important Black Rockers Past and Present."

Santogold and Devo together on record? So says clashmusic.com.

And on that odd note, TNOP signs off, but not without wishing our friends at Muzzle of Bees a very Happy 5th Birthday.

Johnny Cash's Final Album

Word has been leaking slowly over the past month or so that the final collaboration between the late Johnny Cash and producer Rick Rubin will be released soon. The February edition of Vanity Fair reveals that the release date of American VI: Ain't No Grave is in fact 23 February on American Recordings/Lost Highway, three days before what would have been The Man In Black's 78th birthday. Amazon also confirms and has an image of the cover art as well.

While we haven't been able to confirm the track listing as of yet, Rubin's interview with Lisa Robinson reveals there will be a Cash original ("First Corinthians"), the title track (a traditional gospel tune) and a version of Sheryl Crow's "Redemption Day." The latter, says Rubin, "is a song [Cash] brought in and loved. He said he'd give up all the other songs just to be able to do that one; it was his favorite, content-wise." Asked about the overall feel of the album, the producer/friend states: "American V was more touching; it felt like sadness and death. VI has more power; it's more like being reborn - like the phoenix rising from the ashes."

Doctor, Doctor Give Me The News

Grizzly Bear appeared on Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions show this past weekend. An interview and live performance of the band from The House of Blues is archived at the show's web site.

It's a thin line between love and hate. But Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde have recorded a duet together called "Postcard From London," due to be released on 7 December.

The Pixies kicked off a nine-city tour in L.A. the other night, featuring Doolittle from front to back. Pop & Hiss reviews the opening show. And here's the video link to their appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien from Friday, performing "Here Comes Your Man."

The Denver Post reports that even in front of a small crowd at the Bluebird Theater, Art Brut still delivers. Accessible punk may not be in the vogue, but do yourself a favor and go out and buy the band's excellent Bang Bang Rock & Roll.

Antonio D'Ambrosio writes movingly in Salon about Johnny Cash's lonesome crusade on behalf of Native Americans, and how it affected The Man In Black's often rocky relationship with the music industry.

The Chicago Sun-Times profiles Paul Shaffer on the occasion of the publishing of his memoir on the music biz. And to think he could have been George Costanza instead of Dave's band leader extraordinaire. . .

Treat yourself to A Takeaway Show by up-and-coming Brooklyn-based White Rabbits, with Venice Beach as a backdrop.

According to Spinner, Monsters of Folk gave more than its money's worth in New York the other night. The set list stretched to 40 (count 'em!) songs.

Let the awards season begin. North African collective Tinariwen has claimed the 2009 Uncut Music Award for Imidiwan: Companions. All the other finalists were from the United States. Get a taste of Tinariwen's sound by taking a look at the video for "Lulla," one of the tracks culled from the album.