Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan: encore

Thanks to Andrew Billington:

“You've posted a fairly negative opinion of the Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan series.

“I'd like to venture a different opinion, which seems to be shared by many other people who have downloaded the discs in their hundreds and commented favourably too.

“The series is clearly a labour of love for the compiler, who has gone to a great deal of effort not only to compile the tracks, but to supply each volume with a unifying theme, sound and sequence, which is not that easy now it's up to volume 22.

“Though, as with most compilations, the quality is variable, and one man's meat is another man's poison, just looking at the song titles (let's take volume 22, as the track listing is right on my screen here) suggests this isn't a lazy 'greatest hits' show: Ye Playboys And Playgirls, Tiny Montgomery, Sign On The Window.

“If nothing else, they make me return to the originals with fresh ears, hearing what is there and what is not. As for the slighting reference to 'massed ranks of tedious Americana hopefuls' in the piece you published: volume 22 features, among others, Mary Black, Thea Gilmore, Robyn Hitchcock and Ron Sexsmith. Need I say more?

”For what it's worth, I think the old advertising campaign had it right, and that Bob Dylan is the best performer of his own material (and others' too, come to that, but that's another argument for another time). I think that's part of the point of the series: it is, after all, entitled Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan. It's a lot of fun hearing them try, though.

”A final note: I was disappointed to read that the discs are for sale, as they are freely available from at least one well-known bit torrent site.

”It's a shame that anyone would pay for them, beyond remuneration for the CDs and cases. I'm happy to offer copies of volume 22, which is an hour away from arriving on my PC as I type, to people on this basis.

“Or they could just find a bit torrent site and discover the joys of all the other volumes, along with lots of other wonderful commercially unavailable music, for themselves.”