Dylan Week: The Top 10 Worst Bob Dylan Covers Ever
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William Shatner was the ultimate musical troll of his time. His spoken-word, 'beatnik' covers of the '60s and '70s were uniformly hilarious and terrible. And one of his most famous contributions to 20th century popular music was his cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man:"
James Blunt sounds like a "sexy" dying cat on this cover of "I Want You." Not to be confused with Blunt's own song "I Really Want You."
Don't get us wrong: we LOVE Roxy Music. But lead singer Bryan Ferryâan avid Dylan loverâhas produced his fair share of questionable covers with his quivering voice, especially on this wacky, unsuccesful version of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." At least the music video is pretty cool!Just to reiterate: Roxy Music are awesome, and when Ferry lays back on the quivering, he can pull out some really sweet Dylan covers, like this understated rendition of "Make You Feel My Love:"
We don't feel the vitriol toward Michael Moore that many do, but one thing's clear: keep him away from an acoustic guitar and flute:
Cliff Richards is lesser known in America these days, but he's a British icon and joke all at once, with schmaltzy covers like this one of "Blowin' In The Wind:"
From the aforementioned Chimes Of Freedom compilationâthis is perfect if you like your Dylan covers to sound like screechy sub-Green Day emo-punk. Or whatever. Who hasn't listened to "Desolation Row" and wished it has some RIPPING GUITARS?
We're disappointed in you Bon Jovi, though this isn't exactly unexpected: the singer of classics like "Wanted Dead Of Alive" sounds right at home teaming up with Seal and Robert Palmer for a truly miserable soft-rock rendition of the greatest rock 'n' roll song of all time.
Another cover of "Like A Rolling Stone" makes us wonder: were dramatic-reading albums REALLY that popular in the '60s?
Anyone who has seen Battlestar Galactica knows what we're talking about. Skip ahead to the 2:30 mark to hear vocals!
The worst of the worst. Just...listen.
And the rest of the best of the worst!Avril Lavigne-"Knockin' On Heaven's Door"âstop covering this song, everyone.Cage The Elephant-"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll"âmumbling the lyrics does not make you sound deep.Robert Berger-"Lay Lady Lay"âit's really hard to cover this song, especially when you hit the wrong notes.Jason Mraz-"Man Gave Names To All The Animals"âacoustic reggae. Nope.Sonny and Cher-"Like A Rolling Stone"âat least the video is interesting:Daniel Bedingfield-"Man In The Long Black Coat"âyou can hear what he's going for here, but it's way, way too cluttered:Guns N' Roses-"Knockin' On Heaven's Door"âsome people likely really like this song. We don't.