Got you Covered

I said this was an occasional feature, but I'm having a lot of fun with it, so I hope you can adjust. Manfred Mann is a band which had a number of hits over the years. We all know Do Wa Diddy Diddy. What a great melody, so catchy! I enjoy their cover of Bob Dylan's The Mighty Quinn, released in 1968. The song was written a year earlier and recorded but not officially released by Dylan and The Band as part of the Basement Tapes. Here's Manfred Mann's 68 version.

Here's a later arrangement after Mann reincarnated his band as Manfred Mann's Earth Band. This one is from 83.


Much funkier, eh? The Earth Band was fueled by a 1977 hit, another cover. Most people my age who listened to any AM radio at all in the late 70s will remember their cover of Bruce Springsteen's Blinded by the Light.

The Mighty Quinn was not the only Dylan tune Mann covered. Fans of Dylan's mid-60s work will be familiar with his electric version of If You Gotta Go. Here's Dylan at Newport doing an acoustic version in 1965.


Dylan released the song in Europe in 65 and Mann covered it in the same year. This song was also covered in French by Fairport Convention as Si Tu Dois Partir (excellent version!), Ricky Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, and The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1970, The Pontiac Brothers in 1985 and later by Cowboy Junkies on Rarities, B-Sides and Slow Sad Waltzes in 1999.

Here's Manfred Mann's version of If you Gotta Go (sorry I couldn't find a live version with video)


And here's the Fairport Convention version. I love the percussion on this one.


Dylan tunes proved to be quite a ticket for Mann. In 66, the group also covered Just Like a Woman, released the same year on Dylan's outstanding Blonde on Blonde.