Wednesday, December 15, 2010

I Saw a White Ladder All Covered With Water

Presented for no other reason than I was interested in compiling the list, here is the complete rundown (I think) of all the covers of Bob Dylan songs that have made it to the Top Forty:

"Blowin' in the Wind," by Peter Paul and Mary: Entered the chart in July 1963, peaked at Number Two

"Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right," by Peter Paul and Mary: September 1963, Number Nine

"Mr. Tambourine Man," by the Byrds: June 1965, Number One (This would be the only Number One record written by Bob Dylan, although Dylan did sing on the Number One "We Are the World," from 1985.)

"All I Really Want to Do," by Cher: August 1965, Number 15

"It Ain't Me Babe," by the Turtles: August 1965, Number Eight

"All I Really Want to Do," by the Byrds: August 1965, Number 40 (These last two songs entered the Top Forty the same week, giving Dylan a total of three covers on the charts at one time, two of them "All I Really Want to Do." 'Highway 61 Revisited' came out at the end of that month.)

"Blowin' in the Wind," by Stevie Wonder: July 1966, Number Nine (It entered the charts the day after Dylan's motorcycle accident in Woodstock.)

"My Back Pages," by the Byrds: April 1967, Number 30

"Too Much of Nothing," by Peter, Paul and Mary: December 1967, Number 35

"The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)," by Manfred Mann: March 1968, Number 10

"All Along the Watchtower," by Jimi Hendrix: September 1968, Number 20

"She Belongs to Me," by Rick Nelson: January 1970, Number 33

"If Not for You," by Olivia Newton-John: July 1971, Number 25

Note: Guns n' Roses' cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," from 1991, went to Number Two in the U.K., and Number Two on the American Mainstream Rock charts, but didn't even reach the Hot 100.