I have no evidence to prove it, but I’m pretty sure the only artist who has been covered more than Bob Dylan is Bruce Springsteen—and as disparate as some of the artists who have covered Dylan are, it’s not quite as impressive as all Dylan songs pre-1980 are basically standards by now. Let’s take a look at a couple of Springsteen covers that you might not hate (and one you might).
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – For You
Manfred Mann apparently wanted lightning to strike twice (or thrice) by covering this song off Springsteen’s debut Greetings from Asbury Park in 1980. The band originally reached fame turning Asbury Park’s “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirit in the Night” into fun, mainstream 70s pop songs—suggesting that Asbury Park is probably the only Springsteen album Mann owned. But whereas Mann’s “Blinded by the Light” succeeded by eschewing most of the “Tangled up in Blue” styled lyrics of Springsteen’s original and giving it an almost entirely different arrangement, “For You” sticks pretty close to the original. The song juxtaposes a verse backed by synthesized strings and a looping piano riff that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Journey song with a grand chorus featuring not only Chris Thompson’s mighty vocals but five (count ‘em FIVE) massive guitars that sound more Kansas than Jersey Shore (and that’s “Wayward Son” Kansas). And, of course, the song features about 1,000 synthesizers, courtesy of Manfred Mann himself.
I’m here to tell Brandon Flowers of The Killers not to get too cocky with their “new” Springsteen meets wall of synths sound—Manfred Mann had that market cornered 26 years ago.
The Band – Atlantic City
I should preface this by saying that this is not “The Band” as most people would think of “The Band”—which pretty much just means that this is post-Robbie Robertson and post-Richard Manuel’s death (so much for that Last Waltz thing). But who cares? Helm sang about 80% of the songs during their initial run, anyways and he sounds in top form here. Their writing may not have been what it once was, but their ability to cover a song and make it their own was at its peak when they recorded this song for 1993’s Jericho. One of Springsteen’s darkest and most striking songs from the ultra-depressing, lo-fi pioneering album Nebraska, this version, backed by a joyous accordion and down-home mandolin, would have you believing that this song is not about a man so who “has debts no honest man can pay” and is so desperate, he’s willing to do some sort of unnamed “favor for a guy” he met only last night. That’s not to say they jettison all the melancholy—in fact, with its upbeat New Orleans sound, it adds another layer to the song. It’s as if the narrator is putting a happy face on a situation that can only end badly; that for this man, another chance, no matter how dire the consequences, is still another chance to make things right.
Son Volt – Open All Night
“Open All Night” is one of the more “demo-like” numbers on Nebraska, consisting of Springsteen and a reverbed electric guitar. It’s a song that was just waiting to be rocked out by Stevie Van Zandt and Max Weinberg; so the easy thing for Jay Farrar and Son Volt to do would be simply to make a straight, full band version. But Jay Farrar would never make things that easy on himself. Instead he slows it down, and makes it a full-on country number—lap steel solo and everything. It’s actually the least reverent of the three covers named here—Farrar even goes so far as to delete a whole verse. This angered many Boss fans and many suggested with that Farrar didn’t even understand the lyrics, as this is a song dedicated to “rock n’ roll delivering me from nowhere.” Basically, if you’re a bigger Boss fan than Son Volt fan, chances are, you hate this song. Still, I think Farrar knew exactly what he was doing; the narrator may want to hear some old time rock n’ roll, but when he’s driving home in the morning after working for the man all night, he’s feeling a country song, and that’s the song Son Volt’s playing.