May 2011 sees the 70th birthday of Bob Dylan. To celebrate, we're taking you on a journey through the lesser celebrated avenues of his back catalogue. A journey down Highway 61 that won't stop off at 'Blowin' In The Wind', 'All Along The Watchtower' or 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' but will call by...If You Gotta Go Go Now (1964)
This is the third in a trio of examples of 1960’s bands taking Dylan’s music into the mainstream and this is definitely my favourite. Fairport Convention’s take on folk music reached back much further than Bob’s material; taking in British Isles traditional tunes from centuries earlier and giving them a ground breaking electric spin. But that didn’t stop them from dipping into the Dylan catalogue a little, especially in radio sessions and they were among the privileged few who were able to cherry pick from Basement Tapes acetates doing the rounds in the late 60s. This 1964 song, already taken into the charts by Manfred Mann, the Convention had some fun with. They translated the lyrics into French and gave the performance a distinctly Cajun flavour. So loose was the actual issued take that at one point near the end careful listeners can hear a stack of chairs fall over; a mistake left uncorrected. Rightly so, this is a delightful rendition that brings the gorgeous vocals of Sandy Denny to Bob’s work for the first time (dig out an exceptional version of ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’ on her ‘Sandy’ solo album) and also marries the UKs only serious challenger to Dylan’s crown, Richard Thompson, to a Bob track, one of the only times the two legends would be associated on record. Above all though, this track is a rollicking bit of fun!
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