Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Dylan Week Begins: Our Top 12 Favorite Bob Dylan Covers
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 21, 2012
Modified May 21, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 14
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 21, 2012
Modified May 21, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
"I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now." We'll be celebrating Bob Dylan's 71st birthday with a series of posts this week. As mercurial as Dylan has always been, there is one thing we do know: for as long as Dylan has been writing songs, he has been writing to, for and about New York City. Today, we'll start by delving into our favorite Dylan covers.
Take any so-called great song of the last 50 years, and we guarantee Bob Dylan has written a better one. It's a painful truth that every songwriter from John Lennon to Will.I.Am has had to face at some point. Popular music now lives in his shadow. Between that and the fact that more traditional singers have long been able to take the words out of Dylan's raspy voice and turn them into hit singles, musicians just keep coming back to the Dylan well again and again. There are well over 400 covers of "Blowin' In The Wind" alone!
So we've compiled some of our favorite Dylan covers ever—but we decided to skip over the big ones everyone likely already knows: Jimi Hendrix "All Along The Watchtower," Johnny Cash "It Ain't Over Me Babe," Julie Driscoll "This Wheel's On Fire," The Byrds "Mr. Tambourine Man," Stevie Wonder "Blowin' In The Wind," and Manfred Mann "The Mighty Quinn." They're without a doubt all iconic covers, but we're respectfully passing over them in favor of personal favorites and less-well-known ones. Click through for our 12 favorite Dylan covers, along with a list of songs just bubbling under. And if you have other favorites, let us know in the comments below.
Tagged
bob dylan
dylan week
Music
rock
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Ever wish you could get paid to walk through a stranger’s house? ‘The Scout’ is for you.
A new film focuses on the strange career of a location scout in New York City.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Sep 26, 2026
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A massive MTA archive ended up in a Virginia warehouse. A Brooklyn man brought it home.
By
Hannah Frishberg
How a Harry Styles pop-up in the East Village led to a nearby bookstore owner's arrest
By
Sonia Rao
NYC’s creative workers are increasingly self-employed, report says
By
Hannah Frishberg
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .