Bob Dylan - The Hitmakers Sing 'Another Side Of Bob Dylan' (1993)

In February 1964, Bob Dylan embarked on a 20-day trip across the United States, riding in a station wagon with a few friends and heading towards California, with the primary motivation for the trip being to find enough inspiration to step beyond the folk-song form, if not in the bars, or from the miners, then by peering deep into himself. Dylan spent much time in the back of the station wagon, working on songs and possibly poetry on a typewriter, and it was during this trip that he composed 'Chimes Of Freedom'. With his commercial profile on the rise, Columbia was now urging him to release a steady stream of recordings, so on his return to New York, studio time was quickly scheduled, with Tom Wilson back as producer. The first, and only, recording session was held on 9 June at Columbia's Studio A, and while polishing off a couple of bottles of Beaujolais, he recorded fourteen original compositions, in a single three-hour session between 7pm and 10pm that night. Three were ultimately rejected, with 'Denise Denise', 'Mr. Tambourine Man', and 'Mama, You Been On My Mind' not being considered for the fourth album, although 'Mr. Tambourine Man' was revisited for his next album. As 'Another Side Of Bob Dylan' was being prepared for release, Dylan premiered his new songs at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1964, which was where he first met Johnny Cash. He was already an admirer of Cash's music, and vice versa, and the two spent a night jamming together in Joan Baez's room at the Viking Motor Inn. When the album was released, it was a step back commercially, failing to make the Top 40, and indicating that record consumers may have had a problem with the new music, just as critics had when they first heard the songs at Newport. Dylan soon defended his work, insisting that the songs were insanely honest, and that he and he alone wanted and needed to write them. Years later, mixed reactions over 'Another Side Of Bob Dylan' remained, but not for the same reasons, as critics later viewed it as a 'transitional' album, although contemporary artists could hear the quality of the songs, with nearly all of them being covered by 1968, and here are some of the best of them.  

Track listing

01 All I Really Want To Do (The Four Seasons 1965)
02 Black Crow Blues (The Silkie 1965)
03 Spanish Harlem Incident (The Pozo Seco Singers 1968)
04 Chimes Of Freedom (Julie Felix 1967)
05 I Shall Be Free No. 10 (Paul James 1990)
06 To Ramona (The Alan Price Set 1968)
07 Motorpsycho Nitemare (Strangelove 1993)
08 My Back Pages (The Byrds 1967)
09 I Don't Believe You (Ian & Sylvia 1967)
10 Ballad In Plain D (Michael Chapman 1977)
11 It Ain't Me Babe (The Turtles 1965)

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Gordon Lightfoot (1977)

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. was born on 17 November 1938 in Orillia, Ontario, and after his mother recognized his musical talent early on she schooled him to become a successful child performer. He first performed publicly in grade four, singing the Irish-American lullaby 'Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral', which was broadcast over his school's public address system during a parents' day event, and as a youth he sang in the choir of Orillia's St. Paul's United Church under the direction of choirmaster Ray Williams. As a teenager he learned piano and taught himself to play drums and percussion, holding concerts in Muskoka, a resort area north of Orillia, and performing extensively throughout high school, teaching himself to play folk guitar along the way. In 1958 he moved to Los Angeles to study jazz composition and orchestration for two years at Westlake College of Music, and to support himself while in California he sang on demonstration records and wrote, arranged, and produced commercial jingles. After his return to Canada he performed with the Singin' Swingin' Eight, a group featured on CBC TV's Country Hoedown, and also with the Gino Silvi Singers, and in 1961 he released two singles, both recorded at RCA in Nashville and produced by Chet Atkins, that were local hits in Toronto. In 1963 he travelled in Europe, and for a year in the UK he hosted BBC TV's Country and Western Show, returning to Canada in 1964. 

Around this time he began to develop a reputation as a songwriter, with Ian and Sylvia Tyson recording his 'Early Mornin' Rain' and 'For Lovin' Me', and a year later both songs were recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. With this validation of his song-writing skill, artists such as Marty Robbins ('Ribbon Of Darkness'), Judy Collins ('Early Morning Rain'), Richie Havens and Spyder Turner ('I Can't Make It Anymore'), and the Kingston Trio ('Early Morning Rain') all achieved some chart success with Lightfoot's material. In 1965 he signed a management contract with Albert Grossman, and a recording contract with United Artists, who released his version of 'I'm Not Sayin'' as a single. 1966 marked the release of his debut album 'Lightfoot!', which brought him greater exposure as both a singer and a songwriter, and the record featured many now-famous songs, including 'For Lovin' Me', 'Early Mornin' Rain', 'Steel Rail Blues', and 'Ribbon Of Darkness'. On the strength of the 'Lightfoot!' album, he became one of the first Canadian singers to achieve definitive home-grown stardom without having moved permanently to the United States to develop it. The variety of artists featured on this collection just proves what a versatile songwriter Lightfoot was, with pop groups, folk bands, and R&B singers all covering his songs, and folk-rock legends Fotheringay rated him highly enough to include one of his songs on their debut album, despite having a number of renowned songwriters in the band. 'Lightfoot!' did include three covers, and so in a slight departure from the usual format of these albums I've included the original versions of those, so that all of the songs from the album are featured in versions other than Lightfoot's. 

Track listing

01 Rich Man's Spiritual (Ronnie Hawkins 1968)

02 Long River (Knoxville Grass 1977)

03 The Way I Feel (Fotheringay 1970)

04 For Lovin' Me (Chad & Jeremy 1965)

05 The First Time (Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger 1970)

06 Changes (Phil Ochs 1966)

07 Early Morning Rain (Peter, Paul And Mary 1965)

08 Steel Rail Blues (George Hamilton IV 1966)

09 Sixteen Miles (Bonnie Dobson 1972)

10 I'm Not Sayin' (The Ian Campbell Folk Group 1968)

11 Pride Of Man (Hamilton Camp 1964)

12 Ribbon Of Darkness (The Pozo Seco Singers 1967)

13 Oh' Linda (The Pacers featuring Bobby Crawford 1967)

14 Peaceful Waters (Ed Ames 1969)