It's widely known that I am quite a fan of Bob Dylan. Apart from his own albums I also have around 30 albums of his music by other artists in other styles. Compilations such as "All Blues'd Up: Songs of Bob Dylan", "Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan", "Dylan's Gospel", "Black America Sings Bob Dylan" as well as albums of his songs by artists such as Odetta, Judy Collins, Bryan Ferry, The Hollies, The Byrds etc. I recently discovered the amazing jazz release from 2009 "Dylan Different" by Ben Sidran, well worth searching out. Just this year I've acquired 2 more tributes - "Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan" and this one by Nana Mouskouri.
At first glance this may seem like a very odd choice for Vinyl Vault - an 86 year old Greek artist who, let's be honest, was often used as the punchline of jokes or a caricature of herself. In reality Nana is a multi-genre singer with a beautiful voice and a legacy of over 200 albums in more than 12 languages. Over the years Nana has recorded many Dylan songs and this collection released last month (May 2021) brings together her cream of the crop. The album title is significant if her quote is to be believed .. 'Nana Mouskouri has claimed that after a concert of hers she and Bob went out for a meal and “he wrote Every Grain Of Sand for me”.'
My personal best from this LP is her 1967 rendition of 'Farewell Angelina', sung here in French as 'Adieu Angelina'. I think this track in particular shows two things. Firstly it perfectly showcases Nana's beautiful pure voice. It parallels Joan Baez's version somewhat in arrangement, but where Joan's voice can sometimes have an edge, a slight harshness to it, Nana sings this song with a clarity and smoothness that is mesmerising. The song repeats the same melody over and over and totally draws you in. The second thing illustrated here is for those Dylan detractors. This is, in no uncertain terms, a beautiful song - in any language.
There are 13 tracks here, but only 11 individual Dylan songs. Two tracks, 'Love Minus Zero/No Limit' and 'Every Grain of Sand' appear twice, once in English and then respectively French and German. Staying true to her roots though, even when singing in other languages, there is often a Greek flavour running through the orchestration. The selections are taken from a wide range of Nana's albums starting in 1967 with "Le Jour Où La Colombe" right through to the 2018 release "Forever Young" which not only had 2 Dylan tracks but also others as diverse as songs made famous by Elvis, The Beatles and Amy Winehouse.
Nana Mouskouri at this stage of her life deserves to be listened to with fresh ears and to be celebrated for her diverse and remarkable body of work.
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