Bob Dylan released his version of “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” for the first time on 1971’s Greatest Hits Vol. II. This seems a shaky proposition indeed, releasing a new recording as a “hit,” but it in fact already was a hit…just not for him. The Byrds, Joan Baez, and Fred Holstein had all released versions of the song well before 1971, making it best-of material, even though no one outside of the Big Pink basement had ever heard him sing it.
Two more covers have appeared in the last few days, both worthy additions to the collection. The first comes from Heartless Bastards, the Cincinnati garage quartet. They performed the tune at two sold-out acoustic shows in New York, showing real country-rock chops, steel guitar and all. NYCtaper recorded both nights, which you can download here and here.
The second comes from Seattle folk-rockers the Moondoggies. They recorded a bouncier take for Sirius XM back in January, but just released the MP3 on Facebook. Download both “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”s below and see which you prefer.
MP3: Heartless Bastards – You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Bob Dylan cover)
[audio: News0811/01HeartlessBastardsYouAintGoinNowhere.mp3]
MP3: The Moondoggies – You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Bob Dylan cover)
[audio: News0811/01TheMoondoggiesYouAintGoinNowhere.mp3]
Check out more Heartless Bastards here and Moondoggies here.
Heh, we also recorded the Moondoggies doing “You Aint’ Goin’ Nowhere” earlier this year at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn, that is here:
http://www.nyctaper.com/?p=5094