One of my Favorite Books of 2017 was Will Friedwald’s The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums. You can read my review here. One of Friedwald’s selections was Every Grain of Sand: Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan from 2002. I had never heard of Every Grain of Sand so I ordered it from AMAZON. I’ve listen to it a couple times and enjoy the sound of Barb Jungr’s voice. Jungr is a British cabaret singer who clearly loves Bob Dylan songs. If you’re used to the Dylan version of these songs, you’re in for a treat when you listen to Barb Jungr “interpret” them in a stripped-down fashion. Will Friedwald called Every Grain of Sand “a revelation.” I agree. Check out the sample below. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” (Bob Dylan) – 4:06
Originally from the Bob Dylan album John Wesley Harding (1967)
“If Not For You” (Dylan) – 3:09
Originally from the Bob Dylan album New Morning (1970)
“Things Have Changed” (Dylan) – 4:57
Originally from the soundtrack to the film Wonder Boys (dir Curtis Hanson) (2000), and from the Bob Dylan album The Essential Bob Dylan (2000)
“Ring Them Bells” (Dylan) – 3:14
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Oh Mercy (1989)
“Not Dark Yet” (Dylan) – 4:36
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Time Out of Mind (1997)
“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (Dylan) – 4:37
Originally from the Bob Dylan album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
“Is Your Love in Vain?” (Dylan) – 3:29
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Street Legal (1978)
“It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (Dylan) – 4:10
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
“I Want You” (Dylan) – 3:13
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Blonde on Blonde (1966)
“Sugar Baby” (Dylan) – 7:40
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Love and Theft (2001)
“Born in Time” (Dylan) – 3:10
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Under the Red Sky (1990)
“What Good Am I?” (Dylan) – 3:58
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Oh Mercy (1989)
“Tangled Up in Blue” (Dylan) – 5:33
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Blood on the Tracks (1975)
“Forever Young” (Dylan) – 2:57
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Planet Waves (1974)
“Every Grain of Sand” (Dylan) – 4:22
Originally from the Bob Dylan album Shot of Love (1981)
Not familiar with this. Don’t much care for her version of I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight that you provided.
Steve, Barb Jungr’s interpretations of Bob Dylan songs sound great on my stereo. YouTube sound quality might be the problem.
While it’s probably more pleasant than listening to Bob sing now, it isn’t for me.
Jeff, Bob Dylan was in Buffalo for a concert. I didn’t go. His voice is shot.
I saw Bob a few years ago in Gulf Shores, Alabama (Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp were the opening acts): not only is his voice shot, but he has zero interaction with the audience. It was a disillusioning experience for me, I tells ya. I love the Bob of old and he’s still on my Secret Husbands list (I really need to revise that), but I haven’t listened to any of his “new” stuff since the 1980s.
Deb, same here. I stopped listening to Bob Dylan in the 1980s with OH MERCY. Dylan always struck me as an aloof performer. I saw Dylan and The Hawks in concert in 1965. Minimal interaction with the audience. But HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED and BLONDE ON BLONDE are two of my favorite albums.
Bob was in my German hometown Tübingen two or threee years ago (I was in Hungary at the time), several friends of mine paid a lot of money and were severely disappointed by his performance and non-interaction with the audience.
It didn’t help that it was raining at this open air concerts and umbrellas were forbidden – so everybody got really wet …
Some people even walked off after less than an hour …
Back to the topic:
I’ll have to look for this performer, hadn’t even read her name yet – thanks, George!
Of course I’ll always remember the early Dylan records – I was a student at the time and they had a big influence on me and my friends.
I also wasn’t impressed by the clip shown. The piano overpowered her voice.
Maggie, Barb Jungr sounds a lot better on CD than YouTube.
Dylan released 3 very good albums later in his career : Time Out of Mind (1997) , Love and Theft (2001) and Modern Times (2006). The last time I saw Dylan was about 5 years ago. The opening acts (My Morning Jacket and Wilco) gave much better performances.
Hate to say this, but I’m gonna make it unanimous.
Michael, if you acquire a copy of THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP VOCAL ALBUMS you might want to read what Will Friedwald thought of EVERY GRAIN OF SAND.
Thanks, george!
Strange that I hadn’t heard of her before – she also sings Leonhard Cohen, one of my all time favourites!
And from wiki:
Barb Jungr was born in Rochdale, Lancashire[5] to immigrant parents. Her father was Miroslav Jungr, a Czech scientist; her mother, Ingrid, was a German nurse. Miroslav Jungr came to Britain as a refugee after the Second World War and after incarceration in the German Work Camps.[
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barb_Jungr
Here’s her story – on wordpress btw!
https://barbjungr.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/barb-jungr-has/
Fascinating!
Wolf, I’ve ordered more of Barb Jungr’s CDs.
We saw him twice at Jones Beach maybe 5-10 years ago, one year with Brian Wilson (it was when he made his bif comeback), the next with Paul Simon. Brian was very chatty, talked about the songs, his past, his brothers, erc. Bob and Paul were both almost mono-syllabic, especially Dylan. They also did a segment where they did one of each other’s songs, which was a little odd. I don’t remember all, but I think Simon did “Like a Rolling Stone” and Bob did “The Sounds of Silence.”
But yes, his voice is shot.
Jeff, actually not only is Dylan’s voice shot, but Paul Simon’s voice is shot, too. Remember when Simon tried to sing at the Democratic Convention? Painful to listen to!
i saw him in the late 80s and he stood with his back to the audience. It was awful.
Patti, that doesn’t surprise me at all. Dylan has always been distant in his performances.
Not only did I not like her singing, her mugging made me want to throw a shoe!
mugging ?
As a stupid foreigner I only know one meaning for this but that couldn’t be- or could it?
wolf, you’re not a stupid foreigner, you’re a valued contributor.
one definition of mugging means making faces