A Complete Unknown, the latest Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, arrives in Australia this week, opening in cinemas on Thursday 23 January. The film is likely to garner a fresh wave of love for the iconic artist.
Bob Dylan’s unique and prolific songwriting has made him one of the most covered artists in modern history. Australian musicians are among his biggest fans and have provided some of the most memorable covers of his numerous hits.
‘Queen Jane Approximately’ by Emma Swift
Sydney-born Emma Swift released an entire album of Bob Dylan covers in 2020. The first track, ‘Queen Jane Approximately’, has proven to be her most popular. The song was originally on the Highway 61 Revisited album from 1965. Swift stripped the song back to its folk and country roots.
‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ by The Seekers
Australia’s iconic group The Seekers covered many Bob Dylan songs. Arguably their best was their version of ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’, which showcases the group’s tight harmonies and transforms the song into a mournful but upbeat hymn.
‘This Wheel’s On Fire’ by Flake
The Sydney pop rock band found their biggest hit in Bob Dylan’s ‘This Wheel’s On Fire’, a top 20 hit in 1970. The song is an upbeat, rocky reimagination of what Bob Dylan originally recorded as a slow march. Flake’s cover resembles the cover recorded by Julie Driscoll in the UK in 1968, which went on to find new fame as the theme tune to the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.
‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ by Cold Chisel
Australia’s favourite pub rock band performed a live cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’, which became a favourite for Australian dads. The band captured the full emotional range of the song, complete with masculine tenor harmonies and a dramatic build into the song’s climax.
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‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ by Shirley Jacobs
One of Australia’s most memorable folk artists of the 1960s and 70s, Shirley Jacobs’ solo acoustic rendition of Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ can still be found online. She was 40 years old when she recorded the song on an album that also featured a German version of ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. A single mother with a folk music career, Jacobs’ simple instrumentation offered a raw musicality to one of Dylan’s earliest hits.
A Complete Unknown is in Australian cinemas from 23 January.
