Rolling Stone Magazine has come up with a list of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time and Hibbing's own Bob Dylan is at the top of the list with his song "Like A Rolling Stone." That song was Dylan's first top ten hit in 1965. He followed it with another big seller called "Positively 4th Street."
In his new autobiography "Chronicles," Dylan reveals that of all of his songs that have been recorded by another artist, the one he likes the best is "Positively 4th Street" by Johnny Rivers. He writes, "Most of the cover versions of my songs seemed to take them out into left field somewhere, but Rivers' version had the mandate down, the attitude and melodic sense to complete and surpass even the feeling that I had put into it."
Segment includes music clips.
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CATHY WURZER: Well, as we close out Morning Edition something to pass along Rolling Stone magazine has come up with a list of the 500 greatest songs of all time and Hibbing's own Bob Dylan is at the top of the list with his song, "Like a Rolling Stone."
[BOB DYLAN, "LIKE A ROLLING STONE"] How does it feel to be without a home?
Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone
Now, that song was Dylan's first top 10 hit in 1965. He followed it with another big seller called "Positively 4th Street." In his new autobiography, Chronicles, Dylan reveals that of all of his songs that had been recorded by another artist, the one he likes the best is "Positively 4th Street" by Johnny Rivers. He writes, "Most of the cover versions of my songs seem to take them out into left field somewhere, but Rivers' version had the mandate down, the attitude and melodic sense to complete and surpass, even the feeling that I had put into it."
[JOHNNY RIVERS, "POSITIVELY 4TH STREET"] You've got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down, you just stood there grinning You've got a lotta of nerve to say you've got a helping hand to lend You just want to be on the side that's winning
Dylan says when he listens to this version of "Positively 4th Street," he feels a kinship with Johnny Rivers. Dylan writes, "When I heard Johnny sing my song, it was obvious that life had the same external grip on him as it did on me, and that we were from the same side of town, had been read the same citations, came from the same musical family, and were cut from the same cloth."
JOHNNY RIVERS: (SINGING) l wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes And just for that one moment, I could be you Yes, I wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes and you knew what a drag it is to see you