Part of Chimes of Freedom The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International

Updated with new video – OK I’m not a Miley Cyrus fan but she does acquit herself nicely on the 4 CD set honoring Dylan and Amnesty International. The 4-CD set of Dylan covers grows on you.

More than 70 artists from superstars like Bruce Springsteen, Adele, Mark Knopfler and Sting to relative unknown artists put their own stamp on Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan.

Miley Cyrus puts on a nice folk country performance for Jimmy Kimmel’s audience with a single guitarist and some chorus harmony. (removed and the official video substituted) It mirrors the CD with the exception of the bass and lead guitar. She has a great voice that can handle the emotion without being overdone. Very nice.

Chimes of Freedom is one of those CDs that grows on you. When I streamed it last year it was like…not my favorite. It still hadn’t gotten into rotation by the time I wrote Chimes of Freedom all Bob Dylan all the time

The problem then was so many different styles, some of them not to my taste. Can you imagine My Chemical Romance performing Desolation Row? That’s music my 19 year old listened to when she was 13 and wanted to tick me off.

But, it grows on you, know what I mean? It’s on my iPhone and computer. The performances are subtly both Dylan and the artists like Elvis Costello on License to Kill. Costello gets right inside the song better than anything I’ve heard him do before.

Another gem is Patty Smith singing the enigmatic Drifter’s Escape.

The best of the performers ignore Dylan’s versions and put their own stamp on the music. There are so many performances the CD begs for someone to write a book detailing each artist and the recording sessions.

The CD was selling for $16 at Costco and $20 at Amazon.com, which isn’t bad for 76 songs with the profits being donated to charity.

“Four CD collection containing music from Patty Smith, Rise Against, Pete Townshend, Diana Krall, My Morning Jacket, Sting, Lenny Kravitz, Jackson Browne, Sugarland, Joan Baez, Flogging Molly, Joe Perry, Bad Religion and many others. Two iconic forces that have impacted the past 50 years — the life-saving human rights activism of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Amnesty International and the incomparable artistry of Bob Dylan — are being saluted by musicians who contributed new or previously unreleased recordings to Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Almost 30 tracks on the album were mixed gratis by famed engineer Bob Clearmountain. Bob Ludwig and Adam Ayan of Gateway Mastering donated their mastering services. The album cover illustration is by Grammy Award winning artist Mick Haggerty.” Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan (Amazon.com)

I wonder if my Hannah is too old at 16 to watch those Hannah Montana re-runs?

Set List

CD1
Raphael Saadiq ‘Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat’
Patti Smith ‘Drifter’s ‘Escape’
Rise Against ‘Ballad of Hollis Brown’
Tom Morello ‘The Nightwatchman ‘Blind Willie McTell’
Pete Townshend ‘Corrina, Corrina’
Bettye LaVette ‘Most of the Time’
Charlie Winston ‘This Wheel’s On Fire’
Diana Krall ‘Simple Twist of Fate’
Brett Dennen ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’
Mariachi El Bronx ‘Love Sick’
Ziggy Marley ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’
The Gaslight Anthem ‘Changing of the Guards’
Silversun Pickups ‘Not Dark Yet’
My Morning Jacket ‘You’re A Big Girl Now’
The Airborne Toxic Event ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’
Sting ‘Girl from the North Country’
Mark Knopfler ‘Restless Farewell’

CD2
Queens Of The Stone Age ‘Outlaw Blues’
Lenny Kravitz ‘Rainy Day Woman # 12 & 35’
Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli ‘One More Cup of Coffee’ (Valley Below)
Blake Mills ‘Heart Of Mine’
Miley Cyrus ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’
Billy Bragg ‘Lay Down Your Weary Tune’
Elvis Costello ‘License to Kill’
Angelique Kidjo ‘Lay, Lady, Lay’
Natasha Bedingfield ‘Ring Them Bells’
Jackson Browne ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit’
Joan Baez ‘Seven Curses’ (Live)
The Belle Brigade ‘No Time To Think’
Sugarland ‘Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You’ (Live)
Jack’s Mannequin ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’
Oren Lavie ‘4th Time Around’
Sussan Deyhim ‘All I Really Want To Do’
Adele ‘Make You Feel My Love’ (Recorded Live at WXPN)

CD3
K’NAAN ‘With God On Our Side’
Ximena Sariñana ‘I Want You’
Neil Finn with Pajama Club ‘She Belongs to Me’
Bryan Ferry ‘Bob Dylan’s Dream’
Zee Avi ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’
Carly Simon ‘Just Like a Woman’
Flogging Molly ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’
Fistful Of Mercy ‘Buckets Of Rain’
Joe Perry ‘Man Of Peace’
Bad Religion ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’
My Chemical Romance ‘Desolation Row’ (Live)
RedOne featuring Nabil Khayat ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’
Paul Rodgers & Nils Lofgren ‘Abandoned Love’
Darren Criss featuring Chuck Criss and Freelance Whales ‘New Morning’
Cage the Elephant ‘The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll’
Band of Skulls ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’
Sinéad O’Connor ‘Property of Jesus’
Ed Roland and The Sweet Tea Project ‘Shelter From The Storm’
Ke$ha ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’
Kronos Quartet ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’

CD4
Maroon 5 ‘I Shall Be Released’
Carolina Chocolate Drops ‘Political World’
Seal & Jeff Beck ‘Like A Rolling Stone’
Taj Mahal ‘Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream’
Dierks Bentley ‘Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)’ (Live)
Mick Hucknall ‘One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)’
Thea Gilmore ‘I’ll Remember You’
State Radio ‘John Brown’
Dave Matthews Band ‘All Along the Watchtower’ (Live)
Michael Franti ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’
We Are Augustines ‘Mama, You Been On My Mind’
Lucinda Williams ‘Tryin’ To Get To Heaven’
Kris Kristofferson ‘Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)’
Eric Burdon ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’
Evan Rachel Wood ‘I’d Have You Anytime’
Marianne Faithfull ‘Baby Let Me Follow You Down’ (Live)
Pete Seeger ‘Forever Young’
Bob Dylan ‘Chimes Of Freedom’