Roy Harper - Girl From The North Country [Dylan Tribute 2005]

Roy Harper performs a beautiful cover of Dylan's 'Girl From The North Country' at Talkin' Bob Dylan Blues: A Bob Dylan Tribute Concert - London Barbican September 26th, 2005
The concert was broadcast on BBC4 April 24th, 2006

[@PaulMcMinotaur]

There’s not many moments that make me feel happy to exist. A few minutes can make it seem totally worthwhile

[@jmhaces]

Hats off to Roy Harper.

[@stevenhanson6057]

No wonder Zeppelin is crazy about Roy

[@markhayward7400]

I can remember a Roy Harper gig at the Leadmill, Sheffield in the mid 1980s. He wasn't 'pretend angry' then at Dylan's borrowing in connection with "Girl From The North Country", he was proper angry. He has mellowed with age if this clip is anything to go by.

[@garymensurati1631]

Awesome 👍

[@yvonnecowan4375]

Loved you 💓 since the 60's Roy xxx

[@neilprimeau5475]

so good on all levels

[@neilcusworth1764]

I just listened to this it never hit me me more deeply god bless Roy welcome to the new world

[@patsyparisi2620]

Fab performance

[@sartainja]

This song has a medieval period theme to it, the same as “If I were a Carpenter.”

[@annewelch2134]

That was magical

[@craigo1962]

to any detractors, go see this man live. he isnt as young as he was, and can be an awkward performer, but at his best, he is amazing, and once or twice, a genius.love to roy for so many good memories, and the angriest performance i have ever seen in liverpool, 1980ish.

[@thesleepstate]

Been to see Mr Harper three times.. all very special occasions!

[@reliablebow]

Thanks Roy..Thanks Bob....Thanks to that North Country Girl

[@Yehbaby1953]

Roy you are an absolute genius I first listened to you 45 years ago and your voice still rings true. Authenticity is all about truth if you had listened Chuck to all the albums he has done you would know that he has loved and felt the pain of loss. Dylan is without doubt the greatest songwriter lyricist of all time but the power was in the words not in his voice...how many great covers were done on Dylan's orginals ...most of them an improvement on delivery of the original as I believe this is. Hats off to Roy Harper!

[@TheMrbeasely]

"Dylan is without doubt the greatest songwriter lyricist of all time but the power was in the words not in his voice.." I couldn't disagree more. Dylan's songs stand out due to his voice (inflection, phrasing, etc.). For example, I like Tom Wait's songs not just because they are great songs, great lyrics, but also for Tom Wait's unique voice. All those things make a song a Tom Waits song and that's what also makes a song a Bob Dylan song.

[@gazicj]

what a voice, omg

[@mikelheron20]

I have been a fan of Roy since I was at university in 1974. I think he is one of the most gifted musicians/singer-songwriters there has ever been. This wasn't one of his better performances by a long way.

[@fenwayify]

This is a fine interpretation of Dylan's great song. I've listened to countless versions and find myself once again returning to the original as my preference. With the exception of John' Cale's punch in the gut rendition of Leonard Cohen's, "Hallelujah," I usually find that to be the case with most music I hear. I think what I like best about Bob's performance of this song is his simple yet profoundly mournful repeated focus on lost "feelings of true love." Just like in Gordon Lightfoot's, "If you could read my mind" the loss of love is exceedingly devastating, utterly heartbreaking, with mystery in both how it arrives and departs. Dylan's words convey such meaning, his glaring vocal limitations become of little consequence. Others (Lennon, McCartney, Springsteen, Townsend, Jagger, Cohen, Mitchell, Simon, Young, Bowie, Marley) may approach Dylan with their songwriting proficiency, but no one actually reaches him, let alone surpasses him. I think he truly is the greatest writer and composer the world has ever known...

[@rmcalinden]

I think you're so very right. No one will ever touch him.

[@se7enhedd]

I saw Roy at the Wulfrun in Wolverhampton in the early 90s. The original Dylan version is one of my favourite songs, and Roy played this as an encore - I still recall it as a very magical moment, and one that, for me having missed the 60s & 70s, was about as authentic as it would get. Years later I heard an interview where Roy commented on a brief time during the early 90s, saying that, for just a few years, it felt like the spirit the 70s had returned. I still feel very privileged to have heard him play in what he felt was a special time - I missed the 70s, but I managed to experience them all the same.

[@RorschachCZ]

I love this version. It's so soulful :3

[@RivieraKid69]

Beautiful.

[@spikegenalo7994]

This Is Just Absolutely Beautiful.

[@timrgibbs]

One of many GREAT covers, thanks!

[@peebeedee6757]

1957 and there is Roy marching up and down with the rest of us RAF recruits. Then he decides that is not the life for him and is gone. British military loss is British music's gain. You did it Roy.

[@nightpilgrim2606]

Thanks a lot Rod

[@aaronm.3581]

Rowdy Roddy Piper?

[@Flannelsykes]

Tres beau

[@mayaanthony7234]

sublime

[@MtGInvestor]

OMG, he tears this up at about 4:45 - 5:00!!! Dylan (Freewheelin) is my fave version, but this is good!

[@123simmay]

I was Social Secretary in the Seventies at Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry. I booked Roy Harper and spent time with him in the rehearsal room before he went on stage. We shared the biggest joint I have ever seen in my life, maybe 18 inches long. Good concert !!

[@Katehowe3010]

Was it a Coventry carrot?

[@royferguson3909]

@@Katehowe3010 it was

[@Teddyb1939]

Have seen the show in the west end. so came back to this beautiful version, Advice go see the show.

[@slyeung6562]

Lovely ! Thank you.

[@Itzjustcaitlin-]

always a class act

[@ReeceTatarka]

It's a folk song. It's meant to be interpreted different ways. That's how folk functions. It's passed down from generation to generation and people change it as they go along. If you can't respect that, you shouldn't be listening to folk music.

[@grahamjones7328]

So when Dylan went electric that was ok? Seem to recall many folkies getting upset at the time.

[@234cheech]

we will never forget ya roy

[@TheRoytonRebel]

Wow

[@colincullip6463]

Absolutely brilliant 👏👏👏👏👏🇬🇧🇬🇧🤮

[@luiscorro1924]

Pete Townshend has been playing this song on his rare solo shows and said, he copied his version from Roy Harper.

[@ReeceTatarka]

Roy is known for using an array of effects for his mics. If you think that echo is cool, you haven't seen anything yet XD

[@vibravoxa8631]

It's strange as I'm not British and not acquainted with historical topics but I always felt that this song, the flavour and the essence, was far more British than American and that Bob Dylan represented stolen sentiments. Bob Dylan spent some years in Britain listening to folk music. Even his name was stolen from Dylan Thomas, a Welshman.

[@johnryan8595]

Wrong sorry. Brits try to claim it and do a poor impression of it too .

[@eamonmacdonnell2627]

Bob admits that a very serious influence on his music and songwriting came from listening to The Irish band The Clancy Brothers when they played in clubs and bars around New York in the early 60s..

[@MrRhmccabe]

Scarborough Fair is worth a listen as it is from a British song from long ago and very similar....Pete Townshend on U-tube doing this song from 1998 Woodstock is stunning.

[@emdiar6588]

@@johnryan8595 WTF are you talking about? Dylan just reworked a traditional English folk song (Scarborough Fair) taught to him by the great Martin Carthy, stole the words and set them to a far inferior melody. We aren't 'claiming' it. It's just a fact. Poor impression? Dylan isn't fit to restring Roy Harper's practice guitar. He's just some nasally, whining, out of tune phoney who somehow managed to convince a bunch of West Coast hippies that he was a genius, and no one had the taste/balls to tell him he couldn't sing. The Emperor wears no clothes mate, and I'm calling him out right now. Wiki: "While in London, Dylan met several figures in the local folk scene, including English folksinger Martin Carthy. "I ran into some people in England who really knew those [traditional English] songs," Dylan recalled in 1984. "Martin Carthy, another guy named [Bob] Davenport. Martin Carthy's incredible. I learned a lot of stuff from Martin." Carthy exposed Dylan to a repertoire of traditional English ballads, including Carthy's own arrangement of "Scarborough Fair," which Dylan drew upon for aspects of the melody and lyrics of "Girl from the North Country," including the line from the refrain "Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine". Musically, this song is nearly identical to his composition "Boots of Spanish Leather", composed and recorded one year later for the album ."

[@heinzer69]

Bob certainly lived in the North of America- Minnesota close to the Canadian border. This song is about Echo a former girlfriend of his from the same town. He was going to call himself Dillon after his favourite character from a tv western . The character was Matt Dillon. He decided to change the spelling to Dylan. Nothing to do with Dylan Thomas.

[@cliffymckernan6853]

I really can't understand these people who put thumbs down on things like this. Fucking weird.

[@joeybenoit6269]

No just Roy Harper! Excuse me!

[@johnnybq2]

I like David Mallets' version of this song.

[@colincurwood2492]

This is not a Dylan tribute. The song is originally a traditional folk song approriated by Dylan and sold as his own.

[@royferguson3909]

Pete Townshend brought me here, I wish that he didn't. Though it is better than I could ever dream of playing. This version was, lackluster.....at best .This song requires heart . just my opinion, what you say?

[@joeybenoit6269]

Joe cocker and Kris Kristofferson?

[@user-ck9os3fv4j]

あのZepのジミーペイジがわざわざ自らのアルバムに　Roy Harper の　タイトルを付けて曲を作るくらいだから　とてつもない　大物なんだ　この人

[@philipmcglasson533]

I’ll not hold this performance against him.

[@TheBrucenz]

Silly intro... nice performance

[@jonasjar]

A very different cover version. The singing is pretty unconventional, but still works well.

[@CraigsOverijse]

jonasjar I’m laughing at your comment being it’s covering Dylan if you do not know Roy Harper go look him up he’s a secret Gem

[@PaulWooten23]

Great fingerpicking. The intro was kind of insulting to Dylan.

[@peteryoungpeteryoung965]

Harper is only pointing out, that In folk and blues music there is nothing new under the sun and if your are a so called folk music writer, ten to one someone has been there before you. This is actually a copy of an old Irish ballad that was written a hundred years ago by persons unknown. That's why it's called traditional folk music. Dylan only put his take on it.

[@zenhaelcero8481]

He pokes fun at Dylan a bit, but the truth is that folk music just about always borrows melodies and tunes from older songs. Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson did a wonderful live concert a few years ago, and Cash talks about how he took a tune from and old song and came up with "Don't Take Your Guns To Town," as well as another example or two. It's just the way folk music goes. Dylan pulled a lot of flack for it in the '60s, because he was successful in the industry and other folks resented it. One of the Behan brothers *hated* Dylan's success, and accused him of stealing most of "With God On Our Side" from him. The truth was, Dylan had indeed used a lot of Behan's tune, but Behan had himself taken the melody and some of the lyrics from an older Irish ballad written by folks unknown. You get the point, though. Folk music isn't about being original, though it always is to a certain degree. It's about reaching the heart of the people, usually by commiserating with them.

[@CraigsOverijse]

I think you misunderstood the northern sense of humour from the U.K.

[@yuntakukai1002]

Snowflake

[@gudlisner501]

Truth is Roy that you believed that you wrote it. That doesn’t detract from a great version of a classic Dylan song.

[@ralphh.2200]

It's ok...he missed most all of th very important minor chords...

[@milesfromneworleans]

He was right originally; this is an old English folk song. Why play a tribute to the man who stole it and called it his own? I like Dylan's version much better by the way. Pete Townshend's is the best though.

[@parksstone]

Not feelin' it, Roy.

[@paulsolon6229]

Dylan and cash far better

[@jamesrodgers3132]

You didn't steal it man. You did a poor cover.

[@lutang15]

that interpretation is a little bit to pathetic....for me

[@eamonmacdonnell2627]

No you're pathetic.. and u have my sympathy for being unable to appreciate the vocal and guitar playing of this man..

[@eamonmacdonnell2627]

Specsavers now open and now doing hearing tests.

[@michaelbuckland2819]

I can see why I have never heard of this guy. Its one thing to steal a song. Its another thing to sell it. This guy has not one shred of authenticity in his voice.

[@michaelbuckland2819]

MrTheBeast Great call Beast. I never knew he did the vocals for the album cut. I stand corrected.

[@CWilliams69]

Chuck Beeverton This is an old English folk song, Dylan 'stole' it in the 1st place

[@CWilliams69]

Chuck Beeverton Further to my last post check this out. expectingrain.com/discussions/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12925&sid=9ca1045af478ed2ada52437febf90d4c&view=print

[@MikeA0110]

Chuck Beeverton not one shred of authenticity?????? dear god...

[@mikelheron20]

I suggest you do a little research before you open your stupid, uneducated mouth about people you've never heard of. That way you'll look less like an uninformed idiot.

[@HillsoGold]

How is "Fair" pronounced "Far"? .........Sheesh..........I couldn't even listen to this version. And the intro wasn't necessary.

[@eamonmacdonnell2627]

Hairsplitting garbage