The covering of Bob Dylan songs has a long and venerable history. Who could forget The Byrds jingle jangle take on "Mr Tambourine Man"? Or the outstanding Hendrix version of "All Along The Watchtower"?

Somewhere right now there's someone on a street corner busking a Dylan song. Why have so many people covered his tunes? Great songs with stunning lyrics? Of course! But there's something else with Dylan: a higher, more rarified dimension that only truly great artists like Shakespeare, Mozart and Picasso inhabit. Dylan speaks universal truths and yet manages to communicate on a personal level with each one of us at the same time. His genius allows us to take his songs and make them tell our own story. This is why people will
cover Dylan songs to the last syllable of recorded time.

"May Your Song Always Be Sung - The Songs Of Bob Dylan Vol.3" is the third in a world-renowned series of Dylan tribute albums from the BMG label. The first two in the series concentrated almost exclusively on rare Dylan covers from the extensive BMG catalogue. This latest, a double CD (triple on vinyl), is based on a different concept: along with famous names such as Martin Simpson, Eric Andersen, Julian Dawson, Rick Danko (The Band), Elliott Murphy, Steve Gibbons and Chris Whitely, this new project features some of the best "unknowns" around. There's so much to discover here, from Billy Goodman to Elin Sigvardsson, from Wendy Bucklew to Alexandru Andries.

Most of the tunes are sung in English, but you'll also hear Spanish and Norwegian! And these versions have a special charm of their own. This double CD and digipack has a running time of 150 minutes and showcases 30 Dylan songs. The album contains a special treat in the form of a bonus track from the Californian band Cruzados, with Bob Dylan himself playing harmonica.

Incidentally, another high profile musician on this excellent compilation is ex Rolling Stone, Mick Taylor who contributes his exquisite electric blues guitar stylings to Black Cat Bone's version of "Blind Willie McTell". This is a nice touch because it was Mick Taylor who played on Dylan's original version.

The Acoustic Guitar Workshop's Steve Elliott and Rick Payne also feature with a top class acoustic slide guitar version of the master's "Meet Me In The Morning", a tune which originally appeared on "Blood On The Tracks". You can listen to and download a CD quality mp3 of this at the song download page:
http://musicianmp3.com/artists/AcousticGuitarWorkshop/

Before I go any further, I must mention the man who made all this possible - BMG's Peter Bushoff. Can you imagine what it was like trying to co-ordinate 30 different musicians and get them to agree to deliver their tracks and contracts on time? Musicians are not the easiest or most reliable breed to deal with! At times it must have been like trying to juggle with gravy. So, big congratulations to Peter Bushoff for bringing it all home.

It is wonderful to hear great acoustic guitar playing and acoustic instrumentation in general all over this CD. Of course, the acoustic is the natural instrument with which to express a Dylan song. It seems invidious to pick out individual performances at this stage because compliments are due to everyone involved with this project.
Hand on heart, there is not one single filler or duff track here. Okay, some personal highlights:

With just one guitar and vocal, Wendy Bucklew weaves sheer magic and poetry out of "Buckets Of Rain". Her voice seems to me to capture the very essence of this wistful song about the passing of love. From an acoustic guitar playing point of view, the highlight must surely be Martin Simpson's dizzyingly brilliant rollercoaster slide work on "Highway 61". Again, it's just one vocal and guitar doing the business. For a fuller sound, I was knocked sideways and into the middle of next week by The Dylan Project's acoustic guitar, mandolin and persussion filled "Fourth Time Around". Steve Gibbons' vocal here is uncanny; he sounds more like Dylan than Dylan does!

For those who care about these things, the packaging and design do full justice to the musical contents. There is an illuminating and interesting booklet of sleeve notes, written for the most part by the artists themselves. There are some great stories here. Paul James ("I Shall Be Free") tells us of an extraordinary gig he played in a bar in Toronto when Dylan himself happened to drop in. Bob was so impressed that he asked to sit in on a few songs. He didn't want to make a fuss and just asked Paul to "introduce me as a hitchhiker from
Vancouver". The stuff of dreams!

All round this project displays the highest production values and unfolds sparkling gems and ripping yarns track by track. Mr Dylan should be well proud of this effort. If you love the music of Bob Dylan, this CD must surely find its way into your collection. For two and a half hours of poetry and magic, the price is an absolute steal at just £11.99 or 19.99 Euros or US$21.49.

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