4 Times Glen Campbell Covered Bob Dylan From the Early 1960s to His Final Album

Bob Dylan once called Glen Campbell‘s 1968 classic “Wichita Lineman” “The greatest song ever written,” on the cover of Dylan Jones’ 2019 book Wichita Lineman: Searching in the Sun for the World’s Greatest Unfinished Song. Originally written by Jimmy Webb and performed by Campbell, the song went to No. 1 and followed another Webb-penned hit for Campbell a year earlier, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.”

Campbell also admired Dylan’s work early on and covered nearly a dozen of his songs throughout his career, from his first album, The Astounding 12-String Guitar of Glen Campbell, through I Knew Jesus (Before He Was a Star) in 1973 and again in 2017 on his final album Adiós.

In 1965, Campbell covered Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” on his fourth album, The Big Bad Rock Guitar of Glen Campbell, then played guitar on an instrumental take on Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” for Gene Norman’s 1965 album Dylan Jazz, a year later.

His 1966 instrumental folk album, Mr. 12 String Guitar, features multiple Dylan covers, including “Like a Rolling Stone,” “All I Really Want To Do,” “It Ain’t Me Babe,” and “I Don’t Believe You.”

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“Walkin’ Down the Line” (1964)

Bob Dylan first recorded “Walkin’ Down the Line” in November 1962 for Broadside magazine, then rerecorded it a year later for his then-publisher Witmark—later released on the 1991 compilation The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991. Dylan’s lyrics tell the story of a hobo’s daily troubles—My money comes and goes / And rolls and flows and rolls and flows / Through the holes in the pockets in my clothes. It was one of two Dylan songs—the other was “Blowin’ in the Wind”—Campbell covered on his third album, The Astounding 12-String Guitar of Glen Campbell.

“Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)

On his mostly instrumental fourth album, The Big Bad Rock Guitar of Glen Campbell is a different take on Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man. Campbell’s lyric-less take on the Dylan classic gives it a more Western-psychedelic twist. Campbell covered “Mr. Tambourine Man” again, giving it a more traditional folk instrumental on Mr. 12 String Guitar.

“If Not for You” (1973)

Released on Dylan’s 1970 album New Morning, “It’s Not for You” was written as a love song to his first wife, Sara Lownds: If not for you, my sky would fall / Rain would gather too / If not for you, I’d be nowhere at all / I’d be lost, if not for you. Dylan ended up recording the song several times in 1970, including one session with George Harrison. It was later covered by Olivia Newton-John, and went to No. 7 in the UK and became the title track of her 1971 debut album. Campbell then revisited the song a few years later on his 24th album, I Knew Jesus (Before He Was a Star).

“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (2017)

In 2011, Campbell went on a Farewell Tour after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and then went into the studio to record one final album. Released three months before Campbell’s death on August 8, 2017, at age 81, Adiós features 11 songs he always wanted to record, with several by longtime collaborator Jimmy Webb and one more by Dylan: “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”

Photo: Glen Campbell records at the Capitol Records studios on June 1, 1967, in Los Angeles, California. (Jasper Dailey/ Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)