The Chocolate Watchband :: It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

13th Floor Elevators, Van Morrison’s Them and San Jose, California’s The Chocolate Watch Band. All three came up the other night while discussing favorite renditions of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.” Me, I’m tied between The Chocolate Watchband and Them as, really, the two are not all that dissimilar. I’ve always assumed the Watchband’s psychedelic/garage take was, in essence, just the band doing a ‘cover’ of Them’s version replacing Morrison’s delivery with Watchband vocalist David Aguilar’s Jagger-esque croon. Regardless, this version smokes.

MP3: The Chocolate Watchband :: It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

20 thoughts on “The Chocolate Watchband :: It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

  1. Dylan’s own cover – live in 1966, that appeared on Biograph. It’s AWESOME.

  2. I have to go with the Them version as my favorite. I think Beck sampling it for “Jackass” makes it have an even more special place in my heart. That is easily one of my favorite Beck songs thanks to Them…

  3. This song came over the stereo today at lunch and I stopped a group conversation to talk about it. What a great coincidence that you posted it. Thank you.

  4. Leon Russell’s version of this song on “Leon Russell and The Shelter People” is not to be forgotten…

  5. This version is fantastic. It is so much better than the version with overdubs found on Inner Mystique. Where is this version from? Thank you.

  6. Dylan says he was thinking of Gene Vincent’s “Baby Blue” when he wrote this song. So a weird line can be drawn from Gene Vincent–>Dylan–>Them–>Beck–>South Austin Jug Band.

  7. You may want to check out the Belfast Gypsy’s version, too. This band consisted of a couple of ex-Them members, and actually recorded their version before Van’s version.

  8. Bryan Ferry’s version is elegant and decadent… like much of his work. I favor it highly. And, make no mistake about it – he was cool and hip before you or your parents were. and he will be cool and hip long after you abandon your wannabe writer dreams and work at wal-Mart (did I say that out loud… oops!)Although anything by Chocolate Watchband is worthy. It’s just that goddamned bad imitation of Jaggeresque phrasing that I find hard to get over… Alas, they nonetheless remain all too forgotten.

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