The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a quartet of special guests are bringing a Bob Dylan classic into a new era. A recently released cover finds the legendary band, Jason Isbell, Rosanne Cash, the War and Treaty and Steve Earle covering Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” with the proceeds going to a good cause.
Each act contributes lyrics to the new collaboration — recorded at Cash’s home studio and Greenwich Village’s Electric Lady Studios New York City and Room & Board Studio in Nashville, and produced by Ray Kennedy — and Isbell also plays slide guitar. Matraca Berg, award-winning songwriter and wife of NGDB leader Jeff Hanna, contributes harmonica and harmonies, while Fred Eltringham assists on drums.
“We’ve got great admiration for all of these folks,” Hanna says in a press release, “not only as artists, but more importantly, as people.”
Originally released in early 1964, as the title track of Dylan’s third studio album, “The Times They Are a-Changin'” is known today as a classic protest song, and one of Dylan’s signature tracks. It’s been covered over and over again, by everyone from the Byrds and Simon and Garfunkel to Flatt & Scruggs and Will Hoge, among many others.
“I’ve been a fan of Bob Dylan’s since I was a teenager, living in California. I was fortunate enough to see him sing “The Times They Are a-Changin'” in concert the year the song was released,” Hanna remembers. “It moved me deeply then, and that hasn’t changed. The lyrics are as relevant today as they were when Dylan wrote it — maybe even more so.”
Proceeds from streams and sales of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and company’s “The Times They Are a-Changin'” cover will be donated to Feeding America, which works to end hunger in the United States. Fans can download the song via Bandcamp for a purchase price of their choosing, or buy and stream via Spotify, Apple Music and other digital music services.
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