Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan (Pre-Order)

JEM RECORDS CELEBRATES BOB DYLAN
OUT AUGUST 21st

Every August brings the next in the Jem Records Celebrates series. This year, we honor America’s great singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan. From his humble roots in Minnesota, Bob Zimmerman came to New York to begin what has been a 60-year career. Music has never been the same.

Richard Barone, an artist I have known since I signed the Bongos in 1982, has written liner notes that fully express how I feel about this record. They are reprinted below:

“Does the world really need another Bob Dylan tribute album? The answer, at least for the foreseeable future, will always be “Yes.” But why?

It is an inescapable fact that Dylan’s songs remain inescapable. It’s not only the enigmatic wordplay inspired by the Beat poets during his early Greenwich Village days, but also the tremendous range of personal interpretation and self-expression that Bob Dylan’s words continue to inspire in musicians. It’s uncanny that, when covered, his songs seem to embody, reveal, and communicate the innermost thoughts and even musical tendencies of the performer.

“Blowin’ in the Wind” in 1962, swiftly recorded by the New World Singers before Dylan’s own version and almost immediately followed by the hit version by Peter, Paul & Mary, was only the beginning. And, even as his songs became more personal, they remained relatable. Andy Warhol, in his book, POPism: The Warhol 60s, observed “…the more [Dylan] said, ‘I’m only me,’ the more the kids said, ‘We’re only you, too.’”

Through his writing and his carefully crafted image, the man and the myth became one. Yet, his own recordings of his songs, though iconic, are not always THE definitive versions.

Which brings us to the matter at hand: JEM Records Celebrates Bob Dylan. Six-and-a-half decades after Robert Zimmerman first set a booted foot on MacDougal Street and changed his name to Bob Dylan, the illustrious roster of Marty Scott’s JEM Records has come together to celebrate an icon whose music changed everything.

Each artist makes Dylan’s song their own. Take the Midnight Callers’ nuanced “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” which reveals an unforeseen majesty with a power-pop perfection that rivals Badfinger. Or the Grip Weeds’ blazing, Beatlesque “This Wheel’s On Fire,” Nick Piunti’s bouncy, riff-driven “Mr.Tambourine Man,” and the Weeklings’ “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” with its searing slide-guitar boogie.

The Jive surprise us with a stirring “Ain’t Gonna Go To Hell for Anybody,” from Dylan’s controversial gospel period, and the Cynz rock the hell out of the also-controversial “Neighborhood Bully.”

Each track is a highlight. Each vinyl groove and every bit of binary data is overloaded with attitude. And each artist on the album shines by making the song their own. JEM has done it again. Here in your hands, you hold proof of the power of Bob Dylan’s writing. It is yet another example of a mystery and a miracle: Even at their most personal, Dylan’s songs are universal. He speaks for us all.”

Track Listing

Here is the list of each performer and the track they have covered:

• The Weeklings — Rainy Day Woman #35 and 35"
• The Grip Weeds — "This Wheels On Fire"
• The Anderson Council — "Queen Jane Approximately"
• The Half/Cubes — "The Mighty Quinn"
• The Midnight Callers — “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”
• Paul Collins — "Stuck in Mobile with The Memphis Blues Again"
• The Airport 77s — " It Ain't Me, Babe"
• The Jive — "I Ain't Going To Hell for Anybody"
• The On and Ons — "Meet Me In The Morning"
• The High Frequencies — "Subterranean Homesick Blues"

The first track to be released (June 19th) is Paul Collins’ take on “Stuck In Mobile with The Memphis Blues Again.” The King of Power Pop rocks it out with an acoustic style that evokes the Greenwich Village scene. It will be followed by The High Frequencies frenetic “Subterranean Homesick Blues” fittingly on July 3rd. The Weeklings and Cynz tracks will follow in late July.

Please find below a “player” so you can hear the album:
https://promo.theorchard.com/cg2mNLC1C01nZiNLxwtI

This is by far the most diverse album in the series. It has taken longer to record because the artists have endeavored to cover his career on a single album.

I hope you like it.

Marty

Credits

• Produced & Directed by Marty Scott
• All Songs Written by Bob Dylan
• Mastered by Kurt Reil at The House Of Vibes, Highland Park, NJ
• Special Thanks to Toni Scott
• Illustration, Art Direction & Design by Anthony Parisi at Parisi Studios
• Liner Notes by Richard Barone
  (P)© 2026 Jem Records, LLC