Barb Jungr- The Man in the Long Black Coat

'How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?
How many plugs can one programme receive before things are getting out of hand?
Yes, and how many trails can the listener endure before they want to change the wave band?
​The answer my friends is not very many and the question is when is it going to end?

How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many times must the radio announce that an old rocker’s birthday is nigh?
Bob Dylan’s 70 and 70 is the number of times we’ve been told that but why?
The answer my friend is that Radio 4 trails tend to drive the listener round the bend.

This adaptation of Blowing in the Wind was sung by Graham Fellowes (aka John Shuttleworth) on Radio 4 in response to the dozens of complaints about the never-ending trailers for programmes celebrating Bob Dylan’s birthday. Not everyone complained- roll on his 75th! It was a little surprising, knowing how Dylan and his label like to soak every money-making opportunity, that there wasn’t a record release from the great man to go with the wall to wall publicity. But canny Lancashire lass Barb Jungr hasn’t let the opportunity slip by, with the release today of her second album of Dylan covers, The Man in the Long Black Coat. We’ve had to wait since 2002 for the follow up to A Single Grain of Sand but this is, if anything, better. The title track made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck; but for my money the best track is her version of Sara. The original, from ‘Desire’ has always been one of my favourite tracks (a clue can be found in the name of my youngest daughter) but Barb Jungr has improved on the original. Thank you Barb.