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Barb Jungr – Every Grain of Sand – The Independent

It was in 2002 that Jungr really found her niche, when she released Every Grain of Sand: Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan. The idea of reworking Dylan songs might seem as futile as rewriting Wuthering Heights given that it's fairly difficult, looking back over more than half a century, to think of more than a couple of Bob Dylan cover versions that are even faintly as interesting as the original.

Yet Jungr's extraordinary interpretations of songs such as "Every Grain of Sand" and "Sara" have seen her elected to an elite company of memorable cover artists, alongside Jimi Hendrix and the Byrds. She is, as Billy Bragg said, our greatest living interpreter of Dylan songs. The Wall Street Journal called Jungr Sings Bob Dylan "the most significant vocal album of the 21st century", adding, in the interest of prudence, "thus far".

The Independent
14 April 2013