Cover songs often feature in the setlist of legendary performer Bob Dylan, who performed two Chuck Berry songs on this day in 2023.
One of the two Berry covers was featured for the first and only time too, with Dylan opting not to play it ever since. Dylan would open and close his show at the Stifel Theatre in St. Louis with Berry covers, with a performance of Johnny B. Goode opening the show. It’s the first and only time Dylan has performed the song, and thankfully audio of the performance does exist. While Dylan is known for playing around with the tempo and tone of his songs and covers, this rendition of Johnny B. Goode is relatively close to the studio version fans will know and love.
Another cover of Berry ended the show too, with Dylan and the band rolling out Nadine (Is That You?), for the first time since 1988. He would perform the song a further two times on this tour, but the first time since 1988 came right in Berry’s hometown.
A full setlist for Dylan’s show at the Stifel Theatre can be found below.
- Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry cover)
- Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine
- I Contain Multitudes
- False Prophet
- When I Paint My Masterpiece
- Black Rider
- My Own Version of You
- I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
- Crossing the Rubicon
- To Be Alone With You
- Key West (Philosopher Pirate)
- Gotta Serve Somebody
- I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You
- That Old Black Magic (Johnny Mercer cover)
- Mother of Muses
- Goodbye Jimmy Reed
- Every Grain of Sand
- Nadine (Is It You?) (Chuck Berry cover)
Covers have featured frequently in Dylan’s setlist, and the Rough and Rowdy Ways performances would feature Dylan playing around with work from Billy Joel, Johnny Cash, and Johnny Mercer. Dylan would perform Cash’s Big River a total of 15 times across 2024, after a 24-year break from performing the song as part of his live shows.
Whether Dylan performs further cover songs on his upcoming European tour is yet to be seen, but he did feature a cover of The Pogues’ A Rainy Night in Soho during his 3Arena show in Dublin, Ireland, last year. Dylan has performed the classic track just twice, with one performance in Phoenix and a second in Dublin.
While they haven’t featured in a few years now, Dylan would frequently cover Melancholy Mood and Autumn Leaves as a part of his live set. More recently, he’s brought covers of Bo Diddley’s I Can Tell, Bobby Bland’s Share Your Love With Me, and Jerry Lee Lewis’ I’ll Make it All Up to You to the stage.
Dylan has performed I Can Tell a total of 84 times across 2025 and 2026, which means he’s played it live more than originals like 4th Time Around, New Morning, and Idiot Wind.
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