Sigmansongs Span Genres, Generations | HuffPost Contributor

Early this year, Bob Dylan and Alison Krauss two of my favorite artists beautifully covered songs whose lyrics were written by my dad, Carl Sigman (1909-2000) during the 1950s. The wonderful writer Jim Bessman wrote a piece for Centerline that captured the thrill this Baby Boomer felt at the melding of Tin Pan Alley, Rock n Roll, country, bluegrass, and other strands of American pop.

This week, Krauss recording of Losing You (Sigman/Renard) and Dylans triple album Triplicate the first single from which was I Could Have Told You (Sigman/Van Heusen) were nominated for Grammys, while Crazy She Calls Me (Sigman/Russell) is given a lovely jazzy feel on a new Billie Holiday tribute album by the great Jersey rocker, Southside Johnny. Adding to the genre-generation jumbling, a new CD/DVD release of German TV performances by the Richard Thompson Band (another personal fave) from the early 1983-84 includes what critic Jon Sobel calls , a sultry version of the Glenn Miller novelty number Pennsylvania 6-5000 (Sigman/Grey/Finegan) complete with accordion solo and shouts in British accents.

Heres Jims piece...

February 5, 2017

Jim Bessman

No surprise at the big stir caused by word that Bob Dylan's next release, Triplicate (March 31), is not only a three-disc set, but is comprised completely of "Great American Songbook" covers--30 in all and including such chestnuts as "Stormy Weather" and "As Time Goes By."

No surprise, too, that Dylan chose to revive Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Carl Sigman's "I Could Have Told You," since even though Sigman died in 2000, the collaborator on such classics as "Ebb Tide" and "What Now My Love" is on somewhat of a career roll.

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