I haven’t a clue whether this 1967 Dylan parody by The Hombres is meant to be taken seriously or not.

Specifically a “deadpan southern-fried parody” (as one critic put it) of Subterranean Homesick Blues – the one where Dylan holds up cards with the lyrics and tosses them away.

Even the band’s name, The Hombres, seems not entirely serious, though they were a real band, who started out as the touring version of Ronny & The Daytonas after their hit with G.T.O.

They came from Memphis and comprised B.B. Cunningham Jr (brother of Box Tops bassist Bill Cunningham) on vocals and organ, guitarist Gary Wayne McEwen, Jerry Lee Masters on bass and drummer John Will Hunter.

This was the peak of their career and by 1969 they had split up, having failed to repeat their success with a couple more “humorous” singles including Am I High (Boy Am I High).

Regrettably, I only know the song through a dismal cover version by Jonathan King that was a minor UK hit in 1970. I remember seeing him dressed up like a cartoon hippy on TOTP, looking characteristically pleased with himself (with his characteristic curl of the lip) – introduced by Jimmy Savile. Which somehow seems appropriate.

Further evidence that The Hombres were not entirely serious, albeit of the circumstantial kind, comes on the original’s B-side Go Girl, Go, which finds the singer complaining about having to stand in line to see his girlfriend now that she is a “hip-swingin’, fringe-slingin’ watusi go-go girl.”

Whatever the answer – and we may never know – it was considered authentic enough, and groovy enough, to be included on the first Pebbles compilation of Sixties garage rarities.

Having been covered by several other artists apart from King, including an excellent version by new wave band The Nails (whose equally deadpan song 88 Lines About 44 Women is one of my favourites), David Lee Roth, John Cougar Mellencamp and Appleton – the duo created by sisters out of All Saints.