Let’s face it, Bob Dylan never was a renowned singer and the years have not been kind to his voice.

Where once he drawled, now he croaks, where once he whined, now he mumbles.

When interpreting his own tunes, this delivery can give the lyrics a certain battered majesty and charm, but when he has a go at somebody else’s tunes, the results can be a bit hit and miss.

So it was with some trepidation I approached Dylan’s latest venture: ‘Christmas in the Heart,’ an album of cover versions of well known Christmas tunes.

Now I’m not sure if he intended this, being inscrutable Bob and all, but this is one of the best comedy records I have ever heard. He attacks well-known tunes like Adeste Fideles and The First Noel head-on, giving them the full strangulated Dylan treatment complete with his trademark ‘get off my land’ snarl.

It is great fun, this is what Christmas songs should sound like, not like Bing Crosby all smooth and flawless, more like your uncle - with his paper hat on slightly askew – belting his way through ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’

The proceeds of this album go to Feeding America, a hunger relief charity.