Personal Picks Episode Ten - Bob Dylan Rare & Remade (1960s)

 

 A performer blows his tambourine.

To clear out the halls.

There's a battle outside raging.

It is time for my personal picks.

Welcome to a very special edition of Personal Picks where I let my Bob Dylan fandom fly. All today's picks were originally recorded in the 1960s. Half are songs that were left off studio albums or live versions, performed by the man himself. The other half are covers of his 1960s catalogue. To give you an idea of what I had to work with, here are his studio albums from that decade with some songs that appeared on them:

• Bob Dylan (1962) - House Of The Risin' Sun
• The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) - Blowin' In The Wind, Masters Of War, Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
• The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964) - The Times They Are a-Changin'
• Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) - Chimes Of Freedom
• Bringing It All Back Home (1965) - Subterranean Homesick Blues, Maggie's Farm, Mr. Tambourine Man, Gates Of Eden, It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
• Highway 61 Revisited (1965) - Like A Rolling Stone, Ballad Of A Thin Man, Highway 61 Revisited, Desolation Row
• Blonde on Blonde (1966) - Visions Of Johanna, Just Like A Woman
• John Wesley Harding (1967) - All Along The Watchtower, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
• Nashville Skyline (1969) - Girl From The North Country (with Johnny Cash), Lay Lady Lay, Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

You might notice that I took a lot of Bob's performances from the album Side Tracks. This is one of my favourite albums and might not be known to non fans. I've also included a song from my favourite Dylan live album, Live At Budoken. For covers, it is mostly the soundtrack from I'm Not There. A strange movie with some great performances. Six actors depict different facets of Dylan's public personas: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger (his final film to be released during his lifetime), and Ben Whishaw.

Anyway, enjoy the picks

 (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1) Lay Down Your Weary Tune (Studio Outtake, 1963) - Bob Dylan

2) Moonshiner - Bob Forrest

3) Percy's Song (Studio Outtake, 1963) - Bob Dylan

4) Silver Dagger (Live at Philharmonic Hall, New York, October 1964) - Joan Baez, Bob Dylan 

5) Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Live at Town Hall, New York, April 1963) - Bob Dylan

6) When the Ship Comes In - Marcus Carl Franklin

7) If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Or Else You Got to Stay All Night) (Live at Philharmonic Hall, New York, October 1964) - Bob Dylan

8) Fourth Time Round - Yo La Tengo

9) Blowin' in the Wind (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February/March 1978) - Bob Dylan

10) The Times They Are a-Changin' (Live at Madison Square Garden, New York, October 1992) - Tracy Chapman

I'm gonna delve some more into Dylan's catalogue. While I'm busy, check out these rollin' reads and all the watches.

Recommended reading: Tarantula, Chronicles

Recommended viewing: Masked and Anonymous, No Direction Home, I'm Not There