A-E
F-J
K-O
P-S
T-ZAll the songs listed in the Official
Rarities section are cross-referenced by song title in these
alphabetical pages.
A-E
F-J
K-O
P-S
T-Z
This yearly page now contains only the main Rarities List! Mono 7" Singles & EPs (up to 1976) are now here, and Promotional Items (Albums and Singles) are now here. All Honourable Mentions are now here.
If you have any entries to add to the list or additions/corrections to
existing entries, please let me know!
Please note I cannot value your Dylan rarities -
see the Mission page for reasons why. Contact the
dealers on my Trading page for assistance!
Revised: 06 May, 2008.
Titles in red are not available
on a currently released Bob Dylan CD (for these see bobdylan.com
)
Key to symbols used:
Links to other World Wide Web pages -
Links to email addresses -
Links to bobdylan.com for song lyrics -
Performances currently available on commercial CD are marked by
(these are the ones that count as obscurities
rather than as rarities)
Various Artists - "Fleetwood Presents Stereo Highlights From The World Of Music" - 10LP boxed set, Columbia Special Products CSPS-10 322F (Canada), 1965:
 Columbia Special Products CSPS-10 322F (Canada) - front of box, scan by Hans Seegers |
R-0002-2 I'll Fly Away (Albert E. Brumley)
- Bob plays harmonica for Carolyn Hester, from her first Columbia
album Carolyn Hester, see 1962 (stereo version) For a complete list of all the compilations this track has appeared on, also see 1962. I'll Fly Away is on Side 1 of Vol. 3 of the set, along with Talkin' New York from Bob's first album, mistitled as "Talkin' N.Y.". Thanks to Reginald Bartlette for initial information, and to Hans Seegers for further information and scans. |
 Columbia Special Products CSPS-10 322F (Canada) - back of box, scan by Hans Seegers |
 Columbia Special Products CSPS-10 322F (Canada) - Vol. 3 Side 1 scan by Hans Seegers (with both R-0002 and Talkin' New York) |
"Bringing It All Back Home" - 7" stereo jukebox EP, Columbia
7-9128 (USA),
1965:
This item is described as a "Little LP" on the rear sleeve! (The
term "EP" was rarely used in the USA.) Side 1: On The Road Again; Bob Dylan's
115th Dream; Side 2: Gates Of Eden; She Belongs To Me.
|
|
|
|
|
R-0053 Bob Dylan's 115th Dream - edit with false start/laughing removed
This is the only place where this edited version of the track can be found - thanks to Lars M. Banke for the information. Thanks to Hans Seegers for the additional information that this EP was not sold commercially but was a "Special Coin Operator Release" made available to juke box operators only, with a page of 20 jukebox strips and three mini pictures of the cover. Copies with the 20 jukebox strips intact are very rare (because operators removed them)!
The record labels are unique to US Columbia Bob Dylan releases - a "STEREO SEVEN 33" design in light blue and white.
Thanks to Hans Seegers for scans.
Miami Sales Convention Message, recorded in London with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Columbia (USA), May 1965:
 |
R-0042 If You Gotta Go, Go Now (excerpt) This is the only part of the famed May 1965 Dylan/Bluesbreakers studio session ever released - Clinton Heylin reports that the results were unusable because too much wine was consumed! According to Rob van Estrik, the Columbia Miami Sales Convention message was copied on to a 5” reel audio tape (not an acetate) and was played at the 1965 Sales Meeting in Miami, FL. |
"If You Gotta Go, Go Now" - Columbia acetate (USA), 1965
|
|
Is this acetate mono or stereo? R-0327 If You Gotta Go, Go Now - Columbia 1965 acetate of the version released in the Netherlands in 1967 as a single (see R-0055, 1967), but without the overdubbed vocal backing by the Poppies (information from Rob van Estrik) More information/scan required! |
Various Artists - "Discotheque Dance Music Vol. 9" - 7" mono EP, Columbia Special Products/Wurlitzer 105018 (USA), 1965:
Information from Clay Stabler, Reginald Bartlette and Hans Seegers - see Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1965 for details of Discotheque Dance Music Vol. 6 with a different Dylan track.
"Positively 4th Street"/"From A Buick 6" - 7" mono promo and commercial singles, Columbia 4-43389 (USA), Jul 1965:
 Columbia 4-43389 (USA) - A-side scan by Arie de Reus (promo single) |
R-0044 Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? - early, slower, version released on a 7" single as Positively 4th Street by mistake and withdrawn very quickly. This is also available as an acetate. The matrix numbers of the mispressed version are ZSP 111386-1C and ZSP 111386-1D. The promo single from Arie de Reus has these matrix numbers and "NOT" and "OOPS!" handwritten on it, presumably by a radio station employee! It has a date stamped on it of 15 Sep 1965 and has From A Buick 6 on the B-side. This single came in the regular picture sleeve. See Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1965 for the regular single of Positively 4th Street and 1966 for the regular single of Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?, which has an longer version of Highway 61 Revisited on the B-side. R-0044 was reportedly the version available on the bobdylan.com Performances page in 1998 (BDC10, see the Online Performances page) Thanks to Hans Seegers, Arie de Reus and Keith Owen for the scans. |
 Columbia 4-43389 (USA) - A-side scan by Keith Owen (commercial single) |
 Columbia 4-43389 (USA) - front scan by Hans Seegers |
"Highway 61 Revisited" - Witmark mono reel-to-reel tape,
Aug 1965:
This was previously listed as an Columbia acetate, but Roger Ford
informs me that it was a tape which may have been assembled by Witmark for
copyright purposes, with only From A Buick 6 coming from
an acetate source. Thanks to Gil Walker for revising the date to Aug 1965
because it contains tracks from the 2 Aug 1965 recording session.
R-0378 Desolation Row - otherwise unreleased alternate take. I was originally told this features a contra bass, but Roger Ford says this take has an electric bass, whereas the album take has a stand-up acoustic bass. Al Kooper also plays electric guitar on this take, as confirmed by him to Roger Ford.
R-0044-2 Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? - early version released on a 7" single as Positively 4th Street by mistake and withdrawn very quickly (see above)
R-0049M Positively 4th Street - alternate mono mix, longer than standard (mono) single release
Thanks again to Roger Ford for the information this was the version on this tape. Larry Crum now informs me that he's checked the version of this track on the mono Disco Teen '66 compilation and it is the same as the mono 7" single. Similarly, Carsten Baumann now informs me that he's checked the stereo version on the Disco Teen '66 album against the version now included on the remastered Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (US release), and they are the same (it's also on the non-US release The Best Of Bob Dylan Vol. 2, see 2000). Thanks also to David Goldsmith for confirmation. This means it replaces the stereo mix of the single version which is now to be found on CD only on Biograph. The stereo version on Disco Teen '66, R-0049, has ceased to be a rarity, and has been moved to the new Released Rarities page. The mono version, R-0049M, remains a rarity, and is still listed here. The mono version of Disco Teen '66 album which contained this track is now in Mono Album Releases (Various Artists Compilations) 1960s. The stereo version of Disco Teen '66 album which also contained this track is now in International Album Releases (Various Artists Compilations) 1960s.
This tape had different mixes and longer fades on all the other Highway 61 Revisited tracks - more details required.
"Like A Rolling Stone"- acetate with edited version, Columbia (USA), Aug 1965:
 US Columbia acetate scan by Hans Seegers |
Is this acetate mono or stereo? R-0426 Like A Rolling Stone - unique edited version (3:50) on US Columbia acetateAs far as I know this edit was never released either as a promo or commercially. Thanks to Hans Seegers for information and scan. |
"Like A Rolling Stone (Part 1)"/"Like A Rolling
Stone (Part 2)" - 7" mono singles with the song split
over the A- and B-sides, Columbia JZSP 110939/110940 (USA), Aug
1965:
Radio
station and jukebox promos with the song split over the A & B-sides. Although
the first promos distributed widely by Columbia had this split, Like A Rolling Stone subsequently
made history by being the
first single (of any prominence) over three minutes played on the radio
in full! This promo single is JZSP 110939/JZSP 110940 - the promo with
the full version of Like A Rolling Stone on the A-side and Gates Of Eden on the
B-side is JZSP 110937/JZSP 110938, so is provably earlier. Mark Polizotti's book
"Highway 61 Revisited" (Continuum, UK, 2006) confirms this, saying that
the Columbia
marketing guys jibbed at sending out a six-minute single to radio stations and
juke box operators, so the split single JZSP 110939/JZSP 110940 was created and
distributed instead: (1) they were frightened radio stations wouldn't play it in
full, and (2) why let people get six minutes of music for a dime when you can
charge them two dimes to listen to both sides? However, the full version got out
to New York City discos and the rest is history!
|
|
R-0045 Like A Rolling Stone Part 1 - A-side (3:02 - full length single is 6:00)
R-0070 Like A Rolling Stone Part 2 - B-side (3:02) Richard Powell also informed me he has a copy of a US radio station promo with the catalogue number COL 4-43346 (W4288) with this split. This is the number used for the regular US single with the full version on the A-side and Gates Of Eden on the B-side (see Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1965). |
|||
 US promo Columbia JZSP 110939 on black vinyl - A-side (R-0045) picture from 2007 Dylan set |
|
|
|
 US promo Columbia JZSP 110937 with full version on A-side, scan by Hans Seegers for comparison |
Comments from Hans Seegers:
"The US promo single was only made for radio stations and it was (for those times) a long song, so they divided it into two parts. When the song became a big hit the company changed their mind and issued a full-length version.
In Europe there was a different reason:In France and Spain they released an EP with Like A Rolling Stone (full-length)/Gates of Eden [see Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1965 - AF] and because of that, Holland comes with the divided regular release, because they imported EPs from countries like France. Other countries in Europe did the same. So the reason is money only! There was a price difference for EPs and singles (of course). West Germany and U.K. also released EPs but wisely not this one.
Then Dylan became very big in Europe and the company decided to bring out Like A Rolling Stone as side 1 and Gates of Eden on the back. The only reason to buy the EP now was because it had a cardboard cover! Only in France the single was never released officially. It was released in France for juke-box purposes only with a beautiful fragile sleeve."
"Like A Rolling Stone (Part 1)"/"Like A Rolling Stone (Part 2)" - 7" mono promo single with the song split over the A- and B-sides, CBS 201811 (UK), Aug 1965:
|
|
Note UK singles of the time have punch-out centres so they can be played at home or in a jukebox. This promo single came in a generic sleeve. Thanks to Hans Seegers for information and scans. |
|
"Like A Rolling Stone (Part 1)"/"Like A Rolling Stone (Part 2)" - 7" mono commercial single with the song split over the A- and B-sides, CBS 1.952 (NL), Aug 1965:
|
|
Although most countries had the Rolling
Stone/Gates combination, a Dutch single (CBS 1.952) was released with the split
song (see below). This is the only commercial single with the split!
Thanks to Hans Seegers for information and scan. |
"Like A Rolling Stone (Part 1)"/"Like A Rolling Stone (Part 2)" - 7" mono jukebox single with the song split over the A- and B-sides, CBS 1952 (France), Oct 1965:
 CBS 1952 (France), jukebox single - front scan by Hans Seegers |
This single was only released for jukebox use in France.
Thanks to Hans Seegers for information and scans. |
|
|
"Highway 61 Revisited" - mono vinyl LP, Columbia CL 2389 (USA/Canada), 30 Aug 1965:
 Columbia CL 2389 (USA) - front scan by Hans Seegers |
R-0488 Highway 61 Revisited - mono version (3:20) slightly shorter
than stereo album version (3:28) This version also appeared on the B-side of the Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? 7" single, see 1966 Thanks to Larry Crum for pointing out this occurrence of the rarity. For full details of releases of this mono album, see Mono Album Releases. |
"Highway 61 Revisited" - stereo vinyl LP,
Columbia CS 9189 (USA/Canada), 30 Aug 1965;
CBS/Sony SONP-50345 (Japan), 1968; CBS/Sony SOPL-225 (Japan), 1974;
CBS/Sony 25AP 273 (Japan), 1976:
For full details of these albums and
the stereo releases of this title without the rariity, see International Album
Releases.
 Columbia CS 9189 (USA) - front photo from eBay found by Christopher Casale (note the stickers and "360º Sound" logo) |
R-0046 From A Buick 6 - alternate take with harmonica intro (3:06) This affects only the original US and Canadian stereo pressings of the album, also all Japanese stereo LP pressings on CBS/Sony from 1968. Note the "360º Sound" stereo logo with the left and right arrows at the top of the front album sleeve, with the text and main photograph dropped to accommodate it, so there's no lower border. To compare it with the mono LP sleeve, see Mono Album Releases. The first stereo US pressing was not withdrawn, but allowed to sell out. A new master was made with a different matrix number (but the same serial number, CS-9189), and used for all subsequent LP, cassette and CD releases. Peter Sjöblom from Sweden informs me that the first Canadian stereo pressing with the same serial number (CS-9189) also had the alternate take with the harmonica - the matrix number on this pressing is XSM110640-1A (same as the first US pressing). Robert Johnson adds that his US copy with matrix number XSM110640-1B also has the alternate take, as has Chip Ordway's US copy with matrix number XSM110640-1C. The photos of the sealed US LP from eBay, courtesy of Christopher Casale, show a copy of the album still in the original shrink-wrap. Like the mono LP (see Mono Album Releases), it has a white sticker with violet text advertising Like A Rolling Stone - the single had been released before the album. It also has a red sticker with white text advertising that the package contains a free picture suitable for framing. The picture, a pencil drawing by "Lambert", is still in the shrink-wrap on the back of the album, covering most of the rear of the album sleeve. Thanks to Robert Kornovich for information from a book called "The Label: The Story of Columbia Records" by Gary Marmorstein which says the picture was included by Columbia with the earliest copies of the album in one US region only. All mono versions of Highway 61 Revisited are now rarities in their own right, see Mono Album Releases. However, they contain the mono mix of the standard take of From A Buick 6, not a mono version of R-0046. Thanks to Hans Seegers for information and scans. Further information from Christopher Casale, Peter Sjöblom, Robert Johnson and Chip Ordway. Thanks to Hanns Peter Bushoff for bringing to my attention what seems like an error by Greil Marcus in his book "Like A Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan At The Crossroads". On page 240 Greil writes: Phantom Engineer. This frantic early version of the Highway 61 Revisited number "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" (one take was mistakenly included on some copies of the album) can be found on Dimestore Medicine (Joker bootleg), the 3-CD Church With No Upstairs (Hanging Dog bootleg) and, from 25 July 1965, on Live in Newport 1965 (Document bootleg). This is the take released on The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 in 1991 (wrongly listed by me until recently as R-0394). I can find no evidence that an alternate take of It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry was ever included on any Highway 61 Revisited pressings, so I can only assume that Greil is confusing it with R-0046 as listed here. Like A Rolling Stone was produced by Tom Wilson before the rest of the Highway 61 Revisited sessions, which were produced by Bob Johnston. In his book "Like A Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan At The Crossroads" Greil Marcus also writes that pre-release copies of the album omitted Tom Wilson's name as producer of the song, but Bob Johnston ordered them to be withdrawn and Tom Wilson credited. Are copies of the album without the Tom Wilson credit in circulation? Thanks to Hans Seegers, Christopher Casale and Frank for information and scans. |
 Columbia CS 9189 (USA) - back photo from eBay found by Christopher Casale (note the free picture) |
|
|
|
|
 Columbia CS 9189 (US) - front scan by Hans Seegers with "Like A Rolling Stone" sticker only |
|
 Columbia CS 9189 (US) - rear scan by Hans Seegers |
"Highway 61 Revisited" - stereo vinyl LPs, CBS/Sony SONP-50345 (Japan), 1968; CBS/Sony SOPL-225 (Japan), 1974; CBS/Sony 25AP 273 (Japan), 1976:
 CBS/Sony SONP-50345 (Japan, 1968) with side obi - front scan by Hans Seegers |
|
 CBS/Sony SOPL-225 (Japan, 1974) with top obi - front scan by Hans Seegers |
|
|
|
|
 CBS/Sony 25AP 273 (Japan, 1976) with side obi - rear scan by Hans Seegers |
 CBS/Sony 25AP 273 (Japan, 1976) with a;ternate side obi - rear scan by Hans Seegers |
Hans Seegers informs me that all Japanese stereo pressings did not contain the alternate take of From A Buick 6, as previously reported. The first stereo album containing this song released in Japan had the standard take. This album, titled Bob Dylan Vol. 2 and with a Freewheelin' style cover, was on the CBS label, CBS YS-585-C (before CBS was taken over by Sony), see International Albums (Other Dylan-only Compilations). (The album was almost Highway 61 Revisited, although Like A Rolling Stone, which had already been released in Japan on the compilation Bob Dylan Vol. 1, was replaced by Maggie's Farm from Bringing It All Back Home.) | |
When Sony took over CBS in 1968, the Highway 61 Revisited album was released in Japan with its original tracklisting for the first time as Sony SONP 50345 with the US stereo cover as shown above left, but with the rarity. All subsequent Japanese stereo pressings of the album contained R-0046 as well.
Also shown here are the 1974 release SOPL-225 and the 1976 release Sony 25AP 273. Note the apparently anachronistic 1976 picture of Bob from Hard Rain on the 1976 obi! In fact the rear of the obi was generic for the year, and lists the 19 Dylan albums then available in Japan, with Hard Rain the latest. It's worth mentioning that the obi is an essential part of a Japanese rarity, especially since they are easy to lose. It is therefore best not to buy a Japanese item that is without its obi, unless you are desperate for the material, or the price is very low. (Thanks to Hans Seegers for this information.)
The current Japanese CD version of Highway 61 Revisited now has the standard take of From A Buick 6.
"Positively 4th Street"" - 10" mono acetates, Columbia 4-43389 (USA), Sep 1965:
 Columbia 4-43389 (USA) - acetate of A-side, picture from eBay with timing of 3:50 (R-0698) |
R-0698 Positively 4th Street - longer than released version with
"one, two, three, four" countdown in male voice, probably Bob
Johnston's This version is unique to this one acetate as the countdown was trimmed off the single. Another acetate owned by Hans Seegers which does not have the rarity is also shown. Thanks to Arie de Reus for finding this on eBay. |
 Columbia 4-43389 (USA) - acetate of A-side, picture from eBay in "audiodisc" sleeve |
 Columbia 4-43389 (USA) - acetate of A-side, scan by Hans Seegers with timing of 3:47 (not rarity) |
"Positively 4th Street" - 7" mono EP, CBS EP 6210 (France), Nov 1965:
 CBS EP 6210 (France), test pressing with A-side - scan by Hans Seegers |
 CBS EP 6210 (France), test pressing with B-side - scan by Hans Seegers |
|
|
|
The other two tracks were From A Buick 6 and On The Road Again - regular (mono) album versions.
The French EP sleeve was 17.8cm square while the Spanish EP below is bigger at 18.5cm square! Note the unique "languette" or index tab on the right edge of the sleeve of the French issue - these were included by all record companies in France at the time on both albums and EPs. They are easily broken off, but their absence reduces the value of the item considerably to a serious collector.
Hans Seegers adds: "There were also 4 singles in France with "languettes". Those languettes were very fragile and CBS France stopped using them in July 1971, so Watching The River Flow was the last one."
The test pressing of the French EP is two separate single-sided discs with white labels and the song titles handwritten ("Dylan" is misspelled "Dilan" on the A-side). The cover is the same as the first French version shown below with the back cover having the catalogue number above the CBS logo, Bob Dylan underlined and bordered in white, and the printer shown as “Imp. Jean Colombet - Paris", "Printed in France” near the spine. The cover is in laminated cardboard and has no flaps - scans required!
The first version of the French EP has the text "Imp. Jean Colombet - Paris -15, Printed in France." on the back, the second has "DILLARD et Cie. Imp. Paris, Imprimé en France".
Thanks to Hans Seegers for information and scans.
"Positively 4th Street" - 7" mono EP, CBS EP 6210 (Spain), Nov 1965:
|
|
This again had the cut version of Mr. Tambourine Man.
Thanks to Hans Seegers for information and scans. |
|
"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" - 8" mono acetate, Columbia CO 87184 (USA), Dec 1965:
|
|
R-0530 Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? - slightly longer version than that released as a single in Jan 1966 Confirmation of this item required! |
"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" - 8" stereo acetate, Columbia CO 87184 (USA), Dec 1965:
 Photograph from eBay |
R-0513 Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? - stereo
version, still officially unreleased
This acetate has an "audiodisc" generic label and typed text. It was manufactured for Columbia by Capitol Magnetics, Winchester, VA. Unfortunately this stereo version did not appear (even in very poor quality) on a CBS Spanish single in 1972 as previously misreported. The performance available on Masterpieces (1978) and Biograph (1985, remastered CD reissue 1997) and the 2001 Essential Bob Dylan/Ultimate Bob Dylan compilations is from the original single and still in mono! Thanks to Jean-Pol Hiernaux for finding this on eBay. |
Mono 7" Singles & EPs for 1965//Promotional Items for 1965
These are now here: Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1965. Mono LPs have their own pages, see International Mono Releases. There are as yet no non-rarity promotional items for 1965. For later promotional albums, EPs and singles see International Promotional Releases.
A Flying Pig production
Listings ©
1998-2008
The rights to material from all quoted contributors remain
with them. Copyright of all included cover art remains with the various record companies.
Since 18 Jun 2002 you are Visitor No.
(That was when I started using a new counter - I estimate that around 700,000 people previously visited the site since its set-up in mid-1998.)
|
Site hosted by |
 |
