All 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! 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: 19 September, 2024
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 -
Performances currently available on commercial CD are marked by
(these are the ones that count as obscurities
rather than as rarities)
Voices Of America (Various Artists) - "Hands Across America"/USA
For Africa (Various Artists) - "We Are The World"
- promo and commercial 7" singles,
EMI America B-8319 (USA), EMI America 006 20 1213 7 (NL), EMI America 06 2012137 (Italy), EMI America
AMI 1760 (Australia), May
1986; EMI America EYS-17634 (Japan), 4 Jun
1986:
This single was released to publicise a charity event in the USA on 25 May
1986.
EMI America B-8319 (USA):
EMI America B-8319 (USA) - front scan by Hans Seegers |
R-0164-5 We Are The World (Michael Jackson/Lionel Ritchie) - Bob
contributes vocals to charity song (6:22) |
EMI America B-8319 (USA) - rear scan by Hans Seegers |
EMI America B-8319 (USA) - A-side scan by Hans Seegers (no Dylan) |
EMI America B-8319 (USA) - B-side scan by Hans Seegers (R-0164) |
EMI America 006 20 1213 7 (NL):
EMI America 06 2012137 (Italy):
EMI America EYS-17634 (Japan):
EMI
America AMI 1760 (Australia):
Thanks to Hans Seegers, Tom Willems, Wil Gielen, Dag Braathen, Stuart Moore, Tommy Lidgren and Shireen Ginger for information and scans.
Various Artists - "Band Of The Hand: Original
Motion Picture Soundtrack" - stereo vinyl LP releases: MCA-6167 (USA/Canada),
Apr 1986;
MCA 253 074-1 (West Germany), Apr 1986; MCA 25 3704-1 (Italy), Apr 1986; MCA
6167-1 (Australia), Apr 1986; Warner-Pioneer/MCA P-13347 (Japan), Jul 1986; stereo compact
cassette: MCAC-6167 (USA), Apr 1986:
This film, set in Florida, was produced by "Miami Vice" producer
Michael Mann and directed by "Starsky & Hutch" actor Paul Michael Glaser. MCA was Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' record label. For the Band Of The Hand VHS release, see the
VHS & DVD
1980s page.
For Band Of The Hand singles, see below.
MCA-6167 (USA) - front scan by Olav Langum |
R-0182 Band Of The
Hand - with The Heartbreakers, produced by Tom Petty My copy purchased from www.eil.com has a gold sticker with black text on the front promoting the title track. There is a promo stamp on the rear sleeve. The record has MCA commercial labels with a blue background, clouds and rainbow. It has handwritten matrix numbers: Side 1 - MCA 5370-PL 4, Side 2 - MCA 5371-PL 4. |
MCA-6167 (USA) - front with sticker (my copy) |
|||
MCA-6167 (USA) - front sticker |
MCA-6167 (USA) - rear (promo copy) |
MCA-6167 (USA) - detail of rear |
MCA-6167 (USA) - detail of rear (promo copy) |
||
MCA 6167-1 (Australia) - front scan by Bill Hester |
MCA 6167-1 (Australia) - detail of rear, scan by Bill Hester |
MCA-6167 (USA) - Side 1 (includes R-0182) |
|||
Warner-Pioneer/MCA P-13347 (Japan) - front with obi, scan by Wil Gielen |
MCA 6167-1 (Australia) - Side 1 scan by Bill Hester |
MCA 6167-1 (Australia) - detail of Side 1, scan by Bill Hester |
MCAC-6167 (USA), cassette front - picture found on eBay by Jean-Pol Hiernaux |
||
Warner-Pioneer/MCA P-13347 (Japan) - rear with obi, scan by Wil Gielen (promo copy) |
Warner-Pioneer/MCA P-13347 (Japan) - detail of rear, scan by Wil Gielen (promo copy) |
Warner-Pioneer/MCA P-13347 (Japan) - front of insert, scan by Wil Gielen |
Warner-Pioneer/MCA P-13347 (Japan) - Side 1 scan by Wil Gielen (promo copy) |
|
Warner-Pioneer/MCA P-13347 (Japan) - Side 2 scan by Wil Gielen (promo copy) |
Scans of the West German LP release MCA 253 074-1/MCA 6167 required, and any UK release. It was also released in Canada and Greece, scans required!
Bill Hester has an Australian copy of MCA 6167-1 with "WEA Records Pty Ltd" on the sleeve and record labels, showing it was manufactured in Australia. The label is the same as the US and Canadian labels shown above with a blue background, clouds and rainbow, the front of the sleeve is same design as the USA front.
Wil Gielen's Japanese copy has a promo stamp on the rear sleeve and also Japanese characters meaning promo printed on the record labels. The album has a light blue and white obi and a double-sided insert, the rear has the lyrics in English and Japanese.
I'm informed by Rob van Estrik that, even though a CD catalogue number is listed on the rear sleeve of the soundtrack LP, it wasn't actually released on CD. For a 2004 Swedish CD release, created by a Swedish "fanclub", see below and Questionable Releases.
Thanks to Hans Seegers, Olav Langum, Jack from Canada, Jean-Pol Hiernaux, Kenneth Robson and Bill Hester for information and scans.
Various Artists - "Band Of The Hand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" - Special Edition CD, (label/catalogue number?), (Sweden), 2004:
Front picture from eBay |
This unofficial edition purports to have been produced by a "Soundtrack fanclub" in Scandinavia. For the original MCA release of the soundtrack album and singles, see above. For more information, see Questionable Releases. Thanks to Hans Seegers for information. |
Bachman Turner Overdrive - "Live! Live! Live!"/Various Artists - "Band Of The Hand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" - radio station LP: American Forces Radio & Television Service RL 25-6/P-23639-40 (USA), 1986:
AFRTS RL 25-6/P-23639 (USA) - Side 1 scan by François Guillez (no Dylan) |
Side 2 of this very rare radio station LP contains
four tracks from the Band Of The Hand soundtrack album including
R-0182 (track 1). Side 1 has four tracks from
Bachman Turner Overdrive's 1986 MCA album
Live! Live! Live! This copy came
without a sleeve, although these LPs often come in just plain white sleeves. Thanks to François Guillez for information and scans. |
AFRTS RL 25-6/P-23640 (USA) - Side 2 scan by François Guillez (includes Bob) |
MCA-5760 (USA, 1986) - front picture from www.discogs.com |
Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers - "Band Of The Hand"/Michel Rubini
- "Theme From Joe's Death" - 7" promo
and commercial singles: MCA-52811 (USA); 12" promo single: MCA L33-17118 (USA);
12" commercial singles: MCA-23633 (USA/Canada), 1986:
The Dylan picture used for these singles comes from Auckland, New Zealand,
1986.
MCA-52811 (USA) promo and commercial 7" singles:
MCA-52811 (USA) - promo/commercial 7" single front scan by Christian Faerber |
R-0182-2 Band Of The Hand - with The
Heartbreakers, produced by Tom Petty, recorded at Festival Studios, Sydney,
Australia, 9 Feb 1986 |
MCA-52811 (USA) - promo/commercial 7" single rear scan by Christian Faerber |
MCA-52811 (USA) - promo 7" single with R-0182 on both sides, scan by Christian Faerber |
MCA-52811 (USA) - alternate promo 7" single with R-0182 on both sides, scan by François Guillez |
MCA-52811 (USA) - commercial 7" single A-side scan by David Plentus (R-0182 - variant 1) |
MCA-52811 (USA) - commercial 7" single A-side scan by Sergio Mariano Romay (R-0182 - variant 2) |
MCA-52811 (USA) - detail of commercial 7" single A-side, scan by David Plentus (variant 1) |
MCA-52811 (USA) - detail of commercial 7" single A-side, scan by Sergio Mariano Romay (variant 2) |
MCA-52811 (USA) - commercial 7" single B-side scan by Sergio Mariano Romay (no Dylan - variant 2) |
The B-side is an instrumental by Michel Rubini from the film soundtrack. The 12" singles have the same A-side as the 7" single (4:38), not an extended mix. This is the same as the version on the film soundtrack album, see above.
MCA-52811 US promo 7" single - this also has "MCA-52811" in white lettering below the red lettering in the bottom right-hand corner of the front sleeve. The rear of the US promo is the same as the West German single in black, white, yellow and red.
Christian Faerber and François Guillez have white label promo singles in the commercial sleeve with R-0182 on both sides. These singles have different designs as shown.
Sergio Mariano Romay's US commercial copy comes in the same sleeve as Christian Faerber's copy, although he says his front sleeve is slightly longer on the side that opens for the record. However, there are several noticeable differences on the rainbow style A-side label from that of Dave Plentus' copy (Dave did not provide a B-side label):
To the left of the centre hole “Engineer: Don Smith” is added and all the text (five lines) is left-aligned instead of centered
To the right of the centre hole “*Bob Dylan Appears Courtesy of Columbia Records” (which was below the centre hole on Dave Plentus' A-side label) is added but “(P) 1986 MCA Records, Inc.” has been relocated to below the centre hole; all the text (seven lines) is right-aligned instead of centered.
On the record of Sergio's copy the handwritten matrix numbers are: A-Side - MC 20342- PL 4 Precision, B- Side - MC 20327 – PL 3 Precision.
MCA-23633 (USA) 12" single:
MCA-23633 US 12" single - has "MCA-23633" in red lettering below the red lettering in the bottom right-hand corner of the front sleeve. The rear on the US 12" single is the same as the West German single in black, white, yellow and red, and lists the members of the Heartbreakers instead of details of the B-side. The record has a small hole and "rainbow" style labels. The sleeve is glossy card. As well as the commercial 12" single I have a promo copy. The white label promo 12" single comes in a plain white card sleeve and the record has the A-side on both sides.
MCA-23633
(Canada) 12" single:
The Canadian 12" single has essentially the same sleeve as the US 12" single, now with Canadian information at the bottom of the rear. The record was also made in Canada. It has handwritten matrix numbers): A-side - MCA 5493-PL-8, MCA-23633-A (very weak, almost illegible) plus "Precision", B-side - MCA 5552-PL-10, MCA-23633-B (very weak, almost illegible), again plus "Precision".
MCA-23633 (Canada) - detail of rear of 12" single, scan by Sergio Mariano
Romay
MCA-23633 (Canada) - spine of 12" single, scan by Sergio Mariano
Romay
Thanks to Christian Faerber, David Plentus, Kenneth Robson and Sergio Mariano Romay for information and scans.
Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers - "Band Of The Hand"/Michel Rubini - "Theme From Joe's Death" - 7"promo and commercial singles: MCA-52811 (Canada), 1986:
The Canadian commercial 7" single has the same sleeve as the US promo and commercial 7" singles except that it doesn't have a catalogue number on the front.
Thanks to Christian Faerber and Manuel García Jara for information and scans.
Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers - "Band Of The Hand"/Michel Rubini - Theme From Joe's Death - 7" and 12" singles, MCA (UK), 1986:
Thanks to Alan Hoaksey, Olav Langum, Hans Seegers and Michel Pomarede for information and scans.
Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers - "Band Of The Hand"/Michel Rubini - Theme From Joe's Death - 7" singles: MCA 171/258 673-7 (West Germany), MCA 258673-7); 12" single: MCA 258 673-0 (West Germany), 1986:
MCA 171 (258 673-7) West German 7" single - this has "The Michael Mann Motion Co. Inc. In association with Tri-Star Pictures" in red lettering in the bottom right-hand corner of the front sleeve, and the rear sleeve in black, white, yellow and red lists the members of the Heartbreakers instead of details of the B-side. The single has a jukebox large hole, paper "rainbow" style labels and the sleeve is paper. Gerard Germano has two copies with different sleeves, one of which opens at the side like my copy, the other of which opens at the top. Both examples are shown. My copy bought at a record fair in Basle, Switzerland, has a dealer's sticker on the front of the sleeve.
MCA 258 673-0 West German 12" single - the sleeve is essentially the same as that of the 7" single.
Thanks to Hans Seegers, Yan Friis, Gerard Germano, Olav Langum and Stefan Haras for information and scans.
Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers - "Band Of The Hand"/Michel Rubini - Theme From Joe's Death - 7" single: MCA 258673-7 (Spain), 1986:
Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers - "Band Of The Hand"/Michel Rubini - Theme From Joe's Death - 7" promo and commercial singles: MCA P-1232 (Japan), 1986:
Thanks to Jean-Pol Hiernaux for finding the Japanese promo single on eBay (which I bought). The Japanese commercial single came in a blue/white Warner-Pioneer sleeve, with the insert shown below. For the sleeve itself, see 7" Single Sleeves.
Thanks to Hans Seegers for scans of the promo single labels.
Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers - "Band Of The Hand"/Michel Rubini - Theme From Joe's Death - 7" singles: MCA 7-52811 (Australia/New Zealand), 1986:
Bill Hester says in regard to the New Zealand single: "The cardboard sleeve on the 7" looks like your scan of the German sleeve with much the same information on front "The Michael Mann Company Inc". etc., and the same information on the back listing members of the Heartbreakers (i.e. same as the German scan). The record itself is MCA 7-52811, a small hole but label like the US one - blue background, clouds and rainbow. There is no country of origin on the record, but it mentions "WEA Records Pty Ltd." which is peculiar to the company structure in Australia."
"Torchlight Album" - promo stereo cassette, Stratosphere Sound
Studios (no catalogue number) (USA), 23 Jun 1986:
This cassette created by Stratosphere
Sound Studios for Columbia seems to have been a test compilation of Bob's love
songs, all standard album tracks. The sound quality is very good, and the tracks
have more detail in the high tones than the versions then available, although
they do not seem to be remixes. Stratosphere Sound Studios was based at 6-10
Lexington Street, New York City - there is no record in the chronologies of Bob
ever having recorded there. The tape is dated "23/June/'86" on the insert and
"23/6/86" on the cassette labels, which implies the engineer who wrote out the
labels was European.
Cassette insert scan by Arie de Reus |
This promo cassette contains probably: R-0605-4 Jokerman - second single edit (4:05), for the occurrence of this on UK and Spanish 7" promo singles, see 1984. The full track listing is: Side 1: Lay, Lady, Lay; She Belongs To Me; Just Like A Woman; I Want You; If Not For You; Love Minus Zero/No Limit; Forever Young (slow version); Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You. Side 2: Sweetheart Like You; One More Night; I Threw It All Away; If You See Her, Say Hello; Don't Think Twice, It's All Right; Girl From The North Country (with Johnny Cash); Sara; Jokerman (edit). Thanks to Keith Venturoni for finding this item on eBay, and to Arie de Reus for detailed information and scans. |
Cassette Side 1 scan by Arie de Reus |
Cassette Side 2 scan by Arie de Reus |
Various Artists - "WEA Top Hits '86 Jul. (Vol. 37)" - promo stereo vinyl LP release, Warner-Pioneer PS-293 (Japan), Jul 1986:
Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Superstar Concert Series: The Ultimate Radio
Concerts" - 3LP radio broadcast set, Westwood One radio station discs, SS86-21,
broadcast 31
Aug 1986:
This set comes in a generic black box with a pasted front sleeve
picture. I normally now show all record labels with Dylan material, but these
have no track listings, just the show number, and the only difference is the
side number on the left. The records themselves are in clear sleeves and
manufactured to be played on an auto-changer turntable, so the sides are arranged
as follows: Record 1 - Sides 1 and 4, Record 2 - Sides 2 and 5, Record 3 - Sides
3 and 6. The set was re-released in 1987 with the catalogue number SS87-F.
Westwood One SS86-21 (USA) - front of box (my copy) |
Recorded live in Sydney, Australia, 24 & 25 Feb 1986 and Tacoma, WA, 31 Jul 1986. Side 1: R-0183 Positively 4th Street - 24 Feb 1986 |
Westwood One SS86-21 (USA) - cue sheet |
|
Picture from www.amazon.co.uk (2016 release) |
Side 2:
R-0185 Masters Of War - 24 Feb 1986
R-0180-2 I'll Remember You - 24 Feb 1986 (also on the 1986 video Hard
To Handle, see
VHS & DVD
1980s)
R-0186 I Forgot More
Than You'll Ever Know (Cecil A. Null) - 24 Feb 1986
Side 3: Bye, Bye, Johnny; Breakdown (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
Side 4:
R-0173-2 Just Like A Woman - 24 Feb 1986 (also on the 1986 video Hard
To Handle, see
VHS & DVD
1980s)
R-0187 Blowin' In The Wind - 25 Feb 1986
Side 5:
R-0188 That Lucky Old
Sun (Haven Gillespie-Beasley Smith) - 24 Feb 1986
Now recorded by Bob on Shadows In The Night, Feb 2015!
So You Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star; Spike (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
Side 6:
R-0174-2 Like A Rolling Stone - 25 Feb 1986 (also on the 1986 video Hard
To Handle, see
VHS & DVD
1980s)
R-0181-2 Knockin' On Heaven's Door - 25 Feb 1986 (also on the 1986 video Hard
To Handle, see
VHS & DVD
1980s)
Girl Of The North Country (R-0176), When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky (R-0178) and It Ain't Me, Babe from 31 Jul 1986 (R-0428, see 1999) were included in broadcasts outside the USA, but are not on the US radio station discs. The first two are also on the 1986 video Hard To Handle, see VHS & DVD 1980s.
An excerpt from Mr. Tambourine Man, probably from Tacoma, WA, 31 Jul 1986, is included in the 2007 Tom Petty documentary Runnin' Down A Dream, see VHS & DVD 2000s Part 4.
Thanks to Ole Lien for information. Thanks also to John Willy Bakke for information that this set will be released unofficially by Rox Vox as Dylan & Petty Live On The Radio '86 in the UK in Jane 2016 - this is possible only because the material is from a radio broadcast.
Kurtis Blow - "Kingdom Blow", LP: Mercury 830-215-1 (USA/West
Germany/NL)/Club Records JABH 22 (UK)/CD: Mercury
830 215-2 (USA/West Germany), Sep
1986:
This album is now out of print.
"The Gelston Acetates" - 11 Columbia US acetates brought on to the market by W. L. Gelston & Associates,
Oakland, CA, USA, 1986:
All the acetates are single-sided 12" LPs, Reference Recordings from
Columbia Studios, Nashville, TN:
Acetate 1: Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, 17 May 1966 - Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues, She Belongs To Me, 4th Time Around, Visions of Johanna.
Acetate 2: Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, 17 May 1966 - It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, Desolation Row.
Acetate 3: Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 26 May 1966 - She Belongs To Me, Fourth Time Around, Visions of Johanna.
Acetate 4: Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 26 May 1966 - Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, One Too Many Mornings, Ballad of a Thin Man.
Acetate 5: Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 27 May 1966 - She Belongs To Me, Fourth Time Around.
Acetate 6: Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 27 May 1966 - Visions of Johanna, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.
Acetate 7: Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 27 May 1966 - Visions of Johanna, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (both repeated).
Acetate 8: Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 27 May 1966 - It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (third occurrence), Desolation Row.
Acetate 9: Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 27 May 1966 - Just Like a Woman, Mr. Tambourine Man.
Acetate 10: "Bob Dylan Jams", Columbia Studios, New York, 1 May 1970 - Song To Woody, Mama You Been On My Mind, Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (instrumental), Yesterday, Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.
Acetate 11: "Bob Dylan Jams", Columbia Studios, New York, 1 May 1970 - Da Doo Ron Ron, One Too Many Mornings (instrumental), One Too Many Mornings.
R-0419 to R-0425 plus R-0503 and R-0538 (two songs added subsequently) come from the same session with George Harrison as the version of If Not For You on The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3. An alternate take of I Threw It All Away from this session appeared in Apr 2003 on the Sony Custom Mix CD web-site, see Online Performances (Other). The full George Harrison session was released on 4 Dec 2020 on the very limited Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music 3CD set The 50th Anniversary Collection 1970, see 2020. I have allocated new R-numbers to the 2020 tracks because they have all been remixed from the rough mixes and remastered.
Thanks to Arie de Reus for information and scans. Working On A Guru (formerly R-0421, now released in 2013 on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)) is not actually on one of the acetates, as previously reported, although it was in general circulation amongst Dylan fans.
Promotional/Regular Items for 1986
Stereo promo items for 1986 which don't contain rare material but which are still very collectable are now included with promo releases of regular albums and commercially released singles on the appropriate page in International Stereo Releases. |
A Flying Pig production
Listings © 1998-2024
The rights to material from all quoted contributors remain
with them. Copyright of all included artwork remains with the various record companies.