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
Bob in 1971 from the CD booklet of "The Concert For Bangladesh"
(see 1972)
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.
This page has now been split in two because of length - all George Jackson single releases 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: 16 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)
"Watching The River Flow" - 7" mono/stereo promo singles, Columbia 4-45409
(USA), 3 Jun 1971:
For the mono commercial singles with Spanish Is The Loving
Tongue on the B-side, see below. Only these promo singles were in stereo
in the USA! The stereo version of this song appeared on Bob Dylan's Greatest
Hits Vol. 2 in Nov 1971 and is not a rarity, see
International Albums
(Regular). For more Watching The River Flow international mono and stereo 7"
singles, see
Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1970-76
and US & International 7" Singles & EPs
1971.
The mono sides of Hans Seegers and Manuel García Jara's promo singles have four label variants:
The stereo sides of Hans Seegers and Manuel García Jara's promo singles have three label variants:
Thanks to Hans Seegers and Manuel García Jara for information and scans.
Fake promo record picture from YouTube |
The second mono variant record label above was used for an Internet hoax in May 2011, with the pretence that the song Friday by Rebecca Black, released by Ark Music Factory, |
Picture from www.amazon.com |
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish
Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" mono commercial singles, Columbia
4-45409 (USA), Jun
1971:
Having discovered this single was released in both stereo and mono, I have
now separated the entries, with separate R-numbers for the mono versions of Watching
The River Flow and Spanish
Is The Loving Tongue. The stereo version of the A-side appeared on Bob
Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 in Nov 1971 and is not a rarity, see
International Albums
(Regular). For more Watching The River Flow international mono and stereo 7"
singles, see
Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1970-76
and
US & International 7" Singles & EPs 1971.
Columbia 4-45409 (USA) - A-side scan by Hans Seegers (first variant - R-0687) |
R-0687-2 Watching The River Flow - mono version (stereo version is not a rarity) R-0072M
Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (Charles Badger
Clark/Billy Simon)
- B-side of mono single, New Morning out-take
recorded at Columbia Studios, New York, 2 Jun 1970 |
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Columbia 4-45409 (USA) - B-side scan by Hans Seegers (first variant - R-0072M) |
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Columbia 4-45409 (USA) - B-side scan by David Plentus (third variant - R-0072M) |
Columbia 4-45409 (USA) - alternate jukebox strip scan by Jürgen Wasser |
An unreleased stereo version of Spanish Is The Loving Tongue, also described as an out-take from New Morning, appears on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait 1969-1971, Aug 2013. However, this is not R-0072 but an alternate take. This does mean that now the song title is no longer shown in red. Another previously unreleased take, from 3 Mar 1970, is included on the very limited Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music 3CD set 50th Anniversary Collection 1970, (R-2250, see 2020). An unexpected 1974 version appeared on Disc 3 of the 6CD set The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 - More Blood, More Tracks" (Deluxe Edition), 2 Nov 2018, and a 1975 live version was included in Jun 2019 on the 14CD set Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings.
The US singles had generic sleeves, see 7" Single Sleeves. Between the release of the mono/stereo promo singles above and the release of these commercial singles there was a change of label style in the USA! Only the Canadian commercial release below has the same label style as the US promos. On the US single labels the record company name "Columbia" now makes up the label background design, not part of the lettering (see also the US George Jackson single here). The US single exists with three label variants:
For US mono/stereo promo 7" singles with just the title track, see above.
bobdylan.com used to have a page
for
Spanish Is The Loving Tongue with a 1978 copyright for Bob -
it's usually credited as "Traditional" on these 1971 singles and on the Dylan
album (see
1973). The page was taken down, but has now been reinstated with the song also
credited to "Traditional"
. In fact, the lyrics, which are
missing from the web page, are
taken from a poem called "A
Border Affair" by Charles Badger Clark, first printed in the Jun 1907
issue of the US magazine
"The Pacific Monthly" (published 6 Jun 1907, the poem is on page
631), and later included in a 1915 anthology of his
cowboy poetry called "Sun and Saddle Leather" (R. G. Badger Books,
Boston, MA, 1915, republished 6 Jul 1917). The poem is on pages 26-27 of the
1917 edition and is copyrighted by "C. B. Clark Jr.".
"The Pacific Monthly" (USA, Jun 1907) with "A Border Affair" |
Charles Badger Clark (1883-1957), picture from Wikipedia |
"Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle" by Katie Lee (USA, 1976) with interview with Billy Simon, picture from Google Books |
Katydid Records 10076 (USA, 1976) with Katie Lee's version of Spanish Is The Loving Tongue, picture from www.discogs.com |
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The poem was set to music around 1925 by Billy Simon. The song has been recorded by many artists, notably Pete Seeger and Paul Clayton, whose version is probably the one Bob heard. For a 1958 stereo album by Richard Dyer-Bennet including this song, correctly credited to Charles Badger Clark, see Honourable Mentions. However, Katie Lee, author of "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle: A History of the American Cowboy in Song, Story and Verse" (University of New Mexico Press, 1976) interviewed Billy for her book and got him to perform the song for her. She says the musical accompaniment he played was far simpler than the one used by Bob and other later artists, so it has been embellished over the years by uncredited musicians. Katie also recorded her own version for an LP that accompanied the book. Several of the 1971 singles credit the song correctly as "Public Domain" or "P.D." which recognises that it once had a copyright that had expired by 1971. Thanks to Tim Dunn for the copyright information and to Mary Kelly and Ed Ricardo for help finding the magazine and book covers.
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" mono commercial single, Columbia 4-45409 (Canada), Jun 1971:
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish
Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" mono promo and commercial singles, CBS 7329 (UK/France/West Germany/Ireland/Italy/Norway/Portugal),
25 Jun 1971:
These singles all had R-0687 as the A-side and R-0072M as the B-side.
CBS 7329 (UK/Ireland):
CBS 7329 (UK) - A-side scan by Hans Seegers (promo release) |
The UK singles had generic sleeves, see 7" Single Sleeves. The UK promo release has the date "25th June, 1971". The commercial single was available with both push-out and closed centres. Ian Woodward has a promo copy with the A-side on both sides. Jim Siddy has a jukebox copy of the commercial single with an open centre. The Irish single shown here is very rare and again came in a generic sleeve. |
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CBS 7329 (UK) - A-side scan by Jim Siddy (jukebox copy) |
CBS 7329 (UK) - B-side scan by Jim Siddy (jukebox copy) |
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CBS 7329 (France):
The French single sleeve has a "languette" - for more information about the unique French index tabs or "languettes", see 1965. The front photo was used on several other European singles and used again in 2021 on the front of the 3CD set Bob Dylan 1970.
CBS 7329 (West Germany):
The West German release was also available as a promo in a release-specific "CBS-Blitzinformation" sleeve (both sleeves contained the same record). For the generic "CBS-Blitzinformation" rear sleeve of the German promo single, see 7" Single Sleeves. The information about the single on the German promo sleeve is as follows: "Bob Dylan's newest single "Watching The River Flow" was written by him in collaboration with Leon Russell, who was also jointly responsible for the production. For the first time with DYLAN for this recording is a band with the name of "Tulsa Tops": Leon Russell, piano; Jesse [Ed] Davis and Don Preston, guitar; Carl Radle, bass and Jim Keltner, drums. The music is somewhat to be compared with the "rolling" Blues-Style of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box and Hat" [sic]." Leon Russell is not co-credited with either writing or producing the song, both of which are solely credited to "Bob Dylan" on the record labels! Although Russell did not co-write the song, whose copyright is also to Bob Dylan only, he did indeed play a large part in the production of this and When I Paint My Masterpiece, released on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II.
Ronald Born's promo copy in the "Blitzinformation" sleeve has a stamp on the A-side with text "Unverkäufliche Musterplatte [Sample Record not for Sale]".
CBS 7329 (Italy):
CBS 7329 (Italy) - front scan by Hans Seegers |
Two different promo versions of the Italian release are shown - one has a promo stamp in Italian on the A-side, the other has a triangular hole punched through the label. For a 1971 CBS Italy 7" stereo/mono jukebox single with Watching The River Flow as the A-side and Indian Reservation by The Raiders as the B-side, see US & International 7" Singles & EPs 1971. François Guillez has a demo copy of the commercial single in a cut-out sleeve. |
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CBS 7329 (Italy) - front of demo copy with cut-out centre, scan by François Guillez |
CBS 7329 (Italy) - rear of demo copy with cut-out centre, scan by François Guillez |
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CBS 7329 (Italy) - B-side scan by Hans Seegers (commercial release) |
CBS 7329 (Norway):
CBS 7329 (Portugal):
Thanks to Manuel García Jara for finding a copy of the third variant record for sale on eBay with a fake picture sleeve. The record is probably genuine but the promo sticker on the A-side is not. François Guillez has a copy of the first variant record with an "OFERTA" stamp on the A-side, this may not be genuine.
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish
Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" mono commercial single, CBS BA
301317 (Greece), Jun
1971:
This single again had R-0687 as the A-side and R-0072M as the B-side.
CBS BA 301317 (Greece) - A-side scan by Hans Seegers |
The Greek single shown here is very rare and came in a generic sleeve. Thanks to Hans Seegers for information and scans. |
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish
Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" mono promo and commercial singles,
CBS 33727 (Brazil), Jun
1971:
These singles again had R-0687 as the A-side and R-0072M as the B-side.
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish
Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" mono promo and commercial singles, CBS/Sony SCBSA
82116 (Japan), Jun
1971:
These singles again had R-0687 as the A-side and R-0072M as the B-side. Mono
singles were very unusual in Japan, but both the promo and commercial record
labels have "MONO" to the left of the centre hole.
CBS/Sony CBSA Campaign 821 (Japan), Aug 1971:
This nice set was made by CBS/Sony to promote their Air-Play Series. It includes four 7" singles with consecutive "821" catalogue numbers: 82115 (Chicago: Beginnings/Colour My World); 82116 (Bob Dylan: Watching The River Flow/Spanish Is The Loving Tongue); 82117 (Simon & Garfunkel: America/Old Friends) and 82118 (Al Kooper: John The Baptist (Holy John)/Back On My Feet). The selection (and also presumably the catalogue number allocation) of these records was not casual, but was because together they formed the acronym "CBSA" (Chicago - Bob Dylan -Simon & Garfunkel - Al Kooper), as can be seen in one of the panels of the outer sleeve. All four singles include the regular sleeve, the correct inner sleeve ("Look World" as shown above) and the records have promo white labels except the Dylan single that has the commercial orange labels with stamped promo text as already shown above. Only Bob's single was in mono, the other three were stereo!
The sleeve is a piece of fragile paper folded into four panels: the outer side shows (from left to right) information in Japanese language, the CBS/Sony logo, CBSA Campaign 821 and the CBSA acronym formed with the name of the four artists. The panels of the inside show pictures of the artists behind the records: when they are folded, each flap has information about the artist and holds the record; when they are unfolded, the flaps show the last four months of 1971.
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish
Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" stereo singles, CBS 7329 (NL/Spain), Jun
1971:
Although this single was released in mono in most countries worldwide, five
countries including Holland and Spain had a (purportedly) stereo release. For more Watching
The River Flow international mono and stereo 7" singles, see above,
Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1970-76,
and
US & International 7" Singles & EPs 1971.
R-0072M-2 Spanish Is The
Loving Tongue (Charles Badger Clark/Billy Simon),
Jun 1971
- mono B-side of stereo single, New Morning
out-take recorded at Columbia Studios, New York, 2 Jun 1970
R-0072 was also released in 2011 on the Sony Music
Germany compilation Pure Dylan:
An Intimate Look At Bob Dylan
(see 2011) - the first occurrence of this
performance to be genuinely in stereo! An unreleased stereo version of this song,
also described as an out-take from New Morning, appears on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait 1969-1971,
Aug 2013. However, this is not R-0072 but an alternate take!
An unexpected 1974 version appeared on Disc 3 of the 6CD set
The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 - More Blood,
More Tracks" (Deluxe Edition), 2
Nov 2018.
As well as the Japanese and Australian 3LP set Masterpieces (see 1978), R-0072(M) was also released in 2011 on the Sony Music Germany compilation Pure Dylan: An Intimate Look At Bob Dylan (see 2011), for the first time genuinely in stereo!
The Dutch single had two alternate rear sleeves - one has an "L" in a circle in the top left hand corner of the rear sleeve next to the CBS logo. Manuel García Jara has a copy where the text to the right of the push-out centre is printed too far to the left, and partly obscured by the cut-outs. R-0072 is wrongly credited to "Traditional".
The Spanish single was made in Spain by COFASA of Madrid for Discos CBS, S.A. R-0072 is wrongly credited to "B. Dylan".
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" stereo single, CBS SSC.1136 (South Africa), Jun 1971:
CBS SSC.1136, the South African release, came in a generic "Music People" sleeve, see 7" Single Sleeves. R-0072 is uncredited. |
CBS SSC.1136 (South Africa) - B-side scan by Hans Seegers (no composer credit) |
"Watching The River Flow"/"Spanish
Is The Loving Tongue" - 7" stereo singles, CBS BA-221831 (Australia); CBS BA 461349 (New Zealand), Jun
1971:
Although these are assumed to be stereo, Larry Crum says he has a copy of
the Australian single CBS BA-221831 and both sides are definitely in mono. He also says that the
Dutch single CBS 7329 above is also in mono, even though the labels state "STEREO". He
thinks the version of R-0072 on the Australian 3LP set Masterpieces
is also in mono, see 1978. The New Zealand
single has "STEREO" on the record labels.
Thanks to Hans Seegers, Manuel García Jara, Jim Siddy, François Guillez, Yan Friis, Bill Hester, David Plentus, Ronald Born and Jürgen Wasser for information and scans.
"George Jackson" - 7" stereo promo and commercial singles, Columbia/CBS (Worldwide), 1971/1972:
All international releases of this 7" single with George Jackson on both sides are now listed here. |
Earl Scruggs - "Earl Scruggs Performing With His Family And Friends"
- stereo vinyl LP, Columbia C 30584 (USA/Canada), Nov 1971; CBS S 64777 (NL), 1971; CBS S 64777 (UK), 1972;
CBS/Sony SOPL 12 (Japan), 1972; CBS SBP 473938 (New Zealand), 1972:
Thanks to Larry Crum for identifying
the US release date as 8-13 Nov 1971. He says: "The November 13,
1971 issue of "Billboard" magazine states "Columbia plans to release an LP on
Earl Scruggs taken from his NET special, and it will include guest artist Joan
Baez." The November 20, 1971 issue of "Billboard" lists the album in "New
Releases". Since "Billboard" was published seven days before the issue date,
this would place the release date around November 8-13, 1971."
Columbia C 30584 (USA), Nov 1971:
Columbia C 30584 (USA) - front (my copy) |
This album contains what was a Bob Dylan rarity until Nov 2019 as well as Earl's covers of Love Is Just A Four Letter Word with Joan Baez and You Ain't Goin' Nowhere with The Byrds. R-0074 Nashville Skyline Rag
- version with Earl Scruggs on banjo and Bob on
guitar, recorded at Tom Allen's home, Carmel, NY, Dec 1970 |
Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music 19075981932 (Europe, 2019) - front of slipcase with sticker (my copy) |
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Columbia C 30584 (USA) - detail of front |
Columbia C 30584 (USA) - rear with demo stamp, scan by Harold Lepidus (promo release) |
Columbia C 30584 (USA) - detail of rear with demo stamp, scan by Harold Lepidus (promo release) |
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Columbia C 30584 (USA) - Side 1 (no Dylan) |
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Columbia C 30584 (USA) - detail of rear |
Columbia C 30584 (USA) - detail of rear |
Columbia C 30584 (USA) - detail of rear |
Columbia C 30584 (USA) - Side 2 (includes R-0074) |
R-0074 and other performances from this session were released in Nov 2019 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 - Travelin' Thru 1967-1969:
Earl Scruggs Interview (The Home of Thomas B. Allen, Carmel, New York, 17 May 1970, Mono)
East Virginia Blues (The Home of Thomas B. Allen, Carmel, New York, 17 May 1970, Mono) (R-0445, see VHS & DVD 1970s - the video is still a rarity)
To Be Alone With You (The Home of Thomas B. Allen, Carmel, New York, 17 May 1970, Mono)
Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance (The Home of Thomas B. Allen, Carmel, New York, 17 May 1970, Mono)
Nashville Skyline Rag (The Home of Thomas B. Allen, Carmel, New York, 17 May 1970) (R-0074 above)
My US commercial copy has a photo of Earl Scruggs playing banjo, but Harold Lepidus' copy has a different photo of Earl with two other performers. Harold's copy also has a red stamp with "DEMONSTRATION NOT FOR SALE".
Columbia C 30584 (Canada), Nov 1971:
Columbia C 30584 (Canada) - front photo from www.discogs.com |
The Canadian album has the same photo as the US promo release on the rear sleeve, which was printed in Canada. The record was made in Canada and has red Columbia labels with the white "STEREO"/"360 SOUND"/arrows logo. Better scans required! |
Columbia C 30584 (Canada) - rear photo from www.discogs.com |
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Columbia C 30584 (Canada) - Side 2 photo from www.discogs.com (includes R-0074) |
CBS S 64777 (NL), 1971:
CBS S 64777 (UK), 1972:
CBS S 64777 (UK) -
detail of rear, scan by Kenneth Robson
CBS/Sony SOPL 12 (Japan), 1972:
CBS/Sony SOPL 12
(Japan) - detail of rear,
scan
by Manuel García Jara
This CBS/Sony release has text in Japanese on the rear sleeve with no pictures. The record has orange/cream CBS/Sony labels. This copy is missing its obi - scan required!"
CBS SBP 473938 (New Zealand), 1972:
This album has now been released on CD as part of a "2 on 1" release by Collectables Records, USA, November, 2000, see 2000.
Thanks to Kenneth Robson, Bill Hester, Manuel García Jara and Harold Lepidus for information and scans.
Earl Scruggs - "Earl Scruggs Performing With His Family And Friends" - stereo vinyl LP, Harmony HC 15044 (Australia), 1981:
The record has light brown Harmony labels. Stuart Moore has a copy where Side 1 plays the correct tracks but has the label of the wonderful World Of Andy Williams (Harmony HC 15054). There must have been an earlier Australian CBS release - scans required!
Thanks to Stuart Moore and Manuel García Jara for information and scans.
Earl Scruggs - "Lonesome Ruben"/"East Virginia Blues" - mono/stereo promo and commercial 7" singles, Columbia 4-45326 (USA), 1971:
Columbia 4-45326 (USA) - mono side of promo single, scan from www/discogs.com (no Dylan) |
This single was released as a promo with the A-side in both mono and stereo, while the commercial release had East Virginia Blues, not on the original album, on the B-side. Sadly it is now confirmed that this version of East Virginia Blues is not the one with Bob (R-0445), which appeared in a TV show "Scruggs: A Festival Of Music", broadcast on National Education TV in New York on 10-17 Jan 1971. This was released on video in 1978, see VHS & DVD 1970s. |
Columbia 4-45326 (USA) - stereo side of promo single, scan from www/discogs.com (no Dylan) |
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Columbia 4-45326 (USA) - mono side of promo single in generic sleeve, scan by Manuel García Jara (no Dylan) |
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Columbia 4-45326 (USA) - B-side of commercial single, scan by Manuel García Jara (R-0445) |
Columbia 4-45326 (USA) - A-side of commercial single in generic sleeve, scan by Manuel García Jara (no Dylan) |
Columbia 4-45326 (USA) - B-side of commercial single in generic sleeve, scan by Manuel García Jara (R-0445) |
Larry Crum has found an Earl Scruggs discography web-site that dates the session for this single as 12 Jan 1971 in Nashville, TN, and the songs have NCO numbers indicating they were recorded in the Nashville Columbia studio. Since the Dylan recording was made in Dec 1970 in the Allen home in Carmel, New York, and the TV special aired on 10 January 1971 (per "Billboard" magazine for 9 Jan 1971) it would be impossible that this recording would be the same if the information is correct. Larry thinks most of the locations and recording dates on this site for the Earl Scruggs Performing With His Family And Friends album are wrong because the recording dates are mostly after the special aired and the locations don't match the album liner notes. Tim Dunn has now confirmed that the commercial single does not contain R-0445, but it's included here for information.
Thanks to Manuel García Jara, Larry Crum and Tim Dunn for information and scans.
Mono Singles & EPs for 1971
These are now here: Mono 7" Singles & EPs 1970-76. There were no mono Dylan LPs released in 1971.
Promotional/Regular Items for 1971
Stereo promo items for 1971 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. |
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971) |
A Flying Pig production
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