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. Full details of the "50th Anniversary Collection" 4CD-R set released in Europe only 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)
Audience recordings are indicated by (A).
Various Artists - "Chimes Of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International" - compilation 4CD set, Fontana 7401001 (USA), 24 Jan 2012:
The Man ● His World ● His Music
R-0899 One Too Many Mornings - posthumous duet with Johnny Cash plus the Avett Brothers● His World ● His Music
The Man 50th Anniversary Collection 1969
R-2154
2019).
The audio of R-0069 (but not the video)
has also been released in Dec 2019 on
the Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music Europe 2CD release 50th Anniversary Collection
1969
2019).
Thanks to Harold Lepidus and Dr. Hanns Peter Bushoff for information and to Manuel García Jara for scans.
Various Artists - "Chimes Of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honouring 50 Years of Amnesty International" - compilation 4CD sets, Fontana 7401001 (Europe/Australia), 30 Jan 2012:
Thanks to Manuel García Jara and Stuart Moore for information and scans.
Various Artists - "Chimes Of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International" - commercial compilation 2CD set, Fontana 17974 01000 (USA), 24 Jan 2012; promo 2CD set, Universal (no catalogue number) (Europe), Jan 2012:
Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International
Thanks to Jack from Canada for further information and scans. Thanks to Wiebke Dittmer for finding a Universal European 2CD-R promo on eBay (which I bought).
Various Artists - "Listen, Whitey!
The Sounds Of Black Power 1967-74" - compilation CD, Light In The Attic
LITA 081 (USA), 28 Feb 2012; compilation 2LP set, Light In The Attic LITA 081 (USA),
28 Feb 2012:
This CD has been compiled to accompany the book "Listen,
Whitey! The Sights And Sounds Of Black Power 1965-75" by Pat Thomas (Fantagraphics,
USA, 5 Mar 2012). Pat Thomas has also compiled the Allen Ginsberg
compilations Last Words On "First Blues" (see
2016) and Material Wealth (see
2024).
Light In The Attic LITA 081 (USA) - front of digipak with sticker, scan by Moise Potié |
R-0085-5 George Jackson
(Acoustic version)
- B-side of 1971 Columbia/CBS singles (see 1971),
lyrics on bobdylan.com
here On the 2LP set (not yet shown) R-0085 is on Side 2, track 2. |
Light In The Attic LITA 081 (USA) - outside of digipak, scan by Moise Potié |
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Light In The Attic LITA 081 (USA) - digipak front sticker scan by Moise Potié |
Light In The Attic LITA 081 (USA) - picture from examiner.com |
Light In The Attic LITA 081 (USA) - inside page of booklet, photo by David McBride |
Light In The Attic LITA 081 (USA) - CD in tray, scan by Moise Potié |
Light In The Attic LITA 081 (USA) - CD photo by David McBride |
Pat Thomas book - picture from amazon,com |
Other artists include John Lennon and Gil Scott-Heron. Note the picture of Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, holding a copy of Highway 61 Revisited on the cover!
Thanks to Harold Lepidus, Ian Woodward and Tim Dunn for information and to David McBride and Moise Potié for pictures.
Various Artists - "Mr. Tambourine Man: 21 Versions" - compilation CD, Classic Hits RADI-1181 (Germany), 24 Feb 2012:
Classic Hits RADI-1181 (Germany) - front (my copy) |
2010
2010's The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 -
The Witmark Demos 1962-1964 R-0217-4 Mr. Tambourine Man - with the Byrds, recorded at the Roy Orbison Tribute Concert, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA, 24 Feb 1990, from the Columbia/Legacy 4CD boxed set The Byrds, see 1990 |
Classic Hits RADI-1181 (Germany) - inside of unfolded front insert |
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Classic Hits RADI-1181 (Germany) - CD (my copy) |
Classic Hits RADI-1181 (Germany) - outside of unfolded front insert |
Classic Hits RADI-1181 (Germany) - rear insert |
Classic Hits RADI-1181 (Germany) - reverse of rear insert (under clear CD tray) |
For a Sep 2010 release with 20 versions of House Of The Risin' Sun, see International Album Releases (Various Artists Compilations) 2010.
Jack from Canada states that these three releases are in fact unauthorised, but they have been left here for information.
Various Artists - "I Feel Good: 70s Hits" - compilation download-only, Classic Hits RADI-1181 (Germany), 13 Mar 2012:
Picture from www.amazon.com |
R-0758-4 California
- early version
of Outlaw Blues from Bringing It All Back Home with different lyrics
(which appear in "Writings and Drawings" under this title,
lyrics on bobdylan.com
here), recorded at
Columbia Studios, New York, 13 Jan 1965 California is no longer a rarity since it was released in Nov 2015 on The Best of The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12. |
CBS CBSR029 (USA, 2009) - front of sealed copy with sticker (my copy) |
This out-take from the 1960s, not the 1970s, was originally released on Grandes De La Música: Mitos* Del Rock [Great Figures Of Music: Legends of Rock], a compilation CD given away in 1995 with an issue of "Diário de Noticias [News Diary]", a Spanish newspaper. For more details see Questionable Releases. It was legally released on the CBS TV soundtrack album NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack Vol. 2 in Nov 2009. For the DVD release, see VHS & DVD 2000s Part 4.
*The distinction between “myth” and “legend” made in English isn’t made in other European languages – they’re both types of traditional stories, but basically a “myth” is a story that was never actually true, whereas a “legend” is a story that is based on true events or people. This means an “urban legend” should actually be called an “urban myth”, while Bob’s certainly a legend and definitely not a myth!
Thanks to Tim Dunn for information.
Various Artists - "Make It Your Sound, Make It Your Scene: Vanguard Records & The 1960s Musical Revolution" - compilation 4CD boxed set, Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK), 4 Jun 2012:
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - picture from www.amazon.co.uk |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - box front unfolded, scan by Arie de Reus |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - box rear unfolded, scan by Arie de Reus |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - front of booklet, scan by Arie de Reus |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - rear of booklet, scan by Arie de Reus |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - detail of inside page of booklet featuring Bob, scan by Arie de Reus (text is incorrect) |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - outside of unfolded digipak, scan by Arie de Reus |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - detail of box rear, scan by Arie de Reus |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - inside pages of booklet featuring Bob, scan by Arie de Reus |
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Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - inside of unfolded digipak, scan by Arie de Reus |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - inside of unfolded digipak showing discs 1 & 2, scan by Arie de Reus |
Vanguard VANBOX 14 (UK) - inside of unfolded digipak showing discs 3 & 4, scan by Arie de Reus |
Bob's contribution to this 83 track 4CD boxed set marketed and distributed in the UK by Ace Records is:
R-0817-2 North Country Blues
- live, Newport Folk Festival,
Newport, RI, 27 Jul 1963 (morning workshop), previously released on the 2007
Columbia DVD The Other Side Of The Mirror: Bob Dylan Live At
The Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965, see
VHS & DVD 20007-09.
This has not previously appeared on a Vanguard release. Repeating the
mistake in the notes by John Crosby,
Robin Denselow's
review of this compilation in "The Guardian" UK newspaper says this is a
"previously unreleased performance of North Country Blues, recorded at
Newport in 1963". Bob only performed this song once at Newport, and this is
that 1963 performance. Denselow should've asked me first! :-)
The set is housed in a four panel digipak inside a card box also containing a booklet.
Thanks to Éamonn Ó Catháin for information and Arie de Reus for scans.
Various Artists - "Savages:
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" - film soundtrack
CD, Varèse Sarabande Records
302 067 154 2 (USA), 3 Jul 2012:
Thanks to Harold Lepidus for information about this
Oliver Stone film from the novel by Don Winslow starring John Travolta, Taylor
Kitsch, Salma Hayek and Blake Lively. The film is a thriller about drug dealers
in the USA and Mexico, so the Dylan song is highly appropriate!
Varèse Sarabande Records 302 067 154 2 (USA) - front scan by Peter Oudejans |
R-0519-2 Romance In Durango (Bob Dylan/Jacques Levy)
- slightly shorter version, fades out before the point at which the segue into Black Diamond Bay
occurs on the Desire album (album version is 5:50) Thanks to Tim Dunn for confirming that this version is timed at 5:45 in the insert notes and at 5:43 on his CD player. This is therefore the edited version (R-0519), truncating the fade-out, which appeared on a 1976 Japanese 7" single as the B-side of One More Cup of Coffee, there timed at 5:44, see 1976.
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US book release, picture from www.amazon.com |
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Varèse Sarabande Records 302 067 154 2 (USA) - CD scan by Peter Oudejans |
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For the Savages film itself, see VHS & DVD (Films with Dylan Album Tracks) 2010s (because versions of Dylan tracks that appear in films are almost always faded or talked-over, the film appearance cannot be classified as R-0519).
Romance In Durango has also appeared as a 5:50 stand-alone version on a CBS Spain stereo 7" single, see International 7" Singles & EPs 1977.
Thanks to Harold Lepidus, Tim Dunn and Peter Oudejans for information and scans.
Various Artists - "Grateful Dead's Jukebox: Music That Inspired The Band" - compilation CD, Chrome Dreams CDCD 5089 (UK), 2012:
Bob's contribution to this unauthorised but quasi-legal CD release is Stealin' (Will Shade) from "The Minnesota Tapes", recorded at Bonnie Beecher's apartment, Minneapolis, MN, 22 Dec 1961. As this is officially unreleased I haven't allocated an R-number, and the album is listed in Questionable Releases. Hopefully this early material will be officially released one day! The CD comes in a jewel case inside an outer card slipcase with a booklet.
For John Lennon's Jukebox, see the 2004 page of this Various Artists Compilations list. For Bob Dylan's Jukebox from 2006 see Honourable Mentions (Dylan's Roots). For other compilations in the Chrome Dreams Jukebox series with Dylan tracks see the 2009, 2010 and 2013 pages of this Various Artists Compilations list.
Thanks to Peter Oudejans for information and scans.
Various Artists - "Dance Classics Volume 49 & 50" - compilation 2CD set, Rodeo Media RDM259 (NL), 2012:
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Rodeo Media RDM259 (NL) - rear insert picture from www.discogs.com |
Rodeo Media RDM259 (NL) - reverse of rear insert, picture from www.discogs.com |
Rodeo Media RDM259 (NL) - CD1 picture from www.discogs.com (Volume 49, includes R-0611) |
Rodeo Media RDM259 (NL) - CD2 picture from www.discogs.com (Volume 50, no Dylan) |
Manhattan V-56013 (USA, 1985) - commercial 12" single front scan by Manuel García Jara (includes R-0611 |
This Dutch 2CD compilation of dance classics contains a Dylan rarity on CD1:
R-0611-4 (Ain't Gonna
Play) Sun City (The Last Remix) (Miami Steve Van Zandt) - 12" extended
remix (9:37)
For
full details of all entries containing the this extended version of the charity song
(Ain't Gonna Play) Sun City by Artists
United Against Apartheid
see
1985.
The two discs are numbered Volume 49 and Volume 50.
Thanks to T. J. Jenkins for information and scans.
Bob Dylan/The Band - "The Basement Tapes" - hybrid SA-CD release, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDSACD 2082 (USA), 2012:
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDSACD 2082 (USA) - front with sticker, scan by Dr. Walter Roedl |
This limited edition hybrid SA-CD stereo release of this album is the first time it has been remastered in audiophile quality. I am therefore classifying it as a single rarity. R-2216 The Basement Tapes [Bob Dylan/The Band] - enhanced stereo version of 1975 double album on Mobile Fidelity/Columbia SA-CD release, 2012 For full details, see International Album Releases (Regular Albums). |
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Thanks to Éamonn Ó Catháin, Dr. Walter Roedl and André Wilbers for information and scans.
"Duquesne Whistle"/"Meet
Me In The Morning (Alternate Take)" - limited edition "Record Store Day" 7" stereo single, Columbia
38-540533 (8765-40533-7) (USA), 23 Nov 2012:
The A-side of this limited edition single is the album track from Tempest.
Terry Harvey adds: "As well as missing 40 seconds at the start, I noticed further editing to the single CD The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 version in that the fourth verse has been cut out, rather like the editing done to the track that appeared on 1974's Blood On The Tracks and the 1973 test pressing. Until I took a more detailed listen to these tracks I didn’t realise what a bad editing job was done on the beginning of the single CD track. They tried to tidy up the untidy start by making it more untidy. Starting it at the beginning of a bar (or possibly fading it in - although I’m not a fan) would have been more satisfactory. Another comment. Take 1 of this track on CD2 Track 5 of the The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 Deluxe Edition has other differences to the Blood On The Tracks/Test Pressing version apart from the “additional” verse. As well as having six verses, (verse four having been excised) the instrumental coda is longer and different. Blood On The Tracks has the equivalent of a one verse coda whereas the The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 Deluxe Edition has two which play to a stop, and the guitar solo is different."
Thanks to Keith Venturoni for news that this alternate take (R-0935) was used in an AT&T US TV commercial in Feb 2014 during the Winter Olympic coverage. This track was at the time reported to be taken from a yet to be released volume of The Bootleg Series covering the Blood On The Tracks sessions, but it didn't appear! It was eventually released six years later as The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 - More Blood, More Tracks, Nov 2018.
Thanks to Harold Lepidus, Paul S. Levine, Keith Venturoni, Harald Sigvartsen and Terry Harvey for information and scans.
"The 50th Anniversary Collection" - limited edition 4CD-R set, Sony Music 8876546022 (Europe), 28 Dec 2012:
Sony Music 8876546022 (Europe) - front insert scan from www.badlands.com |
This amazing 4CD-R set limited to 100 copies has been released in order to keep the European copyrights for the included material out of the public domain (artwork on the Internet has the alternative title The Copyright Extension Collection Vol. 1). It contains 86 tracks from 1962 including studio sessions tracks and live recordings, almost all officially unreleased, including 24 tracks previously uncirculating. The set comes in a sealed cellophane wrapper in four separate CD sleeves. There is a single-sided front insert in the CD-R1 sleeve and a folded single-sided insert in the CD-R4 sleeve. There are also three stapled A4 photocopied pages with more details of the tracks. Full details of the set are now here. |
Sony Music 8876546022 (Europe) - unfolded insert (my copy) |
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Sony Music 8876546022 (Europe) - alternate front found by Freddy Ordóñez Araque |
Sony Music 8876546022 (Europe) - CD-R1 |
Sony Music 8876546022 (Europe) - CD-R2 |
Sony Music 8876546022 (Europe) - CD-R3 |
Sony Music 8876546022 (Europe) - CD-R4 |
Promotional/Regular Items for 2012
Stereo promo albums and singles for 2012 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. |
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