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: 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 - "Blowin' In The Wind: 20 Versions" - compilation CD, Classic Hits RADI-1160 (Germany), 5 Feb 2010:
This unique compilation features 20 versions of Blowin' In The Wind from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan including a live performance by Bob as track 4. Other artists include Dionne Warwick, Cher, Marianne Faithful, Joan Baez, Trini Lopez and The Seekers, though not the Peter, Paul and Mary cover version that broke Bob as a songwriter. The performance by Bob is identified incorrectly as "("live" - TV-Production/CB-TV Canada 1962)". In fact it's from New York in 1963!
R-0714-2 Blowin' In The Wind
- Live on TV, Westinghouse
Studios "Folk Songs And More Folk Songs", Mar 1963, broadcast May 1963
This performance from a TV show introduced by John Henry Faulk first appeared on
the Martin Scorsese documentary film "Bob Dylan: No Direction Home", Sep 2005,
see VHS & DVD 200s Part 3. The
Canadian TV appearance wrongly referred to was on the CBC TV programme "Quest",
recorded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 1 Feb 1964, broadcast on 10 Mar 1964.
Bob did not perform Blowin' In The Wind on that occasion! For Bob Dylan:
Broadcasting Live - The First 30 Years, an unauthorised 3DVD UK set from 2005
with video performances of Blowin' In The Wind, Man Of Constant Sorrow and The
Ballad Of Hollis Brown from that broadcast, see
Questionable Video Releases.
For a Sep 2010 release with 20 versions of House Of The Risin' Sun, see International Album Releases (Various Artists Compilations) 2010. For a Feb 2012 release with 21 versions of Mr. Tambourine Man including a rarity, see 2012.
Jack from Canada states that these three releases are in fact unauthorised, but they have been left here for information.
Thanks to Hans Seegers and Peter Oudejans for information and scans.
"Dylan Ga Rock [DylanがRock/Dylan 'N' Rock]" -
limited edition 2CD set, Sony Music SICP 2620-1 (Japan), 10 Mar 2010:
This compilation first appeared in
Japan as a promo-only 2CD compilation with a different track list in
1993. This compilation also has the original
1993 graphics by
celebrated Japanese cartoonist and Dylan fan Jun Miura. According to
www.cdjapan.co.jp there will also be a bonus
disc, although Andrew Wellman has received his copy and it doesn't have one.
Other contributors including myself have received copies with a giant poster by Jun Miura and a
Dylan discography on the back (see my photos). Thanks to Gerd Rundel for finding
a promo copy on eBay.
Sony Music SICP 2620-1 (Japan) - picture from www.hmv.co.jp (2010 version) |
Hervé from France has a promo copy with a giant "NOT FOR SALE" flyer. The set comes in a three panel card sleeve (not a digipak as the original release) and the records have clear plastic inner sleeves inside paper sleeves. There is a 60-page stapled booklet in English and Japanese which includes the song lyrics and a "High Hopes" leaflet with a voucher. There is a black obi with multi-coloured text, price ¥3,780 (¥3,600 before sales tax), release date and original release date as "10-3-10" (10 Mar 2010) and withdrawal date "10-9-9" (9 Oct 2010). |
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Sony Music SICP 2621 (Japan) - promo CD2 photo from eBay (2010 version), found by Gerd Rundel |
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Sony Music SICP 2620-1 (Japan) - outside of promo flyer, scan by Hiroshi Hemmi |
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Sony Music SICP 2620-1 (Japan) - front of poster |
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Sony Music SICP 2620-1 (Japan) - front with obi (2010 version, my copy) |
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Sony Music SICP 2620-1 (Japan) - outside of unfolded card sleeve |
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Sony Music SICP 2620-1 (Japan) - front of booklet |
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Sony Music SICP 2620 (Japan) - front of inner sleeve for CD1 |
Sony Music SICP 2620 (Japan) - rear of inner sleeve for CD1 |
Sony Music SICP 2620 (Japan) - CD1 |
Sony Music SICP 2620-1 (Japan) - obi |
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Sony Music SICP 2621 (Japan) - front of inner sleeve for CD2 |
Sony Music SICP 2621 (Japan) - rear of inner sleeve for CD2 |
Sony Music SICP 2621 (Japan) - CD2 with rarities |
Thanks to Horishi Hemmi for scans of a promo flyer which consists of a folded A4 sheet. It has Jun Miura's poster on the front, pictures of Bob, Jun Miura and Bob's 2010 Japanese tour dates on the back, and details of the Dylan Ga Rock release on the inside.
R-0130-10 Rita May - Desire out-take released on 7" singles Nov 1976/Jan 1977, see
1976/1977,
lyrics on bobdylan.com
here
R-0130 is also on PRG 52, an Italian promo
compilation
(see 1977), on the 1978 Japanese/Australian compilation Masterpieces,
(see 1978) and on two limited
edition Japanese CD releases, Mr. D's Collection #3 and the original
version of Dylan Ga Rock (for both, see
1993). R-0130 appeared on the Sony Music Bob Dylan Custom Mix
CD web-site, Apr 2003, see Online Performances (Other). It was also one of the 42 rarities included
for download with the Aug 2006 Apple iTunes Bob Dylan
Collection, also see Online Performances
(Other).
I'm told the sound quality of this occurrence of the track is much improved over previous
appearances!
R-0054-10 Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
- recorded live with the Hawks at The Odeon Theatre, Liverpool,
England, 14 May 1966 (5:41), B-side of US 7" single I Want You, (see 1966)
This live version, never released on a regular Columbia album, is also on the Japanese promo LP Mr. D's Collection #1 (see
1974), the Japanese
promo EP Mr. D's Collection #2 (see
1976), the 1978 Australian set Masterpieces
(see 1978),
the Japanese Mr. D's Collection #3
promo CD (see 1993)
and the Band's retrospective Capitol/EMI set A Musical History, see
2005.
Sadly, it does not appear on the B-side of a withdrawn CBS Spanish EP (see 1972), because the record was
mispressed with It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry from Highway
61 Revisited instead! This track is now one of the 42 rarities included for download with the Aug 2006 Apple
iTunes Bob Dylan
Collection, see Online Performances
(Other), and is also on
the Columbia/Legacy USA/Europe 36CD set
The 1966 Live Recordings, Nov
2016.
All versions are still in mono as originally recorded.
Fred Muller says the version
on the Columbia/Legacy USA/Europe 36CD set
The 1966 Live Recordings
is not only longer at 6:51, but slightly clipped at the beginning when compared with the versions on Masterpieces and The Band: A Musical History.
This is confirmed by Peter Coulthard and Roger Ford, who say that the first two
bars of the performance on the 1966 mono single and subsequent releases of
R-0054 up to 2016 were spliced in from the
performance of Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues from the ABC Theatre, Belfast,
Northern Ireland, 6 May 1966!
This was however not
done by Richard Alderson who recorded both shows.
In a Jan 2017 email conversation between Richard and Peter Coulthard, Richard
said that he handed all his 7" Nagra reels over to Howard Alk at the end of the
tour and never saw them again. It's possible that the splice was done by
Mike Claydon of I.B.C. Recording Studios, London, who was contracted by Columbia
to make four recordings from
Sheffield, 16 May 1966,onwards, or maybe by
Columbia engineers in the USA, although the time scale is unbelievably short. This means that track 8 on CD14 of
The 1966 Live Recordings
is not the same as R-0054, and now has a new R-number, R-1906.
R-0469-10 Things Have Changed
- Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, 25 Sep 2000, from the Japanese live compilation
Bob Dylan Live 1961-2000: Thirty-Nine Years Of Great Concert Performances, see 2001
This performance, obviously not on the 1993 release of
Dylan Ga Rock, is also on the Columbia US "blue" and "red"
promo CD singles Things Have Changed Live & Unreleased, the Columbia UK
promo CD The Voice Of Every Generation, the European and Canadian promo
CD singles Live & Rare (for all of these see
2001 and
2002), and on the Columbia UK compilation Brit
Awards 2002: Album Of The Year (see
2002).
Track listing:
CD1: Tombstone Blues (from Highway 61 Revisited); Maggie's Farm (live from The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 - No Direction Home: The Soundtrack); On A Night Like This (from Planet Waves); Everything Is Broken (from Oh Mercy); It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (from The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3); Thunder on the Mountain (from Modern Times); Union Sundown (from Infidels); Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar (from Greatest Hits Vol. 3); Neighbourhood Bully (from Infidels); Absolutely Sweet Marie (from Blonde On Blonde); Dignity (from Greatest Hits Vol. 3); I Threw It All Away (live from Hard Rain); Odds And Ends (from The Basement Tapes); Saved (from Saved); Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again (from Blonde On Blonde); Tweedle Dee And Tweedle Dum (from "Love And Theft"); All Along The Watchtower (live from Before The Flood).
CD2: Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I Go Mine) (live from Before The Flood); Solid Rock (from Saved); Rita May (R-0130, from B-side of Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again 1976 single); Honest with Me (from "Love And Theft"); Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo) (live from Self Portrait); Changing of the Guard (from the remastered 1999 Street-Legal); Highway 61 Revisited (from Highway 61 Revisited); Rollin' And Tumblin' (from Modern Times); Subterranean Homesick Blues (from Bringing It All Back Home); Things Have Changed (R-0469, live from Bob Dylan Live 1961-2000); Wiggle Wiggle (from Under The Red Sky); Shelter from the Storm (live from Hard Rain); Outlaw Blues (from Bringing It All Back Home); Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (from Biograph and therefore still in mono); Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (R-0054, live from B-side of I Want You 1966 single); Beyond Here Lies Nothin' (from Together Through Life); Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You (live from The Bootleg Series Vol. 5 - Live 1975); Like a Rolling Stone (from Highway 61 Revisited).
Two rarities on the 1993 release of Dylan Ga Rock are missing:
R-0084 George Jackson ("Big Band" version) - lyrics on bobdylan.com here, from 7" singles, see 1971
R-0046 From A Buick 6
- alternate take 4 with harmonica intro (3:06),
from the original US and Japanese stereo pressings of Highway 61 Revisited (see 1965)
Take 4 has now been released on The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg
Series Vol. 12 (6CD Deluxe Edition) CD2, track 19, and The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg
Series Vol. 12 (18 CD Collector's Edition) CD6, track 4. Because the 6CD
Deluxe Edition is widely available, R-0046 is no longer a rarity.
Thanks to Michio Kinoshita for information. Thanks to Aaron Derfel for information that six tracks appear to be remastered from their current incarnation on CD - I Threw It All Away, Solid Rock, Saved, The Mighty Quinn, Wiggle Wiggle and Shelter From The Storm. This raises hopes that Self Portrait, Hard Rain, Saved and Under The Red Sky may appear this year in remastered form.
Front scan by Wil Gielen |
Jun Miura also drew the artwork for the 2003 Japanese edition of The Essential Bob Dylan,
see International Album Releases
(Regular) and the 2004 Japan-only Dylan compilation Iden & Tity, see
International Album
Releases (Dylan-Only Compilations) 2000s. Shown here is the 1994 Blues
Interactions Inc. Japanese edition of the book "Bob Dylan 1964-65: A
Portrait of the Artist's Early Years" by Daniel Kramer, with front and rear
cover illustrations by Jun Miura. Thanks to Wil Gielen for information and scans. |
Detail of front, scan by Wil Gielen |
Rear scan by Wil Gielen |
About the pink leaflet, Wil Gielen says: "The coupon (bottom right corner of the leaflet) is for a prize draw, if you send it to Sony you will be entered in the lottery for the following prizes:
D – a Bob Dylan harmonica
Y – a Bob Dylan mouse pad
L – a Bob Dylan T-shirt
A – a Bob Dylan note pad
N – a Bob Dylan book mark
(The numbers at the end of each line are the numbers of each prize available).
Most of the text is explaining how to enter, and the rules (for example, they can only ship to addresses in Japan). The first date (2010-4-30 = 30 Apr 2010) is the closing date for entries, the second date (2010-6 = Jun 2010) is the estimated date for shipping the prizes to the winners. The ‘high-hopes’ is a keyword for an internet search engine, if you enter this into Google etc it should take you to the Sony information page for this prize draw. You can find the homepage at this link: https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/International/Special/high-hopes/"
Various Artists - "Step Right Up!" - compilation CD given away with "Mojo" magazine (no catalogue number) (UK), Jul 2010:
R-0514-3 I Was Young When I Left Home (traditional)
- from the "Minnesota Hotel
Tape", Minneapolis, MN, 22 Dec 1961
This previously appeared on a UK Emidisc test pressing in the 1960s, see Questionable Releases,
and on a bonus disc with the special limited edition of "Love And Theft",
see 2001 and
2002.
This track was also one of the 42 rarities included for
download with the Aug 2006 Apple iTunes Bob Dylan
Collection, see Online Performances
(Other).
Now released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home, Sep 2005,
but in a version with a spoken intro, so R-0514 remains a rarity.
David McBride says: "July 2010 was the 200th issue of "Mojo" and Tom Waits was guest editor.The album was a 15 track bespoke selection culled from his wider playlist that was in the magazine and reflected his current listening tastes. Included was the Bob track I Was Young When I Left Home credited as from "Love and Theft". Phil Alexander, Editor of "Mojo", writes that Tom personally rang up Bob and his management to secure a track for this collection. Other artists featured include Hank Williams, Ray Charles and Howlin' Wolf."
Thanks to Fred Muller for information and scans.
Various Artists - "Crackdown 2" - video game for Microsoft XBox 360, Ruffian Games (catalogue number?) (USA), 6 Jul 2010:
Picture from www.play.com |
R-0473 Masters Of War - remix of track from The Freewheelin'
Bob Dylan by "Sientific American" for video game Crackdown 2 To see a clip of the remixed version, see here. Thanks to Harold Lepidus and Arie de Reus for information. |
Rhythms Del Mundo/Various Artists - "Revival" - promo CD release: Transmission Recordings TRANSCD005P (UK), Jul 2010; commercial CD releases, Transmission Recordings TRANSCD005P (UK)/ APE/Universal Music TIME-605CD (Italy), 26 Jul 2010:
For Plastic Oceans, an album by Rhythms Del Mundo including a remix of I Shall Be Released, see 2018.
Thanks to Harold Lepidus, David McBride and Peter Oudejans for information and pictures.
Sean Wilentz - "Bob Dylan In America" - 10CD audiobook, Random House Audio 978-0-3077-1497-8 (USA), 7 Sep 2010:
Random House Audio 978-0-3077-1497-8 (USA) - front scan by Arie de Reus |
This 10CD audiobook is described
as "Featuring the songs of Bob Dylan and the music that inspired him" and
has excerpts of fourteen Dylan songs. R-0866 Mr. Tambourine Man - recorded live, Free Trade Hall, Manchester, 17 May 1966, 0:57 excerpt from The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 - Live 1966 R-0867 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - recorded live, Gaslight Café, New York, Oct 1962, 0:28 excerpt of R-0701 from Bob Dylan Live At The Gaslight 1962, Starbucks/Hear Music/Sony Music Custom Marketing Group (USA), see 2005 R-0868 One of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) - 0:30 excerpt from Blonde On Blonde R-0869
Absolutely Sweet Marie
- 1:03 excerpt from Blonde On Blonde |
Random House Audio 978-0-3077-1497-8 (USA) - rear scan by Arie de Reus |
Random House Audio 978-0-3077-1497-8 (USA) - CD1 scan by Arie de Reus |
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Random House Audio 978-0-3077-1497-8 (USA) - CD10 scan by Arie de Reus |
R-0870 Tangled Up In Blue - recorded live, Boston, MA, 21 Nov 1975 (evening show), 0:20 excerpt from The Bootleg Series Vol. 5 - Live 1975
R-0871 Blind Willie McTell - 0:30 excerpt from The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3
R-0872 Delia - 0:30 excerpt from World Gone Wrong
R-0873 Lone Pilgrim - 0:34 excerpt from World Gone Wrong
R-0874 Highway 61 Revisited - 0:32 excerpt from Highway 61 Revisited
R-0875 Chimes Of Freedom - 0:30 excerpt from Another Side Of Bob Dylan
R-0876 Desolation Row - 0:26 excerpt from Highway 61 Revisited
R-0877 High Water (For Charley Patton) - 0:22 excerpt from "Love And Theft"
R-0878 Nettie Moore - 0:30 excerpt from Modern Times
R-0879 Blind Willie McTell - 0:42 excerpt of radio mix of track from The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3, from US Columbia promo CD single, see 1991
The audiobook also contains songs by Blind Willie McTell and other artists. Thanks to Ian Woodward for information and to Arie de Reus for further information and scans.
"Bob Dylan: The Original Mono Recordings" - promo 10CD set in card sleeves, Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music 88697761042 (USA/Europe), Sep 2010:
Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music 88697761042 (USA/Europe) - picture from bobdylan.com |
This album contains the 9 CDs from the commercial boxed
set in card sleeves plus a bonus CD (also in a card sleeve) of the
Japan-only release
Bob Dylan Live 1961-2000: Thirty-Nine Years Of Great Concert
Performances, see 2001.
For the boxed set itself, see
here.
The catalogue number of
the bonus disc is 88697644522, scans to follow. Thanks to Hervé from France for information. |
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Various Artists - "Journey To
Love: Rare & Early Elektra Classics" -
compilation CD with "Mojo" magazine Nov 2010 issue, Mojo (no catalogue number) (UK),
Oct 2010:
This compilation of
tracks selected by Jac Holzman of Elektra Records includes a Dylan rarity,
as well as a cover of Masters Of War by Judy Collins.
Front (my copy) |
R-0038-4 Downtown Blues (Frank Stokes) - Bob plays piano as "Bob Landy" for Geoff Muldaur (stereo version, 2:25), recorded Mastertone Studios, New York, Aug/Sep 1963 For the original Elektra The Blues Project stereo album containing this track, see 1964. For Crossroads: White Blues In The 1960s, an Elektra US 3LP set including R-0038, see 1984. R-0038 is also included in the 5CD Rhino compilation Forever Changing: The Golden Age Of Elektra Records 1963-1973, see 2006. |
"Mojo" (UK) - Nov 2010 issue with cover CD (my copy) |
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CD |
Outside of unfolded front insert |
Inside of unfolded front insert |
The 1964 stereo Blues Project album was not reissued on CD until it was included in the 2015 Elektra Europe set of five original 1960s albums, The Greenwich Village Folk Scene: Original Album Series, see 2015.
Thanks to Arie de Reus for informing me of this album.
"Bob Dylan In Concert: Brandeis University 1963" - limited edition mono CD releases, Columbia/Legacy 88697 794552 2 (USA), 19 Oct 2010; Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music 88697 80442 2 (Europe/Australia), 18 Oct 2010:
R-0859 Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance (incomplete)
R-0860 Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues
R-0861 The Ballad Of Hollis Brown
R-0862 Masters Of War
R-0863 Talkin' World War III Blues
R-0864 Bob Dylan's Dream
R-0865 Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
All these performances are no longer rarities now this album has been added to the bobdylan.com albums page! Full details of all the releases of this album (despite the fact that it's mono) are now on the appropriate page of International Album Releases (Regular Albums).
Thanks to Moise Potié, Jeremy Mayle, Stuart Moore and Sonny Boy McFitzson for information and scans.
Promotional/Regular Items for 2010
Stereo promo albums and singles for 2010 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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with them. Copyright of all included artwork remains with the various record
companies and artists.
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