The Times They Are A-Changin’ Outtakes
The songs recorded and subsequently dropped during the recording sessions of The Times They Are A-Changin’ have now been released both on Biograph and The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991, with the exception of “Only a Hobo.” These songs, rejected during the final selection of the tracks for the third album, are nonetheless fully characteristic of the artistic process of the songwriter, mixing poetry, mysticism, and romance. The strong influence of the British ballads is noticable.
 | Seven Curses Bob Dylan / 3:49 |
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio A, New York: August 6, 1963 / Producer: Tom Wilson / Sound Engineers: Stanley Tonkel and Pete Dauria / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 (CD 2) / Release Date: March 26, 1991
“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.” Bob Dylan used the main theme of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure for this song, though the maiden is not about to be hanged, but rather her father is for stealing a stallion. Reilly’s daughter is at the mercy of a judge and tries to buy her father’s freedom, but the gold she offers does not buy Reilly’s life: “Gold will never free your father / The price, my dear, is you instead.” “Seven Curses” is one of Dylan’s greatest songs from his early career. The lyrics were drawn from an old folk song, “The Maid Freed from the Gallows.” This was recorded in 1939 by Leadbelly as “The Gallis Pole,” and later, in 1970, by Led Zeppelin under the title “Gallows Pole” on the album Led Zeppelin III. The source of “Seven Curses” might also have been “Anathea,” performed at the time by Judy Collins, herself inspired by “The Maid Freed from the Gallows.”
Bob Dylan recorded an early version of “Seven Curses” as a demo for Witmark & Sons in May 1963, and subsequently a second version for Columbia on August 6, during the recording sessions of The Times They Are A-Changin’. Three takes, including two false starts, were made. The third was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 in March 1991. Bob Dylan performed “Seven Curses” for the first time in concert at Town Hall on April 12, 1963, and a second time at his concert at Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963.
Tom Wilson succeeded in giving, yet again, a different sound to Dylan’s guitar. Arpeggios played in D in open tuning sound rich and brilliant, and the E chords on his J-50 sound like a bumblebee and invite listening. Bob’s plaintive voice highlights each verse, giving it a melancholy tone.
 | Lay Down Your Weary Tune Bob Dylan / 4:36 |
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio A, New York: October 24, 1963 / Producer: Tom Wilson / Sound Engineers: George Knuerr and Pete Dauria / Set Box: Biograph (CD 1) / Release Date: November 7, 1985
In the liner notes to the Biograph compilation, Bob Dylan claims that he wrote “Lay Down Your Weary Tune” in the fall of 1963 during his stay in Joan Baez’s house near Big Sur, California, just after listening to an old Scottish ballad on a 78 rpm record. This beautiful song in A major begins with a chorus, which has given rise to many interpretations. It is certainly a milestone in Dylan’s career, and breaks with the tradition of topical songs deeply rooted in the work of folksingers to express Dylan’s own conception of mysticism. “Struck by the sounds before the sun / I knew the night had gone.” This is a metaphor—a mystical renaissance. God is in us; nature reflects God in every aspect. Hence, the parallel Dylan draws between the elements and musical instruments creating a magical symphony: “The morning breeze like a bugle blew / Against the drums of dawn.” The influence is evident of the poet and leader of the transcendentalist movement of the mid-nineteenth century, Ralph Waldo Emerson, for whom individualism must be inspired by nature and for whom “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
“Lay Down Your Weary Tune” finds its origin in a Scottish ballad. “I couldn’t get it out of my head. There were no lyrics or anything, it was just a melody, had bagpipes and a lot of stuff in it… I don’t remember what the original record was, but this was pretty similar to that, the melody anyway.”12 Dylan also found inspiration in a traditional seventeenth-century English song, “The Water Is Wide.” With some imagination, bagpipes can almost be heard accompanying his singing. His strumming on his Gibson J-50 is compelling, despite a small tear at 3:45.
Bob Dylan recorded “Lay Down Your Weary Tune” on October 24, 1963, in a single take during the recording sessions for The Times They Are A-Changin’. Curiously, the song was excluded from the third album, which did not, however, prevent him from performing it at Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963. It was subsequently covered by the Byrds on their second album Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965).
| Paths Of Victory Bob Dylan / 3:17 |
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, piano, harmonica / Recording Studio: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio A, New York: August 12, 1963 / Producer: Tom Wilson / Sound Engineers: Stanley Tonkel and Pete Dauria / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 (CD 1) / Release Date: March 26, 1991
Bob Dylan began writing “Paths of Victory” in autumn 1962. The song celebrates the freedom of the road and the power of friendship in the face of adversity. It also illustrates the enormous debt that the young artist and songwriter owes to his mentor, Woody Guthrie, even if the song is performed on the piano and not on the acoustic guitar. Initially, Dylan wanted to include the song on The Times They Are A-Changin’. Thereafter, the Broadside Singers, Odetta, and the Byrds included it in their repertoire.
When he composed “Paths of Victory,” Dylan probably had in his mind “Palms of Victory,” also known as “Deliverance Will Come,” a gospel song written in 1836 by Rev. John B. Matthias, and Dylan’s source of inspiration for both the title and the melody. The interpretation is sound; the piano accompaniment and harmonica part are convincing, despite some false notes on the keyboard at about 1:33. Dylan delivers an inspired and dazzling vocal. It was recorded on August 12 at the beginning of the recording session. Just one take was needed.
| Eternal Circle Bob Dylan / 2:38 |
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar / Recording Studio: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio A, New York: October 24, 1963 / Producer: Tom Wilson / Sound Engineers: George Knuerr and Pete Dauria / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 (CD 2) / Release Date: March 26, 1991
The story: a singer performs a song, thinking that a girl in the audience is fascinated by him while she is actually fascinated by the song. The moral is that what matters is the song, not the singer.
Bob Dylan wrote “Eternal Circle” during the summer of 1963 and played it for Tony Glover, one of his friends up in Minneapolis. Dylan subsequently recorded the tune on October 24. Four takes were needed on that day, the first of which may have been chosen for The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3.
It seems that Dylan wanted to include “Eternal Circle” on his third album, The Times They Are A-Changin’. He recorded twelve takes over three recording sessions on August 7 and 12 and on October 24, which makes it the most polished song for the album! Despite these diligent efforts, the result was not up to his expectations: the guitar is very poorly tuned, his strumming marking the triple rhythm lacks rigor, and the whole performance is not convincing.
| Suze (The Cough Song) Bob Dylan / 1:59 |
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica / Recording Studio: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio A, New York: October 24, 1963 / Producer: Tom Wilson / Sound Engineers: George Knuerr and Pete Dauria / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 (CD 2) / Release Date: March 26, 1991
“Suze (The Cough Song)” is the first instrumental piece Bob Dylan recorded. It was not until 1969 that the piece was officially released on his LP Nashville Skyline under the title “Nashville Skyline Rag.” According to musicologist John Bauldie, who wrote the liner notes for the The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3, it “is reminiscent of a little tune called ‘Mexican Rag,’”1 recorded for Columbia in April 1928 by the country music duo Tom Darby and Jimmie Tarlton. The source of his inspiration is evident with only his harmonica playing and the lack of a vocal part making it different. The title “Suze” refers to Suze Rotolo, Dylan’s girlfriend in the early sixties.
The guitar part is played by finger-picking. The version, recorded in one take on October 24, is closer to a working piece than to a final tune. The result, although correct, lacks precision and rigor; an “unusual guitar doodle,” to quote John Bauldie. Moreover, Dylan had a sudden coughing fit at 1:30, which led him to ask Tom Wilson, his producer, to end the song with a fade-out. The atmosphere of the entire session is stress-free, but “Suze (The Cough Song)” did not make the cut.
| Percy’s Song Bob Dylan / 7:44 |
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica / Recording Studio: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio A, New York: October 23, 1963 / Producer: Tom Wilson / Sound Engineers: George Knuerr and Pete Dauria / Set Box: Biograph (CD 1) / Release Date: November 7, 1985
This song relates the story of a man responsible for a fatal car accident and subsequently given a ninety-nine-year sentence in Joliet Prison, Illinois. The narrator, a friend of the detainee, considers the sentence too harsh. Having failed to convince the judge of this, he takes his guitar and sings, “Oh the Cruel Rain and the Wind.” Dylan made an implicit reference to a melodic air by his friend, the folksinger Paul Clayton, “The Wind and the Rain.”
In the liner notes for the Biograph compilation in 1985, Dylan said, “Paul was just an incredible songwriter and singer. He must have known a thousand songs. I learned ‘Pay Day at Coal Creek’ and a bunch of other songs from him. We played on the same circuit and I traveled with him part of the time. When you’re listening to songs night after night, some of them rub off on you. ‘Don’t Think Twice’ was a riff that Paul had. And so was ‘Percy’s Song.’ Something I might have written might have been a take off on ‘Hiram Hubbard,’ a Civil War song he used to sing, but I don’t know. A song like that would come to me because people were talking about the incident.”12 But in introducing the song for its only stage performance in Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963, he gave a very different source for the inspiration: “Here’s a song I wrote. It’s about a friend of mine. It’s called Percy’s Song. And I took the tune from a song that a folksinger by the name of Paul Clayton sings, called ‘The Wind and the Rain…’”29 Who is right, the Dylan of 1963 or 1985?
In listening to “Percy’s Song,” Dylan’s guitar finger-picking has never been as rhythmically smooth. His rhythmic interpretation is impressive, especially because the song is more than seven minutes long and was recorded without overdubs in a single take on October 23. He worked on “Percy’s Song” three more times the next day, but Biograph includes the take from the previous recording session. “Percy’s Song” has one of his finest harmonica solos (in G). Despite the drama, this forceful criticism of the judicial system was not selected for his third album.
| Moonshiner Traditional / Arrangement Bob Dylan / 5:07 |
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica / Recording Studio: Columbia Recording Studios / Studio A, New York: August 12, 1963 / Producer: Tom Wilson / Sound Engineers: Stanley Tonkel and Pete Dauria / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 (CD 1) / Release Date: March 26, 1991
Moonshine is a term used to describe a strong distilled alcohol produced illegally in the Appalachian mountains during Prohibition. Moonshiner was the name given to the Appalachian distiller. The operation took place by the light of the moon to avoid discovery. The song probably originated in Ireland but is part of the history of the United States during the 1920s. Bob Dylan mastered his subject, providing a subtle guitar part to perfectly support his vocals. He recorded the song for Columbia on August 12, 1963. There are two takes under the name of “Moonshine Blues.” The first take was brought to the attention of the songwriter’s fans with the release of The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3.
The arpeggios on his Gibson J-50 are reminiscent of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” from the previous album. His performance, full of nuance and remarkably charged with feeling, proves that at this stage of his career he was an accomplished musician. “Moonshiner” could certainly have been included on his third album.