Almanac Music: Dylan Cover Songs – Every Song Vol.5: 1962/1963 Outtakes, Demos & Lost Tracks

In previous ‘Every Song’ articles, I have identified the sixty-five original songs written by Dylan between January 1961 – October 1963. When an original song appears on a studio album, then the song is showcased in ‘cover song style’ when the actual album is re-created in this series.

 

However, as we have learnt, a majority of early 1960’s Dylan compositions failed to transition to an album. The songs collected dust as outtakes or demoes in the vaults at either Columbia Records or Witmark & Sons – only to be dusted off and profitably repackaged from 1991 onwards on the Bootleg Series of albums.

 

Very, very occasionally, a song is discovered that has slipped through the cracks, including the Bootleg Series – this article includes one such song – which brings Dylan’s anthology as at October 1963 to sixty-six.

 

In terms of my ‘Every Song’ series, I have previously published three articles that have showcased thirty-one songs written between January 1961 and December 1962 that failed to transition to a studio album. In this article, the lens is shifted to a further twelve songs written between June 1962 and October 1963 that also fit that category. Those twelve songs will be presented in chronological order, based on when Dylan composed the songs.

 

 

‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’

Written around July 1962, while Suze was absent overseas on her artistic retreat, this is Dylan’s 20^th original song. In this song, Dylan expresses his most heart-felt grieving for Suze. Unlike other songs influenced by Suze (e.g. ‘Don’t Think Twice Its All Right’, ‘Boots Of Spanish Leather’) ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’ avoids overtones of bitterness.

 

It is somewhat of a surprise that while Dylan recorded a Witmark demo of the song in December 1962, he never recorded a studio version for inclusion on Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – an album that features Dylan & Suze, arm in arm, on the cover.

 

Dylan played the song for the first time in live performance at the New York Town Hall on 12 April 1963 – the first concert Suze attended after her return from her seven-month overseas absence. That live version was recorded and eventually released on the November 1971 Greatest Hits Vol. II double album.

 

It is quite remarkable that this song, unreleased on a studio album, ranks in the top 20 most covered Dylan songs with over 150 cover versions, including some by the greatest singers in modern music. Despite this pedigree, the version I have selected for this article belongs to John Winn – a Greenwich Village neighbour of Dylan in mid-1962 and perhaps the first person to hear, first hand, Dylan’s heartfelt rendition of this song:

 

 

 

 

Distinguished performers who have covered this song include: Odetta, Elvis, Rod Stewart, Joan Baez, Nick Drake, Chrissie Hynde, Sandy Denny, Harry Belafonte, Judy Collins.

 

Observation: The more I unpack the ‘history’ of ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’ in the context of Dylan’s official recordings and concert performances, the more it seems to me that this particular song held a special status as the most treasured/protected song from Dylan to Suze.

 

As mentioned previously, there is no studio recording of the song and, as a consequence it has never been released on a studio album. This is a deliberate act on Dylan’s part – it was meant to be private (between Dylan & Suze) and not for public consumption.

 

Dylan finally gave permission for the song to be made public on his Greatest Hits Vol.II album some nine years after the song was written and well after the dust of Dylan’s relationship with Suze had settled and been left behind.

 

 

‘Hero Blues’

Written around November 1962, this is Dylan’s 37^th original song. It was recorded in December 1962 for possible inclusion on the Freewheelin’ album but dropped from contention. A Witmark demo was also recorded in May 1963.

 

The song is quite fanciful along with a nasty overtone, and was written during Suze’s absence in Italy.  If taken factually, then the ‘gal’ of the song could only be Suze, yet the attributes are anything but Suze-like. In the end the song got what it deserved – collecting dust for 47 years and being released on the October 2010 Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 compilation album.

 

One of the challenges of my ‘Every Song’ series has been to find an interesting and unique cover version of every song composed by Dylan. Where a song (e.g. ‘Hero Blues’) has been relegated to ‘archive’ status early on, then the likelihood of discovering a cover song, especially by a recognized artist, is reduced significantly.

 

However, it has been surprising to discover that there are dedicated people out there who have taken on the challenge of recording every Dylan song and placing the recording on YouTube. Here’s an example, from Zachary Scot Johnson – I am grateful for this cover:

 

 

 

 

‘Farewell’

Refreshed and rejuvenated from his one month visit to London over the 1962/63 Xmas/New Year period, Dylan’s first 1963 song back on US soil was ‘Farewell’ – written in early February 1963, this was his 42^nd original song.

 

Although registered as a Dylan original, the song is as close as one can get to the traditional English folk song ‘The Leaving Of Liverpool’.  Dylan recorded the song in mid-February for Broadside Records, using his Blind Boy Grunt pseudonym.

 

A subsequent recording in March 1963 was made for Witmark & Sons, and it was this version that was ultimately released on the October 2010 Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 compilation album.

 

There have been around 20 covers of this song and the one I have found most ‘interesting’ is by Marcus Mumford (of Mumford & Sons fame). This cover version was recorded to celebrate the music from the 2013 Inside Llewellyn Davis movie:

 

 

 

A number of antipodeans have found favour with this song: 1960’s folk singer Lionel Long (who also found fame as Detective Bert Costello in Homicide 1968/69); 1960’s Adelaide folk duo Lyn & Graham McCarthy; and 1960’s NZ folk singer Christine Smith.

 

 

‘All Over You’

Written around February 1963, this minor song in Dylan’s songbook is his 43^rd.

 

After all the heaviness of writing a series of protest songs (e.g. ‘Masters Of War’) and heart-felt love songs (e.g. ‘Boots Of Spanish Leather’), Dylan lets his hair down and allows himself the opportunity to play around with a 1930’s rag time tune and have some fun with ’I’d do it all over you’ lyrics. Dylan performed this song live on only two occasions, including the April 1963 New York Town Hall concert.

 

Dylan dutifully recorded a version of the song for Witmark & Sons in late February 1963, where it collected dust until released on the October 2010 Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 compilation album.

 

Given its slightly risque lyrics, it is no surprise that Dave Van Ronk decided to be the first of only three recognized artists to cover the song. However, the preferred cover for this article is by The McCoys from their 1969 Human Ball album:

 

 

 

Note: The McCoys, fronted by Rick Derringer, are best remembered by their 1965 US#1 hit ‘Hang On Sloopy’.

 

 

‘Only A Hobo’

Also written in February 1963, this song comes in as the 44^th track in Dylan’s songbook.

 

In this song, Dylan returns to a theme previously explored in the 4^th song he ever wrote (‘Man In The Street’) – a simple song, based on the traditional tune and lyrics of ‘Only A Miner’. In Dylan’s re-composition, the focus becomes the homeless and less fortunate.  Dylan originally recorded the song for Broadside Records, using the Blind Boy Grunt pseudonym.

 

The demo for Witmark & Sons was recorded in August 1963 and was officially released on the October 2010 Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 compilation album.

 

Although ‘Grossman stablemate’ Hamilton Camp recorded the first cover of the song in 1964, it seems that the 1970 cover by Rod Stewart, on his commercially successful Gasoline Alley album, spurred minor ongoing interest in the song:

 

 

 

 

‘Ramblin’ Down Through The World’

With his 12 April 1963 solo concert at the New York Town Hall not too far away, Dylan channelled Woody Guthrie’s ‘Ramblin Round’ and composed his own song – the 45^th of his career – titled ‘Ramblin’ Down Through The World’.

 

The song had its one and only live performance as the opening track to the New York Town Hall concert. Dylan has never recorded a studio or demo version (not even for Witmark & Sons). Not surprisingly, there have been no cover versions of the songs and (unlike ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’) the one live version has never been released on any compilation album.

 

Nevertheless, I find Dylan’s live version very endearing and in the spirit of sharing endearment, here is Dylan live on 12 April 1963:

 

 

 

Observation:  Dylan opened this concert with a Guthrie inspired song – ‘Ramblin’ Down Through The World’. Then after a set of twenty-two songs, canvassing his debut 1962 Bob Dylan album (3 songs); soon to be released Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album (5 songs); his future The Times They Are A-Changin’ album (3 songs); and outtakes/demos (11 songs), Dylan concluded the concert by reciting his epic ‘Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie’ poem.

 

In a way, the concert comes full circle and Dylan can finally, respectfully shed his Woody Guthrie mask and fully assume his Bob Dylan mask. Looking back, I wonder if Dylan planned it that way or if it just happened ~ floating around accidental-like on a breeze?

 

Random note: Although ‘Ramblin’ Down Through The World’ was never officially released, I have been familiar with it since the early 1970’s, when I acquired a transparent yellow-coloured bootleg album titled While The Establishment Burns. The bootleg contained seven songs from Dylan’s April 1963 Town Hall concert – and like the concert itself, it opened with ‘Ramblin’ Down Through The World’’.  As a bonus, the rest of the bootleg contained 3 songs from Dylan’s ‘infamous’ May 1966 Free Trade Hall, Manchester concert.

 

 

‘Walls Of Red Wing’

Dylan was known to create stories that embellished his life prior to arriving in New York in January 1961. These stories would eventually come back to haunt him.  It also seems that Dylan was not afraid to write songs that could have been autobiographical but in all probability were not (e.g. Dusty Old Fairground).

 

Dylan wrote his 48^th original song – ‘Walls Of Red Wing‘ – around late March/early April 1963. The melody is not too dissimilar to ‘Only A Hobo’ (song #44 above) and awfully similar to the Scottish ballad ‘Road And The Miles To Dundee’.

 

Dylan recorded the song on 24 April 1963 in Columbia Studios for possible inclusion on his Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album, but it did not make the cut. This outtake was eventually released on the 1991 Bootleg Series Vol 1-3: Rare & Unreleased box set.

 

There have only been two cover versions of this song by recognized artists – Joan Baez (1968 – Any Day Now album); and this article’s featured cover – Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, with John Prine, from Ramblin’ Jack’s 1998 Friends Of Mine album:

 

 

 

 

‘Hiding Too Long’

Although Dylan performed this song at the 12 April 1963 New York Town Hall concert to rapturous applause, for reasons unknown it was never recorded in the studio or as a Witmark & Sons demo. What’s more, it has never surfaced on a Bootleg Series album, or been included in any comprehensive tome of Dylan’s lyrics, or mentioned on any of the official sites of Dylan’s anthology. For all intents and purposes, the song has been lost in time.

 

Except that ’Hiding Too Long’ had been recorded as song #21 of the 24 songs performed at the April 1963 concert – and that full concert recording has been available on YouTube for quite a while. While every other song from that concert has, one way or another, found its way onto studio, bootleg and/or compilation albums, ‘Hiding Too Long’ has remained hidden from sight – one might even say it has been ‘hiding too long’. In terms of Dylan’s songwriting chronology, it would have been written in March/April 1963 and most likely have been Dylan’s 50^th original song.

 

As such, there are no covers of this song ~ just the one original performance ~ Dylan, alone on stage, with spotlight and guitar ~ in New York’s Town Hall between 10.09pm to 10.11pm (NY time) on Friday 12 April 1963:

 

 

 

The lyrics to this song are transcribed in the commentary below the YouTube clip.

 

There seems to be no logical reason why this song was not committed to a demo or studio recording or published as a Dylan song.  The lyrics are of a quality consistent with what Dylan was publishing at that time. I can only conclude that in the hustle and bustle that was Dylan’s life at that time, the song simply fell through the cracks.

 

 

‘Eternal Circle’

Dylan wrote this song, the 54^th in his anthology, around May 1963, when the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album was about to hit the shelves. How can we be sure about the timing of this song? Well, when Dylan visited friends in Minneapolis in late May to catch up and hand out copies of his new album, his friend Tony Glover recorded an impromptu home performance by Dylan which included the first ever rendition of ‘Eternal Circle’.

 

Dylan officially recorded ‘Eternal Circle’ in October 1963 for possible inclusion on his 3^rd studio album, however it remained an outtake and was subsequently released on the 1991 Bootleg Series Vol 1- 3: Rare & Unreleased boxset.

 

There have been only three covers of this song by recognised artists. The cover that follows is by UK singer/songwriter Steve Gibbons from his 2005 sixteen track Dylan tribute album, titled The Dylan Project 2:

 

 

 

 

During September 1963, Dylan seemed to clock out of writing complex protest or deeply moving love songs. Suze had vacated his Greenwich Village apartment for good; but on the positive side, he was starting to accumulate the rich financial rewards from album sales and royalty payments.

 

In this unaccustomed setting, Dylan penned three mediocre songs, two of which he dutifully recorded as Witmark & Sons demos and then left behind to gather dust (i.e. ‘Gypsy Lou’, and ‘Guess I’m Doin’ Fine’ ~ his 59^th and 60^th songs respectively). Both songs eventually saw the light of day on the October 2010 Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 compilation album.

 

 

‘Gypsy Lou’

The following YouTube clip from The Radiowaves is the best of those from self-release artists.

 

 

 

 

‘Guess I’m Doin’ Fine’

Hamilton Camp, a minor stablemate from the Albert Grossman’s collective, included a cover of this song as the opening track on his debut 1964 Paths Of Victory album:

 

 

 

Of the thirteen songs on Hamilton’s debut album, seven were Dylan covers and of those, six were of Dylan outtakes.

 

 

‘Troubled And I Don’t Know Why’

This song, the third to be written by Dylan around September 1963 and the 61^st song in Dylan’s career, is a strange addition to Dylan’s anthology.  There is no studio or Witmark demo recording and, as a consequence, the song has not collected dust nor found its way onto the Bootleg Series of albums.

 

The only evidence we have of this Dylan composition are several concert performances – in duet with Joan Baez from April 1964.  However, by fate or fortune, the song has found its way into the competent hands of Hayes Carll – so we have this 2016 live rendition to close out this article:

 

 

 

 

Concluding comments: With some relief, I can declare that the ‘Every Song’ series is 100% up to date with regard to Dylan’s anthology up to October 1963.

 

Accordingly, the next article in the ‘Every Song’ series (scheduled for early November 2025) will concentrate on the events that unfolded in Dylan’s life from November 1963 until the release of his 3^rd studio album The Times They Are A-Changin’ on 10 February 1964.  That article will also showcase, in cover song style, the ten songs that make up that album.

 

 

More from Karl Dubravs can be read HERE.

 

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