Ultra rare Bob Dylan studio recordings from 1973 surface after fifty years

20 December 2023, 12:50

Some ultra rare Bob Dylan recordings from 1973 have been secretly distributed across the UK and Europe to beat the "use it or lose it" copyright law. Picture: Getty

By Thomas Curtis-Horsfall

Loading audio...

There's new Bob Dylan music in the world.

Well, not technically new at all. But it'll certainly be new to the millions of ardent fans that Dylan has worldwide.

That's because the music icon has stealthily released a new 50th anniversary collection from 1973, including 28 ultra rare tracks.

Though the tracks are just outtakes from the soundtrack sessions to 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, featuring Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn, and Bob Dylan himself.

Dylan's soundtrack was even nominated for a Grammy Award and a BAFTA Award, which included his now-classic ballad 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door'.

With the outtakes made available, Dylan fans and collectors have gone into full blown hysteria. But they're only available in the UK and Europe, after being spotted by eagle-eyed Ebay users.

Bids are climbing past the £500 mark as it stands for a copy, and elsewhere fans have been scouring the length and breadth of record stores to dig out one from across the continent.

Bob Dylan starred in and wrote the soundtrack for 1973 American revisionist Western film, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. (Photo by Gems/Redferns). Picture: Getty

There's a copyright "use it or lose it" loophole that exists in the UK and European countries for sound recordings and broadcasts that are only protected for a maximum of fifty years, unlike the US.

If recordings aren't released after fifty years they were made, they can be immediately placed into the public domain according to copyright law.

This has been an annual tradition amongst many legacy artists, who frequently release live recordings or studio outtakes from the vaults in order to secure their copyrights.

The likes of Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, and even Dylan before this have either opted to upload them to streaming services, or issue special edition physical releases.

Rock Me Mamma, aka, "Wagon Wheel", the original version of Bob Dylan

It seems that Dylan has secretly released the 1973 sessions and dotted them around various record stores with no prior announcement, just to comply with the deadline before it expires.

With an artist as prolific and enduring as Bob Dylan, it isn't the first time he's managed to dodge the 50-year loophole.

As the deadline approached for similar recordings for his first three electric albums - Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde - his record label assembled an epic, 18-disc boxset for the die-hards, with a two-disc set of highlights for the casual fan.

Bob Dylan recorded the soundtrack to Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid at the turn of 1973 within a couple of weeks, though it's not the first time the outtakes have leaked since then.

Bootlegs have been knocking around for some years, with former Old Crow Medicine Show singer and guitarist Chris 'Critter' Fuqua picking up a copy and obsessing with the 'Rock Me Mama' outtake section which inspired their signature hit 'Wagon Wheel' in 2004.

The song became hugely prominent after country singer Darius Rucker covered it, taking it to number one on the US country charts in the process, with Bob Dylan receiving a songwriting credit.

That said, the original version of 'Rock Me Mama' appears on the 50th Anniversary Collection 1973, with an alternative rendition of 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' all making the cut.