Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: Bob Dylan

1970s, Rock

If Not For You

Written and first recorded by Bob Dylan (1970 |NETH #30 1971).
First released by George Harrison (1970).
Other hit version by Olivia Newton-John (US #25/MOR #1/CAN #3/ UK #7/AUS #7/NZ #8 1971).
Also recorded by Bob Dylan & George Harrision (1970, released 1991).

From the wiki: “‘If Not for You’ was written by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan for his October 1970 album New Morning. The song was a love song to Dylan’s first wife, Sara Dylan. He recorded it several times in 1970; the session for the released version took place in New York in August. He also recorded the song with George Harrison on May 1, soon after the break-up of the Beatles, a session that attracted much speculation in the music press. The May recording remained unreleased until its inclusion on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) in 1991.

“In November 1970, Harrison released his arrangement of ‘If Not for You’ on his triple album All Things Must Pass. The best-known cover version was recorded by Olivia Newton-John in 1971, using Harrison’s arrangement of the song. Newton-John’s single became her first hit song, peaking at #7 on the UK Singles Chart and topping the Billboard Easy Listening chart, as well as the title track to her debut album, If Not for You.

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1960s, Rock

I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight

Written and first recorded by Bob Dylan (1967).
Hit version by Robert Palmer with UB40 (UK #6/CAN #58/IRE #6/AUS #4/NZ #1/SUI #5/NETH #4 1990).

From the wiki: “‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’ was written by Bob Dylan in 1967, and first released on the alb um John Wesley Harding. He first performed the song in concert at the Isle of Wight Festival with The Band on August 31, 1969. Since then, Dylan has included it in more than 400 live performances.

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1960s, Folk

Don’t Think Twice (It’s Alright)

First recorded by Bobby Darin (Jul 1962 |Released Nov 1963).
First released by The New World Singers (Released Jul 1963).
Also recorded by Bob Dylan (Nov 1962 |Released Aug 1963), Eric Clapton (1992).
Inspired by “Who’s Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I’m Gone)” by Paul Clayton (1960).
Hit version by Peter Paul & Mary (US #9/MOR #2 1963), The Wonder Who? (parodied as “Don’t Think Twice” US #12 1965).

From the wiki: “‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ was written by Bob Dylan in 1962, recorded by him on November 14 that year, and released on the 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and as his second-ever single in August 1963 with no chart impact.

“But, there were other, earlier recordings and releases prior to Dylan’s because of the music’s availability via Witmark Publishing Co., when Dylan was “just” an aspiring songwriter. Bobby Darin, no slouch in discovering talent (see Tim Hardin), first recorded the song in July 1962, the same month as Dylan, but the New World Singers released their version one month prior Dylan’s own recording and four months prior to Darin’s recording, in July 1963.

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1970s, Rock

Tangled Up in Blue

First recorded by Bob Dylan (1974, released 1991).
Hit version by Bob Dylan (US #31 1975).
Also recorded by Bob Dylan (1984).

From the wiki: “‘Tangled Up in Blue’ was written by Bob Dylan, and first appeared on the album Blood on the Tracks in 1975. Released as a single, ‘Tangled Up in Blue’ reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone ranks it #68 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. According to The Telegraph, Dylan said ‘I wanted to defy time … When you look at a painting, you can see any part of it altogether. I wanted that song to be like a painting.’ Dylan had been influenced by his then-recent study of painting and the Cubist school of artists, who had sought to incorporate multiple perspectives within a single plane of view. Dylan has often stated that the song took ‘ten years to live and two years to write.’

“‘Tangled Up in Blue’ was one of five songs on Blood on the Tracks that Dylan initially recorded in New York City in September 1974 and which was then re-recorded in Minneapolis in December that year; the later recording became the album track and single. One of the September 1974 outtakes was released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.

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1960s, Folk

The Mighty Quinn

Written and first recorded (as “Quinn the Eskimo”) by Bob Dylan (1967, officially released 1985).
Hit version by Manfred Mann (US #10/UK #1/IRE #1/GER #1 1968).

From the wiki: “‘Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)’ is a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan and first recorded during The Basement Tapes sessions in 1967 but was not officially released until 1985. (A 1969 live recording of ‘Quinn’ by Dylan, from the Isle of Wight, was released on Self Portrait in 1970). Meanwhile, the song was picked up and recorded by the British band Manfred Mann, who released it under the title “Mighty Quinn”. Manfred Mann first heard it on a bootleg of Dylan recordings, Dylan’s White Album (said to be the ‘mother of all bootlegs’), at Feldmans Music on Charing Cross Road, London. Dylan says the song was inspired by the Eskimo in the Nicholas Ray film The Savage Innocent (1960), symbol of pure freedom on American soil.”

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1990s, Pop

(To) Make You Feel My Love

First released by Billy Joel (US #50 1997).
Other hit versions by Garth Brooks (C&W #1/MOR #8/CAN #7 1998), Adele (UK #26 |UK #4/NETH #3/SCOT #4/IRE #5 2008 2010 |UK #34 2011).
Also recorded by Bob Dylan (1997), Bryan Ferry (2007).

From the wiki: “‘Make You Feel My Love’ was written by Bob Dylan that appeared on his 1997 album Time Out of Mind. It was first commercially released by Billy Joel, under the title ‘To Make You Feel My Love’, before Dylan’s version appeared later that year. It has since been covered by numerous performers and has proved to be a commercial success for recording artists such as Garth Brooks (from the movie Hope Floats), and Adele.

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1930s, Blues, Folk

House of the Rising Sun

First recorded (as “Rising Sun Blues”) by Clarence “Tom” Ashley and Gwen Foster (1933).
Also recorded by Woody Guthrie (1941), Lead Belly (1944 |1948), Josh White (1947), Glenn Yarbrough (1957), Pete Seeger (1958), Andy Griffith (1959), Miriam Makeba (1960).
Hit versions by The Animals (US #1/UK #1/CAN #1/AUS #2/GER #10/SWE #4 1964), Frijid Pink (US #7/UK #4 1970).

From the wiki: “Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of ‘The House of the Rising Sun’ is uncertain. Musicologists say that it is based on the tradition of broadside ballads such as The Unfortunate Rake of the 18th century and that English emigrants took the song to America where it was adapted to its later New Orleans setting. Alan Price of The Animals has even claimed that the song was originally a sixteenth-century English folk song about a Soho brothel.

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1970s, Soul

I’ve Got to Use My Imagination

Co-written and first recorded by Barry Goldberg (1973).
Hit version by Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #4/R&B #1 1973).
Also recorded by Bob Dylan (bootleg 1984), Joe Cocker (1989), Gerry Goffin, co-writer (1995), Joan Osborne (2007).

From the wiki: “‘I’ve Got to Use My Imagination’ was written by Gerry Goffin (‘Up on the Roof‘, ‘Oh No Not My Baby‘, ‘Saving All My Love for You‘, ‘One Fine Day’) and by Barry Goldberg, and was first recorded by Goldberg in 1973 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with co-producers Jerry Wexler and Bob Dylan (also on backing vocals and percussion).

“Goldberg was the pianist behind Dylan at the infamous ‘Dylan goes electric’ Newport Folk Festival performance in 1965 (he was a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band that had backed Dylan), and it was Dylan who helped Goldberg secure the deal with Atlantic Records that resulted in the 1974 release of Barry Goldberg.

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1960s, Folk

The Ballad of Ira Hayes

Written and first recorded by Peter LaFarge (1962).
Hit version by Johnny Cash (C&W #3 1964).
Also recorded by Bob Dylan (1970, released 1973).

From the wiki: “‘The Ballad of Ira Hayes’ was written by folk singer Peter La Farge (himself a Nargaset Indian, poet, and novelist, and Native American rights advocate), and first recorded by him in 1962. It tells the story of Ira Hayes, one of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who became famous for having raised the US flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II. Hayes was a Pima Native American and a United States Marine corporal who was one of the six flag raisers immortalized in the iconic Iwo Jima photograph.

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1960s, Folk

Mr. Tambourine Man

Recorded (as a demo) by The Jet Set (1964).
First album release by Bob Dylan (March 1965).
Hit version by The Byrds (US #1/UK #1/CAN #2/IRE #1 April 1965).
Also recorded by The Brothers Four (recorded 1964, released May 1965).

From the wiki: “In 1964, The Byrds – then known as The Jet Set – first recorded ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ as an audition demo prior to being signed to Columbia Records. Two other songs from the session (but not ‘Tambourine Man’) were released by Elektra Records in a one-off deal and had no chart impact. For the Columbia Records recording session leading to their first hit record, The Byrds did the vocals and lead guitar on the recording but session musicians (the infamous ‘Wrecking Crew‘) were brought in to play the other instruments. Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel and Glen Campbell were among the assorted session players used for The Byrds’ first recordings.

“The very first recording ever of ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ was a 6+-minute demo completed by Bob Dylan (along with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott) during a marathon session for the Another Side Of Bob Dylan album (on June 9th, 1964). The song had been written by Dylan while driving cross-country from New York to San Francisco via New Orleans. He wrote the song and recorded the demo with Elliot that eventually found its way to The Jet Set née The Bryds. (Dylan’s demo would later resurface on the soundtrack to the Dylan bio-doc No Direction Home.)

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1960s, Folk

It Ain’t Me Babe

Written and first recorded by Bob Dylan (1964).
Also recorded by Joan Baez (1964).
Hit versions by Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash (US #58/C&W #4 1965), The Turtles (US #8 1965).

From the wiki: “‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ was written by Bob Dylan and originally appeared on his fourth album Another Side of Bob Dylan. Dylan’s biographers generally agree that the song owes its inspiration to his former girlfriend Suze Rotolo. Dylan reportedly began writing the song during his visit to Italy in 1963 while searching for Rotolo, who was studying there.”

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1960s, Folk

Blowin’ in the Wind

First released by The New World Singers (January 1963).
Also released by The Chad Mitchell Trio (March 1963), Bob Dylan (August 1963), Marlene Dietrich (1963).
Hit versions by Peter, Paul & Mary (US #2/UK #13 October 1963), Stan Getz (US #110 1964), Stevie Wonder (US #9/R&B #1 1966).

From The Originals: “The timeline of ‘first’ recordings and releases of ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ can sure be a more than simply confusing. Some sources date the New World Singers’ recording to September 1963, four months after Dylan’s was released. Other sources say, no, that’s wrong. That the New World Singers’ version appeared on a compilation of ‘topical songs’ called Broadside Ballads Vol. 1 which apparently was released on 1 January 1963 on Broadside Records, the recording arm of the folk magazine (you guessed it) Broadside. (The magazine, founded by Pete Seeger, had printed the lyrics of the then-just published song way back in May 1962.)

“The Chad Mitchell Trio, sometimes credited with at least /recording/ the song before the New World Singers but not before Dylan’s own John Hammond-produced session in July 1962, didn’t release their arrangement until In Action began shipping to stores in March 1963.

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1910s, Country

Man of Constant Sorrow

First recorded by Dick Burnett (as “Farewell Song” c. 1913), Emry Arthur (1928).
Hit versions by The Stanley Brothers (1951 | 1959), Ginger Baker’s Air Force (C&W #36/UK #86 1970), Soggy Bottom Boys (C&W #35 2000).
Also recorded by Judy Collins (as “Maid of Constant Sorrow”) (1961), Bob Dylan (1963), Jerry Garcia (1993).

From the wiki: “‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ (also known as ‘I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow’) is a traditional American folk song first recorded in 1913 by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky, who published the song as ‘Farewell Song’. (Some uncertainty exists as to whether Burnett himself wrote the song. One claim is that it was sung by the Mackin clan in 1888 in Ireland and that Cameron O’Mackin emigrated to Tennessee, bringing the song with him.) Another early version was commercially released by Emry Arthur in 1928.

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1960s, Rock

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

Written and first recorded by Bob Dylan (1965).
Hit versions by Them (1965 |GER #12 1973), The Byrds (B-side 1969), Graham Bonnet (AUS #3 1977).
Also recorded by Joan Baez (1965), Dion (1965, released 1969), The Byrds (1965, released 1987), The 13th Floor Elevators (1967), (as “Baby Blue”) by The Seldom Scene (1975), The Animals (1977).

From the wiki: “‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ was written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his 1965 Bringing It All Back Home album. The song was originally recorded with Dylan’s acoustic guitar and harmonica and William E. Lee’s bass guitar the only instrumentation. Dylan’s two previous albums, The Times They Are A-Changin’ and Another Side of Bob Dylan both ended with a farewell song, ‘Restless Farewell’ and ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’ respectively. ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ concludes Bringing It All Back Home in consistent fashion.

“Dylan played the song for Donovan in his hotel room during his May 1965 tour of England in a scene shown in the D. A. Pennebaker documentary Don’t Look Back; a version of the song is also included on the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s documentary No Direction Home. In a 2005 readers’ poll reported in Mojo, ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ was listed as the #10 all-time-best Bob Dylan song.

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1920s, Blues

Corrina, Corrina (Corrine, Corrina)

First recorded (as “Corrine, Corrina”) by Bo Carter (Chatmon) & Charlie McCoy (1928).
Hit versions by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys (1940), Ray Peterson (US #9/UK #41 1960), The Rising Sons (1966).
Also recorded by Elston Gunn (Bob Dylan) (1962).

From the wiki: “‘Corrina, Corrina’ may have traditional roots; however, early versions vary musically and lyrically. One of the earliest is the commercial sheet music song ‘Has Anybody Seen My Corrine?’ published by Roger Graham in 1918. ‘Corrine, Corrina’ was first recorded by Bo Carter in December 1928.

“Just prior to World War II, Bob Wills adapted the song to a Western swing dance song. Following his recording with The Texas Playboys in April 1940, the song (recorded as “Corrine, Corrina”) entered the standard repertoire of all Western swing bands, influencing the adoption of ‘Corrina, Corrina’ by Cajun bands and later by individual country artists.

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