Bob Dylan - Lay Down Your Weary Tune - Non-Album Tracks (1963)

Bob Dylan has been a very prolific songwriter in general, but I would guess he wrote more songs in 1963 than any other year. This album covers stray tracks from the latter half of 1963. But if one were to imagine an alternate reality where this album was released, it probably would have come out in 1964.

Note that Dylan released his acclaimed album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" in 1963. This is the third album I've made of stray songs from 1963. And "The Times They Are A-Changin'" came out only two weeks into 1964, so that was all 1963 material too. Basically, that was five albums' worth of songs in one year!

These songs were recorded in the exact same months Dylan was recording "The Times They Are A-Changin'" - August to October 1963. So one could see this as the outtakes from those recording sessions. However, some of the songs actually weren't attempted as part of those sessions. For instance, a couple of them are demos recorded for Whitmark, and one was only done live in concert.

But whatever the source, it's clear to me that Dylan's songwriting was getting better and better. The percentage of cover songs on his albums was steadily going down. That trend continues here. "Moonshiner" is a cover, but I think it's one of his very best performances.

I only included the song "Ain't Gonna Grieve" as a bonus track. It was included on one of Dylan's official Bootleg Series albums (volume 9, covering the Whitmark demos). However, I found the sound quality to be below par compared to everything else on the album.

This album is 48 minutes long, not including the bonus track.

01 Paths of Victory (Bob Dylan)
02 Moonshiner (Bob Dylan)
03 Only a Hobo (Bob Dylan)
04 Seven Curses (Bob Dylan)
05 John Brown (Bob Dylan)
06 Gypsy Lou (Bob Dylan)
07 Troubled and I Don't Know Why [Live] (Joan Baez & Bob Dylan)
08 Lay Down Your Weary Tune (Bob Dylan)
09 Percy's Song (Bob Dylan)
10 Eternal Circle (Bob Dylan)
11 East Laredo Blues (Bob Dylan)
12 Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag (Bob Dylan)

Ain't Gonna Grieve (Bob Dylan)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15105676/BobD_1964b_LayDwnYourWearyTune_atse.zip.html

I made this cover based on a photo of Dylan, but I don't know where or when it's from. However, it looks to me like it's from 1963 or 1964, and there are so few of those in color that I'm using it.