Masterpieces
Encyclopedia
Masterpieces is a compilation album by Bob Dylan
. The 3-LP set was released in Japan
and Australia
in anticipation of his 1978 tour. Primarily a greatest hits
collection spanning Dylan's career up that point, the album features three previously unreleased tracks, including "Rita May", "George Jackson
" and a unique (1962) outtake version of "Mixed Up Confusion". It also includes a live performance of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
" from Dylan's 1966 World Tour
, which was first released as the B-side of his "I Want You
" single in 1966 and later appeared on Self Portrait
. Masterpieces was reissued on CD in 1991 by Sony Music (Cat. No. 4624489), but is no longer in print.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. The 3-LP set was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in anticipation of his 1978 tour. Primarily a greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
collection spanning Dylan's career up that point, the album features three previously unreleased tracks, including "Rita May", "George Jackson
George Jackson (song)
"George Jackson" is a song by Bob Dylan, written in 1971, in tribute to the Black Panther leader, George Jackson, who had been recently shot and killed by guards at San Quentin Prison on August 21, 1971, an event that indirectly provoked the Attica Prison riot...
" and a unique (1962) outtake version of "Mixed Up Confusion". It also includes a live performance of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965 and released on the album Highway 61 Revisited. The song was later released on the compilation album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol...
" from Dylan's 1966 World Tour
Bob Dylan World Tour 1966
The Bob Dylan World Tour 1966 was a concert tour undertaken by American musician Bob Dylan, from February to May 1966. Dylan's 1966 World Tour was notable as the first tour where Dylan employed an electric band backing him, following his "going electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival...
, which was first released as the B-side of his "I Want You
I Want You (Bob Dylan song)
"I Want You" is a 1966 song recorded by Bob Dylan. It was issued as a single in June 1966, shortly before the release of its accompanying album, Blonde on Blonde. A live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was included as a B-side...
" single in 1966 and later appeared on Self Portrait
Self Portrait (Bob Dylan album)
Self Portrait is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's tenth studio album, released by Columbia Records in June 1970.Self Portrait was Dylan's second double album, and features mostly cover versions of well-known pop and folk songs. Also included are a handful of instrumentals and original compositions...
. Masterpieces was reissued on CD in 1991 by Sony Music (Cat. No. 4624489), but is no longer in print.
Disc 1
- "Knockin' on Heaven's DoorKnockin' on Heaven's Door"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.-Story line and song structure:...
" (from Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid) – 2:30 - "Mr. Tambourine ManMr. Tambourine Man"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and...
" (from Bringing It All Back Home) – 5:9 - "Just Like a WomanJust Like a Woman (song)"Just Like a Woman" is a song written by Bob Dylan and first released on his 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde . It was also released as a single in the U.S. during August 1966 and peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" (from Blonde on Blonde) – 4:56 - "I Shall Be ReleasedI Shall Be Released"I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan.The Band played it on their debut album, Music from Big Pink , with Richard Manuel singing lead vocals, and Rick Danko and Levon Helm harmonizing in the chorus...
" (from Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II) – 3:05 - "Tears of RageTears of Rage"Tears of Rage" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel, the former writing the lyrics and the melody being provided by the latter.-Initial recordings:...
" (from The Basement TapesThe Basement TapesThe Basement Tapes is a 1975 studio album by Bob Dylan and The Band. The songs featuring Dylan's vocals were recorded in 1967, eight years before the album's release, at houses in and around Woodstock, New York, where Dylan and the Band lived...
) (Dylan, Richard ManuelRichard ManuelRichard George Manuel was a Canadian composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his contributions to and membership in The Band....
) – 4:14 - "All Along the WatchtowerAll Along the Watchtower"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The song, which has been included on most of Dylan's greatest hits compilations, initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Over the past 35 years, he has performed it in concert more...
" (from John Wesley Harding) – 2:32 - "One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" (from Desire) – 3:47
- "Like a Rolling StoneLike a Rolling Stone"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
" (Self PortraitSelf Portrait (Bob Dylan album)Self Portrait is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's tenth studio album, released by Columbia Records in June 1970.Self Portrait was Dylan's second double album, and features mostly cover versions of well-known pop and folk songs. Also included are a handful of instrumentals and original compositions...
version) – 5:17 - "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)"Quinn the Eskimo " is a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan and first recorded during The Basement Tapes sessions in 1967. The song was first released in January 1968 as "Mighty Quinn" by the British band Manfred Mann and became a great success...
" (Self PortraitSelf Portrait (Bob Dylan album)Self Portrait is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's tenth studio album, released by Columbia Records in June 1970.Self Portrait was Dylan's second double album, and features mostly cover versions of well-known pop and folk songs. Also included are a handful of instrumentals and original compositions...
version) – 2:49 - "Tomorrow Is a Long TimeTomorrow Is a Long Time"Tomorrow Is a Long Time" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan. Dylan's version first appeared on the Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume II compilation, released in 1971...
" (Live at Town Hall 1963, first released on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. IIBob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. IIBob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II , also known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, was the second compilation album released by Bob Dylan. With Dylan not expected to release any new material for an extended period of time, CBS Records president Clive Davis proposed issuing a double LP compilation of...
) – 3:02 - "Lay, Lady, LayLay Lady Lay"Lay Lady Lay" is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his Nashville Skyline album. Like many of the tracks on the album, Dylan sings the song in a low croon, rather than in the high nasal singing style associated with his earlier recordings...
" (Live 1976, Hard Rain) – 5:00 - "Idiot WindIdiot Wind"Idiot Wind" is a song by Bob Dylan. It appeared on his album Blood on the Tracks.The song was likely to have been written in the summer of 1974, after his comeback tour with The Band that year. Working on a suggestion from his brother, Dylan re-recorded half the songs on Blood on the Tracks,...
" (Live 1976, Hard Rain) – 10:06
Disc 2
- "Mixed-Up ConfusionMixed-Up ConfusionMixed-Up Confusion is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan.It was recorded with an electric band on November 14th 1962 during the sessions for The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, but was not used on that album, which was entirely acoustic. Instead the song, backed with "Corrina, Corrina", a...
" (outtake version from the 1962 Freewheelin' sessions) – 2:30 - "Positively 4th StreetPositively 4th Street"Positively 4th Street" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Dylan in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, reaching #1 on Canada's RPM chart, #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and #8 on the UK Singles Chart...
" (single, 1965) – 3:56 - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" was a 1965 single by American rock artist Bob Dylan. It reached #58 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #17 on the UK chart in January 1966...
" (single 1965, also found on BiographBiograph (album)Biograph is a 53-track compilation spanning the career of Bob Dylan, from his 1962 debut album to the 1981 LP Shot of Love. Released in 1985 by Columbia Records, on both a 5-LP and a 3-CD Box set, it was one of the earliest and most successful examples of the CD Box set...
) – 3:35 - "Just Like Tom Thumb's BluesJust Like Tom Thumb's Blues"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965 and released on the album Highway 61 Revisited. The song was later released on the compilation album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol...
" (live version recorded at Odeon Theatre, Liverpool, England, 14 May 1966 found on B-side of 1966 "I Want YouI Want You (Bob Dylan song)"I Want You" is a 1966 song recorded by Bob Dylan. It was issued as a single in June 1966, shortly before the release of its accompanying album, Blonde on Blonde. A live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was included as a B-side...
" single) – 5:40 - "Spanish Is the Loving Tongue" (B-side of 1971 "Watching the River Flow" single) (Traditional) – 3:38
- "George JacksonGeorge Jackson (song)"George Jackson" is a song by Bob Dylan, written in 1971, in tribute to the Black Panther leader, George Jackson, who had been recently shot and killed by guards at San Quentin Prison on August 21, 1971, an event that indirectly provoked the Attica Prison riot...
" ("Big Band" version, single, 1971) – 5:38 - "Rita May" (single, 1976) (Dylan, Jacques LevyJacques LevyJacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director, and clinical psychologist.Levy was born in New York City in 1935, and attended its City College. He received a doctorate in psychology from Michigan State University. Levy was a trained psychoanalyst, certified by the Menninger Institute...
) – 3:13 - "Blowin' in the WindBlowin' in the Wind"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of questions about peace, war and freedom...
" (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) – 2:47 - "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna FallA Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is a song written by Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962. It was first recorded in Columbia Records' Studio A on 6 December 1962 for his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The lyric structure is based on the question and answer form of the traditional ballad "Lord...
" (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) – 6:54 - "The Times They Are a-Changin'The Times They Are a-Changin' (song)"The Times They Are a-Changin" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released as the title track of his 1964 album, The Times They Are a-Changin. The song was ranked #59 on Rolling Stones 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time....
" (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) – 3:16 - "Masters of WarMasters of War"Masters of War" is a song by Bob Dylan, written over the winter of 1962-63 and released on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in the spring of 1963. The song's melody was adapted from the traditional "Nottamun Town"...
" (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) – 4:33 - "HurricaneHurricane (song)"Hurricane" is a protest song by Bob Dylan co-written with Jacques Levy, about the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. It compiles alleged acts of racism and profiling against Carter, which Dylan describes as leading to a false trial and conviction....
" (from Desire) (Dylan, Levy) – 8:36
Disc 3
- "Maggie's FarmMaggie's Farm"Maggie's Farm" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 15, 1965, and released on the album Bringing It All Back Home on March 22 of that year...
" (Live 1976, Hard Rain version) – 5:30 - "Subterranean Homesick BluesSubterranean Homesick Blues"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally released in 1965 as a single on Columbia Records, catalogue 43242. It appeared 19 days later as the lead track to the album Bringing It All Back Home. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit, peaking at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also...
" (from Bringing It All Back Home) – 2:20 - "Ballad of a Thin ManBallad of a Thin Man"Ballad of a Thin Man" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan, released on the album Highway 61 Revisited in 1965.-Meaning:"Ballad of a Thin Man" comments on a conventional "Mr. Jones", who walks into a room of intentionally bizarre circus freaks and doesn't "know what's happening".The...
" (from Highway 61 RevisitedHighway 61 RevisitedHighway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers...
) – 5:57 - "Mozambique" (from Desire) (Dylan, Levy) – 3:01
- "This Wheel's on FireThis Wheel's on Fire (song)"This Wheel's on Fire" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko. It was originally recorded by Dylan and The Band during their legendary 1967 sessions, portions of which comprised the 1975 album, The Basement Tapes...
" (from The Basement Tapes) (Rick DankoRick DankoRichard Clare "Rick" Danko was a Canadian musician and singer, best known as a member of The Band.-Early years :...
, Dylan) – 3:52 - "I Want YouI Want You (Bob Dylan song)"I Want You" is a 1966 song recorded by Bob Dylan. It was issued as a single in June 1966, shortly before the release of its accompanying album, Blonde on Blonde. A live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was included as a B-side...
" (from Blonde on Blonde) – 3:09 - "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" (from Blonde on Blonde) – 4:38
- "Don't Think Twice, It's All RightDon't Think Twice, It's All Right"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962, and released on the 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.-Context:...
" (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) – 3:40 - "Song to WoodySong to Woody"Song to Woody" is one of the first ever songs written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on his eponymous debut album Bob Dylan in 1962. The song conveys Dylan's appreciation of folk legend Woody Guthrie. The tune is based on Guthrie's song "1913 Massacre"...
" (from Bob Dylan) – 2:41 - "It Ain't Me BabeIt Ain't Me Babe"It Ain't Me Babe" is the title of a 1964 song by Bob Dylan, first included on his album Another Side of Bob Dylan. The song's opening line is allegedly influenced by musicologist/folk-singer John Jacob Niles' composition "Go 'Way From My Window." Niles is referred to by Dylan as an early...
" (from Another Side of Bob Dylan) – 3:35 - "Love Minus Zero/No LimitLove Minus Zero/No Limit"Love Minus Zero/No Limit" is a song written by Bob Dylan for his fifth studio album Bringing It All Back Home, released in 1965 . The song was originally written as a tribute to Dylan's future wife Sara Lowndes...
" (from Bringing It All Back Home) – 2:50 - "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (from John Wesley HardingJohn Wesley Harding (album)John Wesley Harding is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's eighth studio album, released by Columbia Records in December 1967.Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to acoustic music and traditional roots, after three albums of electric rock music...
) – 2:39 - "If Not for YouIf Not for You"If Not for You" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, recorded for his 1970 album New Morning. George Harrison released a version of the song in November 1970 on his album All Things Must Pass...
" (from New MorningNew MorningNew Morning is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 11th studio album, released by Columbia Records in October 1970.Coming only four months after the controversial Self Portrait, the more concise and immediate New Morning won a much warmer reception from fans and critics. Most welcome was the return of...
) – 2:44 - "If You See Her, Say HelloIf You See Her, Say Hello"If You See Her, Say Hello" is a song by Bob Dylan released on his 15th studio album Blood on the Tracks in 1975. An alternative version is on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 1961–1991....
" (from Blood on the TracksBlood on the TracksBlood on the Tracks is Bob Dylan's 15th studio album, released by Columbia Records in January 1975. The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia after a two-album stint with Asylum Records....
) – 4:48 - "Sara" (from Desire) – 5:31