Bob Dylan’s 70th Dream Playlist per Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone Magazine has published a list of their top 70 Bob Dylan songs (and a few variant versions, mostly live versions, or bootleg versions with The Band in their Woodstock hoedown days) in the print edition called The 70 Greatest Dylan Songs – online has different lists, and their top ten Dylan songs. Of course I had to make an iTunes playlist for these songs, and am listening to it now.

Is Like A Rolling Stone my favorite Dylan song? No, probably not, but if I haven’t heard it in a while, I can appreciate it for the revolutionary track it is…

The next issue of Rolling Stone – on stands and in the digital archive on May 13th – celebrates Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday (happening on May 24th) by ranking his 70 greatest songs. Bono, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jim James and many other artists discuss their favorite Dylan tracks. “Every songwriter after him carries his baggage,” Bono writes. “This lowly Irish bard would proudly carry his baggage. Any day.” 

Selected in Playlist: 70 Dylan 93 songs, 7:35:24.839935302734 total time, 716.9 MB

# Title Album Year

1

Like A Rolling Stone

Highway 61 Revisited [2010 mono version]

1965

2

A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1963

3

Tangled Up In Blue

Blood On The Tracks

1975

4

Just Like A Woman

Blonde On Blonde [2010 Mono version]

1966

5

All Along The Watchtower

John Wesley Harding (2010 Mono Version)

1967

6

I Shall Be Released

The Bootleg Series

1967

8

I Shall Be Released

The Basement Tapes

1987

9

It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

Bringing It All Back Home (2010 Mono Version)

1965

10

Mr. Tambourine Man

Bringing It All Back Home (2010 Mono Version)

1965

12

Visions Of Johanna (Take Eight)

Bootleg Series, Vol. 7 No Direction Home (Disc 2)

1965

13

Visions Of Johanna

Blonde On Blonde [2010 Mono version]

1966

14

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

Bringing It All Back Home (2010 Mono Version)

1965

15

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Alternate Take)

Bootleg Series, Vol. 7 No Direction Home (Disc 1)

1965

16

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

Live 1966

1966

18

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Bringing It All Back Home (2010 Mono Version)

1965

19

Desolation Row

Highway 61 Revisited [2010 mono version]

1965

20

Highway ‘61 Revisited

Highway 61 Revisited [2010 mono version]

1965

21

Simple Twist Of Fate

Blood On The Tracks

1975

22

Positively 4th Street

Biograph

1965

25

This Wheel’s On Fire

The Basement Tapes

1975

26

Ballad Of A Thin Man

Highway 61 Revisited [2010 mono version]

1965

27

Blind Willie McTell

The Bootleg Series

1991

28

Blowin’ In The Wind

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1963

29

Mississippi

Love And Theft

2001

30

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1963

31

Forever Young

Planet Waves

1974

32

Forever Young (Continued)

Planet Waves

1974

33

Lay Lady Lay

Best Of

1994

34

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid

1973

35

Masters Of War

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1963

36

Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands

Blonde On Blonde (2010 Mono Version)

1966

37

The Times They Are A-Changin’

The Times They Are A Changin’ (2010 Mono Version)

1964

38

You Ain’t Going Nowhere #1

Genuine Basement Tapes (Volume 4)

1967

40

You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Essential Bob Dylan

2000

41

Girl From The North Country

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1963

42

Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (single version)

A Musical History

1965

43

Chimes Of Freedom

Another Side Of Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1964

45

Idiot Wind (Unreleased Version)

The Bootleg Series

1974

46

Idiot Wind

Hard Rain

1976

47

Isis

Biograph

1975

48

Isis

Live 1975 – The Rolling Thunder Revue (Bootleg Series Vol. 5)

1975

49

Isis

Desire

1976

50

The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll

The Times They Are A Changin’ (2010 Mono Version)

1964

51

Maggie’s Farm

Bringing It All Back Home (2010 Mono Version)

1965

52

Maggie’s Farm (Newport Folk Festival)

Bootleg Series, Vol. 7 No Direction Home (Disc 2)

1965

53

My Back Pages

Another Side Of Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1964

54

Hurricane

Desire

1976

55

With God On Our Side

The Times They Are A Changin’ (2010 Mono Version)

1964

56

I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

John Wesley Harding (2010 Mono Version)

1967

57

I’ll Keep It With Mine

Biograph

1965

58

I Threw It All Away

Nashville Skyline

1969

59

Gotta Serve Somebody

Slow Train Coming

1979

60

Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

Blonde On Blonde [2010 Mono version]

1966

61

It Ain’t Me Babe

Another Side Of Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1964

62

Spanish Harlem Incident

Another Side Of Bob Dylan

1964

63

Sara

Live 1975 – The Rolling Thunder Revue (Bootleg Series Vol. 5)

1975

64

Sara

Desire

1976

65

Up To Me

Biograph

1985

66

Not Dark Yet

Time Out Of Mind

1997

67

Things Have Changed

The Very Best of Bob Dylan

2007

69

Tears of Rage #3

The Genuine Basement Tapes Vol.2

1970

70

Tears Of Rage

The Basement Tapes

1975

71

When I Paint My Masterpiece

A Musical History

1971

72

4th Time Around

Blonde On Blonde (2010 Mono Version)

1966

73

If Not For You

New Morning

1970

74

You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

Blood On The Tracks

1975

75

Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

Highway 61 Revisited [2010 mono version]

1965

76

Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues (Take 5)

Bootleg Series, Vol. 7 No Direction Home (Disc 2)

1965

77

Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues (Live 5/14/66, The Odeon, Liverpool)

A Musical History

1966

78

Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

Live 1966

1966

79

Percy’s Song

Biograph

1963

80

Million Dollar Bash #1

The Genuine Basement Tapes Vol. 3

1968

81

Million Dollar Bash

The Basement Tapes

1975

82

Buckets Of Rain

Blood On The Tracks

1975

83

Buckets of Rain

Hard Rain

1975

84

I’m Not There

Genuine Bootleg Series Vol 2

1967

85

It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry

Highway 61 Revisited [2010 mono version]

1965

86

It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Take 9)

Bootleg Series, Vol. 7 No Direction Home (Disc 2)

1965

87

Queen Jane Approximately

Highway 61 Revisited [2010 mono version]

1965

88

If You See Her, Say Hello

The Bootleg Series

1964

89

If You See Her, Say Hello

Blood On The Tracks

1975

90

Abandoned Love

Biograph

1975

91

Tough Mama

Planet Waves

1974

92

Shelter From The Storm

Blood On The Tracks

1975

93

Shelter From The Storm

Hard Rain

1976

94

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat

Blonde On Blonde [2010 Mono version]

1966

95

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Take 1)

Bootleg Series, Vol. 7 No Direction Home (Disc 2)

1966

96

Every Grain Of Sand

Shot Of Love

1981

97

One Too Many Mornings

The Times They Are A Changin’ (2010 Mono Version)

1964

98

One Too Many Mornings

Live 1966

1966

99

One More Cup Of Coffe (Valley Bellow)

Live 1975 – The Rolling Thunder Revue (Bootleg Series Vol. 5)

1975

100

One More Cup Of Coffee

Desire

1976

101

To Ramona

Another Side Of Bob Dylan (2010 Mono Version)

1964

If you come over to my house, I’ll let you listen to the MP3s. Or even better, pick up the box set called The Original Mono Recordings.

7 thoughts on “Bob Dylan’s 70th Dream Playlist per Rolling Stone

  1. Marie says:

    Wow. Amazing list. Good work, Seth. I was glad to see you included Lay Lady Lay. It’s one of my favorites, even though the critics always seem to turn away from it. I’m thinking about doing a list of my own favorite Dylan songs as covered by others. Maybe this weekend.

  2. In the print edition (and not online as far as I could tell), Lenny Kravitz writes a paragraph or two about Lay, Lady, Lay, saying it was the first Dylan song he ever heard, and that he was surprised to hear a second Dylan song, with Dylan’s normal voice.

  3. thewaymouth says:

    Nice list! One song not on RS’s list: ‘Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35’ AKA ‘Everybody Must Get Stoned.’ How can that not be on his Top 70 list? The song was banned by the BBC and many American radio stations, yet in the UK it went to No. 7 & 2 in the US. After ‘Like A Rolling Stone,’ ‘Everybody Must Get Stoned’ is Dylan’s biggest hit ever. It’s got to be one the biggest hit, drug songs ever. Dylan laid himself on the line ahead of his time once again. He was out in front openly blowing the lid off what the world was doing in the backroom in 1966. Dylan on RDW in 1966: “It’s another sort of a North Mexican kind of a thing, uh, very protesty. Very, very protesty. And, uh, one of the protestiest of all things I ever protested against in my protest years…” BONUS: Check Dylan & The Band’s rollicking version on ‘Before The Flood.’ Don’t forget: 12×35=420.

  4. I had (have?) ambitions to add a list of my own favorite Dylan songs – there are several that didn’t make RS’s list, including Rainy Day Women.

    For some reason, had never heard the 12×35=420 before, that’s pretty funny actually.

  5. Robbie Sanders says:

    How about “The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar?” That album may have sucked but that song is a bluesy gem.

    Or how about “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” on Modern Times? Or anything from Modern Times?

    I can see this guy is a folk fan and not a blues fan.

    No “Love Sick”?

  6. There are just so many songs to choose from, how do you limit to only 70? I wouldn’t have all of these songs on my list, but I’d have most of them.

  7. chris says:

    Changing of the Guard?

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