Bob Dylan, still a tireless road dog at 85, loves to pull out a random deep cut at a random show. Dylan is now 64 years and 40 studio albums deep into his career, so his catalog is vast, and he can pick from a lot of tracks. Last week, for instance, Dylan kicked off the latest leg of his Rough And Rowdy Ways Tour in Troutdale, Oregon, and he played his song "Baby, Will You Be My Baby," recorded in 1967 and not officially released until 2014, for the first time ever. On Tuesday, Dylan hit Eugene, Oregon, and he once again reached back to the Basement Tapes sessions, this time bringing back a more famous song for the first time in 18 years.
In 1967, Dylan wrote "I Shall Be Released," and he and the Band recorded it during their Basement Tapes sessions. The Band also recorded their own version of the song without Dylan, and they used it as the closing track on their classic 1968 debut album Music From Big Pink. Dylan and the Band played that song together, along with Ringo Starr and Ronnie Wood, in The Last Waltz.
When he played Eugene's Cuthbert Amphitheater on Tuesday, Dylan covered old songs from Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and Eddie Cochran. He ended the show with a slow, soulful take on "I Shall Be Released." According to Setlist.fm, it was is first time performing that song since a 2008 gig in Warsaw. Hear an audio recording below.
