A collection of studio outtakes recorded by Bob Dylan in 1973 has surfaced in Europe, thanks to a copyright loophole.
The 28-track collection was recorded during the Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid soundtrack sessions and is titled 50th Anniversary Collection 1973. Earlier this month, a limited number of copies became available in Europe, and have already been listed online for hundreds of dollars.
The physical release occurred because of a “use it or lose it” provision in European copyright law, which places all recordings into the public domain if they aren’t released 50 years after they were made. (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid was released in May 1973.)
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In previous years, to combat this European law, Dylan and his team have put forth multi-disc “bootleg” sets, or, in some cases, pressed a few hundred CDs and distributed them to European stores without notifying the public.
These 1973 sessions have been leaked before — which is how Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show found Dylan’s unfinished recording of a song called “Rock Me Mama,” turning it into a completed track called “Wagon Wheel” and releasing it in 2004. Almost a decade later, Darius Rucker would have a No. 1 country hit with it. Dylan was credited on both versions as a co-writer. The original version of “Rock Me Mama” appears on 50th Anniversary Collection 1973.
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Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
