Bob Dylan ‘Best Of The Cutting Edge’ Early Album Stream

The next volume of Bob Dylan‘s archival series is due on November 6 via Legacy Recordings and Columbia Records. We don’t have to wait until next week to hear highlights from Bob Dylan – The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12, as NPR Music has premiered a batch of tracks from the new release.

There will be three different versions of the release, which focuses on the years Dylan transformed from a folkie to a rocker by going electric. The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 will be available as a two-disc collection of “highlights,” a six-disc deluxe edition and an 18-disc collector’s edition. The tracks come from the period Bob recorded Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde.

The 18-disc collector’s edition is said to “include every note recorded during the 1965-1966 sessions, every alternate take and alternate lyric.” 5,000 copies of the limited-edition release will be available. EW.com notes, “The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 will come with a book including rare photographs, memorabilia, and essays written for the project by author Bill Flanagan and historian Sean Wilentz.”

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=451169307&m=452550523

The 6-disc deluxe edition contains many outtakes from the ’65 & ’66 sessions which haven’t previously been released. There’s even a disc featuring 20 different versions of “Like A Rolling Stone.” Dylan’s new collection gives a great look at a master at work.

Head to NPR Music to listen to Best Of The Cutting Edge.