Bob Dylan Continues To Mine ‘Basement Tapes’ With 1st ‘I Shall Be Released’ In 18 Years

Bob Dylan rolled into Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene, Oregon on Tuesday. The Nobel Laureate continued to dust off material from his collaborative period with The Band by offering “I Shall Be Released” for the first time in 18 years to close the concert.

During his summer tour kickoff, Bob Dylan performed “Baby, Won’t You Be My Baby” for the first time live. Dylan recorded the song nearly 60 years ago with The Band as part of The Basement Tapes sessions.

Near Seattle, he broke out another gem from the sessions, “You Ain’t Goin Nowhere,” for the first time since 2012. Last night in Eugene, he dusted off perhaps the crown jewel of the material he cut with The Band, “I Shall Be Released.”

The Band and Bob Dylan collaborated on “I Shall Be Released” in 1967 at the former’s legendary “Big Pink” house near Woodstock, New York. The Band went on to include a version of the song on their debut album, Music From Big Pink. The artists performed the song together at The Band’s storied The Last Waltz concert in 1976.

Dylan returned to “I Shall Be Released” in Eugene on Tuesday, where he fittingly closed the concert with the tune. Bob opened with “Watching The River Flow,” which appeared on Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II in 1971 alongside “I Shall Be Released” and “You Ain’t Goin Nowhere.”

The concert also saw performances of recent staples “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “All Along The Watchtower” as well as Rough and Rowdy Ways cuts “I Contain Multitudes” and “Crossing The Rubicon.” The show started without guitarist Bob Britt, who missed the opening sequence of “Watching The River Flow,” “Man In The Long Black Coat” and “Watchtower.” Britt emerged in time for the fourth song of the show, “I Contain Multitudes,” and remained on stage for the duration of the concert.

Additionally, Dylan slotted in his recently debuted cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Nervous Breakdown” as the penultimate song of the evening. He then closed with his first “I Shall Be Released” since June 7, 2008.