Revisiting Highway 61

This week saw the release of Ryan Adams’ complete cover of Taylor Swift’s album 1989 as well as word of the pending release of the next installment in Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series. In a nod to both of these albums, this week’s Spotify Playlist – Revisiting Highway 61 – features the entire renowned Bob Dylan LP Highway 61 Revisited covered in its entirety by other artists. Just like Adams’ album re-creation, the Spotify Playlist includes all of the songs that originally appeared on Dylan’s famed 1965 record.

Dylan’s upcoming archival collection, Bob Dylan – The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12, features many recordings made while he was creating what would become Highway 61 Revisited. The lineup of artists featured on this cover version of the album includes guitar wizards Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Winter, Dylan contemporaries Richie Havens and  Neil Young, as well as collaborators the Grateful Dead. Also contributing to the makeshift cover album are Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Billy Joel and Stephen Malkmus.

Studio cuts are paired alongside live recordings from Hendrix, Saunders & Garcia, Young and Grateful Dead. Included after the nine-covers is the original album Dylan recorded for your listening pleasure…