As rumored, Bob Dylan is releasing a three-disc collection of archival material that features unreleased collaborations with Johnny Cash from the pair’s legendary two-day Nashville session in February 1969, Rolling Stone reports. During that time, the artists wrote Cash’s song “Wanted Man” and recorded a duet version of Dylan’s song “Girl From the North County” that appeared later in the year on Dylan’s album Nashville Skyline.
Bootlegged recordings from the session have leaked over the years, but this release, titled Travelin’ Thru, 1967–1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15, marks the fullest and first official accounting of the artists’ storied time together.
“It’s just two guys relaxing in the studio and having fun,” a source close to Dylan’s family told Rolling Stone. “That’s what we tried to focus on. We wanted to focus on the fun they were having.”
The collection includes a “Wanted Man” demo that Cash and Dylan sang together, as well as duet renditions of Dylan’s songs “Matchbox” and “One Too Mornings,” and Cash’s hit “Ring of Fire.” They also recorded two medleys of Jimmie Rodgers songs.
Filling out the three-CD set are recordings from Dylan’s 1969 appearance on The Johnny Cash Show, demos from Dylan’s 1970 home recording session with bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs, and never-bootlegged outtakes from Dylan’s recording sessions for his albums John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline.
Travelin’ Thru, 1967–1969 will be released on November 1.
