Bob Dylan Releases Original Demo For “Wanted Man” With Johnny Cash

A Previously Unreleased Recording

Bob Dylan’s upcoming box set “Travelin’ Thru, 1967-1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15” is out on November 1 and will feature 47 unheard recordings – the first of which was previewed today.

Dylan wrote Wanted Man for Johnny Cash in 1969 and they recorded this demo in Nashville. They were clearly still working on the song. It starts off with Cash asking his wife June Carter Cash if she liked the song. She responded, “Honey, I don’t want to interrupt your train of thought, but be sure that Bob puts the melody for that song, that ‘Wanted Man.’ You forgot the melody.”

As they run through the track with Carl Perkins on the guitar, Cash didn’t get the lyrics right since he just learned it the week before and the pair ended up laughing and improvising.

Both of these icons were friends since the 1960s and they have always been vocal about their respect and admiration for each other. In a 1968 interview, Cash told Rolling Stone, “Country music is slow to jump on any trend. But we’ve been affected greatly by the sound of the Beatles and the lyric of Bob Dylan.”

Dylan also wrote this about Cash, “In plain terms, Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him — the greatest of the greats then and now.”

Check out the demo below.