January 27, 2014 marks the 48th anniversary of Bob Dylan recording “I’ll Keep It With Mine.”
This song is endlessly mysterious. It’s a favorite of mine, and like most of my favorite Dylan songs, I’ve thought about it for years and still don’t know all of what it’s about. It’s a song that keeps on giving, year after year.
The session when Dylan recorded this song took place in New York at Columbia’s Studio A. It was the last New York session done for Blonde On Blonde. The album was completed in Nashville.
You’ll find the lyrics here.
There are many versions of this song.
This version of “I’ll Keep It With Mine” was recorded on January 27, 1966, and, as we all know, wasn’t included on Blonde On Blonde. It was never recorded for a Dylan studio album.
The song ended up on the first “Bootleg Series” release, Bob Dylan The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 [rare & unreleased] 1961-1991.
This version was recorded a year earlier on January 14, 1965:
This version was recorded June 1964 and released on The Whitmark Demos 1962-1964:
Plus an instrumental version recorded in Nashville that was used in Wim Wender’s “Paris, Texas.”
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Loved the song ever since I heard it on ‘What we did on Our Holidays’ by Fairport Convention’ The ‘bootleg series’ verion is nothing short of sensational.. I still quote from it to this day.
I believe i first heard the song on the Fairport album and totally dug it. That version is still a favorite. But of course Dylan’s version is amazing.
Love the ’65 solo piano version. Great song. I read somewhere he wrote it for another singer – any leads on that?
I read that Judy Collins, who first covered the song in 1965, said that Dylan told her he wrote the song for her. This is where I read that:
http://rbhsjukebox.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/song-of-the-day-june-8-ill-keep-it-with-mine-written-by-bob-dylan/
I believe song was written for Nico with whom he supposedley had a ‘fling’ she sings it on her first solo album….maybe D used the song as a ‘little” gift to his ‘conquests’ . It would have done it for me!