The Bob Dylan Demos: They Are A‑Streamin’

Next week, Bob Dylan will release The Wit­mark Demos: 1962–1964, a col­lec­tion of 47 songs that the artist record­ed for the M. Wit­mark & Sons pub­lish­ing com­pa­ny, all before his 24th birth­day. The young Dylan knocked out these tracks in a sparse 6x8 foot stu­dio, accom­pa­nied only by his acoustic gui­tar, har­mon­i­ca and piano. And, right now, you can stream 23 of these demos (for free) on NPR’s First Lis­ten site. The line­up includes some of his finest ear­ly sin­gles – Blowin’ In The Wind, A Hard Rain’s A‑Gonna Fall, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, Girl From The North Coun­try, Mr. Tam­bourine Man, The Times They Are A‑Changin’… You get the gist.

If you’re inclined to pur­chase the album, then you’ll want to con­sid­er this Ama­zon deal. Buy The Wit­mark Demos on CD or vinyl before 10/18/2010 and you will also get a live con­cert CD – Bob Dylan: In Con­cert, Bran­deis Uni­ver­si­ty, 1963 – that has “nev­er been heard, boot­legged or cir­cu­lat­ed in any way.” Not bad for $13.99. Find more details here.