A spontaneous moment in the studio for The Beatles had them covering Bob Dylan‘s song, I Shall Be Released.
The song had been written in collaboration with The Band during their Basement Tapes sessions. Dylan’s version of the track was not released officially until 1971, a year after The Beatles’ final album was released, but covers of the song were available. A favourite album of Paul McCartney’s, Music from Big Pink, was released in July 1968, and may have been where the Fab Four picked up on the Dylan classic. Richard Manuel performed the song on The Band’s album, while another cover by English musician Boz Burrell was released on May 3, 1968, by Columbia Records. During their time in the studio, The Beatles found themselves playing along to the Dylan classic, seemingly out of the blue.
Their impromptu performance of I Shall Be Released has been hailed by fans, who say that even when “killing time”, The Beatles were in brilliant form. An upload of the Dylan cover on YouTube was praised by members of the public, with many complementing the Fab Four on their cover.
A description for the video reads: “A later take and sounding even more spontaneous, this version of Dylan’s song is just one more interesting little artefact. This one even has harmony vocals! Recorded during the Get Back sessions, this was probably just the Fab Four killing some time and having fun.”
One listener suggested George Harrison is the reason for the cover, having spent some months with Dylan during a trip to the United States. One comment reads: “Yeah. Lennon on lead guitar. George spent the previous few months with Dylan in the States, so probably learnt this song there. He must have shown everyone the chords, and they just jammed along.”
Another added: “George had the best taste of any of them.” A third wrote: “George was the big Dylan fan. Elsewhere in the Let It Be sessions, he does I Threw It All Away too…” A comparison between Hold On John from John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band release was made by another user, who heard a similarity with I Shall Be Released.
They wrote: “The guitar licks are similar to John’s playing on Hold On John from the Plastic Ono Band LP. I guess Lennon is on lead.” Not everyone was impressed by the cover though, and with a little more effort, the band could have had an “outstanding” version on their hands.
One detractor wrote: “If they really put some effort into this song, I believe it may have been the best version, with the guitars and outstanding vocals they had. They seemed to have a certain style and sound that could have meshed with the melody and lyrics. Too bad they didn’t go for it. Disappointed.”
Another added: “There are no drums in there.” A third suggested: “Of course they were a ‘band’, but they didn’t feel passionate about it, they were about to go separate ways.” You can listen to The Beatles’ cover of I Shall Be Released below.
