Bob Dylan performs “Basement Tapes” song for first time in 59 years

Bob Dylan opened his 2026 summer tour on Thursday evening in Troutdale, Oregon – and towards the end of the evening he amazed his most loyal followers, while the rest of the audience looked rather perplexed: Dylan played the “Basement Tapes” deep dive “Baby, Won’t You Be My Baby” live for the very first time, since he recorded the song with The Band in Big Pink’s basement in 1967.

“Baby, Won’t You Be My Baby” was not included on the official release of The Basement Tapes in 1975 and was only known to bootleg collectors until 2014 – until the track appeared on The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. The new live version stays remarkably close to the original.

Dylan has been playing songs from the Basement Tapes for decades, but this is the first time he’s performed a track from the material that wasn’t included on the 1975 package. In his entire career, he has never waited so long between recording a song and premiering it live – and there is no case even remotely comparable. It’s also the first time in a long time that he’s even pulled out an original song outside of 2020’s “Rough and Rowdy Ways” material.

Familiar set, a sensation

The rest of the set will sound familiar to anyone who has seen Dylan perform at Outlast Festival in recent years. It includes songs from his vast catalog (“To Be Alone With You”, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, “Under The Red Sky”, “Man in the Long Black Coat”), obscure covers (Bo Diddley’s “I Can Tell”, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “I’ll Make It All Up to You”, Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Share Your Love With Me”) and just two songs – “All Along The Watchtower” and “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” -, which a casual fan would probably recognize.

This type of setlist even made Paul McCartney complain recently. “I was at a couple of Bob’s shows and I couldn’t figure out what song he was playing,” McCartney recently said on The Rest is Entertainment podcast. “That’s a bit much, because I know his work. I understand if he doesn’t want to play ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’. Maybe he’s tired of it, but I’d like to hear it. And I paid.”

Dylan actually played “Mr. Tambourine Man” at a single concert in 2025, otherwise he hasn’t played the song since 2010. And he removed his other big hits from the program many years ago. In addition, he hardly changes his setlist from evening to evening. That’s exactly why “Baby, Won’t You Be My Baby” is such a huge surprise. When such a rare song appears in the repertoire, almost anything suddenly seems possible.

Wishes to the Basement

Hey Bob, while you’re digging through the Basement Tapes again, may we suggest “I’m Not There,” “Goin’ to Acapulco,” “I’m Your Teenage Prayer” and “Sign on the Cross”? Any of them would sound sensational with this band. We don’t even ask for “See You Later Allen Ginsberg”. There is no world for that.

The full setlist from Bob Dylan’s June 4, 2026 concert in Troutdale, Oregon:

1. To Be Alone With You
2. I can tell
3. Forgetful Heart
4. Ax and The Wind
5. When I Paint My Masterpiece
6. Early Roman Kings
7. Under the Red Sky
8. I’ll Make It All Up To You
9. All Along the Watchtower
10. I contain multitudes
11. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
12. Share Your Love With Me
13. Baby, Won’t You Be My Baby
14. Soon After Midnight
15. Man In The Long Black Coat
16. Crossing the Rubicon