Editing Desolation Row (section)

== Recording ==
Although the album version of "Desolation Row" is acoustic, the song was initially recorded in an electric version. The first take was recorded during an evening session on July 29, 1965,<ref>{{harvnb|Heylin|2009|p=250}}</ref> with [[Harvey Brooks (bassist)|Harvey Brooks]] on electric bass and [[Al Kooper]] on electric guitar. This version was eventually released in 2005 on ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Gorodetsky|2005}}</ref>

On August 2, Dylan recorded five further takes of "Desolation Row".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bjorner, Olof |date=November 17, 2010 |title=Columbia Recording Studios, 2nd August, 1965 |url=http://www.bjorner.com/DSN00785%20(65).htm#DSN01090 |access-date=February 14, 2011 |publisher=Bjorner's still on the road |archive-date=November 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122082827/http://www.bjorner.com/DSN00785%20%2865%29.htm#DSN01090 |url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Highway 61 Revisited'' version was recorded at an overdub session on August 4, 1965, in [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]'s Studio A in [[New York City]]. [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]]-based guitarist [[Charlie McCoy]], who happened to be in New York, was invited by producer Bob Johnston to contribute an improvised [[acoustic guitar]] part and [[Russ Savakus]] played bass guitar.<ref name="Polizzotti141">{{harvnb|Polizzotti|2006|pp=141–142}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bjorner, Olof |date=November 17, 2010 |title=Columbia Recording Studios, 4th August, 1965 |url=http://www.bjorner.com/DSN00785%20(65).htm#DSN01100 |access-date=February 14, 2011 |publisher=Bjorner's still on the road |archive-date=November 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122082827/http://www.bjorner.com/DSN00785%20%2865%29.htm#DSN01100 |url-status=live}}</ref> Author Mark Polizzotti credits some of the success of the song to McCoy's contribution: "While Dylan's panoramic lyrics and hypnotic melody sketch out the vast canvas, it is McCoy's fills that give it their shading."<ref name = Polizzotti141 /> Outtakes from the August sessions were released on ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966]]'' in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bob Dylan – The Cutting Edge 1965–1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/us/news/bob-dylan-cutting-edge-1965-1966-bootleg-series-vol-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207000434/http://www.bobdylan.com/us/news/bob-dylan-cutting-edge-1965-1966-bootleg-series-vol-12 |archive-date=February 7, 2016 |access-date=November 22, 2015}}</ref>