Editing Highway 61 Revisited (section)

===Outtakes and ''The Cutting Edge''===
The first non-album outtake from the ''Highway 61 Revisited'' sessions to be released was the single "Positively 4th Street",<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|1990|pp=158–159}}</ref> although on an early pressing of the single Columbia used another ''Highway 61'' outtake, "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?", by mistake.<ref>{{harvnb|Heylin|2009|p=253}}</ref> "Crawl Out Your Window" was subsequently re-recorded with the Hawks in October, and released as a single in November 1965.<ref name="encyclopedia117"/> Columbia accidentally released an alternate take of "From a Buick 6" on an early pressing of ''Highway 61 Revisited'', and this version continued to appear on the Japanese release for several years.<ref name="Heylin 2009 252"/> Other outtakes officially released between 1991 and 2005 include alternate takes of "Like a Rolling Stone" and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry", and a previously unreleased song, "Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence", on ''The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991'',<ref name = "Bauldie">{{harvnb|Bauldie|1991}}</ref> as well as alternate takes of "Desolation Row", "Highway 61 Revisited", "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", "Tombstone Blues", and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" on ''The Bootleg Series Volume 7''.<ref name=gorodetsky/> Excerpts from several different takes of "Like a Rolling Stone" appeared on the ''[[Highway 61 Interactive]]'' CD-ROM,<ref name=heylin39>{{harvnb|Heylin|1995|p=39}}</ref> released in February 1995.<ref>{{harvnb|Willman|1995}}</ref>

In 2015, Dylan released Volume 12 of his Bootleg Series, ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966|The Cutting Edge]]'', in three different formats. The 18-disc ''Collector's Edition'' was described as including "every note recorded during the 1965–1966 sessions, every alternate take and alternate lyric".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/us/news/bob-dylan-cutting-edge-1965-1966-bootleg-series-vol-12 |title=Bob Dylan&nbsp;– ''The Cutting Edge 1965–1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12'' |publisher=Bob Dylan |date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=July 22, 2016 |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 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The 18 CDs contain every take of every song recorded in the studio during the ''Highway 61 Revisited'' sessions, from June 15 to August 4, 1965.<ref name =CuttingEdge>{{cite web|title=Bob Dylan The Cutting Edge 1965 – 1966: The Bootleg Series Vol.12: Collector's Edition|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/us/thecuttingedge_completetracklisting|publisher=BobDylan.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226233153/http://www.bobdylan.com/us/thecuttingedge_completetracklisting|archive-date=December 26, 2015|access-date=January 24, 2018}}</ref>

The ''Highway 61 Revisited'' out-takes from the first recording session in New York, June 15 and 16, 1965 comprise: ten takes of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry", six takes of "Sitting On A Barbed-Wire Fence", and fifteen takes of "Like A Rolling Stone". Additionally, ''The Cutting Edge'' contains four instrumental "stem" tracks, lifted from Take Four which was the released "Master take" of "Like A Rolling Stone": Guitar (Mike Bloomfield); vocal, guitar (Bob Dylan), piano and bass; drums and organ.<ref name =CuttingEdge/>

The tracks from the second recording session in New York, July 29 to August 4, 1965, comprise seven takes of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry", sixteen takes of "Tombstone Blues", twelve takes of "Positively Fourth Street", five takes of "From A Buick 6", seventeen takes of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?", nine takes of "Highway 61 Revisited", sixteen takes of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", seven takes of Queen Jane Approximately", and eight takes of "Desolation Row".<ref name =CuttingEdge/>

Describing the process of listening to these many alternative versions, Chris Gerard wrote in ''[[PopMatters]]'': "The fact that these versions do not approach the greatness of the final recordings is exactly the point. These are works in progress. It’s a guided tour through the creative process that led to these landmark albums."<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.popmatters.com/review/bob-dylan-the-bootleg-series-vol.-12-the-cutting-edge-19651966/
| title = The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966
| author = Gerard, Chris
| date = November 9, 2015
| access-date = July 22, 2016
| publisher = PopMatters.com
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160611114135/http://www.popmatters.com/review/bob-dylan-the-bootleg-series-vol.-12-the-cutting-edge-19651966/
| archive-date = June 11, 2016
| url-status = live
}}</ref>