18 September 2025
Newsdesk
Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings have announced the release of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series Volume 18: Through The Open Window, 1956-1963, set to arrive on October 31, 2025. This highly anticipated collection offers an intimate look at the legendary artist's early career, from his formative years in Minnesota to his rise in the vibrant folk scene of Greenwich Village.
The 8-CD deluxe box set features a trove of rare and previously unheard recordings. Fans will discover a range of material, including home recordings, studio outtakes, and intimate performances from coffeehouses and nightclubs. The album tells the story of Dylan's evolution as a songwriter and performer, tracing how he transformed traditional folk songs into some of his most enduring classics, such as “Blowin' in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin'.”
A major highlight of the collection is the first-ever complete, unreleased recording of Dylan’s landmark concert at Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963. Mixed from the original tapes, this full performance captures the culmination of Dylan’s early rise to fame.
A preview of the album, the song “Rocks and Gravel,” is available now on digital platforms. The deluxe edition includes 139 tracks, with 48 never-before-released performances and 38 other rare cuts. It also comes with a hardcover book featuring extensive liner notes from historian Sean Wilentz and over 100 rare photographs.
The collection, which will also be available in 2-CD and 4-LP highlight editions, provides a unique and compelling record of an artist in the process of becoming himself. As Wilentz writes in his notes, the set serves as a "living connection between the past and the present," offering new insight into one of music's most iconic figures.
