I Shall Be Released

Of the initial demo, Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner said, "the music in this song and the high pleading sound of Dylan's voice reminds one of the Bee Gees.

[2] The Band recorded their version of the song for their debut album Music from Big Pink, released two months later in July 1968, with Richard Manuel singing lead vocals, and Rick Danko and Levon Helm harmonizing on the chorus.

Additional live recordings by the Band were included on the 1974 concert album Before the Flood and the 2001 expanded CD reissue of Rock of Ages.

An article accompanying the list calls it a "simple, evocative tale of a prisoner yearning for freedom" and a "rock hymn [that] was part of a conscious effort by Dylan to move away from the sprawling imagery of his mid-Sixties masterpieces".

It also describes the original Basement Tapes version thusly: "The rough church of the organ and guitar frame Dylan's urgent nasal prayer, until Richard Manuel's keening harmony illuminates the chorus, like sunlight pouring through a stained-glass window".

After the release of the Boz Burrell and the Band versions, "I Shall Be Released" has been recorded by Joni Mitchell, the Youngbloods, the Earl Scruggs Revue, Jeff Buckley, the Marmalade, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Sun Araw, Joe Cocker, Tremeloes, Bette Midler, the Box Tops, the Byrds, Ricky Nelson, Aaron Neville, Melissa Etheridge, Coheed and Cambria, Tom Robinson Band, Nina Simone, the Slackers, Paul Weller, Jerry Garcia Band, Sting, the Heptones, the Hollies, Trinitones, Pearls Before Swine, OK Go, Beth Rowley, Big Mama Thornton, Chatham County Line, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Jack Johnson, Gov't Mule, Martin Harley, Kiosk, James Blundell, Miriam Makeba, Mahotella Queens, Jacob Miller, Bobby McFerrin, Black Oak Arkansas, Marion Williams, Red Dogs, Lera Lynn, Wilco, Lisa Loeb, Zac Brown Band, Kesha, Half Moon Run, Greta Van Fleet, Hideki Saijo, Michael McDonald, Grace Potter, Chrissie Hynde and Elvis Presley.