I'll Keep It with Mine

Dylan recorded a vocal-and-piano demo of the song for publishing company M. Witmark & Sons in June 1964, which was released by Columbia in 2010 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964.

In mid-January 1965, during sessions for the Bringing It All Back Home album, Dylan again recorded the song solo, on piano. This version, with the working title "Bank Account Blues", was released in 1985 on the Biograph retrospective. (The album notes contradictorily indicate that this performance was recorded in June 1964 and that it was recorded in January 1965. The latter is correct.[2])

A full-band rehearsal of the song, recorded during the early Blonde on Blonde sessions on January 27, 1966 (per album booklet), was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3. The rehearsal is rough and the recording starts well into the first verse, which is briefly interrupted by producer Bob Johnston on a talkback speaker, saying, "What you were doing".

During the seventh session for Blonde on Blonde – on February 15–16, 1966, at the Columbia Music Row Studios, Nashville, Tennessee – Dylan recorded at least ten instrumental takes of the song. However, not every attempt was a complete take, as takes 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are false starts, and takes 1 and 3 are interrupted.[3]

Dylan can be seen performing the song on piano in the film 65 Revisited, which was made during his tour of England in May 1965.

Rolling Stone rated the song #41 on its list of 100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs, calling it a "ballad of friendship" featuring "a sweet, plaintive vocal."[4] The aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net did not place this song in its list of the top 3000 songs of all time, but rated Bob Dylan's version as one of the 1965 songs "bubbling under" the top 3000.[5]