The Essential Bob Dylan is a compilation by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, released as a double-CD set in 2000, part of Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

' "The Essential" series.
The Essential Bob Dylan spans from 1963's "Blowin' In The Wind" (taken from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in May 1963 by Columbia Records. Whereas his debut album Bob Dylan had contained only two original songs, Freewheelin initiated the process of writing contemporary words to traditional melodies....

) to 1999's "Things Have Changed" (Dylan's Oscar-winning song from the motion picture, Wonder Boys

Wonder Boys (film)

Wonder Boys is a dark comedy film based on the 1995 novel of the same title by Michael Chabon. Directed by Curtis Hanson, it stars Michael Douglas as professor Grady Tripp, a novelist who teaches creative writing at an unnamed Pittsburgh university...

).

The Essential Bob Dylan has proven to be a solid seller in Dylan's catalog, reaching #67 in the US, and peaking at #9 in the UK.

Disc one

1. "Blowin' in the Wind
   Blowin' in the Wind
   "Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of questions about peace, war and freedom...
   
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2. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
   Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
   "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962, and released on the 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.-Context:...
   
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3. "The Times They Are a-Changin'
   The Times They Are a-Changin' (song)
   "The Times They Are a-Changin" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released as the title track of his 1964 album, The Times They Are a-Changin. The song was ranked #59 on Rolling Stones 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time....
   
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4. "It Ain't Me, Babe"
5. "Maggie's Farm
   Maggie's Farm
   "Maggie's Farm" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 15, 1965, and released on the album Bringing It All Back Home on March 22 of that year...
   
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6. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
   It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
   "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his Bringing It All Back Home album, released on March 22, 1965 by Columbia Records . The song was originally recorded on January 15, 1965 with Dylan's acoustic guitar and harmonica and William E. Lee's bass...
   
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7. "Mr. Tambourine Man
   Mr. Tambourine Man
   "Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and...
   
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8. "Subterranean Homesick Blues
   Subterranean Homesick Blues
   "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally released in 1965 as a single on Columbia Records, catalogue 43242. It appeared 19 days later as the lead track to the album Bringing It All Back Home. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit, peaking at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also...
   
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9. "Like a Rolling Stone
   Like a Rolling Stone
   "Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
   
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10. "Positively 4th Street
    Positively 4th Street
    "Positively 4th Street" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Dylan in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, reaching #1 on Canada's RPM chart, #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and #8 on the UK Singles Chart...
    
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11. "Just Like a Woman
    Just Like a Woman (song)
    "Just Like a Woman" is a song written by Bob Dylan and first released on his 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde . It was also released as a single in the U.S. during August 1966 and peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100...
    
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12. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
13. "Visions of Johanna
    Visions of Johanna
    "Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Dylan first recorded the song in New York City in November 1965, under the working title of "Freeze Out", but was dissatisfied with the results...
    
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14. "All Along The Watchtower
    All Along the Watchtower
    "All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The song, which has been included on most of Dylan's greatest hits compilations, initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Over the past 35 years, he has performed it in concert more...
    
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15. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"

Disc two

1. "Lay, Lady, Lay"
2. "If Not for You
   If Not for You
   "If Not for You" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, recorded for his 1970 album New Morning. George Harrison released a version of the song in November 1970 on his album All Things Must Pass...
   
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3. "I Shall Be Released
   I Shall Be Released
   "I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan.The Band played it on their debut album, Music from Big Pink , with Richard Manuel singing lead vocals, and Rick Danko and Levon Helm harmonizing in the chorus...
   
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4. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
5. "Forever Young
   Forever Young (Bob Dylan song)
   "Forever Young" is a song by Bob Dylan. The song first appeared on Dylan's 1974 album Planet Waves.- Analysis :In the notes for the 2007 album titled DYLAN, Bill Flanagan had the following to say about "Forever Young":...
   
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6. "Tangled Up in Blue
   Tangled Up in Blue
   "Tangled Up in Blue" is a song by Bob Dylan. It appeared on his album Blood on the Tracks in 1975. Released as a single, it reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100...
   
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7. "Shelter from the Storm
   Shelter from the Storm
   "Shelter from the Storm" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his 15th studio album Blood on the Tracks in 1975. The song also appears on two live albums by Bob Dylan -- Hard Rain in 1976 and At Budokan in 1978. An alternate version of the song is featured in the original soundtrack Jerry Maguire...
   
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8. "Hurricane
   Hurricane (song)
   "Hurricane" is a protest song by Bob Dylan co-written with Jacques Levy, about the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. It compiles alleged acts of racism and profiling against Carter, which Dylan describes as leading to a false trial and conviction....
   
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9. "Gotta Serve Somebody
   Gotta Serve Somebody
   "Gotta Serve Somebody" is a song by Bob Dylan from his 1979 studio album Slow Train Coming. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male in 1980. The song was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It stands as Dylan's last hit single, peaking at #24...
   
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10. "Jokerman"
11. "Blind Willie McTell
    Blind Willie McTell
    Blind Willie McTell , was an influential Piedmont and ragtime blues singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues, although, unlike his contemporaries, he used exclusively a twelve-string guitar...
    
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12. "Silvio"
13. "Ring Them Bells
    Ring Them Bells
    Ring Them Bells is a live album taken from Joan Baez' April 1995 shows at New York's Bottom Line. In addition to her own solo set, the album featured collaborations with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mimi Farina, Dar Williams, the Indigo Girls and Mary Black...
    
    "
14. "Not Dark Yet
    Not Dark Yet
    "Not Dark Yet" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his 1997 album Time Out of Mind and also as the first single on March 2, 1998. It appears on the album The Passion of the Christ: Songs Inspired By, and also features on the Wonder Boys soundtrack. "Not Dark Yet" is also played in the ending part...
    
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15. "Things Have Changed
    Things Have Changed
    "Things Have Changed" is a song from the film Wonder Boys, written and performed by Bob Dylan. The song was released as a single on May 1, 2000...
    
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Disc three (Limited Edition 3.0 Version, October 2009)

1. "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
   A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
   "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is a song written by Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962. It was first recorded in Columbia Records' Studio A on 6 December 1962 for his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The lyric structure is based on the question and answer form of the traditional ballad "Lord...
   
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2. "Changing of the Guards
   Changing of the Guards
   "Changing of the Guards" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released in 1978 as a single and as the first track on his album Street -Legal. As an A-side single it failed to reach the Billboard Top 100...
   
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3. "Dark Eyes"
4. "Make You Feel My Love"
5. "Mississippi
   Mississippi (Bob Dylan song)
   "Mississippi" is the second song on Bob Dylan's 2001 album "Love and Theft". The song was originally recorded during the Time Out of Mind sessions, but was ultimately left off the album; Dylan rerecorded the song for "Love and Theft" in May 2001...
   
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6. "Thunder on the Mountain"
7. "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
   Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
   "Beyond Here Lies Nothin" is the opening track of Bob Dylan's 2009 studio album, Together Through Life. The title is a quote from the Ancient Roman poet Ovid...
   
   "

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	67

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Belgium (Flanders) 100 Albums	37
French Compilations	16
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	9

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Australian Top 50 Albums	36

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Norwegian Top 40 Albums	5

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Netherlands Top 100 Albums	78
US Catalog Albums Top Pop Catalog Albums Top Pop Catalog Albums is a fifty-position weekly albums chart produced by Billboard magazine which ranks the best selling catalog titles, regardless of genre. Billboard defines a catalog title as one that is more than eighteen months old and that has fallen below position 100 on the Billboard 200...	23

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Finnish Top 50 Albums	30

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Swedish Top 60 Albums	57

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Spanish Top 100 Albums	90

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Greek Top 50 Albums	49

Certifications

Country	Provider	Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds)
Australia	ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	2x Platinum (140,000 units shipped)
Norway	IFPI	Gold (25,000 units sold)
United Kingdom	BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...	Platinum (600,000 units shipped)
United States	RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...	Platinum (500,000 units shipped)