Bob Dylan Unearths 'Baby, Won't You Be My Baby' in Troutdale, Shakes Up Setlist Expectations

The air crackled with anticipation as Bob Dylan launched his 2026 summer tour in Troutdale, Oregon, on Thursday night. Yet, even the most devoted disciples couldn't have predicted the seismic shift that would occur late in the set: the live debut of "Baby, Won't You Be My Baby."

This extreme deep cut from The Basement Tapes had lain dormant since its 1967 recording with The Band in the legendary Big Pink, making its sudden reappearance a moment of pure, unadulterated shock for the cognoscenti.

Unseen on the official 1975 release of The Basement Tapes, "Baby, Won't You Be My Baby" was once the exclusive treasure of bootleg collectors. Its wider recognition only came in 2014 with The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. Now, nearly six decades later, Dylan's live rendition proved remarkably faithful, a testament to the enduring power of those mythical sessions.

This wasn't merely a rare song; it was a historical event. While Dylan has dipped into The Basement Tapes catalog for decades, this marks the first time he’s performed a track not featured on the original 1975 release. Furthermore, this debut sets an unprecedented record for the longest gap between a song's recording and its live premiere in his storied career. Beyond the Rough and Rowdy Ways material from 2020, it's also the first time in recent memory that Dylan has unveiled any original composition live.

The remainder of the setlist largely echoed the familiar contours of his recent performances, especially for those who caught him on the Outlast Festival circuit. It was a mosaic of deep cuts from his expansive catalog—"To Be Alone With You," "When I Paint My Masterpiece," "Under the Red Sky," "Man in the Long Black Coat"—interspersed with intriguing, often obscure covers like Bo Diddley's "I Can Tell," Jerry Lee Lewis' "I'll Make It All Up to You," and Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Share Your Love With Me." Strikingly, only "All Along the Watchtower" and "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" offered a lifeline to the casual listener.

This penchant for the esoteric hasn't gone unnoticed, even by fellow legends. Paul McCartney recently voiced his good-natured frustration on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast: "I’ve been to see a couple of shows of Bob’s, and I couldn’t tell what song he was doing. Now that’s a bit much, because I know his stuff. I get it if he doesn’t want to do ‘Mr. Tambourine Man.’ Maybe he’s fed up with that, but I would like to hear it. And I’ve paid."

Indeed, "Mr. Tambourine Man" made a solitary appearance in 2025, but otherwise, it's been absent since 2010, mirroring the systematic excision of most of his major hits years ago. More significantly, Dylan's setlists have long been carved in stone, rarely deviating night-to-night. This makes the inclusion of "Baby, Won't You Be My Baby" not just a surprise, but a tantalizing crack in the edifice, suggesting that after years of predictability, the unpredictable might once again be possible.

So, Bob, if you're truly opening the Basement Tapes vault, a humble suggestion from the peanut gallery: "I’m Not There," "Goin’ to Acapulco," "I’m Your Teenage Prayer," or "Sign on the Cross" would all sound utterly sensational with this current band. We'll temper our wildest dreams and refrain from requesting "See You Later Allen Ginsberg"—some miracles, even from Dylan, are just too much to ask.

Here's the complete setlist from Bob Dylan's June 4, 2026, concert in Troutdale, Oregon:

1. To Be Alone With You
2. I Can Tell
3. Forgetful Heart
4. Ax and the Wind
5. When I Paint My Masterpiece
6. Early Roman Kings
7. Under the Red Sky
8. I’ll Make It All Up to You
9. All Along the Watchtower
10. I Contain Multitudes
11. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
12. Share Your Love With Me
13. Baby, Won’t You Be My Baby
14. Soon After Midnight
15. Man In the Long Black Coat
16. Crossing the Rubicon

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