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1st. Session. CBS Discos Studio, Mexico City. 20th. Jan. 1973.

'Chuck' is Chuck Plotkin - producer for this session.
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Track 1. Billy (Instrumental) 00.43.

Guitars & harmonica, taken at a fairly slow pace.
Dylan: “Let’s get one more ah.. one more vocal mic”
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Track 2. Billy (Instrumental with Humming & Do, Do, Do’s) 02.28.
[unknown:"Right"]
Dylan: “Saw other people do it, never thought I’d do it, [have to] do it”
Dylan?: Chuck, communicate with me man, because I don’t know when you hear me and when you don’t, you gonna answer me?”
Chuck: “I’m with you, we’re ready to go” 
Dylan?: “Thank-you”
[unknown:You Ready]
[An announcement in Spanish]
[unknown:"all right"]
[Stephen.. you want Stephen?] - Stephen Bruton (electric guitar)
same announcement in Spanish then a bell sounds.
Unknown voice: “Time for a siesta” (referring to the bell!)
Some guitar strumming & Harmonia.
Dylan: “Play that chord” [sorry]
[Dylan: listen ah..]
[unknown:use this, eh]
[Dylan: That's a microphone I never made it... just wanna plant it there.. no no that's where you want it]
Dylan: “Do you want this? Do you want this? What, no, uh-uh”
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Track 3. Billy (Instrumental) 01.35.

Straight forward, moderately paced run through with guitars & harmonica.
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Track 4. Billy (Verses from Billy 1. & 4.) 08.28.

Fairly brisk run through with Guitars & Harmonica.


Quote:

There’s guns across the river aimin’ at you
Lawman on your trail, he’d like to catch you
Bounty hunters, too, they’d like to get you
Billy, they don’t like you to be so free

Campin’ out all night on the veranda
Dealin’ cards ’til dawn in the hacienda
Up to Boot Hill they’d like to send you
Billy, don’t you turn your back on me

There’s mirrors inside the minds of crazy faces
Bullet holes and rifles inside their cases
There’s always one more notch and four more aces
There’s always one more notch an’ four more aces
Billy, and you’re playing all alone.

Playin’ around with some sweet senorita
Into her dark hallway she will lead ya
In the shadows of the mesa, she will greet ya
Billy, you’re been runnin’ for so long

They say that Pat Garrett’s got your number
So sleep with one eye open, when you wonder
If every little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun.

They say that Pat Garrett’s got your number
So sleep with one eye open when you slumber
Every little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun

Gypsy queens will play your grand finale
Way down in some Tularosa alley
Maybe in the Rio Pecos valley
When the days when you were better known (sic)

The businessmen from Taos want you to go down
So they’ve hired Mister Garrett, to force you to slow down (Vocal slip here)
Billy, don’t let it make you feel so low down
To be hunted by the man who was your friend.

Hang on to your woman if you got one
Remember in El Paso, once, you shot one
Up in Santa Fe she was a hot one (Vocal Slip Here)
Billy, you been runnin’ for so long 

Gypsy queens will play your grand finale
Billy, you’ve been so far from home
Billy, you’re so far away from home


Finishes with the following:
Dylan: “Yeah, clears throat. Was that any good?”
Chuck: “Pretty good Bob, what happened (was) you hit the mike twice, I guess when you’re moving around out there and we had a couple of clunks on it”
Dylan: “That’s too bad”
Some strumming & hummed vocals.
["...I don't know... I think ..umm.. hmm"
Dylan: “Shit, I wish Sam was here, he’d know what to do”
[Chuck:"The mics just a little more senstitive than the.. than the sennheiser's .. I'm getting a little .. I'm getting a little puff of wind sometimes when you get real close to it when you sing"]
[Dylan:"that's too sensitive"]
[Chuck:"Let me move it back a little from you Bob. Sneak it in there somewhere... just a couple of inches"] 
Dylan: “I think we must have got it though, Chuck”
Chuck: “Oh I recorded.. you’re dam tootin’.. a little top from the voice.. and we knocked the mic"
Dylan: “Well that might be all that we need”
Chuck: “Do you wanna hear a playback Bob?”
Dylan: “Yeah, I would”
[Chuck: "I can play it back"]
Dylan: “Hey is Chet in there? Can Chet come out?.....Sighs…….Shit”

‘Chet’ would be Chet Flippo the Rolling Stone reporter who was present at the session.
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Track 5. Billy 4. (Pre Official Release without the mix / mastering) 06.46.

Again, fairly brisk with Vocal, guitar & Harmonica.
Dylan: “1, 2, 3.”


Quote:

There's guns across the river ‘bout to pound you
There's a lawman on your trail like to surround you
Bounty hunters are dancing all around you
Billy, they don't like you to be so free. 

Camping out all night on the veranda
Walking the streets down by the hacienda
Up to Boot Hill they’d like to send you
Billy, don't you turn your back on me.

There's mirrors inside the minds of crazy faces
Bullet holes and rifles in their cases
There’s always one more notch in four more aces
(There’s always one more notchin’ for more aces?)
Billy, and you're playing all alone.

Layin’ around with some sweet senorita
Into her dark chamber she will greet you
In the shadows of the mesa she will lead you
Billy, and you're going all alone.

They say that Pat Garrett's got your number
So sleep with one eye open, when you wonder
If every little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun.

There's always another stranger sneaking glances
Some trigger-happy fool willing to take chances
Some old whore from San Pedro to make advances
Advances on your spirit and your soul.

The businessmen from Taos want you to go down
So they've hired Mister Garrett, to force you to slow down
Billy, don't let it make you feel so low down
To be hunted by the man who was your friend.

So hang on to your woman, if you got one
Remember in El Paso once you shot one
Up in Santa Fe you bought one
Billy, you've been running for so long.

Gypsy queens will play your grand finale
Way down in some Tularosa alley
Maybe in the Rio Pecos valley
Billy, you're so far away from home
Billy, you're so far away from home
Billy, you're so far away from home.



Unknown voice: “Thank-you” “Do you want to hear it, Bob?”
Dylan: “How was it?”
Unknown voice: “It was fine, you’re not gonna like to hear this but we had two knocks on it again & I can’t see from in here what’s happenin’ out there, but somebody hit the mic again I’m sorry to say”
Dylan: “Well that’s ok, let’s keep that take, like right after that take put down this wild track would you? OK, it just consists of: Corn, beans, peas, uh, succotash, guacamole, Second Coming coffee & Climax Tobacco, end of take”
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Track 6. Turkey (Instrumental with Dylan Humming) (Take 1) 01.09.

Vocal & Guitar with a little Harmonica after the track is finished.
Dylan: “Hey Roger, will you push in Roger….Roger?” [McGuinn]
Unknown Voice: “Roger dodger”
Dylan: “OH, hey, what was that about like three minutes? Two minutes, three minutes”
Unknown voice: “No, there’s nothing plugged in over here, I can’t find the….Maybe this is it”
Dylan: “Hey Roger, when I stop….Oh, Steven (Bruton), right, Steven, when I stop, you stop, I'll do something else, you figure it out... it might go like this for two verses..”
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Track 7. Turkey (Instrumental) (Take 2) 03.51.

Guitars & Harmonica
Dylan: “Say Chuck, Chuck”
Chuck: “Yeh?”
Dylan, let’s take this down & just mark it under Turkey”
Chuck: “OK, Turkey”
[Dylan: “Can someone come out here and get the buzz out of the amp?”]
Dylan: “We got a buzz in the amp”
Chuck: “I’m not pickin’ it up”
Dylan: “OK, come on now Steve (Bruton) give us a good lead”
Some whistling & laughter.
Dylan: “OK, this is under Turkey”
Dylan: “OK, that’s Turkey”
Unknown voice: “Gotcha”
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Track 8. Turkey (Instrumental (Take 3) 03.54.

Guitars & Harmonica.
Extensive chat between Dylan, Coburn & others but most of it is off mic.
Dylan: “Can you hear Something else?”
Dylan: “The Turkey’s weren’t going fast at all, the Turkey’s just were……..”
Dylan: “Try it one more time, a whole different kinda thing,”
Dylan: “Turkey’s two, uh Chuck, this is gonna be Turkey two or Tom Turkey”
Chuck: “Got it”
Dylan: “OK”
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Track 9. Billy. 05.36.

Dylan: “1, 2, 3, 4.”
Guitars & Harmonica & Drums. Slow & very bluesy, around halfway through they perform two verses of Billy to the same slow tune.

Quote:

The businessmen from Taos want you to go down
So they've hired Mister Garrett, to force you to slow down 
Billy, don't let it make you feel so low down
To be hunted by the man who was your friend.

Hang on to your woman if you got one
Remember in El Paso, once you shot one
Way up in Santa Fe you bought one
Billy, don’t it make you feel so bad

[Dylan: OK that's called uh Turkey or Tom Turkey. Turkey number two or Tom Turkey"]
[Chuck: "Turkey number two or Tom Turkey"]
[Dylan: "OK that's covered .. Turkey's covered"]


Long guitar & Harmonica outro.
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Track 10 Billy Surrenders (Take 1) (Instrumental)  03.26.

Dylan: “Lets see now, you know what we want when Billy starts to..uh…this guy Jerry Fielding’s gonna go nuts man when he hears this shit. You know what we want like, Pat Garrett comes down from the hills, and all these guys come out like one by one and Billy comes out, he’s almost standing in a circle with all these guys, you know, so like one by one they are filing in so like there’s a big pause, they stop and there's silence, like a big .?. villians, that real scary thing, (laughs),can you get behind that?”

Laughter.

Guitars & Organ.

Dylan: “Chuck”
Chuck: “Yeah?”
Dylan: “This one, this was uh, called uh, Billy Surrenders”
Chuck: “OK, we gotcha”
[Dylan: "four times"]
 
Guitars & Organ.

Dylan: “I’ve got lyrics for that thing, I’m tempted to put a lyric to that & forget about the music”

Guitar & Organ.

Dylan: “Are we all like catalogued & everything, you know like. None of these tapes will be like, under another heading?”
Chuck?: “Sorry Bob I was just walking into the room, I didn’t hear ya”

Guitar & Organ tuning.

[unknown: "yeah I do"]
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Track 11. Billy Surrenders (Take 2) (Instrumental with collective Ah-Ah’s) 03.28.

Guitars.
Lots’s of Ahhh’s from Dylan & the band.

Dylan: “Do something Mike” (Utley)
Guitars, Organ & Ahh’s.

Chuck: “Fantastic”
Dylan: “Did you tape that?”
Chuck: “Sure did”
Dylan: “We wanna do that one again”
Chuck: “OK, it was great”
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Track 12. And He’s Killed Me Too (Take 1) (Instrumental with collective Ah-Ah’s) 02.55.

Guitar & Organ noises throughout the first half of the take.

Dylan: “He shoots Bell, right? And then he shoots Ollinger...........”
Dylan: “..all I hear is (the) line and the line was Yeah, and he’s killed me too, can you start out with that one?”
Coburn: “And he’s killed me too…What did he say? That’s what he said wasn’t it?”
Coburn: “And He’s killed me too….Yeah, yeah and he’s killed me too”
Dylan?: “He’s killed Bell”
Coburn: “Yes, and he’s killed me too”
Unknown Voice: “Sounding like a soap opera”
Dylan: OK
[OK]

‘Instrumental’ proper begins (With Ahh’s).

Dylan?: “Alright, let’s go”
Dylan: “Take 2 on this one, let’s all hear the chord then we’ll do the line OK, the line’s coming in, alright let’s go”
Unknown Voice: “OK, I’m ready….I’m ready”
Coburn Laughs & then says: "OK”
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Track 13. And He’s Killed Me Too (Take 2) (Spoken Vocal) 00.07.

Dylan: “1, 2, 3, 4”
Coburn: “And he’s killed me too”
Dylan: “Let’s do it again, can you draw it out a little longer?”
Coburn: “Yeah,”
Dylan: “1, 2, 3, 4.)
Coburn: “Yeah, and he’s killed me……….too”
Dylan: “Yeah”
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Track 14. And He’s Killed Me too (Take 4) (Instrumental) 04.50.

Coburn: “A little more rhythmic kind of thing”
Dylan: “1, 2, 3, 4”
Coburn: “Yeah………and he’s killed me to”
Guitars, Organ, drums & collective Ahh’s.

Dylan: “Huh…what else do we hear about this…Holly’s story….right”
Coburn: “Oh yeah, that’s Holly’s” 
Dylan: “Let’s just call this the Holly Song & it’s just one verse, OK?”
Unknown Voice: “OK”
Dylan: “Holly’s Song”
Coburn: “Haven’t heard this”
Dylan: “Boy, that’s so freaky, being in that scene, I started sympathizing with Holly when he gets blown apart”
Coburn: “That’s how it’s supposed to be”
Studio chat, Harmonica, Organ & Slide Guitar? doodling.

Coburn "you just said it. I like the way you said it"
Dylan: “That's great. I'm gonna sing it, can you sing it. Wanna get the line in?”
Coburn: “I don’t think it needs a line. It says it, Holly says it, goodbye Holly. Sweet Holly goodbye”
Kristofferson: “It’s got another verse, goodbye Holly, you died like a man, while I just stood there and……….?”
Everyone laughs.
Some Organ & Guitar noises.
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Track 15. Goodbye Holly (Take 1) 02.20.

Dylan: “He died like a man”
Group laughter.
Song begins.
Vocals, back-up vocals, Guitars, Organ & drums.


Quote:

Goodbye Holly, Holly goodbye
Your wife's gonna miss you
Your baby's gonna cry
Goodbye Holly, Holly so long
All your good times have passed now and gone.

Pat Garrett, he shot you with a Colt 44
He dropped you across a table
Now you're gone forever more.

Goodbye Holly, Holly goodbye
Your wife's gonna miss you
Your baby's gonna cry
Goodbye Holly, Holly so long
All your good times have passed now and gone.

Goodbye Holly, Holly goodbye


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Track 16. Pecos Blues (Take 1) (Instrumental with Ah-Ah’s) 00.46.
Helin stated that he main melody line is a direct lift from Dylan’s 1963 composition ‘Troubled & I Don’t Know Why’ & I would agree with him on this.

Dylan: “Where did we get with the voices, 1, 2, 3 ,4…Ahhhhhh…1, 2, 3”

Guitars, Trumpet, Drums
Dylan Ah, ah, ah vocals.

Dylan: “1, 2, 1, 2.”
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Track 16. Pecos Blues (Take 2) (Instrumental with La-La’s) 04.04.

Dylan: “2, 3, 4 .... 1, 2.”

Dylan La, la, la vocals.
Guitars, Trumpet, Drums
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