Bob Dylan with Johnny Cash

Bob and Johnny recorded this song on this date in 1969.

Originally recorded by Dylan in 1963, Dylan re-recorded the song as a duet with Johnny Cash in 1969. That recording became the opening track on 'Nashville Skyline', Dylan's ninth studio album.

Happy 51st birthday to Dylan's ninth album, 'Nashville Skyline', released on this day in 1969

"In plain terms, Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him – the greatest of the greats then and now," Dylan wrote upon Cash's passing in 2003. ultimateclassicrock.com

Today is the anniversary of Cash and Dylan recording this song together. They were fans of each other before they ever met, and they just happened to be recording separate albums at the same studio before this impromptu get together. On February 17 and 18, 1969, Cash and Dylan recorded more than a dozen duets. Only one of them, a version of Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country,” made it onto the album, Nashville Skyline. The others were never officially released, but have long been circulating as bootlegs.