In the fall of 1969, some months after the release of Nashville Skyline,  Rolling Stone publisher/Editor in Chief Jann Wenner interviewed Bob Dylan in a New York hotel room.

The interview ended like this:

Jann Wenner: You’ve heard the Joan Baez album of all your songs…

Bob Dylan: Yeah, I did… I generally like everything she does.

Wenner: Are there any particular artists that you like to see do your songs?

Dylan: Yeah, Elvis Presley. I liked Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley recording a song of mine. That’s the one recording I treasure the most… it was called “Tomorrow Is A Long Time.” I wrote it but never recorded it.

Wenner: Which album is that on?

Dylan: Kismet.

Wenner: I’m not familiar with it at all.

[Actually, “Kismet” is a song that appeared on Elvis’ Harum Scarum scoundtrack; “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” isn’t on that album. According to Wikipedia: “Elvis Presley recorded the song (‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time’) on May 26, 1966 during a session for his album How Great Thou Art. The song originally appeared as a bonus track on the Spinout movie soundtrack album… According to Ernst Jorgensen’s’ book, Presley got into the song via Charlie McCoy, who had previously participated in the Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde sessions. McCoy played the 1965 Odetta album Odetta Sings Dylan before an Elvis session and Presley “had become taken with ‘Tomorrow Is A Long Time.'”]

Dylan: He did it with just guitar.

Below is Elvis’ version of “Tomorrow Is A Long Time,” the Odetta version that inspired Elvis to record the song, and then two versions by Bob Dylan plus Joan Baez’s version.

Elvis Presley, “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”:

Bob Dylan,”Tomorrow Is A Long Time” (April 12, 1963, Town Hall, New York City):

Odetta, “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” (1964 recording):

Bob Dylan,”Tomorrow Is A Long Time” with intro (April 12, 1963, Town Hall, New York City):

Bob Dylan,”Tomorrow Is A Long Time” Whitmark Demos, December 1962):

Joan Baez, “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” (early 1963):

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