The Essential Bob Dylan is a compilation by Bob Dylan, released in 2000 as the inaugural entry in Sony Music's "The Essential" double-disc series. The Essential Bob Dylan spans from 1963's "Blowin' in the Wind" (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) to 2000's "Things Have Changed" (Dylan's Oscar-winning song from the motion picture Wonder Boys).
The Essential Bob Dylan has proven to be a solid seller in Dylan's catalog, reaching No. 67 in the US and peaking at No. 9 in the UK.
The British and Australian releases include all of the tracks from the US edition plus several more. It has been reissued in 2009 and 2016 with varying track listings.
Reception
The album reached No. 67 in the US charts and No. 9 in the UK.
It has been positively reviewed by AllMusic and favourably mentioned in Colin Larkin's The Encyclopedia of Popular Music.
Track listings
Standard track listing
British and Australian track listing
2010 version
2014 version
2016 vinyl version
Charts
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!scope="col" style="width:15em;"|Chart (2000)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
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| US Billboard 200
|style="text-align:center;"|67
|-
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
!scope="col"|Chart (2001)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
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|Belgium (Flanders) 100 Albums
|style="text-align:center;"|37
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|French Compilations
|style="text-align:center;"|16
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|UK Albums Chart
|style="text-align:center;"|9
|-
|}
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!scope="col" style="width:15em;"|Chart (2002)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
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|Australian Top 50 Albums
|style="text-align:center;"|36
|-
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
!scope="col" style="width:15em;"|Chart (2004)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
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|Norwegian Top 40 Albums
|style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
!scope="col" style="width:15em;"|Chart (2005)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
|-
|Netherlands Top 100 Albums
|style="text-align:center;"|78
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|US Catalog Albums
|style="text-align:center;"|30
|-
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
!scope="col" style="width:15em;"|Chart (2007)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
|-
|Swedish Top 60 Albums
|style="text-align:center;"|57
|-
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
!scope="col" style="width:15em;"|Chart (2008)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
|-
|Spanish Top 100 Albums
|style="text-align:center;"|90
|-
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
!scope="col" style="width:15em;"|Chart (2010)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
|-
|Greek Top 50 Albums
|style="text-align:center;"|49
|-
|}