| RAGGED AND DIRTY | November 16, 1993 (late) | Supper Club (New York City) |
| RAGTIME ANNIE | September 30, 1995 | Sundome (Tampa) |
| Instrumental performed by David Bromberg, backed by Dylan and his band. | ||
| RAILROAD BILL | probably spring 1961 | |
| First documented on the May 1961 Minnesota Party Tape; that informal recording appears devoted to songs Dylan added to his repertoire during his early days in New York City. No live performance has been documented, however, although Dylan returned to the song during the Self Portrait recording sessions. | ||
| RAILROAD BOY (DIED FOR LOVE) | probably spring 1961 | |
| First documented on the May 1961 Minnesota Party Tape; that informal recording appears devoted to songs Dylan added to his repertoire during his early days in New York City. No live performances, however, are documented until Dylan and Baez duet on the song during the 1976 Rolling Thunder tour. | ||
| RAMBLIN' BLUES | probably spring 1961 | |
| First documented on the May 1961 Minnesota Party Tape; that informal recording appears devoted to songs Dylan added to his repertoire during his early days in New York City. While no live performance has been documented, Dylan recorded the song at the sessions for his debut album and set it down for Tony Glover's informal Minnesota Hotel Tape. | ||
| RAMBLIN' MAN | September 30, 1995 | Sundome (Tampa) |
| Song performed by Dickie Betts, backed by Dylan and his band. Betts had joined the band on guitar for Dylan's second electric set, and took lead vocals on the first encore. Some treat this as a duet performance, because Dylan prominently shares vocals with Betts on at least two verses. | ||
| RAMBLIN' ON MY MIND | perhaps spring 1962 | |
| Documented only on the July 2, 1962 Finjan Club recording. | ||
| RANGER'S COMMAND | probably spring 1961 | |
| This song, a favorite of Woody Guthrie's, is reported for one of Dylan's September 29, 1961 Gerdes sets. A recording has surfaced, attached to the March 1962 Gooding Apartment Tape, but likely drawn from the mostly uncirculating tape of the Gerdes set. | ||
| RANK STRANGERS TO ME | June 10, 1988 | Greek Theater (Berkeley) |
| REAL REAL GONE | April 10, 1995 | Point Depot (Dublin) | First sung with Van Morrison. Dylan's debut solo performance of the song is September 23, 1995 (Fort Lauderdale). |
| RED CADILLAC AND A BLACK MOUSTACHE | June 27, 1986 | Alpine Valley Music Theater (East Troy)) |
| RED HOT | September 8, 1992 | Robinson Memorial Auditorium (Little Rock) |
| Song performed by Billy Lee Riley, backed by Dylan and his band, during Riley's walk-on appearance at a Dylan concert.. | ||
| RED ROSEY BUSH | undetermined | |
| Recorded on the September 1960 Minneapolis Tape, and presumably part of his repertoire at that time. | ||
| REMEMBER ME | undetermined | |
| First documented on the informal February 1961 Gleason home tape, but quite possibly going back to Dylan's earliest folk repertoire. | ||
| REPOSSESSION BLUES | February 24, 1978 | Matsushita Denki Taiikuhan (Osaka) |
| RIDE 'EM JEWBOY | January 25, 1976 | Astrodome (Houston) |
| Song performed by Kinky Friedman, backed by Dylan on harp. Interestingly, Heylin apparently discounts reports of this performance, and the single known recording surfaced separately from other segments of the poorly documented concert. | ||
| RING OF FIRE | No live performance |
| RISE AGAIN | November 18, 1980 | Fox Warfield (San Francisco) |
| ROCK A BYE MY SARO JANE | probably spring 1960 | |
| This song appears on the Karen Wallace Tape, which apparently consists of songs from Dylan's earliest repertoire. | ||
| ROCK OF AGES | February 2, 1999 | Civic Center (Pensacola) |
| ROCK WITH ME BABY | June 12, 1986 | Cal Expo Amphitheater (Sacramento) |
| ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN | February 19, 1987 | Palomino Club (Los Angeles) |
| Song performed by the Grafitti Band, with Dylan, John Fogerty, and George Harrison informally joining on guitar. | ||
| ROVING GAMBLER | probably spring 1960 | |
| This song appears on the Karen Wallace Tape, which apparently consists of songs from Dylan's earliest repertoire. The first live recording, however, comes from the November 6, 1991 (South Bend) concert. | ||
| RUMBLE | November 20, 2005 | Brixton Academy (London) |
| Instrumental, apparently in tribute to songwriter Link Wray, performed as a abbreviated opening number. | ||
| RUN, COME SEE JERUSALEM | undetermined | |
| Recorded on the September 1960 Minneapolis Tape (although Cynthia Fisher's vocals are more prominent), and presumably part of his repertoire at that time. This track was not included on the standard circulating tape, and was not widely reported until late 1997. | ||