Editing Like a Rolling Stone (section)

==Release==
According to Shaun Considine, release coordinator for [[Columbia Records]] in 1965, "Like a Rolling Stone" was first relegated to the "graveyard of canceled releases" because of concerns from the sales and marketing departments over its unprecedented six-minute length and "raucous" rock sound. In the days following the rejection, Considine took a discarded [[acetate disc|acetate]] of the song to the New York club Arthur—a newly opened disco popular with celebrities and the media—and asked a DJ to play it.<ref name="CONSIDINE"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1999/7/1999_7_43.shtml |title=Disco |author=Braunstein, Peter |date=March 5, 1997 |access-date=January 9, 2010 |work=American Heritage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205223044/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1999/7/1999_7_43.shtml <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=February 5, 2010}}</ref> At the crowd's insistence, the demo was played repeatedly, until finally it wore out. The next morning, a disc jockey and a programming director from the city's leading top 40 stations called Columbia and demanded copies.<ref name="CONSIDINE"/> Shortly afterward, on July 20, 1965, "Like a Rolling Stone" was released as a single with "[[Gates of Eden (song)|Gates of Eden]]" as its B-side.<ref>{{harvnb|Krogsgaard|1991|p=44}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (3)}}</ref>

Despite its length, the song is Dylan's most commercially successful release,{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 32, track 3}}<ref name="My Back Pages">{{harvnb|Gill|1998|pp=82–83}}</ref> remaining in the US charts for 12 weeks, where it reached number 2. The song that held it from the top spot was [[the Beatles]]' "[[Help! (song)|Help!]]"<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p4147/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}} |title=Like A Rolling Stone|work=Allmusic |access-date=October 24, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Schlansky, Evan|url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2009/05/the-30-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-2-like-a-rolling-stone/|title=The 30 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs: #2, "Like A Rolling Stone" |date=May 18, 2009 |work=American Songwriter |access-date=May 10, 2010}}</ref> The promotional copies released to disc jockeys on July 15 had the first two verses and two refrains on one side of the disk, and the remainder of the song on the other.<ref name=cb/> DJs wishing to play the entire song would simply flip the vinyl over.<ref name="Marcus3">{{harvnb|Marcus|2005 (1)|p=3}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Irwin|2008|p=78}}</ref> While many radio stations were reluctant to play "Like a Rolling Stone" in its entirety, public demand eventually forced them to air it in full.<ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="Irwin 79-80">{{harvnb|Irwin|2008|pp=79–80}}</ref> This helped the single reach its number 2 peak, several weeks after its release.<ref name="Irwin 79-80"/> It was a Top 10 hit in other countries, including [[RPM (magazine)|Canada]], [[Irish Singles Chart|Ireland]], the [[Dutch Top 40|Netherlands]], and the [[UK Singles Chart|UK]].<ref name=rpm>{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.5644&volume=4&issue=1&issue_dt=August%2031%201965&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=m89iq841abagb37ld9c0fdc1f3 |title=Top Singles&nbsp;– Volume 4, No. 1, August 31, 1965 |work=[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]] |date=August 31, 1965 |access-date=January 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128100513/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.5644&volume=4&issue=1&issue_dt=August%2031%201965&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=m89iq841abagb37ld9c0fdc1f3 |archive-date=November 28, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=irishcharts>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement |title=Search the Charts|publisher=Irish Recorded Music Association |access-date=October 27, 2009}}</ref><ref name=dutchcharts>{{cite web |url=http://www.radio538.nl/538/programmas/top40/pdf/pdf.jsp?chartid=5050 |title=Bob Dylan&nbsp;– "Like a Rolling Stone" |format=PDF |publisher=[[Radio 538]] |language=nl| access-date=October 27, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617103046/http://www.radio538.nl/538/programmas/top40/pdf/pdf.jsp?chartid=5050 |archive-date=June 17, 2011}}</ref><ref name=ukcharts>{{cite web|url=http://everyhit.com/ |title=UK Top 40 Database |work=everyHit.com |access-date=February 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319091720/http://everyhit.com/ |archive-date=March 19, 2008 }}</ref>

In its contemporary review, ''[[Cash Box]]'' described "Like a Rolling Stone" as a "funky, rhythmic ode which proclaims the artist's philosophy of rugged individualism".<ref name=cb>{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=July 17, 1965 |page=12 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1965/CB-1965-07-17.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}</ref>