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 Freewheelin’ in it’s released form is essentially a “best of” from one of the most creative years in Dylan’s life. The lag between sessions resulted in an album whose sound metamorphosed at least twice.
~Clinton Heylin (BD – The Recording Sessions)

Dylan nailed 5 master versions for “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” @ this important recording session.

A little background info:

The 7th recording session took place on December 6th (1962).. and before this last recording session Dylan was a trip over to London… and he had (off course) written new material…                               Dylan’s keenness to record his new material for Freewheelin’ paralleled a dramatic power struggle in the studio: Albert Grossman’s determination to have John Hammond replaced as Dylan’s producer at CBS. According to Dylan biographer Howard Sounes, “The two men could not have been more different. Hammond was a WASP, so relaxed during recording sessions that he sat with feet up, reading The New Yorker. Grossman was a Jewish businessman with a shady past, hustling to become a millionaire.” Because of Grossman’s hostility to Hammond, Columbia paired Dylan with a young, African-American jazz producer, Tom Wilson. Wilson recalled: “I didn’t even particularly like folk music. I’d been recording Sun Ra and Coltrane … I thought folk music was for the dumb guys. [Dylan] played like the dumb guys, but then these words came out. I was flabbergasted.” At a recording session on April 24, produced by Wilson, Dylan recorded five new compositions: “Girl from the North Country”, “Masters of War”, “Talkin’ World War III Blues”, “Bob Dylan’s Dream”, and “Walls of Red Wing”. “Walls of Red Wing” was ultimately rejected, but the other four were included in a revised album sequence. Wikipedia

 

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Studio A
Columbia Recording Studios
New York City, New York
24 April 1963

Produced by Tom Wilson (some sources claim John Hammond)
Engineers: Knuerr and Dauria

1. Girl From The North Country
2. Girl From The North Country
   Yeah, I do, I wish I could write like Girl From The North Country. You know, I can’t write like that any more.
   ~Bob Dylan (Austin Press Conference, Sept 1965)
   Spotify:
   
3. Masters Of War
4. Masters Of War
5. Masters Of War
   [Masters of War]… is supposed to be a pacifistic song against war. It’s not an anti-war song. It’s speaking against what Eisenhower was calling a military industrial complex as he was making his exit from the presidency. That spirit was in the air, and I picked it up.
   ~Bob Dylan (to Edna Gundersen – Sept 2001)
   
6. Walls Of Red Wing
7. Walls Of Red Wing
8. Walls Of Red Wing
   Dylan based “Walls of Red Wing” off of the traditional Scottish folk ballad “The Road and the Miles to Dundee”, which he may have learned during his trip to London in early 1963, from other aspiring folk singers, such as Martin Carthy. In his narration, Dylan goes to describe a juvenile detention center in Red Wing, Minnesota.
   ~Wikipedia
   
9. Talking World War III Blues
10. Talking World War III Blues
11. Talking World War III Blues
12. Talking World War III Blues
13. Talking World War III Blues
    I was feelin’ kinda lonesome and blue
    I needed somebody to talk to
    So I called up the operator of time
    Just to hear a voice of some kind
    “When you hear the beep it will be three o’clock”
    She said that for over an hour
    And I hung up
    ~from the lyrics
    
14. Bob Dylan’s Dream
15. Bob Dylan’s Dream
    According to Shelton, Dylan credited the melody of “Bob Dylan’s Dream” to the traditional broadside ballad “Lord Franklin” (also known as “Lady Franklin’s Lament” and “The Sailor’s Dream”), which he learned from British folksinger Martin Carthy, whom he met while visiting London in late December 1962.
    However, Dylan probably learned the song even earlier from his Village friend Paul Clayton, who had recorded it in 1957 for his album Whaling and Sailing Songs: From the Days of Moby Dick on Folkways. In either case, within a couple weeks after returning from London in January 1963, Dylan began playing “Bob Dylan’s Dream” for Gil Turner during after-hours sessions at Gerde’s Folk City, where Turner was emcee.
    ~Wikipedia
    
16. Girl From The North Country
17. Girl From The North Country
18. Girl From The North Country
19. Girl From The North Country
20. Masters Of War
21. Masters Of War
22. Masters Of War

Bob Dylan (guitar, harmonica & vocal)

Notes.

• 3, 4, 6, 7, 9-12, 16, 18, 20  are false starts.
• Only  the released tracks 2, 5, 8, 13, 15 are in circulation.
• Recorded 10-1 pm.

Related articles here @ alldylan:

• Bob Dylan recording sessions
• Bob Dylan albums
• alldylan @ Facebook

References:

• Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions – Part One – by Michael Krogsgaard
• Still On The Road – Olof Björner

-Egil