Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid is the twelfth studio album and first soundtrack album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 13, 1973, by Columbia Records for the Sam Peckinpah film, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Dylan himself appeared in the film as the character "Alias". The soundtrack consists mainly of instrumental music and was inspired by the movie itself. The album includes "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", which became a trans-Atlantic Top 20 hit. Certified gold by RIAA, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid reached in the US and in the UK. Filming of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid scriptwriter Rudy Wurlitzer was a previous acquaintance of Dylan's, and asked him to provide a couple of songs for the movie. Dylan performed "Billy" for director Peckinpah, who found the performance very moving and offered Dylan an acting part on the spot. The role he ended up getting was a character named Alias. In November 1972, Dylan and his family moved to Durango, Mexico, where filming took place. Filming lasted from late 1972 to early 1973. Recording Dylan's first session for the Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid soundtrack was on January 20, 1973 at CBS Discos Studios in Mexico City. The only song from that day that was included on the album was "Billy 7"; also recorded were multiple other takes of "Billy", and the outtakes "Under Turkey", "Billy Surrenders", "And He's Killed Me Too", "Goodbye Holly" and "Pecos Blues". The following month, Dylan recorded two days at Burbank Studios in Burbank, California. The rest of the album's songs were recorded, as well as the outtakes "Sweet Amarillo" and "Rock Me Mama". Outtakes The Mexico City session produced three notable outtakes: "Peco's Blues", an instrumental based on the traditional "What Does The Deep Sea Say?", the song "Goodbye Holly" and "Billy Surrenders". All three tracks were rejected but eventually bootlegged and unofficially released as Peco's Blues Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid Outtakes in 1994. Of the 24 tracks written and performed by Bob Dylan on the bootleg album, only 10 were released on the final studio album. The remaining 14 songs have not been officially released. Legacy In February 1973, during the second of the Burbank sessions, Bob Dylan recorded 19 songs for the album. Among them were "Sweet Amarillo" and "Rock Me Mama," recorded twice as "Rock Me