Bob Dylan: 7 essential videos from the 70’s

bob dylan 1976

 Being on tour is like being in limbo. It’s like going from nowhere to nowhere.
~To John Rockwell, Jan 1974

Rimbaud has been a big influence on me. When I’m on the road and want to read something that makes sense to me, I go to a bookstore and read his words.
~To Neil Hickey, Sep 1976

..maybe, the end of the first Rolling Thunder tour. Or the second Rolling Thunder tour – at least I was doing the best I could in the environment I was in… And now I’m also doing the best I can within this environment
~to Craig McGregor, March 1978

I played acoustical songs on that band tour in ‘74, but I pushed too hard. I played acoustical guitar on the Rolling Thunder tours, but I had to push too hard. And for my type of style I can’t really afford to push too hard, because I lose the reason behind the song. If you heard me sittin’ in a room singing I wouldn’t be pushing too hard.
~to Craig McGregor, March 1978

Here are 7 videos you absolutely need to see. They are chosen for their historical significance and/or blistering performances.

1. Love Minus Zero/No Limit

Madison Square Garden
New York City, New York
1 August 1971
Afternoon concert

My love she speaks like silence
Without ideals or violence
She doesn’t have to say she’s faithful
Yet she’s true, like ice, like fire
People carry roses
Make promises by the hours
My love she laughs like the flowers
Valentines can’t buy her

2. Hurricane

WTTW-TV Studios
Chicago, Illinois
10 September 1975

Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
Cries out, “My God, they killed them all!”
Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin’ that he never done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world

3. Tangled Up In Blue

Boston Music Hall
Boston, Massachusetts
21 November 1975 – Evening

Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’
I was layin’ in bed
Wond’rin’ if she’d changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama’s homemade dress
Papa’s bankbook wasn’t big enough
And I was standin’ on the side of the road
Rain fallin’ on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues gettin’ through
Tangled up in blue

4. Isis

Forum de Montréal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
4 December 1975

I married Isis on the fifth day of May
But I could not hold on to her very long
So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong

PS! video starts @ about 9s 

5. Shelter From The Storm

Fort Collins, Colorado
23 May 1976

’Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

6. Idiot Wind

Fort Collins, Colorado
23 May 1976

Someone’s got it in for me, they’re planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they’d cut it out but when they will I can only guess
They say I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me
I can’t help it if I’m lucky

7. Changing of The Guards

Municipal Auditorium
Nashville, Tennessee
2 December 1978

Sixteen years
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings ’neath the falling leaves

audio starts @ about 10s

Check out:

-Egil

4 thoughts on “Bob Dylan: 7 essential videos from the 70’s”

  1. Notice on the Hurricane 1975 video when they cut to the extreme wide shot, they mix the studio version with the live version.

  2. This magnificent artist known to all as Bob Dylan knows no limits and his music thru time has been sublime. Put simply He always dazzles. We are both the same age and so I have followed His Greatness from the beginning….his gift just keeps giving. How wonderful to have had and continue to have this talent walk with us thru these many years. (R&E)

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