With at least 200,000 people in attendance, Dylan closes his triumphant European tour at the Blackbushe Aerodrome, in Camberley, Surrey. Twenty five days after the last Earls Court show, Dylan brings a very different set back, performing 10 songs not performed at his previous show in England: “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” “Girl from the North Country,” “Is Your Love in Vain?,” a tentative “Where Are You Tonight’,” an acoustic “Gates of Eden,” “True Love Tends to Forget,” and a first encore of “Changing of the Guards” with Eric Clapton on guitar. Also performed are “Simple Twist of Fate” and “To Ramona,” both performed only one night at Earls Court. Surprisingly, though, Dylan omits “She’s Love Crazy,” “The Man in Me,” and ”I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” all performed regularly on the mainland European dates. Nevertheless, few in the massive crowd notice such omissions, as Dylan proves his pulling power is undiminished by his years away, attracting the largest crowd for a pop festival in Britain since the Isle of Wight nine years earlier.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995
Blackbushe Aerodrome
Camberley, England
15 July 1978
- Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
- Billy Cross (lead guitar)
- Alan Pasqua (keyboards)
- Steven Soles (rhythm guitar, backup vocals)
- David Mansfield (violin & mandolin)
- Steve Douglas (horns)
- Jerry Scheff (bass)
- Bobbye Hall (percussion)
- Ian Wallace (drums)
- Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Carolyn Dennis (background vocals)
Bob Dylan’s show at the Blackbushe Aerodrome was his final show of his European tour that summer. The organizers of the event billed this “The Picnic” and more than 200,000 people attended including such people as Ringo Star and Bianca Jagger (1970′s professional celebrity). Eric Clapton was also on the bill (his set was released by Beano) and he even joins Dylan onstage for “Forever Young”… The Sunday Telegraph stated that security was in the audience confiscating recording equipment, but thankfully at least one tape was able to survive…
~collectorsmusicreviews.com
- My Back Pages
- Love Her With A Feeling (Tampa Red)
- Baby Stop Crying
- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
- Shelter From The Storm
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Girl From The North Country
- Ballad Of A Thin Man
- Maggie’s Farm
- Simple Twist Of Fate
- Like A Rolling Stone
- I Shall Be Released
- Is Your Love In Vain?
- Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)
Note. Live debut of Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat).
- A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke)
Thank you. Yes, there’s some other people in the group too. I wanna introduce you to a girl I know you’re gonna like. All three girls over here sing. Also these guys sing too. He sings. Just for now we’re just gonna have three girls and maybe one of the guys sing. I’m getting tired. So, we’re gonna have Carolyn Dennis come first. I want you to meet Carolyn Dennis.
- Mr. Tambourine Man
This is Helena Springs. This is her song. She might sing awhile. She’s gonna sing 10 songs for you now.
- The Long And Winding Road (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
All right, thank you. Jo Ann wants to sing a Paul McCartney song that she likes a lot. Jo Ann Harris.
Steven Soles: Laissez-faire (David Ackles)
Oh, there’s another person here. You gotta hear this guy sing. He writes his original songs too. He’s gonna come and sing one for you. You must hear him, you really must. He really is a genius. Steven Soles. Maybe you’ve heard of him, maybe you haven’t but I’m sure you’ll remember him after hear him tonight. Steven Soles: “Hello all right here’s one you’ve never heard before. Brand new fresh off the press. All right, I’ll dedicate it to all the French people that came here.
- Gates Of Eden
- True Love Tends To Forget
- One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
- Blowin’ In The Wind
- I Want You
- Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
Thank you. This is a recently written song. Written and inspired, this song is inspired by a man named Harry Dean Stanton. Some of you may know him, some of you maybe not. He’s in the house tonight! Stand up and take a bow! Put the light on him! Yes, put the light on him! Yes put the light on this man! Anyway, this is called Tales Of Yankee Power.
- Masters Of War
- Just Like A Woman
- To Ramona
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Thank you, We wanna play a reggae, our reggae version for you. Sort of reggae, not really reggae. What we call Southern Mountain Reggae. This is a particular sound you get in the States in the Southern Mountain.
- All Along The Watchtower
- All I Really Want To Do
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
All right, I’ve just been notified we’ve been running out of time. Anyway, let me run through whe the band here is real quick. On tenor horn Steve Douglas. On the mandolin David Mansfield. Steve Soles on the rhythm guitar. On bass guitar Jerry Scheff. On the drums Ian Wallace. Lead guitar Billy Cross. On the keyboards Alan Pasqua, and on the conga drums Bobbye Hall. Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Carolyn Dennis, on background vocals. This is called It’s Alright Ma,
- Forever Young
All right, we gotta go the stage manager just said it. They’re gonna send us home. Anyway Eric Clapton’s back. And he’s gonna stay with us and play. So we’ve ended the shows so far with this song and we’re gonna do it again. I hope we can meet again real soon. I want to come back.
— - Changing Of The Guards
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
–
–
Check out:
-Egil
Mr. O’Connor, Thank you for your service and another wonderful story of that concert.
I really enjoyed this post. Mr Andrew’s description,of what “The Picnic” was about and Bobby’s remarks gave it a rare feeling. I enjoyed hearing the other artists and “The Times They are a’Changin'” kept Bobby’s message moving on. Very cool to hear from Mick and Billy Mills who were there. JRW
There was a coach load of us came over from Dublin, all strangers to each other, stayed in London and then on to the gig. Spent the day in the company of a very friendly bunch of bikers, who were well in to His Bobness. Great day.
I was there. I had just returned from Belfast with 41 Commando. Went with another Marine & a nurse I had met while patrolling the RVH on The Falls Road. What a day. I have the concert poster on my wall, framed, with the stubs of all the Dylan concerts I’ve been to blue-tacked to the glass. Live in hope that a copy of the alleged concert video will surface one day.
I was there. Great gig; thanks for sharing.
Yes i was there at Blackbushe on july 15 1978,what a concert.ten of us hired a Luton van with roller door and put a settee and armchairs on board,drove all that way and arrived at six in the morning.Ive still got my original ticket stubb.Billed as the Picnic,my mate made John Molloy,who with his brother owns some record shops,had my ticket printed onto a drinking mug to commemorate my 65 birthday.Happy days.And if i am correct the Picnic was the biggest unrecorded crowd ever in the UK,214-000 or thereabout.