Dylan then tried to recreate the Rolling Thunder Revue’s success in the spring of 1976. Rehearsals were held in Clearwater, Florida during April, and the first show was on April 18 at the Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida. The tour continued throughout April and May in the American South and Southwest.
The final Rolling Thunder show took place on May 25. Held at a half-empty, 17,000 seat Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, it would be Dylan’s last performance for twenty-one months (except for The Last Waltz in November 1976 for the Band), and it would be another two years before Dylan recorded another album of new material.
Then, in October 1987, playing Locarno. Switzerland, “and Tom Petty’s band and the female singers he now says he used to hide behind, Dylan had his breakthrough. It was an outdoor show – he remembers the fog and the wind – and as he stepped to the mike, a line came into his head. “It’s almost like I heard it as a voice. It wasn’t like it was even me thinking it. I’m determined to stand, whether God will deliver me or not. And all of a sudden everything just exploded. It exploded every which way. And I noticed that all the people out there – I was used to them looking at the girl singers, they were good-looking girls, you know? And like I say, I had them up there so I wouldn’t feel so bad. But when that happened, nobody was looking at the girls anymore. They were looking at the main mike. After that is when I sort of knew: I’ve got to go out and play these songs. That’s just what I must do … He’s been at it ever since.
~From “Dylan Lives” Newsweek 1997 cover story (David Gates)
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
~Bob Dylan (Isis)
Dylan gives one of the finest shows of his career, as well as the longest of the 1975 concerts. A 23-song set (the opening Rolling Thunder show had just 16 Dylan songs) includes a six-song Dylan/Baez set and a three-song solo spot.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)
Forum de Montréal Montreal, Quebec, Canada 4 December 1975
Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar)
Bob Neuwirth (guitar)
Scarlet Rivera (violin)
T-bone J. Henry Burnett (guitar)
Roger McGuinn (guitar)
Steven Soles (guitar)
Mick Ronson (guitar)
David Mansfield (steel guitar, violin, mandolin ,dobro)
Another fine show, which is filmed for Renaldo and Clara, although none of the footage is used. The set includes a rare solo performance of “Mr. Tambourine
Man.”
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)
Maple Leaf Gardens
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2 December 1975
Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar)
Bob Neuwirth (guitar)
T-bone J. Henry Burnett (guitar)
Roger McGuinn (guitar)
Steven Soles (guitar)
Mick Ronson (guitar)
David Mansfield (steel guitar, violin, mandolin ,dobro)
The evening show is at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. In a terrific 22- song set, Dylan does a three-song solo spot that includes the first 197 5 version of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” Dylan’s mother, Beatty, joins her son on stage for the encore.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)
Maple Leaf Gardens
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1 December 1975
Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar)
Bob Neuwirth (guitar)
T-bone J. Henry Burnett (guitar)
Roger McGuinn (guitar)
Steven Soles (guitar)
Mick Ronson (guitar)
David Mansfield (steel guitar, violin, mandolin ,dobro)
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