Tag Archives: Newport

July 25: Bob Dylan Goes Electric at Newport in 1965

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Joseph Hass: Can you explain why you were booed at the Newport Folk Festival last summer when
you came on stage with an electric guitar and began singing your new material?
Bob Dylan: Like, I don’t even know who those people were. Anyway, I think there’s always a little boo in all of us. I wasn’t shattered by it. I didn’t cry. I don’t even understand it. I mean, what are they going to shatter, my ego? And it doesn’t even exist, they can’t hurt me with a boo.
(Joseph Hass interview – Nov 1965)

“They certainly booed, I’ll tell you that. You could hear it all over the place. I don’t know who they were… they’ve done it just about all over… I mean, they must be pretty rich to go some place and boo. I mean, I couldn’t afford it if I was in their shoes.”
~Bob Dylan ( San Francisco press conference in December ‘65)

“The reason they booed is because he only played for fifteen minutes, when everybody else played for forty-five minutes or an hour. They were feeling ripped off. Wouldn’t you? They didn’t give a shit about us being electric. They just wanted more.”
~Al Kooper

On July 25, 1965, Dylan performed with a rock band at the Newport Folk Festival. Some sections of the audience booed Dylan’s performance. Leading members of the folk movement, including Irwin Silber and Ewan MacColl criticised Dylan for moving away from political songwriting, and performing with an electric band. (wikipedia)

bob dylan newport 1965

Freebody Park
Newport, Rhode Island
25 July 1965
Newport Folk Festival

Continue reading July 25: Bob Dylan Goes Electric at Newport in 1965

July 27/28: Watch Bob Dylan & Joan Baez Performing “With God On Our Side”, Newport, Rhode Island 1963

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Oh my name it ain’t nothin’
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side

The video is a splice between available footage from the July 27 & July 28 performances.

It starts with the first 4 verses from Freebody Park, Porch # 1 of Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island – 27 July 1963, and continues with 2 last verses from Freebody Park, Newport, Rhode Island – 28 July 1963.

Continue reading July 27/28: Watch Bob Dylan & Joan Baez Performing “With God On Our Side”, Newport, Rhode Island 1963

July 27: Bob Dylan: North Country Blues, Newport, Rhode Island 1963 (audio)

Bob Dylan Newport 1963

Come gather ’round friends and I’ll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron pits ran plenty
But the cardboard filled windows and old men on the benches
Tell you now that the whole town is empty

Freebody Park
Porch # 1 of Newport Casino
Newport, Rhode Island
27 July 1963

Bob Dylan Newport 1963_2

In the north end of town, my own children are grown
Well, I was raised on the other
In the wee hours of youth my mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother

The iron ore poured as the years passed the door
The drag lines an’ the shovels they was a-humming
‘Til one day my brother failed to come home
The same as my father before him

Well, a long winter’s wait from the window I watched
My friends, they couldn’t have been kinder
And my schooling was cut as I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner

Oh, the years passed again and the givin’ was good
With the lunch bucket filled every season
What with three babies born, the work was cut down
To a half a day’s shift with no reason

Then the shaft was soon shut and more work was cut
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen
‘Til a man come to speak and he said in one week
That number eleven was closin’

They complained in the east, they are paying too high
They say that your ore ain’t worth digging
That it’s much cheaper down in the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothing

So the mining gates locked and the red iron rotted
And the room smelled heavy from drinking
When the sad, silent song made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking

I lived by the window as he talked to himself
This silence of tongues it was building
Then one morning’s wake, the bed it was bare
And I’s left alone with three children

The summer is gone, the ground’s turning cold
The stores one by one they’re a-foldin’
My children will go as soon as they grow
Well, there ain’t nothing here now to hold them


-Egil

July 26: Watch Bob Dylan Performing “Chimes of Freedom” @ Newport Folk Festival in 1964

Far between sundown’s finish an’ midnight’s broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing

Freebody Park
Newport, Rhode Island
26 July 1964
Newport Folk Festival

  • Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar & harmonica)

Continue reading July 26: Watch Bob Dylan Performing “Chimes of Freedom” @ Newport Folk Festival in 1964

August 03: The Levon Helm Band at The Newport Folk Festival in 2008

Levon Helm

August 03: The Levon Helm Band at The Newport  Folk Festival in 2008

The best way to remember Levon Helm is to enjoy his music.

Today we have searched the cellars of YouTube and found a shining gem: The Levon Helm Band at The Newport Folk Festival in 2008.

I think we got the full show (but not sure). Levon Helm and his band went on stage second to last on the final day of the festival. They gave a tremendous show that confirmed their influence from folk music and they were a fitting act to play at a folk music festival.

Levon Helm was one of the finest drummers and most soulful singers in music history! …and the set list has some traditional songs, some solo stuff and quite a few songs from The Band era. The Band songs are so fresh and fits this band so well, they sound amazing.

Highlights: Chest Fever, Got Me A Woman plus Anna Lee from my favorite Levon Helm album, Dirt Farmer, Long Black Veil and The Weight with guests, Jake Shimabukuro, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

We also get some very special guests:

Set list:
Ophelia
Deep Elem Blues
Ashes of Love
Anna Lee
Chest Fever
Love Played A Game
Long Black Veil
Got Me A Woman
Rag Mama Rag
Fannie Mae
The Same Thing (incomplete)
The Shape I’m In
The Weight

The Levon Helm Band live at The Newport Folk Festival 2008:

Continue reading August 03: The Levon Helm Band at The Newport Folk Festival in 2008