This is not just some random performance, this is when Dylan went electric at Newport Folk Festival, thereby forever altering the history of popular music. Unless you were around back then its almost impossible to really understand just how much of an impact this song had on culture. Like A Rolling Stone is a timeless masterpiece.
It's a great song, but there are several songs from the Desire album that top it. But hey, we're all just fans here giving our subjective opinions. Good day to ya.
@@justchillin4065 And what do you consider to be some of the best songs of the rock era? Nothing you could name changed the history of music the way that this song did.
This was at Newport folk festival. He had performed an acoustic set earlier and then, he did the unthinkable. He strapped on an electric guitar!!!! Chaos ensued! People booed! Somebody shouted "Judas"! But Bob soldiered on and never backtracked! A pivotal moment in music history!
This was the July 1965 Newport Folk Festival, but the concert where someone yelled "Judas" was in Manchester, England in May of 1966. He was doing this same song as the last song in his second set. The first set was acoustic, and the audience was clearly unhappy with the electric second set, and getting more demonstrative about it as the set went on. When he was about to start this song as the last song was when someone shouted "Judas". Dylan shouted back "I Don't Believe You" (which was the name of one of the songs he played earlier) and "You're a liar", then he turned around to the band and said very loudly "Play f***ing louder!".
@@keithroberts4952 No problem, I'm kind of a music freak and the important thing is that we try keep these moments alive for younger people and hope they do the same, just as you're doing.
@@ptournas so am I! Glad to connect! By the way, was it at the Newport festival that Pete seeger tried to chop the electrical cable with an axe because of Bob's playing?
@@keithroberts4952 That's the story, though there's no pictures or films of it. He claims he was so upset about the volume distorting the sound and the words that he did threaten to cut the cables with a hatchet if they didn't turn the sound down, but that he never actually had a hatchet. I knew about eight people from my high school who attended the festival in different groups. They had very different stories. They all said the sound was loud and poor quality when the band played, but some said they didn't hear the booing and were confused by the newspaper reports, while others said all they could hear was booing. I was confused after talking to them. Years later after watching videos from the concert, I've noticed videos put up to support the view that the booing was exaggerated are taken from the right side of the audience and you hear very little, if any of the booing. But in the videos taken from the stage and especially the left side of the audience, the booing is loud and clear. It seems the largest concentration of the "folk purists" were in one area of the crowd. I also suspect it wasn't just the volume and distortion that aggravated Seeger. There had been other performers that day that complained about the sound system. And Pete Seger didn't make the same complaints when The Paul Butterfield Blues Band did their own set earlier in the day, before backing Dylan, and I doubt they played much softer then. I saw them several times in Boston clubs, and they were not a quiet band :) So the truth of it all is probably somewhere between the accounts that exaggerate the moment and those that play it down. But no doubt it started a larger backlash against Dylan going electric. His 1966 tour was so filled with booing, insults, and even people attempting to get on stage that Levon Helm dropped out of the tour early after a concert in England, just before the "Judas" concert.
Man, how refreshing to see a very young BD. There are no words left to talk about BD.......they have all been said, over and over. The man is a lyrical genius.... and I do not even believe that statement is arguable.
Years ago, I can't remember exactly how many, but the Rolling Stone Magazine made a top 500 rock songs of all time. This came in as the number One song of all time. Bob had about 5 songs in the top 100 if I remember correctly. ✌
Yes, and AL Kooper wrote the song "This Diamond Ring" that Gary Lewis and the Playboys made a hit of. He was also a founder of The Blues Project, a blues/rock band that in New York City was referred to as "the Jewish Beatles". He went on to be the producer/manager of Lynard Skinnard, recording their first 3 albums. Yea, AL Kooper!
He played the organ on the studio original because he was just hanging around the studio, basically, and just sat in, thinking the organ would possibly not even be in the final product. He was a guitar player, but they had a better one. Dylan heard the organ in the mix and said bring it up a lot, and here we are! Short version of the story, anyway; worth looking into.
This was released, reluctantly by Columbia records in 1965. They were unsure of the electric content and 6 minute length. Bob's change from folk singer to rock singer was described as revolutionary because of Bob's singing voice and Him questioning" How does it feel?" Regardless this tune made it to Number 2. I think it gained Bob a lot of new fans. Great reaction Harri. Thanks Harri and Cynthia. Great memory. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
Columbia hedged their bets by placing "Gates Of Eden" on the B-side just in case the top side went belly up 😁😁 #4 in the UK and my first Dylan purchase
And a poet; two four-rhymes in a partial verse, inside of a two rhymed sections, then a shift for the second half, rhyming at the ends only. Each first section a buildup of the past story, the second contrasting what happened after the fall, with an ending summation example statement, and only the very last line offering hope. At the bottom and now nowhere to go but up. Pure genius.
You may have noticed the crowd booing at the beginning of the video because this was the show when Bob Dylan went from Folk Rock Hero to Rock and Roll God, and most of his "folkie" fans were very upset. But he got so many new rock fans that he hardly noticed. And the song is killer. I have seen him over ten times and he changes everything every show, but he plays this song a lot, and also "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat", an ode to Jackie Kennedy.
Hard to believe he was booed for going electric at the event because it sounded so well. Anything Bob Dylan sinks deep into me for some reason. Most of his work was well before my time but I suppose that is the the timeless quality of it all.
You’re right, this song was twice longer than most songs in 1965. That same album has a song called desolation row which is about 12 minutes long!!! One of his all time great lyrical masterpieces!
This is my 17th yr theme song! Stayed up into the wee hours searching for this song on my radio because the deejay would play the long version with all his glorious lyrics.
I have always liked the message and "sound" of this Dylan classic. 25 years later, my own life fell apart. I thought I was cooler and aware of people who were sheltered but didn't know how much I also was living in a fools paradise. I got humbled and learned some good things about life after that time. Thanks Harry.
My favorite Dylan song, it gives a lot to think about. It was the perfect song for us in the 60s. I made it through the 60s, even with 4 yeas in the Navy, 67-71. One of the television networks, in 1999 made and aired a wonderfully true move called the 60s, which follows the experiences of 2 families through the 60s, one black and the other white. I accurately portrays the emotions we felt and how the events effects each family member. Any there is a haunting scene, or collage of scenes where this song is played as the background music and each word fits to perfectly that whenever I hear it, I'm taken to that scene. In the scene or collage, the children of the families are all in their late teens and early 20s. The young man from the black family whose father is a preacher and civil right leader is holding his dying father who was shot during the Watts riots because of his, the son's actions. The daughter from the white family who is the youngest and has run away to live in a hippie commune because her father cannot except her pregnancy it in labor. The oldest son of the white family is in a battle in some rice paddy in Vietnam with his buddies dying around him. The middle son of the white family is at the Newport Folk Festival and losing his life love to another man. All 4 are all in immense emotional pain, screaming their pain to the wind and this song is drumming in the background.
I know in the states, in the 60s, commercial stations that required songs to be 2-2:30 min in length were broadcast on AM radio. Our FM channels were generally not commercial, but rather government, public access or college radio stations. They were able to broadcast the full studio recordings and include more avant-garde artists.
Al Kooper is playing the organ, he showed up at the recording session for this album trying to sit in on guitar but Mike Bloomfield was there and Cooper gave up that idea and then he decided to sit at the organ, at which he was not particularly good and when listening to the playback of the recording the producer wanted to remove the organ altogether saying Kooper is not a keyboard player. Dylan told him to turn it up loud and Al Kooper was born.
Truly excellent pick, Cynthia. A moment in music history that is legendary. Backed by pianist Barry Goldberg, and from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, guitarist Mike Bloomfield, bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay.
This was released to "Top 40" radio in an edited version, probably 2-3 minutes. The full version was played on the FM "Underground" stations. Once I found the "Good Music", I never went back to "Bubblegum".
This and "Subterranean Homsick Blues" are a couple of my favorite Dylan tunes. I was 11 in '65 and remember my 20ish years old cousin bringing an album with this on it and playing it for my parents. Loved this tune from day one! Dylan is a true National Treasure
Like a Rolling Stone and Desolation Row are my two favorites. Both are the epitome of great lyrics. Next three favs are Positively 4th Street and Lay Lady Lay and Dignity.
It's maybe hard to draw a line as to where modern rock began, but I see it beginning with this song in 1965. This is when everything changed and rock matured from its teeny bopper dance craze romance surf pop music roots. After this, the Beatles and Beach Boys began writing their own more mature songs.
Rumour has it it was written about Edie Sedgwick. It was the number one critically acclaimed song of all times. And recently bumped by Aretha Franklin‘s song Respect. Thanks for the reaction Harri, you should listen to the studio version.
@@Cynthia... As far asI know it was written about Edie Sedgwick. She was part of Andy Warhol's Factory. She was in Warhol movies and was called his muse. Apparently she and Dylan had a whirlwind romance before he married Sarah Lowndes.
@@kathlelan She was using her inheritance to fund Warhol's movies, which she were also in. Once her money was gone, Warhol dropped her. It's this 'fall' that the song is about.
@@doomhunter697 It's a bit complicated but she is said to have inherited $80000 from her aunt and went through it quickly. She had a sad life and a crazy dysfunctional family. Dylan is said to have warned her that Warhol would dump her. To me Warhol's eyes were vacuous for sure.
I remember the folk scene was down on Dylan when he went electric! People didn’t like it at all but Dylan finally won them over! Thanks Bob 🔥and thank you Harri 🔥🎸❤️☮️👵🏼
HIGH HARRI.... I have several times suggested you do Bob Dylan-"It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding"....Live. Not just a song, a lesson on life itself. Lyrics like nobody else has ever written. It Is A MUST for you..... It will "Blow You Away"....Thank You
Dylan takes some shots at Andy Warhol in this song he’s the diplomat who’s riding a chrome horse with a Siamese cat and he really wasn’t where it’s at because it’s been long believed that the girl that’s fallen from grace is Edie Sedgwick one of Warhol’s superstars that Dylan apparently had a fling with Dylan and Warhol didn’t see eye to eye.
I saw the jacket he’s wearing here in a Smithsonian exhibit….next to Archie Bunker’s chair, a pair of Ali’s gloves n across from a Babe Ruth signed baseball and Garland’s Ruby Slippers!
Bruce Springsteen has said many times that this is his favorite song ever. That regarding the studio version, the initial snare hit loudly announced something knew was coming...and also the words (which obviously meant a lot to him if you know his earliest work like "Blinded By The Light" where he was writing exactly like Dylan before settling a bit more into himself - still w/ Dylan's influence).
Hi there . What a Lyne !! " When you got nothing,you got nothing too loose" !! Don t forget "the Band" playing behind. Ex- the Hawks. Robbie Robison,Richard Emanuel, LevonElm(forget the others) ✌☯️
His songs are long because he has a story to tell and he's going to sing them. There was FM radio and pirated vinyl. Few people swore ever. Yes, first electric. Thank you.
I was 15 when this song hit the charts and saw Dylan at that time. It was at a skating rink. The backup band organ was played by Al Cooper (Founder of Blood Sweat & Tears). The first part of the concert was acoustic, just Dylan & his guitar, the rest was electric. We loved him!! P.S. The rest of the backup band at the concert was formerly The Hawks who became The Band.❤
Al kooper played the organ, and he wasn’t a organ player. How amazing everything fell in place for this masterpiece, the best song ever written for more than 55 years in a row. Yes, he broke the rules of the length of songs at the time which was 3 minutes, and he broke that to a 6 minutes song. Dylan was and still first in many ways. This performance is one of the big moments of music history, as he went electric and the crowd wouldn’t believe it. There were who were for or against it, but that is Dylan who makes the rules. A pure genius
Thanks so much for requesting this Cynthia. It’s such an amazing song from the greatest lyricist (IMHO)of all time! As usual, Harri found a great version and gave excellent commentary. Greetings to you and all of Harri’s Canadian fans. I envy your citizenship and continue to try to figure out how I can smuggle myself across the border. 🌺✌️
A lot of Bob's songs had The Band playing. They took their name from that and released quite a few songs. Even made a movie directed by Martin Scorsese when they broke up called The Last Waltz. Their organ player was great! And their songs! The Weight is probably best known but they had quite a few.
I was 13 and a little wild when I was introduced to Dylan's first album while also being introduced to my first joint. It was 1964 and I was hanging out with my truly brilliant best friend Glenn. I have been infatuated with Dylan's music and mysterious persona since then. In 1967 i was 16 and having worked all school vacations including Easter breath for about 5 years I had enough cash to buy a used Ford pick up truck. My fun youth in southern California, especially in those days, was guaranteed. Dylan was certainly part of that experience. I even had a guitar and memorized many of his songs.
I saw Bob Dylan years ago at Indiana University at their Musical Arts Center (phenomenal acoustics)... He opened the show with "Maggie's Farm." By the 2nd chord I was jumping up and down shouting... Great song & a great show!
It was the Beatles that shattered the 2:30 barrier. No radio station would dare not play the latest Beatles song. After that other artists were able to release song in a longer format. Tangled up in Blue is another great Dylan song.
It's Al Cooper on the organ....he played with Bob when he went electric and became one of the great singer songwriters as well....he later formed Blood Sweat and Tears writing and singing "I can't quit her"
@@christopherdeguilio6375 while everyone knows the band was Dylan's band, this was a preplanned statement prior to that. Does it sound like the Band or Robby Robertson, not at all. His association with Cooper and Michael Bloomfield is well established
On the recording the organ part was played by Al Kooper and the organ riff was improvised on a Hammond organ. I don't know if he played on this live recording. BTW, Al Kooper was a founding member of Blood, Sweat and Tears. You should explore more of his music.
I first heard of "Blowing in the Wind" while in 4th grade when I was on Okinawa in mid 1960s (father was in the Army Corp of Engineers there). It was played on guitar by my teacher. Little did I know it was a war protest song. Hey, I was naive.
Dylan went electric with The band. They went on to put out some amazing music. Check out The Weight or The Night they drove Old Dixie Down. Hell, check them all out. I love Ophelia.
What’s amazing is that the guy playing the organ never played the organ before. He was a guitar player. When the producer said “he’s a guitar player, he never played the organ.” Dylan said “I don’t give a shit, I like what I’m hearing..”
On the same album Dylan had "Desolation Row" which is 11 minutes 20. The shortest one three thirty "Highway 61 Revisited". Both are among my favorites. Maybe this one was the first, but many groups had songs over 10 minutes: the Doors had two as did the Mothers of Invention on their first album "Freak Out", Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, et al.
The song was written as a criticism of the then counterculture of the 60s. When he writes "how does it feel to be on your own like a rolling stone", he's asking the counterculture what they are going to do with the power they now have. When the song is listened to in this regard all the other lines make sense, it's a questioning sometimes critical, reality check for the counterculture, of which I have to say I was part of, and I have to say DYLANS questions are bang on the money.
"Blowin' in the Wind" was indeed Bob's first really big hit (made famous by the Peter, Paul, and Mary recording that became a huge radio hit) and it went all over the world and was covered by a vast number of artists in several different musical styles. Another major early hit was "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", and another was "Mr. Tambourine Man". But the biggest hit of all was "Like a Rolling Stone" in 1965, and it marked the point when Dylan made the famous transition into electric music. What his folk audiences didn't know, though, was that he had already done plenty of electric music in his teens, when he was in high school. He fronted a couple of electric bands at that time (Elston Gunn and the Rock Boppers) (The Golden Chords), playing LOUD rock music that was inspired by artists such as Little Richard and Buddy Holly. So, Bob was actually returning to electric music in 1965...this would have really surprised the folk purists who booed his new sound in '65-66.
It's very powerful song in turns in affection, because in some points of our life we feels like that , like a rolling stones . Ours up and down of everyone life
This takes me wayyy back. This was what was happening musically when I was in grade school. I had 2 older brothers to help guide my musical upbringing and Dylan was definitely part of that. Thanks!
I always took the words to say. Your coming of age, you want personal freedom from "whatever", your realization of, it's a different world when you leave home to become your own. Like a Rolling Stone.
There are some that don't like change, and don't want their favorite artist to grow and evolve at all. They would rather them stay stagnantly exactly the same. Kudos to the bravery of Dylan for doing setting different. I have an album by him called "Nashville Skyline", and many of his fans weren't happy about him doing country inspired music. It didn't sell well but I love it!
People were furious that the "folk rock legend" went electric here. I love the way you react to Dylan and especially Neil Young Harri. You have great insights! Try Dylan's Changing of the Guard.
I remember John Lennon playing the harmonica a lot. You have it just right Harri. Just remember Harri, when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. May you have what you need friend.
Thanks Harri for playing my favourite Dylan song !! 🇨🇦😻☮️💎. A great big thanks to Cynthia for requesting this timeless Bob Dylan song when he went electric 🇨🇦😎☮️ Al Kooper was on organ, he is a founding member of a group you fell in love with Blood Sweat & Tears 🎹💎☮️
This is not just some random performance, this is when Dylan went electric at Newport Folk Festival, thereby forever altering the history of popular music. Unless you were around back then its almost impossible to really understand just how much of an impact this song had on culture. Like A Rolling Stone is a timeless masterpiece.
I do agree with that.
Yea, you can hear the boos when it gets going...
Wow. What are the chances he picks this performance?
Rolling Stone Magazine took it’s name from Dylan’s lyrics.
@@msls24x7 You can read the details here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone
This song is when Dylan went electric and is not only his best song, but it is also the greatest song in the rock era. An incredible masterpiece.
I think you've been in the bat cave 🦇 too long. Greatest song of the rock era ?
There is no one song that is considered the greatest
@@justchillin4065 It was number 1 on Rolling Stones songs of all time for many years.
It's a great song, but there are several songs from the Desire album that top it. But hey, we're all just fans here giving our subjective opinions. Good day to ya.
@@justchillin4065 And what do you consider to be some of the best songs of the rock era? Nothing you could name changed the history of music the way that this song did.
This was at Newport folk festival. He had performed an acoustic set earlier and then, he did the unthinkable. He strapped on an electric guitar!!!! Chaos ensued! People booed! Somebody shouted "Judas"! But Bob soldiered on and never backtracked! A pivotal moment in music history!
This was the July 1965 Newport Folk Festival, but the concert where someone yelled "Judas" was in Manchester, England in May of 1966. He was doing this same song as the last song in his second set. The first set was acoustic, and the audience was clearly unhappy with the electric second set, and getting more demonstrative about it as the set went on. When he was about to start this song as the last song was when someone shouted "Judas". Dylan shouted back "I Don't Believe You" (which was the name of one of the songs he played earlier) and "You're a liar", then he turned around to the band and said very loudly "Play f***ing louder!".
@@ptournas thanks for the clarification and correction.
@@keithroberts4952 No problem, I'm kind of a music freak and the important thing is that we try keep these moments alive for younger people and hope they do the same, just as you're doing.
@@ptournas so am I! Glad to connect! By the way, was it at the Newport festival that Pete seeger tried to chop the electrical cable with an axe because of Bob's playing?
@@keithroberts4952 That's the story, though there's no pictures or films of it. He claims he was so upset about the volume distorting the sound and the words that he did threaten to cut the cables with a hatchet if they didn't turn the sound down, but that he never actually had a hatchet.
I knew about eight people from my high school who attended the festival in different groups. They had very different stories. They all said the sound was loud and poor quality when the band played, but some said they didn't hear the booing and were confused by the newspaper reports, while others said all they could hear was booing. I was confused after talking to them.
Years later after watching videos from the concert, I've noticed videos put up to support the view that the booing was exaggerated are taken from the right side of the audience and you hear very little, if any of the booing. But in the videos taken from the stage and especially the left side of the audience, the booing is loud and clear. It seems the largest concentration of the "folk purists" were in one area of the crowd.
I also suspect it wasn't just the volume and distortion that aggravated Seeger. There had been other performers that day that complained about the sound system. And Pete Seger didn't make the same complaints when The Paul Butterfield Blues Band did their own set earlier in the day, before backing Dylan, and I doubt they played much softer then. I saw them several times in Boston clubs, and they were not a quiet band :)
So the truth of it all is probably somewhere between the accounts that exaggerate the moment and those that play it down. But no doubt it started a larger backlash against Dylan going electric. His 1966 tour was so filled with booing, insults, and even people attempting to get on stage that Levon Helm dropped out of the tour early after a concert in England, just before the "Judas" concert.
Man, how refreshing to see a very young BD. There are no words left to talk about BD.......they have all been said, over and over. The man is a lyrical genius.... and I do not even believe that statement is arguable.
Music history in the making!
One of the highlights of my life was getting to see him do a concert.
This song was an anthem.
Years ago, I can't remember exactly how many, but the Rolling Stone Magazine made a top 500 rock songs of all time. This came in as the number One song of all time. Bob had about 5 songs in the top 100 if I remember correctly. ✌
Another great song in this vein by Dylan is "Positively 4th Street." I think you would like this one Harri; one of my favorites.
Al Kooper played the organ on the record...a founding member of Blood, Sweat and Tears and a multi-talented musician/singer/producer in his own right.
Yes, and AL Kooper wrote the song "This Diamond Ring" that Gary Lewis and the Playboys made a hit of. He was also a founder of The Blues Project, a blues/rock band that in New York City was referred to as "the Jewish Beatles". He went on to be the producer/manager of Lynard Skinnard, recording their first 3 albums. Yea, AL Kooper!
I saw him live in a little (20-30 seat) cafe in Queens, when he was still using the name Al Casey.
He played the organ on the studio original because he was just hanging around the studio, basically, and just sat in, thinking the organ would possibly not even be in the final product. He was a guitar player, but they had a better one. Dylan heard the organ in the mix and said bring it up a lot, and here we are! Short version of the story, anyway; worth looking into.
This was released, reluctantly by Columbia records in 1965. They were unsure of the electric content and 6 minute length.
Bob's change from folk singer to rock singer was described as revolutionary because of Bob's singing voice and Him questioning" How does it feel?"
Regardless this tune made it to Number 2. I think it gained Bob a lot of new fans.
Great reaction Harri. Thanks Harri and Cynthia. Great memory. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
Thank you Mary.❤
@@Cynthia... Such great picks Cynthia. 👏 👍✌️🎶❤️🇨🇦
Columbia hedged their bets by placing "Gates Of Eden" on the B-side just in case the top side went belly up 😁😁
#4 in the UK and my first Dylan purchase
@@sharonsnail2954 #4 in the UK yet it was in the UK he was booed on film lol, by acoustic folk music purists in the audience.
Greatest ever lyricist:
"When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose"
Exactly
And a poet; two four-rhymes in a partial verse, inside of a two rhymed sections, then a shift for the second half, rhyming at the ends only. Each first section a buildup of the past story, the second contrasting what happened after the fall, with an ending summation example statement, and only the very last line offering hope. At the bottom and now nowhere to go but up. Pure genius.
Crying like a fire in the sun tops my list as one of his best lyrics as it's crying silently , like it's hard to see a fire in the sun
You may have noticed the crowd booing at the beginning of the video because this was the show when Bob Dylan went from Folk Rock Hero to Rock and Roll God, and most of his "folkie" fans were very upset. But he got so many new rock fans that he hardly noticed. And the song is killer. I have seen him over ten times and he changes everything every show, but he plays this song a lot, and also "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat", an ode to Jackie Kennedy.
The Folkies went nuts. Now the Wokies are nuts and screaming about everything.
Hard to believe he was booed for going electric at the event because it sounded so well. Anything Bob Dylan sinks deep into me for some reason. Most of his work was well before my time but I suppose that is the the timeless quality of it all.
As always Miss Cynthia great choice.
Bob Dylan is a living legend and great to see him live
Love and Music Always
🎵💜🎶🇨🇦🇺🇲🎶🎵
❤️🇺🇸
Yeah, he has been a force, just reading through the list of all his songs can kinda give me the chills.💫✌
You’re right, this song was twice longer than most songs in 1965. That same album has a song called desolation row which is about 12 minutes long!!! One of his all time great lyrical masterpieces!
This is my 17th yr theme song! Stayed up into the wee hours searching for this song on my radio because the deejay would play the long version with all his glorious lyrics.
I have always liked the message and "sound" of this Dylan classic.
25 years later, my own life fell apart. I thought I was cooler and aware of people who were sheltered but didn't know how much I also was living in a fools paradise.
I got humbled and learned some good things about life after that time.
Thanks Harry.
My favorite Dylan song, it gives a lot to think about. It was the perfect song for us in the 60s. I made it through the 60s, even with 4 yeas in the Navy, 67-71. One of the television networks, in 1999 made and aired a wonderfully true move called the 60s, which follows the experiences of 2 families through the 60s, one black and the other white. I accurately portrays the emotions we felt and how the events effects each family member. Any there is a haunting scene, or collage of scenes where this song is played as the background music and each word fits to perfectly that whenever I hear it, I'm taken to that scene. In the scene or collage, the children of the families are all in their late teens and early 20s. The young man from the black family whose father is a preacher and civil right leader is holding his dying father who was shot during the Watts riots because of his, the son's actions. The daughter from the white family who is the youngest and has run away to live in a hippie commune because her father cannot except her pregnancy it in labor. The oldest son of the white family is in a battle in some rice paddy in Vietnam with his buddies dying around him. The middle son of the white family is at the Newport Folk Festival and losing his life love to another man. All 4 are all in immense emotional pain, screaming their pain to the wind and this song is drumming in the background.
Bob Dylan preforms at the Newport Folk Festival. An iconic moment in music history!
I know in the states, in the 60s, commercial stations that required songs to be 2-2:30 min in length were broadcast on AM radio. Our FM channels were generally not commercial, but rather government, public access or college radio stations. They were able to broadcast the full studio recordings and include more avant-garde artists.
Al Kooper is playing the organ, he showed up at the recording session for this album trying to sit in on guitar but Mike Bloomfield was there and Cooper gave up that idea and then he decided to sit at the organ, at which he was not particularly good and when listening to the playback of the recording the producer wanted to remove the organ altogether saying Kooper is not a keyboard player. Dylan told him to turn it up loud and Al Kooper was born.
Yep, over six minutes of glory...
My favorite bob dylan song. So poetic and gives me chills whenever I hear it 💜
Truly excellent pick, Cynthia. A moment in music history that is legendary. Backed by pianist Barry Goldberg, and from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, guitarist Mike Bloomfield, bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay.
Thank you John, I think it was a legendary musical moment also . 🎸
This was released to "Top 40" radio in an edited version, probably 2-3 minutes. The full version was played on the FM "Underground" stations. Once I found the "Good Music", I never went back to "Bubblegum".
Bello .... Bob Dylan genio de la palabra el mejor compositor de todos los tiempos......
One of the 5 best songs in the history of Rock 'n Roll. Thank you, Cynthia, you sure do know how to pick 'em. :D
Thanks Cosmo. ✌
With that voice there is hope for everyone.
This and "Subterranean Homsick Blues" are a couple of my favorite Dylan tunes. I was 11 in '65 and remember my 20ish years old cousin bringing an album with this on it and playing it for my parents. Loved this tune from day one! Dylan is a true National Treasure
Dad was all into country music but when he was in a real good mood he would sing Homesick Blues lines... look out kid its somethin you did )
@@enchantedwooddesigns3462 Love it! ❤️
Another great Dylan song from 1964 is " Talking World War Three Blues". Amazing early Dylan
Dylan was and still is a genius with words
The lyrics were definitely considered cutting-edge back in the day. But that is what it was all about.
Like a Rolling Stone and Desolation Row are my two favorites. Both are the epitome of great lyrics. Next three favs are Positively 4th Street and Lay Lady Lay and Dignity.
Period when youth took life seriously, lots of change occurring, the 60s was a defining period.
One of my favorite Dylan songs...love this...
"What else can be said " The Greatest!
I think this is one of my favourite Dylan songs. Thanks Cynthia and Harri.💞
You are welcome.
One of the greatest songs…EVER! 🇨🇦 Written about Edie Sedgwick.
It's maybe hard to draw a line as to where modern rock began, but I see it beginning with this song in 1965. This is when everything changed and rock matured from its teeny bopper dance craze romance surf pop music roots. After this, the Beatles and Beach Boys began writing their own more mature songs.
It is perfectly summed up by "what goes around, comes around". Yes the organ, like he's in Church listening to a sermon.
Rumour has it it was written about Edie Sedgwick. It was the number one critically acclaimed song of all times. And recently bumped by Aretha Franklin‘s song Respect. Thanks for the reaction Harri, you should listen to the studio version.
Bod Dylan wrote this song and all of his songs.
@@hockemeyer1 I didn’t say it was written by someone else, I said written about someone else. ✌️
@@Cynthia... As far asI know it was written about Edie Sedgwick. She was part of Andy Warhol's Factory. She was in Warhol movies and was called his muse. Apparently she and Dylan had a whirlwind romance before he married Sarah Lowndes.
@@kathlelan She was using her inheritance to fund Warhol's movies, which she were also in. Once her money was gone, Warhol dropped her. It's this 'fall' that the song is about.
@@doomhunter697 It's a bit complicated but she is said to have inherited $80000 from her aunt and went through it quickly. She had a sad life and a crazy dysfunctional family. Dylan is said to have warned her that Warhol would dump her. To me Warhol's eyes were vacuous for sure.
I remember the folk scene was down on Dylan when he went electric! People didn’t like it at all but Dylan finally won them over! Thanks Bob 🔥and thank you Harri 🔥🎸❤️☮️👵🏼
Greatest song in the history of pop music
HIGH HARRI.... I have several times suggested you do Bob Dylan-"It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding"....Live. Not just a song, a lesson on life itself. Lyrics like nobody else has ever written. It Is A MUST for you..... It will "Blow You Away"....Thank You
Dylan takes some shots at Andy Warhol in this song he’s the diplomat who’s riding a chrome horse with a Siamese cat and he really wasn’t where it’s at because it’s been long believed that the girl that’s fallen from grace is Edie Sedgwick one of Warhol’s superstars that Dylan apparently had a fling with Dylan and Warhol didn’t see eye to eye.
'Napoleon in Rags'...
I saw the jacket he’s wearing here in a Smithsonian exhibit….next to Archie Bunker’s chair, a pair of Ali’s gloves n across from a Babe Ruth signed baseball and Garland’s Ruby Slippers!
Bruce Springsteen has said many times that this is his favorite song ever. That regarding the studio version, the initial snare hit loudly announced something knew was coming...and also the words (which obviously meant a lot to him if you know his earliest work like "Blinded By The Light" where he was writing exactly like Dylan before settling a bit more into himself - still w/ Dylan's influence).
Would love to learm more about the organ player Kooper, who did not normally play organ.
Hi there . What a Lyne !! " When you got nothing,you got nothing too loose" !! Don t forget "the Band" playing behind. Ex- the Hawks. Robbie Robison,Richard Emanuel, LevonElm(forget the others) ✌☯️
His songs are long because he has a story to tell and he's going to sing them. There was FM radio and pirated vinyl. Few people swore ever. Yes, first electric. Thank you.
The guitar work is incredible.
I was 15 when this song hit the charts and saw Dylan at that time. It was at a skating rink. The backup band organ was played by Al Cooper (Founder of Blood Sweat & Tears). The first part of the concert was acoustic, just Dylan & his guitar, the rest was electric. We loved him!! P.S. The rest of the backup band at the concert was formerly The Hawks who became The Band.❤
Al kooper played the organ, and he wasn’t a organ player. How amazing everything fell in place for this masterpiece, the best song ever written for more than 55 years in a row. Yes, he broke the rules of the length of songs at the time which was 3 minutes, and he broke that to a 6 minutes song. Dylan was and still first in many ways. This performance is one of the big moments of music history, as he went electric and the crowd wouldn’t believe it. There were who were for or against it, but that is Dylan who makes the rules. A pure genius
The message of this song still resonates today!!!.. thank you
Loved this sing so much! Everybody worshiped Dylan during the protest and love fest years. 60's were my teen years.
This Song made Al Cooper famous,as the last minute addition! he wasn't even an organ player at time,was just hanging out hoping to play!
Thanks Harri. Can't go wrong with this legend 👍💖😇☘️🥂🚬🎉🎈
Amazing that his career has blossomed in the 21st century like a matured old wine.
Great song. ❤
Thanks so much for requesting this Cynthia. It’s such an amazing song from the greatest lyricist (IMHO)of all time! As usual, Harri found a great version and gave excellent commentary. Greetings to you and all of Harri’s Canadian fans. I envy your citizenship and continue to try to figure out how I can smuggle myself across the border. 🌺✌️
Thanks Debbie and good luck. ✌
Good job Bob
A lot of Bob's songs had The Band playing. They took their name from that and released quite a few songs. Even made a movie directed by Martin Scorsese when they broke up called The Last Waltz. Their organ player was great! And their songs! The Weight is probably best known but they had quite a few.
I love the way you get straight in there... it's about the artist not you and that puts you way up my list of reactioj people.
I was 13 and a little wild when I was introduced to Dylan's first album while also being introduced to my first joint. It was 1964 and I was hanging out with my truly brilliant best friend Glenn. I have been infatuated with Dylan's music and mysterious persona since then. In 1967 i was 16 and having worked all school vacations including Easter breath for about 5 years I had enough cash to buy a used Ford pick up truck. My fun youth in southern California, especially in those days, was guaranteed. Dylan was certainly part of that experience. I even had a guitar and memorized many of his songs.
AM Radio would not play any song that was over 21/2 minutes due to commercial breaks. F/M radio changed all that!
"TANGLED UP IN BLUE" IS A STORYTELLING MASTERPIECE....! (Studio Please)
I know when Dylan went electric, people booed him, including those in the folk genre, Maggie’s Farm is another must reaction
Yes, Maggie's Farm please!
I saw Bob Dylan years ago at Indiana University at their Musical Arts Center (phenomenal acoustics)... He opened the show with "Maggie's Farm." By the 2nd chord I was jumping up and down shouting... Great song & a great show!
"Talked like that on record"? Nobody else, just Bob..
LOVE
Yes it was outrage everywhere, in regards to Language and tone
Everything was a Finger to the past
Rolling Stone Magazine named this the number one rock and roll song of all time.
Genius.
Al Kooper on organ. Quite a legendary story on how he ended up in the recording studio at the original recording of the song.
He got saved in about 1978....his first Christian album came out on in 1979....still and always brilliant
There were longer songs on the albums but would cut them down for airplay. "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was 17 minutes but had a radio cut.
It was the Beatles that shattered the 2:30 barrier. No radio station would dare not play the latest Beatles song. After that other artists were able to release song in a longer format. Tangled up in Blue is another great Dylan song.
It's Al Cooper on the organ....he played with Bob when he went electric and became one of the great singer songwriters as well....he later formed Blood Sweat and Tears writing and singing "I can't quit her"
I don't think Kooper was playing at Newport that night...not sure
@@christopherdeguilio6375 while everyone knows the band was Dylan's band, this was a preplanned statement prior to that.
Does it sound like the Band or Robby Robertson, not at all. His association with Cooper and Michael Bloomfield is well established
On the recording the organ part was played by Al Kooper and the organ riff was improvised on a Hammond organ. I don't know if he played on this live recording. BTW, Al Kooper was a founding member of Blood, Sweat and Tears. You should explore more of his music.
I bought Highway 61 Revisited in the mid 60s for this song.
I first heard of "Blowing in the Wind" while in 4th grade when I was on Okinawa in mid 1960s (father was in the Army Corp of Engineers there). It was played on guitar by my teacher. Little did I know it was a war protest song. Hey, I was naive.
Dylan went electric with The band. They went on to put out some amazing music. Check out The Weight or The Night they drove Old Dixie Down. Hell, check them all out. I love Ophelia.
What’s amazing is that the guy playing the organ never played the organ before. He was a guitar player. When the producer said “he’s a guitar player, he never played the organ.” Dylan said “I don’t give a shit, I like what I’m hearing..”
On the same album Dylan had "Desolation Row" which is 11 minutes 20. The shortest one three thirty "Highway 61 Revisited". Both are among my favorites. Maybe this one was the first, but many groups had songs over 10 minutes: the Doors had two as did the Mothers of Invention on their first album "Freak Out", Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, et al.
I have loved this since it came out. Memories!
The song was written as a criticism of the then counterculture of the 60s. When he writes "how does it feel to be on your own like a rolling stone", he's asking the counterculture what they are going to do with the power they now have.
When the song is listened to in this regard all the other lines make sense, it's a questioning sometimes critical, reality check for the counterculture, of which I have to say I was part of, and I have to say DYLANS questions are bang on the money.
‘The Band’ backed up Dylan when he went electric at Newport in Rhode Island. The Band has their own catalog.
"Blowin' in the Wind" was indeed Bob's first really big hit (made famous by the Peter, Paul, and Mary recording that became a huge radio hit) and it went all over the world and was covered by a vast number of artists in several different musical styles. Another major early hit was "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", and another was "Mr. Tambourine Man". But the biggest hit of all was "Like a Rolling Stone" in 1965, and it marked the point when Dylan made the famous transition into electric music. What his folk audiences didn't know, though, was that he had already done plenty of electric music in his teens, when he was in high school. He fronted a couple of electric bands at that time (Elston Gunn and the Rock Boppers) (The Golden Chords), playing LOUD rock music that was inspired by artists such as Little Richard and Buddy Holly. So, Bob was actually returning to electric music in 1965...this would have really surprised the folk purists who booed his new sound in '65-66.
Nice one, I have also requested this a few times. It’s one of the best live performances (by anyone) in existence.
It's very powerful song in turns in affection, because in some points of our life we feels like that , like a rolling stones . Ours up and down of everyone life
This takes me wayyy back.
This was what was happening musically when I was in grade school. I had 2 older brothers to help guide my musical upbringing and Dylan was definitely part of that. Thanks!
Its about Edie Sedgewick, an 'It' girl. Her fall from grace is covered in the film Factory Girl.
❤DYLAN❤
I always took the words to say. Your coming of age, you want personal freedom from "whatever", your realization of, it's a different world when you leave home to become your own. Like a Rolling Stone.
There are some that don't like change, and don't want their favorite artist to grow and evolve at all. They would rather them stay stagnantly exactly the same. Kudos to the bravery of Dylan for doing setting different. I have an album by him called "Nashville Skyline", and many of his fans weren't happy about him doing country inspired music. It didn't sell well but I love it!
Garth Hudson from the then Hawks but later known as The Band played the organ on that 1966 tour.
People were furious that the "folk rock legend" went electric here. I love the way you react to Dylan and especially Neil Young Harri. You have great insights! Try Dylan's Changing of the Guard.
Great song great reaction man.
I remember John Lennon playing the harmonica a lot. You have it just right Harri. Just remember Harri, when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. May you have what you need friend.
Thanks Harri for playing my favourite Dylan song !! 🇨🇦😻☮️💎. A great big thanks to Cynthia for requesting this timeless Bob Dylan song when he went electric 🇨🇦😎☮️
Al Kooper was on organ, he is a founding member of a group you fell in love with Blood Sweat & Tears 🎹💎☮️