Bob Dylan and....

A young Bob Dylan came to New York City to join in the Folk music scene in Greenwich Village.

Joan was already being considered the Queen of Folk when the unknown Dylan started playing small clubs and coffee shops in the Village. At first unimpressed with this "Urban Hillbilly", she later came to appreciate his early songs and was a big supporter of him. She had him come onstage at her shows and sing with her, They had a brief affair and have remained life-long friends ever since.


Here they are performing together at The Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.

Suze and Dylan were romantically linked for 4 years. They shared the Bohemian lifestyle of Greenwich Village in the early 1960s. Some of his best early songs were inspired by her, such as 'Tommorrow Is A Long Time', 'Boots Of Spanish Leather', 'Don't Think Twice,Its Alright', and 'One Too Many Mornings'. She also appeared on the cover of his second album.

When Dylan went 'electric' in the mid-60s, he had members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to back him up and give him the Folk-Rock sound. Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield were the 2 most prominent musicians contributing to these electric albums.

Here is a picture of Dylan performing at the Newport Folk Festival with members of the Butterfield Band. This performance resulted in Dylan getting booed by the die-hard Folk fans that would not tolerate electric instruments.


Here's a picture of the same show from an article focusing on guitarist Mike Bloomfield.


Bob Dylan and Mike Bloomfield rehearsing onstage.


Bob Dylan and Mike Bloomfield working in the studio.


Bob and Mike wrapping up a great studio session as Rambling Jack Elliot looks on.


Harvey Brooks, Robbie Robertson, Dylan, Levon Helm, and Richard Manuel backstage. Thanks to Padlwecctx, who has better eyes than I do.


Al Kooper and Bob Dylan at an outdoor show.


Al Kooper, Bob Dylan, and Doug Sahm in 1965.


Al and Bob.

Before they started making their own hit albums, The Band used to support Dylan in concert and on recordings. After they became stars, they continued to work on projects with Dylan from time to time.

Here is Dylan and The Band from their 1974 reunion tour.


Rick Danko, Dylan, and Robbie Robertson.


An early shot of Dylan onstage with Robertson.


And again a few years later. This may be around the time of The Rolling Thunder Review Tour.


Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson are joined onstage by Van Morrison in 'The Last Waltz'.


Bob playing ping-pong with Levon Helm.


When Dylan and The Band were both living in Woodstock, NY, they made some private recordings of sessions they got together on. These infamous recordings were bootlegged, but never offically released until decades later as 'The Basement Tapes'.

Probably the most successful interperters of Dylan material were the Byrds. Bob was very impressed with how they tranformed his simple acoustic folk into what would become known as Folk Rock utilizing electric instruments and drums. Roger McGuinn's electric 12 string Rickenbacker guitar created their signature sound. Dylan didn't even recognize his own compositions at first. He commented, 'You can even dance to it.'


Bob Dylan performing with The Byrds at Ciro's in 1965.


Bob Dylan and The Byrds at Ciro's.


And years later with 3 re-united Byrds.

The Beatles meet Bob in the early 60s and he influenced John Lennon a great deal. It appeared that it worked both ways. Dylan went electric and The Beatles recorded Rubber Soul, which had a lot of Folk Rock influences. It has also been rumored that Dylan introduced The Beatles to Marijuana.

Dylan played The Isle of Wight in 1969. Here are 2 pictures of The Beatles (minus Paul McCartney) and their wives in the audience of that show.


2 observations:
1) Couldn't Bob get them front row seats?
2) Notice each member is in a seperate row. This could be to accomidate their wives and friends, or it could be a reflection of how they were getting along in 1969.


Here is a really cool shot of Dylan backstage at a Beatles show talking to John Lennon, who is having a smoke. The only problem is it is a fake!


It was photo-shopped from this picture of Paul and John backstage.


Now this is supposed to be the real thing. Lennon and Dylan in the back of a limo, but now I am suspicious. That looks like a Dylan look-a-like to me!


Bob Dylan and The Beatles.

Bob Remained good friends with George after the Beatles Split. Here is a picture of him onstage with Harrison at the Concert for Bangladesh.



And here they are again at the same show joined by Leon Russell on bass. Russell went on to produce the Dylan single 'Watchin' The River Flow'.



Here they are years later onstage again. Could this be a Traveling Wilburys show? Did they ever tour? It is more likely a Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame jam.


Speaking of The Wilburys, Here they are.
Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbinson, and George Harrison.


Bob, Tom, George, Jeff, and Roy.


Bob Dylan and George Harrison performing with Roger Mcguinn. You can see barely see Johnny Cash in the background.




Bob Dylan and George Harrison with their wives, Sara and Olivia.

Someone once called Bob Dylan the spokesman for his generation due to the social causes he supported with Joan Baez and the songs he wrote with social injustice and anti-war themes. Another poet, a spokesman for the Beat Generation of the 50s, Allen Ginsberg, was a big Dylan fan. They met and became good friends.

Dylan with 2 Beat Generation icons.


Bob waving to Ginsberg in Woodstock, NY.



Backstage with Ginsberg.

Bob Dylan and fellow 60s Folk star, Donovan. He was once called the Scottish Bob Dylan. It was not always meant as a complement. The press often portrayed him as a Dylan-clone. Donovan had many hits of his own, and denied he was a copyist.

"Hey, check out this dork in the big, furry vest with the hot hippie-chick!"

Bob Dylan with 60s Pop Art pioneer, Andy Warhol.


Dylan & Warhol at The Factory. Note the famous silkscreen of Elvis from Flaming Star.

In a restraunt with Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones.

Bob Dylan has shared the bill with Singer/Songwriter Joni Mitchell.


He even asked her to join his Rolling Thunder Review.


Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell onstage during Rolling Thunder.


And backstage during Rolling Thunder. That's Roger McGinn in the background.

Backstage with Muhammad Ali.

Bob with one of his early heros, Rock N Roll pioneer, Chuck Berry.

Dylan and Cash became friends in the 60s. Johnny admired Dylan's peotry and songwriting. He recorded some of his songs. In the late 60s, he sang on Dylan's Country-influenced album, 'Nashville Skyline'. He also provided liner notes.


When Johnny got his variety show in 1970, Dylan made a rare TV appearance as his guest on the first show.

Bob Dylan recording in Nashville in 1969. That is Charlie Daniels to the right of him. Wouldn't you expect Charlie Daniels to be to the right of Bob Dylan?

Doug Sahm was a local Texas hero in San Antonio. He had couple of minor hits in the 60s under the name of The Sir Douglas Quintet. A name he used in an effort to get some radio time when the charts were dominated by British invasion acts. In an effort to make himself known nationally, he recorded a solo album in 1973 showcasing his strengths. They included Tex-Mex, Rock, Blues, and Country and he assembled some of the finest musicians from each to support him on this album called simply 'Doug Sahm and Band'. The biggest star to participate was Bob Dylan, but Dylan took a low-key, supporting role. He contributed one song,'Wallflower', which he sang with Doug, but the rest of the time he was in the background and didn't try to take the attention from Doug.



Here is the entire crew that worked on the album. It didn't really give Doug the national exposure he deserved, and wound up in the bargain bin. That's where I picked it up and was amazed at how an album this good could have been ignored by the public.
Dylan is sitting to Doug's left. In the wool hat on Doug's other side is Dr. John. and behind him is long-time Doug Sahm bandmate, Augie Myer. Doug did finally see some success decades later with The Texas Tornados.

Bob Dylan and Gonzo Journalist, Hunter S. Thompson.

Bob Dylan And Neil Young and Eric Clapton.


Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton onstage.

Bob Dylan and another Texas legend, Willie Nelson onstage. Hard rain, indeed.

Bob Dylan and David Bowie.

Patti Smith was a street poet who had some success in the 70s. She seemed to have found a kindred spirit in Bob Dylan. The two appear very cozy in every picture I have seen of them together.

Bob Dylan and Dennis Hopper. Dylan has appeared in several movies.

Bob Dylan and Ronee Blakely.

Bob Dylan and Robert De Niro, Ronee Blakely, and friends.

Bob Dylan and Jack Nicholson.

Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson in 'Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid'.

"Yours is bigger, Bob."

Bob Dylan and Tom Petty onstage.

Bob Dylan and Tom Petty in The Rolling Thunder Revue.

Bob Dylan and Bono.

In 1987 Bob Dylan did a mini-tour with The Grateful Dead.


This album was the result.

Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler.

Bob and Sara Dylan. Married from 1965 to 1977. She was the inspiration for 'Sad-Eyed lady of The Lowlands' and 'Sara'.


He was all smiles with Ronee, Patti, Joan, and Suzi, but quite serious with Sara.

Bob Dylan and Barack & Michelle Obama.