Guest
This was recorded for the PBS special, “The World of John Hammond“, which celebrated the influence and success of legendary talent scout and producer John Hammond; he can be seen at 2:18 grooving along to Dylan's performance. Taping took place at WTTW-TV Studios in Chicago on September 10, 1975, and also included “Hurricane“ and “Simple Twist of Fate“. This recording was subsequently broadcast that December, and then once more the following year, with this track edited out (although it is a beautiful rendition and my personal favorite of the three songs played, it's probably the least polished). Legends such as Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson were also featured on this show. Whereas they accepted PBS's invitation months in advance, Dylan confirmed just two days prior, as is typical! He recruited some of the musicians who played on his recently completed album, “Desire“: Scarlet Rivera (violin), Howie Wyeth (drums), and Rob Stoner (Bass & Backup vocals). This band eventually became the core of Dylan's set on the Rolling Thunder Revue tour, which would start touring the next month. So, one could argue that this is the earliest live performance of the Rolling Thunder Revue. The raw, whispy sound that this four-piece band makes is really incredible, so I wish we had more recordings like this. Interestingly, when Dylan recruited these musicians, he only told them that they were doing a gig in Chicago, mentioning nothing about being broadcasted on a major television station with Columbia executives in the audience, and not to mention John Hammond himself. Here is a fascinating anecdote from Rivera: “Bob asked me and the trio of Rob and Howie to join him in Chicago for the tribute to John Hammond Sr, who changed the course of music by his vision and courage to sign many greats, including Bob Dylan, to CBS. This was another First. I had never performed on live TV and now it was going to be in front of every senior executive of CBS and a viewing audience of millions! I am amazed still that Bob had confidence in me to pull this extremely important concert off without failing on live TV, especially as this show was before a single live concert to support Desire. I would also perform “A Simple Twist of Fate“ with him, and I had only rehearsed it that afternoon once backstage. Appreciating the song and playing it live with the man himself are two very different things! I was incredibly tense and taut, but I indeed pulled it off, and it is my all-time favorite video of playing live with him.“ Love & Peace, ~SP
