New Wilbury: John Candy

 

Bob Dylan Concert

 July 1, 1981 

Lennon and Dylan

 May 27, 1966

The Night of the Hurricane II

 

On January 25, 1976 Ringo Starr became part of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue.  They performed at the Houston Astrodome as part of the Night of the Hurricane II.   This concert was a 7 hour extraviganza that cost $12.75 for a full day ticket.  

The concert was to raise money for Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who was a boxer that had been wrongly convicted of murder.  Carter wasn't released from prison until 1985, after spending over 18 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.  Carter had written a book while in prison in 1974, which Bob Dylan had read and wrote a song about, claiming Carter was innocent.  

The concert in Houston was the second fundraising concert, with the first being at Madison Square Garden in New York City.   I couldn't find how Ringo exactly became involved.  It is interesting because he was not playing the drums publicly in 1976.   

The concert was said to have had a lot of sound issues and concertgoers were very angry about the bad experience. 

T-Bone, Barb and Ringo (and Bob Dylan too)

 I shared a recent photo of Paul and Nancy last night so it is time for a new Ringo and Barb photo tonight! 

The Greenhouse in LA

 March 11, 1975 

Strumming with Dylan

 November 28, 1968 

Daycare Centers and Night School

 

Recording of  one of my top 5 songs of all time:  Handle With Care 

Jamming with George and Bob

 Rest in Peace Jeff Beck ...

Temples in Flames Tour

 

October 17, 1987 -  Bob Dylan along with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers went on a great tour called "Temples in Flames."   The tour ended in London and so there is no surprise that George Harrison (and Jeff Lynne) showed up backstage.   

George and friends at the Palomino

February 19, 1987  - The Palomino in Los Angeles
 

Bob at Bangledesh

 

August 1, 1971 

Happy 80th Birthday Bob!

 In honor of Bob Dylan's 80th birthday and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Concert for Bangladesh, I thought it would be a good idea to share some photos of when Bob was on the stage for this historical concert. 

Zimmerman and Harrison

 

Rock Royalty wives have a chat

Bob Dylan's wife, Sara chat with George Harrison's wife, Pattie during the Isle of Wight music festival in 1969.

Country Raga?

Country Raga?
Dylan & Harrison  -  A Loose Session

By Miles

George Harrison sat in with Dylan at Columbia Studio B recently (early May) and during twelve hours of recording they laid down some oldies, some Beatles number and a number of new Dylan compositions, some of which were described as very beautiful love songs.  Bob Johnson's production was said to consist of him shouting "go!" every time it looked like Dylan was going to play something.  The engineer would then turn on the tape.

It was a loose session:  Russ Kunkel, who had flown in from L.A. to play drums, had never met Dylan or George before and wasn't familiar with the new numbers.  On one track he just blocked in behind Dylan, thinking it was a run through.  When they finished he was surprised when Dylan accepted the take as a master.  Another instance came when George thought aht one of Dylan's new numbers deserved a production job done on it and that they should work on it some.   After the first take Dylan asked, "Was it that rough?"  On being told that it wasn't that bed he decided to leave it at the first take.   If George can't persuade Dylan to work on his material then nobody can...So most of the tracks are first take only for that down-home, just-us-guys-hangin'-out-together sound.

The fate of these fabled tracks is unclear.  Presumably masterminds Al Grossman and Alan Klein will have to meet at last and work something out -- another historic meeting.  George fits in well with other groups:  his work with Delaney and Bonnie when they toured England, his track on Goodbye Cream, his productions and bass playing with the Apple artists, particularly Jackie Lomax, suggest that maybe he was being held back by the Beatles as well as john (who graduated to heavy rock), Ringo (who moved on to hollywood showbiz), Paul (stay at home musical genius).

 so far we haven't heard a solo album by George, his Electronic Music being his early experiments with a newly acquired Moog, and Wonderwalls being written for the movie.  A George solo album will be well worth waiting for, as well as completing the gap left by the other three Beatles solo albums.

George's direction, that of soul/gospel oriented, Indian sounding rock is unique and, if he has contributed musically to Dylan rather than jammed with him will provide us with a strange new combination;   country raga.  Far out eh?

Farewell to Gregg

Gregg Allman, Cher,  & Bob Dylan along with Paul and Linda enjoy some beverages on March 11, 1975.

Goodbye Leon Russell

When I think of Leon Russell I think of him in the film for the concert for Bangladesh.   Long before I knew his name, he caught my eye and I enjoyed watching him perform during that film.

I am sure that you have all heard by now that Leon Russell passed away early this morning.   He was a great friend of the Beatles.   Besides working with George, he also worked with John and Ringo.  

2016 has been quite a year---and as we continue through the 2010's, I shudder to think who is going to be next.

Not Beatles related, but I love this 1970 photograph of Leon

Back when Bob Dylan was just a guy performing for Bangladesh