TV Talkin' Bob Dylan on film and television 1970-1979

TV Talkin' Home - DVD Page - VCD Page - 1960s 1960-1964 - 1965-1969 1970s 1970-1979 1980s 1980-1983 - 1984-1985 -
1986-1989 1990s 1990-1992 - 1993-1996 - 1997-1999 2000>2000-2005

1970-1979
The 1970's were a roller-coaster ride for Bob Dylan, starting off quietly with little to show for the first few years apart from a few country music albums, a couple of songs at the Concert for Bangladesh and an acting role in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. But things picked up with a huge concert tour with The Band in 1974 and a creative spurt that produced at least 2 classic albums. If that wasn'r enough, the decade continued with Renaldo & Clara, a divorce, a world tour and a religious conversion that spawned controversey and great music in equal measure.

8 June 1970 - Release of 10th Album, Self Portrait
21 October 1970 - Release of 11th Album, New Morning
1/12/70 - Earl Scruggs TV Show - Carmel, New York ** 2 songs (5m)
East Virginia blues/Nashville skyline rag
Bob almost lost in the crowd at the Scruggs family sing-along. The sound is fairly muddy, and there is a commentary over "Nashville skyline rag".
1/8/71- A Concert for Bangladesh - **** 4 songs (20m)
Hard rain/It takes a lot to laugh/Blowin' in the wind/Just like a woman
George Harrison introduces Dylan in his first major public appearance since the Isle of Wight in 1969.
A short fragment of 'If not for you' from previous days rehearsal is also included in the official movie.
30/10/71 - Freetime: Allen Ginsberg & Friends - Channel 13 PBS TV New York 4 songs (35m)
Nurses song/September on Jessore Road/A Dream/Mantra
Dylan helps out in Ginsberg's backing band for this show. An audio copy is available for the dedicated.

November 1972 - February 1973 - Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid - ****4+ songs (1h 20m)
Billy (1,4 & 7)/Knockin' on heaven's door/Various instrumentals
Sam Peckinpah's film is now available in two versions. The studio cut and his. For some reason the latter, although the better film, omits Knockin' on heaven's door. Having been re-edited once already, I suppose the possibility of more clips from the cutting room floor can't be ruled out.

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid on VHS Video - Order it now from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
13 July 1973 - Release of 12th Album, Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid
16 November 1973 - Release of 13th Album, Dylan
17 January 1974 - Release of 14th Album, Planet Waves
January 1974 - WNBC TV News **(5m)
Media coverage of the 1974 tour was banned and was only breached once, so far as we know, at the Nassau Collessium, New York when WNBC filmed a section of the acoustic set on 28 or 29 January. This was shown at least three times though I'm not aware of it circulating today.
The only film record of the 1974 tour available is fairly poor 8mm dubbed audience film (around 20 minutes worth from a variety of shows).
There was a documentary called 'Cathode Ray Theatre' shown that year - but I don't know what footage it included.
20 June 1974 - Release of 15th Album, Before The Flood
17 January 1975 - Release of 16th Album, Blood on the Tracks
26 June 1975 - Release of 17th Album, The Basement Tapes
10/9/75 - The John Hammond Tribute - **** 3 songs (20m)
Hurricane/Oh sister/Simple twist of fate
The Rolling Thunder team appear in a televised tribute to the man who "discovered" Dylan.

click here for RealVideo clip
Late 1975 - Renaldo and Clara - ***** - 12+ songs (4h)
When I paint my masterpiece/Isis/Hard rain/It ain't me, babe/Heaven's door/Romance in durango/It takes a lot to laugh/One more cup of coffee/Sara/Never let me go/Tangled up in blue/Just like a woman
Bob's four hour epic contains nearly one hour of Rolling Thunder concert footage and 3 hours of improvised scenes which you'll love or loathe. Also released to the cinema in a two hour version.

7/12/75 - Clinton, New Jersey Correctional Institute - TV News *** 3 songs (10m)
Hurricane/Blowin' in the wind/Knockin' on heaven's door
The only TV news clips of the Rolling Thunder tour as the band visits Ruben 'Hurricane' Carter for a prison concert. Includes some nice clips and interviews with Carter.
16 January 1976 - Release of 18th Album, Desire
22/4/76 - Clearwater, Florida ****10 songs (1h)
Mr Tambourine man/The times they are a-changin'/St Augustine/When I paint my masterpiece/Like a rolling stone/Isis/Just like a woman/Knockin' on heaven's door/Lay lady lay/Blowin' in the wind
Taped for Midnight Special TV show but never shown. Also features two songs by Joan Baez, if you like that sort of thing.

click here for RealVideo clip
23/5/76 - Hard Rain TV Special - NBC-TV, Fort Collins, Colorado *****11 songs (1h)
Hard rain/Blowin' in the wind/Railroad boy/Deportees/I pity the poor immigrant/Shelter from the storm/ Maggie's farm/One too many mornings/ Mozambique/ Idiot wind/Knockin' on heaven's door
shown on US TV in preference to Clearwater, and it's easy to see why. Dylan fairly burns his way through the songs.

click here for RealVideo clip
10 September 1976 - Release of 19th Album, Hard Rain
25/11/76 - The Last Waltz - *****3 songs (12m)
Forever young/Baby let me follow you down/I shall be released
Three songs from The Band's valedictory, with Dylan leading the ensemble in the final song.
The end of an era? In some ways, but also the start of another..


The Last Waltz DVD - Order it now from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
1 March 1977 - Sara files for divorce.
17/2/78 - Tokyo - TV news clip - (1m)
News clip of Dylan's arrival at the airport and extracts from the subsequent press conference. Includes a short clip from the Tokyo Budokan gig.

10/3/78 - Sydney - ATN-7 news clip - (1m)
Airport arrival and brief press question broadcast on 'Willesee at Seven'
1/6/78 - Los Angeles - TV news clips **3 songs (10m)
Maggie's farm(i)/I don't believe you(f)/Like a rolling stone
My copy has a couple of sound/picture drop-outs, but is generally OK. The cameraman is some way from the stage and therefore we don't get too close to Dylan. we get about 3 minutes of 'Maggie's Farm', 30 seconds of 'I don't believe you' and 5:40 of 'Rolling stone'
15 June 1978 - Release of 20th Album, Street Legal
15/6/78 - London - TV news clips *** 3 songs (i) (10m)
Love her with a feeling/Baby stop crying/Mr Tambourine man
Fragmented shaky clips of Dylan's historic return to the UK. Most of the 10 minutes is audience interviews and footage of the queues (this was a big media story at the time).
26/6/78 - Dortmund - TV news clips ** 2 songs (6m)
Baby stop crying (i)/She's love crazy (f)
Three news reports of the Dortmund concert, all carrying similar minute long clips of "Baby stop crying". Besides being very short (30s), the "Love crazy" clip has a commentator talking over most of it. Footage (15s) of Dylan boarding a bus is also included.
29/6/78 - Berlin - TV news clips - ** (3m)
Short news story of Bob arriving in Berlin by train for his gig there. Bob, looking cool in his shades and waistcoat, isn't exactly chatty, but doesn't seem to mind the attention too much on this occassion.

23/6/78 - Rotterdam - Cinema news
Love her with a feeling/Mr. Tambourine Man/Shelter from the storm
Clips from 3 songs shown (though these could actually be from Berlin?) Newsreel for Dutch cinemas.
5/7/78 - Paris - TV news clips *** 2 songs (2m)
Changing of the guard(f)/The times they are a-changin'(f) Good clips. Good sound and the camera getting close to Dylan. Unfortunately, very short and the "Times" clip is just the closing instrumental, but Bob looks like he's really enjoying himself!
11/7/78 - Sweden - TV news clips * (5m)
A pissed off Dylan fends off reporters asking predictable questions at Landvetter Airport, Gothenburg. A transcript of these 'interviews' is available at the Bread Crumb Sins site.
15/9/78 - Augusta - TV news clips ** 2 songs(f) (7m or 30s)
Forever young/Changing of the guard
About twenty seconds of the Augusta gig are included in this profile of Dylan by ABC's Bob Brown. A further hour is rumoured to exist. Some clips from the film could be from the following night at Portland as that's where some of the audience interviews are from. Also includes 30s sound check footage (without Dylan) and clips from a Mike Porco interview and Renaldo & Clara.
30/9/78 - New York - TV news clips - * 1 song (1m)
A fragment of "Forever Young". Short, distant and not too clear. However, as with Augusta, further film is rumoured to exist.
also:
31/10/78 - St Paul - 1 song (40s)
Another rumour, this time of a fragment from Minnesota.
2/12/78 - Nashville - documentary film - *** - 3 songs (15m)
Mr Tambourine man/Masters of war/Changing of the Guard
The best available film from 1978 to date. This is also known as the "Film for Rome" (as shot by Italian crew).
'Tambourine' and 'Masters' have resurfaced in perfect quality in a 5/91 documentary 'Notte Rock Rai TV "Pegaso" TV special' (Isis 61).

click here for RealVideo clip
23 April 1979 - Release of 21st Album, At Budokan
18 August 1979 - Release of 22nd Album, Slow Train Coming
20/10/79 - Saturday Night Live - **** 3 songs (15m)
Gotta serve somebody/When you gonna wake up/I believe in you
A born-again Dylan appears on network TV to spread the word. He doesn't look like he's enjoying himself, but the performance is fine.

click here for RealVideo clip

TV Talkin' Home - DVD Page - VCD Page - 1960s 1960-1964 - 1965-1969 1970s 1970-1979 1980s 1980-1983 - 1984-1985 -
1986-1989 1990s 1990-1992 - 1993-1996 - 1997-1999 2000>2000-2005