Dylan's back pages - Ed Sullivan, UK television, and a London recording session

On May 12, 1963, Bob Dylan walked off the Ed Sullivan Show.

Dylan first auditioned for the program in the spring of 1962, about the time his debut album was released. According to Clinton Heylin, he performed "Pretty Peggy-O", "Man Of Constant Sorrow", and "Song To Woody", but did not impress. 

On or about the fifth day of May, 1963, Dylan was interviewed by Sullivan Show producer Bob Precht, and this time he passed the audition. 

On the afternoon of May 12, Bob Dylan performed four songs at an Ed Sullivan Show  dress rehearsal, including "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues".  Sullivan was OK with it, but the editor of "program practices" told Dylan to drop the song. (Dylan once said that it was suggested he sing a Clancy Brothers song instead, although he may have been joking). Instead, Dylan decided not to perform on the show that evening. 

For decades, it was thought that this event led Columbia records to remove the track form Dylan's second album, Freewheelin'. However, this decision was made before Dylan walked off the show..

On May 7, 1964, Dylan was supposed to arrive at England's Heathrow Airport , but was delayed until the 9th. He was scheduled to appear on the BBC TV program Tonight on May 8, but finally appeared on the 12th. He performed "his latest protest" - "With God On Our Side" - introduced by Cliff Michelmore. Only part of the song was broadcast.

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In May, 1965, Dylan was in England once again. On the 12th, two days after the end of a U.K. concert tour, Dylan was in London's Levy's Recording Studio, recording "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", as well as a Miami sales convension message.

"If You Gotta Go, Go Now" was a staple of Dylan's acoustic live shows in late 1964 and early 1965. This studio version was electric.  There is conflicting information, however, about the recording sessions, and what was officially released.

(Sony)

Dylan recorded the song multiple times during the Bringing It All Back Home sessions of January, 1965.  The booklet from 1991's The Bootleg Series Volume Volume 1-3 listed that version as the one released as a seven-inch single in the Benelux countries in 1967, as well as in this box set. Heylin also wrote in The Recording Sessions [1960-1994]  that the January 15 version was the one officially released.

For the May 12, 1965, session, Olof lists Dylan singing and playing piano, with the only accompanyment from Bluesbreaker Hughie Flint on drums (as in Heylin's Recording Sessions book),  with overdubs added in New York by Tom Wilson on May 21. He lists this as the released version.

In 1996's A Life In Stolen Moments, Heylin wrote that Dylan recorded with four members of the Bluesbreakers (John Mayall, Eric Clapton, future Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, and Flint) on May 12, 1965. Wilson flew in for the session, and spent time drinking lots of wine with Dylan, which hampered the sessions. Dylan seemed especially interested in Clapton's playing, according to Flint. 

However, this isn't even the complete story. Here's a description of the single from Alan Fraser,  at the Dylan rarities site, Searching For A Gem:

If You Gotta Go, Go Now - out-take from Bringing It All Back Home recorded at Columbia Studios, New York, 15 Jan1965

The A-side of this single manufactured in Holland, and also released in Belgium and Luxembourg.

This is an alternate version to the one released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3, with backup vocals on the choruses overdubbed by a group called The Poppies. The Poppies were an all-girl group from Jackson, MS, who had hits for the Columbia Records label Epic in 1966 with "Lullaby of Love" (also the title of their album) and "He's Ready". Their lead singer Dorothy Moore had an international solo hit in 1975 with "Misty Blue" and Fern Kinney had a UK No. 1 hit in 1980 with "Together We Are Beautiful".

Two composite versions of "If You Gotta Go, Go Now "were produced from an overdub session at Columbia Studios, New York, on 21 May 1965. Composite 1 was released as this single, Composite 2 was released on The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3. The musicians who took part on 21 May 1965 aren't named, and although there's no mention of singers Michael Krogsgaard thinks the vocal overdubbing may have taken place then. However, The Poppies' recording career for Epic as a group occurred only from 1966, so the vocal overdubbing may actually have been recorded later. No such session for this time period is listed in Michael Krogsgaard's series on Bob Dylan's recording sessions in "The Telegraph" and "The Bridge".

(UPDATE) : All takes recorded 15 Jan 1965, overdubbed 21 May 1965 and two composites created. Composite 1 released as a single in 1967, Composite 2 released on The Bootleg Series 1-3. Krogsgaard thinks that the backing singers could also have been added to Composite 1 on 21 May 1965, but as the Poppies didn’t exist as a group until 1966, I think that’s unlikely. In 1965 Dorothy Moore was in a group called Dorothy Moore and the Dolletts!

Here's a version of the song sung in French, entitled "Si Tu Dois Partir", by Fairport Convention, from 1969:

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