Unreleased "Hard Rain" television special, 1976
Throughout the month of June, 1982, Bob Dylan sporatically spent time recording at his Rundown Studios in Santa Monica, California, starting with a June 1 session for backing vocalist (and former Raelette) Clydie King (who coincidently appeared on 1969's Dylan's Gospel album, as well as The Rolling Stones' 1972 classic, Exile On Main Street.) Later in the month, Dylan recorded some (probably) instrumental material with Bruce Gary and Bobbye Hall.
On June 6, however, Bob Dylan gave his only live performance of the year. At the time he was between projects (1981's Shot Of Love and 1983's Infidels), and had not appeared on stage since the previous November.
The concert was called "Peace Sunday: We Have A Dream", a six-hour concert for nuclear disarmament, and it took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The acts that day included speakers Ed Asner, Jesse Jackson, Cesar Chavez, with music by Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, Dan Fogelberg, Gary U.S. Bonds and Bonnie Raitt. Dylan was a surprise guest during Joan Baez's set.
"With God On Our Side", Newport, 1963
Dylan and Baez, each playing acoustic guitars, performed three songs together at one microphone - "With God On Our Side", Jimmy Buffett's "A Pirate Looks At Forty", and "Blowin' In The Wind", with Joan smiling throughout the set.
Baez introduced Dylan as "Robert", and he then walked onstage, guitar in one hand, harmonica rack in the other. He placed the rack on a stool, strapped on the guitar, and joined Baez mid-stage, while a roadie adjusted his microphone. After a quick attempt at tuning their guitars, Dylan started waving at someone behind the stage, until Baez pulled Dylan back by his hair. The pair then launched into "With God On Our Side", although the lower part of Dylan's guitar strap fell off during the performance.On the video I have, lines about six million Jews dying in World War II, Judas Iscariot, and God stopping the next war were all abruptly edited out.
The duets were "loose" to say the least, with the lyrics to the Buffett song allegedly written on Dylan's shirt sleeve, and you can see Baez looking at Dylan's left arm at the start of the performance. It is assumed Dylan chose "A Pirate Looks At Forty" because he turned 40 just over a year before this concert. It's a nice, breezy version, albeit a bit hesitant, with Baez often waiting for Dylan to start the next line of the song. As the song progressed, Dylan kept checking his own sleeve for lyrics. Toward the end, even Dylan smiled, and as the song ended, decided to fix his hair in the back.
After a little private discussion, Dylan and Baez took a stab at "Blowin' In The Wind". After the first verse, Baez asked for the audience to join in. Dylan then proceded to sing the wrong verse, and Baez just rolled her eyes, then imitated Dylan during one line. As they left the stage to a standing ovation, it looked like Dylan threw something (a pick?) into the crowd. Dylan left the venue immediately after his performance. His next major live concert appearance would be in Italy on May 28, 1984, although he guested at a Levon Helm/Rick Danko club gig in New York in 1983.
The show was professionally filmed and has been in the hands of collectors for years, but has never been officially released. Part of "With God On Our Side" was shown on "Entertainment Tonight" the night of the event.
There are no videos that I can currently find online, but there is a photograph from the concert, as well as other uploads that you may find interesting.
Dylan, Baez, and Carlos Santana,Germany, 1984
As for any connection between Dylan and Buffett:
As Buffett writes in his 1998 book A Pirate Looks at Fifty, he had been told Dylan and Joan Baez duetted on his tune "A Pirate Looks at Forty" at an anti-nuke rally in California. In 1975 Dylan wrote and recorded the lilting "Mozambique," which sounds like a Buffett song. Buffett wound up having lunch with Dylan. They didn't talk music. They talked boats and Dylan gave him a tour of the Water Pearl. No word if they drank margaritas.
UPDATE: This has been uploaded to You Tube:
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Comments
I attended Peace Sunday. It was a surprise appearance but there was obviously hope and rumors that Bob would show up and play with Joan. It really shocked me and everyone else that Bob actually showed up. The video was actually shot by ABC news, channel 7. I have all the video that was shot and also have the audio on CD but I'm a huge collector. email me Harold, and I'll send you copies: dylandy@aol.com
I too attended this concert after seeing Dan Fogelberg the night before (my birthday) at an ampetheater in Irvine, CA the night before and then driving to the Rose Bowl and crashing in the parking lot with everyone else that wanted a blanket on the grass near the front. What a great day! Perfect weather, perfect music and I would love to find out how to get a copy of the footage and audio. Thanks, fellow Dylan fan.
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