On April 25, 1993, Bob Dylan was in Austin, Texas, attending For The Sake Of The Song, a tribute concert to Townes Van Zandt. He left early once he was recognized.
A couple of days later, Dylan was at Austin's WRLU Studios to appear on a television special, Willie Nelson: The Big Six-O.
Dylan and Nelson have friends for years, and have toured together several times. Dylan's comments about American farmers at Live-Aid in 1985 led to Nelson's annual Farm-Aid benefits, which continue to this day. Nelson covered "What Was It You Wanted" at Bob-Fest on October 16, 1992. On the19th, Don Was produced a Dylan/Nelson duet of "Heartland" at The Power Station in New York City. It appeared on Nelson's 1993 album Across The Borderline.
Dylan was at WRLU on two consecutive days - April 27 and 28. The first time seemed to be a dress rehearsal, with Dylan performing a full-band arrangement of the Stephen Foster classic, "Hard Times" . He was backed by band members John Jackson on guitar, Tony Garnier on bass, and Bucky Baxter on accordion, with Marty Stuart playing mandolin. You can see the televised version below.
The actual taping took place on the 28th. Dylan performed "Hard Times" again, as well as a duet with Nelson of the Townes Van Zandt classic, "Pancho and Lefty". (above) They were backed by "The Healing Hands of Time Band" : Reggie Young (guitar), Mark Goldenberg (guitar), Robbie Turner (pedal steel guitar), Marty Stuart (mandolin), Mickey Raphael (accordion), Benmont Tench (keyboards), Mark O’Connor (violin), Don Was (bass), and Kenny Aronoff (drums).
The program was broadcast May 22, 1993, on CBS-TV. The television special also included some comments by Dylan about Nelson. Enjoy.
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Comments
That Hard Times video is tremendous.
Willie Nelson, a man who can write a good song but is not that good of a singer, doesn't project well especially live. Notice how the song shifts into fifth gear when Dylan sings. Dylan is a superb vocalist.
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