In which Bob Dylan sings for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in a mock lumberjack camp in Toronto, for an audience of gruff Jack Kerouac lookalikes:
Set list:
1. The Times They Are A Changin'
2. Talkin' World War III Blues
3. Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
4. Girl From The North Country
5. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
6. Restless Farewell
It was part of a promotional tour for his forthcoming album The Times They Are A -Changin', though half of the songs are from the already released Freewheelin'.
More details here:
In early 1964, Bob Dylan was at the apex of his journey as a socially conscious folk singer. The fleeting moment is preserved in this rare half-hour TV program, recorded on February 1 of that year. Within a week the Beatles would land in America. In a little over a month, Dylan would rent an electric guitar.
The television performance is from Quest, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series that ran between 1961 and 1964 and showcased a wide range of literary and performing arts. It was produced in Toronto by Daryl Duke, who went on to direct American television programs and feature films....
“The Times They Are a-Changin’,” as the program is titled, offers a unique glimpse of the early Bob Dylan, just before his music turned from social issues to personal ones, just before he put away the blue jeans and work shirts and began wearing Beatle boots and sunglasses.
And here:
Dylan would have certainly been amenable to the format: for his program, they proposed no interviews or talk, just him performing in a Guthriesque, log cabin setting. His “audience” consisted of stage actors in character who listened, worked, or wrote letters as he played. [...]
Dylan’s appearance on Quest provides the closest approximation available of what his early performances in Greenwich Village would have looked and sounded like...
In venues such as Gerde’s Folk City and the Gaslight, Dylan perfected his craft and wrote several of the songs for which he is best remembered. His performances on Quest are nearly flawless, capturing a moment in which playing these songs were as natural to him as breathing.
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