Happy Birthday Bob Dylan, 80 Years Forever Young.

 I thought I'd celebrate Bob's 80th birthday today by dusting off a story that I wrote a few years ago that was published in a book called Bob Dylan, The Day I Was There................
The year was 1978 and the times they were a changing. Punk rock had swept the country and the old guard was being pushed aside. It was announced that Bob Dylan was to arrive in Britain for five nights at London's Earls Court. The news was greeted with derision by the new wave but for anyone over 25 this was the best news in years. It was Dylan's first visit to Britain for 9 years, since his legendary appearance at the Isle Of Wight festival in 1969. Excitement spread like wildfire throughout the land. The tickets were to go on sale at various venues around the country one Sunday morning at 9.00.Each person was allowed to buy four tickets. The nearest venue to us was the Colston Hall in Bristol.
The night before the tickets went on sale I began to get worried that we would be at the back of the queue and miss out on the tickets. "I think we should be in the queue now," I said to my friends.

We set off for Bristol with our sleeping bags sure that we would be the first in line at the box office. When we got to Colston Hall we were surprised to see a line of people stretching from the box office to the corner of the street. To our horror when we got to the corner we found the queue stretched all the way along the next street as well. There were already thousands of people camped out to get Bob tickets. This was the amazing appeal of Bob Dylan in those days.
There was a fantastic atmosphere on the streets of Bristol that night as a mini Bob fest was held, people sat on the pavement drinking and chatting and listening to Dylan on tape recorders and the sweet smell of marijuana drifted up Colston Street. Next morning the bleary eyed revelers began to shuffle forward when the box office opened. Finally with a sigh of relief I had the precious tickets in my grasp. We were going to see Bob Dylan!

A few weeks later we found ourselves in the vastness of Earls Court arena, Bob was just a tiny figure in the distance and this was before the age of huge video screens. If my memory serves me well he was wearing a top hat.The band were superb though and included three girl singers who were excellent. I think this was the best band Bob had in his career. It's so long ago now in the mists of time that I can't remember a lot about the concert apart from Bob getting a huge round of applause when he first played the harmonica on Love Minus Zero No Limit, also the crowd gave a huge cheer when during It's Alright Ma,I'm Only Bleeding Bob sang "Sometimes even the President of the United States has to stand naked", this was only four years since Nixon resigned don't forget. I think my favourite song that night was  I Want You which Bob had slowed right down to a haunting  ballad. There were also songs from his brand new album Street Legal which were excellent. I think the last song he did was Forever Young and during this song people started holding up cigarette lighters and candles until there were 15,000 little lights inside Earls Court. It was an amazing sight.The whole concert was a deeply moving spiritual experience.

Then it was announced that Dylan was to end his European tour with a huge outdoor concert at Blackbushe Aerodrome near Camberley in Surrey. It was to be known as The Picnic.Some picnic this was! Once more we set off to see Bob. The official figure of the attendance that day was 165,000 but anyone who was there knows that the real figure was about three times that. It was vast, I think it is only rivaled by the Stones concert in Hyde Park as the biggest concert ever in Britain. As well as Bob, Eric Clapton was on and Joan Armatrading and Graham Parker And The Rumour who were a hot band in those days. All the glitterati were there, during Bob's set Ringo Starr and George Harrison could be seen at the side of the stage. A good friend of mine sent me a bootleg of this concert a couple of years ago.This is the setlist from that amazing night,

My Back Pages, Love Her With a Feeling, Baby Stop Crying, Just Like Tom Thumb Blues, Shelter From The Storm, It's All Over Now Baby Blue, Girl From The North Country , Ballad Of a Thin Man, Maggie's Farm, Simple Twist Of Fate, Like a Rolling Stone,I Shall Be Released, Is Your Love In Vain, Where Are You Tonight?, A Change Is Gonna Come, Mr. Tambourine Man, Laissez-Faire, Gates Of Eden, True Love Tends To Forget, One More Cup Of Coffee, Blowin' In The Wind I Want You, Señor ,Masters Of War, Just Like a Woman, To Ramona, Don't Think Twice It's Alright, All Along the Watchtower, All I Really Want to Do, It's Alright Ma, Forever Young, Changing Of The Guards, The Times They Are A Changin'.
It took us hours to find our car afterwards and it was dawn before we finally made it to the main road to head home. There would never again be a concert in Britain like Dylan's concert at Blackbushe which was the hippies graveyard. For me it represented the end of an era. The following winter was the winter of discontent and in 1979 Thatcher seized power and a darkness descended upon the country which she held in the grip of her icy claw. I saw Dylan again in 1981 but it wasn't the same. By then I was disillusioned because if Bob Dylan was the voice of a generation how come someone like Thatcher got elected? For me it was only Glastonbury Festival which kept the flame of hope alive during those dark years of unemployment and poverty. I lost interest in Bob for a while especially when he reached his nadir with the Saved album and then his shambolic awful performance at Live Aid, but in recent years I have returned to playing Bob's records and there is no doubt to me that he is one of the greatest poets who ever lived and anyone who ever saw Bob perform live is privileged.
So thank you for writing the best songs
Thank you for righting a few wrongs
You're a savage gift on a wayward bus
But you stepped down and you sang to us
(Words by Joan Baez)