Totally agree...he basically said...”oh, that new wave punk shit you guys think is so rad....yeah I’ll take a slow, brilliant song I have and do this with a random tejano band”
hollie65 I watch this clip a few times a year. And every time I do I scroll down to see your comment. Because it’s so true. I’m pretty sure this is my first TH-cam comment ever - I just had to say how much I believe you are right!
This may be Dylan's peak live performance of the 80's, but let's be honest, The Plugz deserve a huge amount of the praise for bringing the energy. This is the best version of this song that exists as far as I'm concerned.
Agreed ...and sad Dylan didn't do more with them...thinking of how much better a lot of Dylan's material in the mid and late 80s could have been with these guys backing him.
@@gustavmarie For SURE! He could have potentially saved a lot of mid-80's embarrassment if he had given these kids a chance to be his backing band. It could have revitalized his career much earlier and given his music a whole new life. Sadly wasted potential, but God alone knows what is going through Dylan's head sometimes.
@@aricfroze8971 He was indeed planning to take this band out on a South American tour and then maybe to Europe, but the concert promoters talked him out of it and instead using the Ronnie Taylor-led band featured on REAL LIVE. Dylan has often been indifferent to these things, and the 80s was the height of his indifference. His playing with Grateful Dead and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came from the same mentality----it wasn't his idea to play with them, record label execs and promoters suggested it and he said "Okay, whatever".
Actually, it was post-Plugz. They were The Crusados by then. But they were fantastic. Could you imagine a tour with these four? Dylan would have had another career high.
Just some of the songs left off the album like, "Lord Protect My Child", and "Blind Willie McTell" among others, are masterpieces that would make anyones career.
surfercrow Lou Reed sings "Foot of Pride" on Dylan's 30th anniversary concert. One of the few genuinely authentic and satisfying covers of a Dylan song. Dylan singing his own songs are still unequaled, although Jimi Hendrix "All Along The Watchtower" ain't bad.
I hated this album for the longest time, until I listened to it & read the lyrics as the songs played (like I'm sure most have done) and the album started to take shape, and it's grown on me.
I remember seeing this when it originally aired, and thinking it was one of the most exciting musical performances ever on TV. And I still think so today.
@@ruserious9577 I don't think anyone's ever claimed he had a great voice. But yeah, the songwriting and compositions are without a doubt second to none.
@@ruserious9577 His singing is not about notes, it’s about emotion. It requires a wider approach than you show. Give him a chance, you’ll realize he has the most passionate performances ever!
I keep watching this over and over. Seriously, this is incredible, it's like a fire was lit under Bob's ass. He is act like someone twenty years younger, alive as hell...fuck, this is incredible. Everyone who loves music needs to see this and then go back to Bob's earlier stuff. Hell, even now he is still putting out incredible stuff. The earth should crack in two when he dies or there is no justice, just dust...
Bob will never die :) Maybe the physical body will, but he's made such a huge cultural impact - it'll never fade. Just like the Grateful Dead said... not fade away.
Are you positive about that? I don’t have that collection but I can’t find any trace of this song being officially recorded with this backing band. @@yumiblake4547
Holy shit! I never saw Bob rock so hard as this. Total midwest rock sound, brings to mind the Replacements. Dave is from Indiana, so he gets it. Brilliant!
Great version, yeah the original is classic, but this is amazing. Post punk with some harp. If you don't like harder music then you probably can't appreciate it but I believe it just shows how much of a genius he is. None of his 60's "contemporaries" would have done one of their "classics" this way. I love the 60's stuff so much, but I'm glad to see him keeping up with the times and doing it so kick ass
I would have liked to see what this song would have sounded like if he ever played it live with the guys who recorded the original with him Knopfler and Mick Taylor
Those are two of the greatest guitarists England ever produced, so it would’ve sounded a bit smoother and technical. I don’t think that’s what Bob was going for here however. Bob likes to put his LEGO’s together then kinda beat ‘em up before he shows them to you.
Wow. Even when it falls apart near the end with Bob's chaotic harmonica playing this is rock and roll at its finest, most earthy. Dylan, just past 40 then, is a live wire twisting through a pool of water. I've never see him this animated, incredible version of this song...
How cool is this? Dylan is on a prime time show to promote his new album and he just rips away on a reworked version of his single. Mr. Dylan, I love you.
This is just another example of why Bob Dylan is so underrated (if it is even possible to suggest that). He can perform his majestic 'magic' in any medium. "Yeah the locusts sang, and they were singing for" . . . him.
Wow, I had no idea Dylan and The Plugz ever intersected back then. I used to watch Letterman a lot around this time but missed this show. This version totally rocks.
52 years old, watched a million episodes of The Late Show and Dylan videos,Jokerman is in my top5 favorite Dylan songs and I’m just seeing this... wow.
One of Bob's finest post heyday moments, methinks. Almost has a post-punk feel to it. The Plugz dudes no doubt contribute to that. Bob's performance is erratic Genius at it's finest. And funniest. Great Stuff.
@@DeeckyRizzo I disagree. The album version has a different time set and is almost overproduced while this is a kind of stripped down take on his own song... just put out. Compare them.
so basically of tempo and key....that said this song an absolute favourite that tanscenends rock in to a spiritualist message and whom serves who,as above so below and vice versa....
@@emoedison The Strokes are pretty damn good, even now. The band has always been mega talented. I think that's why they had such a huge buzz when their first album came out - total 80s New Wave revival. They had the look downpat - that early live performance (called 2 Dollar Bill, I think? It's on TH-cam) even had Nick Valensi with a suit jacket with the sleeves rolled up. They knew what they were doing ;)
This is totally kick arse. Wish he had made some recordings with these guys. All those negative comments on here are by people who never got him in the first place. They need to listen to 'Positively 4th Street' to understand something about Dylan.
Amazing performance from any angle. Dylan adapted his music to become new wave. Also, the 3 other musicians are great. The fact that the harmonica was in the wrong key added a mystical quality........off the charts a great event.
This was ROCK and ROLL at it's best.BOB DYLAN making a rare T.V apperence to promote an album on Late night television.You'll never see anything like that on t.v EVER again.This was Eighties t.v. God bless BOB DYLAN AND DAVID LETTERMAN.
I was pretty young when this was on, but I remember 1) being FLOORED & 2) someone gave him the wrong harmonica to start with. he was amazing. & now, too.
only time he ever played with this band. legend has it he said "I'll call you guys in the morning" - and naturally that was the last time they ever heard from him haha
My two favorite kick-ass TV musical performances...this one and Neil Young doing "Keep On Rockin' in the Free World" on SNL...I've only seen the dress rehearsal of Neil's performance so that's the one I'm talking about. Love how the band just rocked on while Bob finds the right harp! Back when there was still a shred of spontaneity left in TV musical performances.
This performance encapsulates most of what we should all understand and get excited about when watching Dylan. It is raw, he's excited. The band are with him all the way. Of course they are, it's Bob Dylan for f*ck's sake! The fresh new song they are excited to play. Nothing is going to stop them from taking it to its magnificent end. It's relentlessly and brutally brilliant. It's instinctive and vital. The Stones style Keith Richards guitar line, the lyrics provoking, "what do you care?" Not much I've seen comes close to this. The TV studio crowd are blown away. Letterman is flabbergasted. This is a Dylan performance so vital, so enjoyable. Thank you sir for uploading
Only Dylan would just walk out of the camera angle casually to hand away his guitar and pick up an out of tune harmonica and still make a performance that outclasses most artist
Love these 3 songs. Have watched them so many times. I think that the harmonica situation Bob finds himself in is a making of his own device. At around 3.40 you see Bob puts the harp down on the amp. At around 3.50 Bob says "F!%k it" and picks up the same harp that he put down. He was running out of time and couldn't fluff around, so he had to wing it, even if the boys running around the back couldn't find the right harp. If I was playing to a TV audience and the roadie lost my harp, then really there is no alternative but to press on. I think Bob played that harp in the wrong key but was so genius that we can't even tell. The last 5 bars are sounding weak ,either the harp is spitting up, or it was a mission to nail it. The look he gives Dave at the end sums it up...." I tried my best mate".
This is Ed Sullivan Show quality. Watch it, and you will eventually agree. It's as Bob is playing on TV for the first time. Everything is perfect, even the mistakes. Check Paul yelping once Bob gets the right harmonica. At that point, everyone's running down the field trying to catch up with Bob before he reaches the end zone. Dave realizes he's witnessessing history being made.
Infidels was my first Bob album. Actually recorded the entire album off WIDR FM in Kalamazoo the college radio station would play an entire new album every night .. I started fairly young I was in 8th grade at the time ..
Argh, any Bob fan who was lucky enough to see this live must've been jumping out of their seats! This is absolutely rad!! Bob really going for it, the band is on FIRE and Bob is having a heap of fun - the fist punch halfway through (about 2:45) always makes me laugh :) :)
Just being able to share a comment on this star-crossed meeting of monolithic talents is a privilege! Scour the internet and you won't find anything half as cool. Thanks!
How many times has his genius been underrated or plain misunderstood!? Many musicians tell their tales of how difficult it was to work with him, as he would change up every minute. Maybe that's because in a world of constant fads and fashions, he remains current and topical in every sense. A consummate artiste.
Paul joked about playing "authentic Dylan licks" on the keyboards over his headphones while Bob was playing. David shut him down quick with a warning not let it go beyond his headphones.
I was backstage that night n went into Lettermans office...He was sucking off the bass player...He just shot his load...Brilliant performance I mean joker man...Bob saw too.. That's why they never went on 84...Notice the look after Blowing In the wind..Her skin was really bad ...ok. ..
I am in a weird place in my life where I come here once every day to watch this performance.
You must be my brother
you’re not weird. This is exceptionally good.
@@jaaacccckK Which means he's qualified to join your fan club.
Cos u got class my friend
Im here too, day 10 or so for me.
I don't know how people responded to this performance at the time, but I consider it to be one of the greatest TV rock performances I've ever seen.
Its pretty cool 😎
Totally agree...he basically said...”oh, that new wave punk shit you guys think is so rad....yeah I’ll take a slow, brilliant song I have and do this with a random tejano band”
Without a doubt..I place this one at the very top of live rock and roll ever on tv
I agree completely!
Somewhere on that list, this one too: th-cam.com/video/jiypLktxQqE/w-d-xo.html
not only the best songwriter in modern times but also a big entertainer and live performer
Bob looks like he's trying to hide just how much fun he's having here.
When he pumps his fist its the happiest he's been in a live performance in 5 years
And then he never jammed with these guys again. I think he felt guilty about rocking out.
THis is seriously one of the most rock and roll things that was ever on TV.
uh...nah: th-cam.com/video/H2OjbS_GnS4/w-d-xo.html
hollie65 I watch this clip a few times a year. And every time I do I scroll down to see your comment. Because it’s so true. I’m pretty sure this is my first TH-cam comment ever - I just had to say how much I believe you are right!
yes sir
Yeah I watch this all the time Bob's good on this one drummer not bad either
Tyler L. Gibson Uh, nah: Slayer on Fallon=idiotic.
"Freedom just around the corner for you, but with truth so far off, what good will it do?" This is so deep, man.
This may be Dylan's peak live performance of the 80's, but let's be honest, The Plugz deserve a huge amount of the praise for bringing the energy. This is the best version of this song that exists as far as I'm concerned.
Agreed ...and sad Dylan didn't do more with them...thinking of how much better a lot of Dylan's material in the mid and late 80s could have been with these guys backing him.
@@gustavmarie For SURE! He could have potentially saved a lot of mid-80's embarrassment if he had given these kids a chance to be his backing band. It could have revitalized his career much earlier and given his music a whole new life. Sadly wasted potential, but God alone knows what is going through Dylan's head sometimes.
@@-Ricky_Spanish- well whatever the case, we know self sabotage is one of his specialties…I’m sure he saw the potential and was like “nah, fuck it.”
@@aricfroze8971 He was indeed planning to take this band out on a South American tour and then maybe to Europe, but the concert promoters talked him out of it and instead using the Ronnie Taylor-led band featured on REAL LIVE.
Dylan has often been indifferent to these things, and the 80s was the height of his indifference. His playing with Grateful Dead and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came from the same mentality----it wasn't his idea to play with them, record label execs and promoters suggested it and he said "Okay, whatever".
Hello! The album version has Sly and Robbie on it.
The Plugs, ladies and gentlemen, and their new lead singer, some kid from Minnesota.
Holy fugh!! Wow!! Pretty rippin midwest rock sound, a la The Mats.
Actually, it was post-Plugz. They were The Crusados by then. But they were fantastic. Could you imagine a tour with these four? Dylan would have had another career high.
wow I didn’t realize they had played with Dylan! I love the plugz, not so big on the cruzados
Only Bob Dylan can go on a show to promote a new album and play two song's that sound nothing like they do on the album
He has a complete inability to play any of his own songs the same way twice. You may think it genius. Perhaps he just doesn’t care.
Yeah take it or leave it that's the poets way.
@@cademarshal1236 Gotta keep it interesting somehow. Anyone would get bored playing their own songs the same way for decades on end
100% Bob.
LOLOL
Dylan playing punk with an harmonica solo. Priceless
Only Bob Dylan would brake out in to a harmonica solo during a punk performance, what a legend.
He maybe should have put it in his pocket before the performance I guess.
He did have one but it was in the wrong key
Long live the memory of Charlie Quintana and The Plugz. This was killer!
Infidels is a terribly underrated Dylan album.
Just some of the songs left off the album like, "Lord Protect My Child", and "Blind Willie McTell" among others, are masterpieces that would make anyones career.
surfercrow Lou Reed sings "Foot of Pride" on Dylan's 30th anniversary concert. One of the few genuinely authentic and satisfying covers of a Dylan song. Dylan singing his own songs are still unequaled, although Jimi Hendrix "All Along The Watchtower" ain't bad.
Yes it is.
+letsif Uh Jimi's version of AATW is only one of the most beautiful works of art ever made.
I hated this album for the longest time, until I listened to it & read the lyrics as the songs played (like I'm sure most have done) and the album started to take shape, and it's grown on me.
I remember seeing this when it originally aired, and thinking it was one of the most exciting musical performances ever on TV. And I still think so today.
Ok
Lucky boomah
th-cam.com/video/SP--PD1BcGE/w-d-xo.html
Kevin k? Dtk lamf?
"You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing." What an image.
antifolkhero Hercules.
Jumpin' Jack Flash ............. ish
It's a song about the antichrist. It references to the constlation in the book of revelation.
One of the most important moments in Television history
the greatest artist of all time
@@ruserious9577 I don't think anyone's ever claimed he had a great voice. But yeah, the songwriting and compositions are without a doubt second to none.
I prefer Van Gogh.
@@ruserious9577 His singing is not about notes, it’s about emotion. It requires a wider approach than you show. Give him a chance, you’ll realize he has the most passionate performances ever!
yeeeee bit a stretch m8
@@kevinbanks8508 go watch dylan live performance in 70s man, you will see how great his voice was
RIP Charlie Quintana. Incredible drummer! You guys rocked this big time. Could possibly be the coolest performance in the history of television.
Agreed
Great the way the band carried the song while Bob was waiting to get his harmonica working! Probably one of the best raw performances ever☮️
Yea they rocked out too, they were just winging it until he got it sounding right. I think the harmonica was in the wrong key lol
@@alias_8_9LOL! Thanks for taking the time to reply ✌️🎶
I keep watching this over and over. Seriously, this is incredible, it's like a fire was lit under Bob's ass. He is act like someone twenty years younger, alive as hell...fuck, this is incredible. Everyone who loves music needs to see this and then go back to Bob's earlier stuff. Hell, even now he is still putting out incredible stuff. The earth should crack in two when he dies or there is no justice, just dust...
He was hungry.
I'm on Bob Dylan's side when the earth cracks. I'll go down with his ship anytime.
What a bomb of a performance.
The Dylan bob will echo in eternity
Bob will never die :) Maybe the physical body will, but he's made such a huge cultural impact - it'll never fade. Just like the Grateful Dead said... not fade away.
I wish to God there was a high-quality audio version of this available. One of the best performances in Bob's entire career.
Agreed. Ever heard that version "I pity the poor immigrant" from rolling thunder and Joan? It's up there with this. Reimagined
There’s this record called « Leonard cohen’s jukebox » that had this version of jokerman.
agreed!
Are you positive about that? I don’t have that collection but I can’t find any trace of this song being officially recorded with this backing band. @@yumiblake4547
@@deadheaders86Joan's moves with the tambourine are NUTS
Holy shit! I never saw Bob rock so hard as this. Total midwest rock sound, brings to mind the Replacements. Dave is from Indiana, so he gets it. Brilliant!
Dylan absolutely KILLED this !!!!!!! Legendary !!!!!!!
This, Maggie's Farm at Newport and Ballad of a Thin Man on the '66 England tour are three of the all-time great punk rock performances.
Rip Charlie Quintana " chalo"...amazing drummer
Great version, yeah the original is classic, but this is amazing. Post punk with some harp. If you don't like harder music then you probably can't appreciate it but I believe it just shows how much of a genius he is. None of his 60's "contemporaries" would have done one of their "classics" this way. I love the 60's stuff so much, but I'm glad to see him keeping up with the times and doing it so kick ass
whentherope l
This song was released in 1983 though, it was not a classic yet. It's not quite a classic today either, it's not one of Dylan's most famous songs
I would have liked to see what this song would have sounded like if he ever played it live with the guys who recorded the original with him Knopfler and Mick Taylor
One of his best if not his most famous. Still a classic
Those are two of the greatest guitarists England ever produced, so it would’ve sounded a bit smoother and technical. I don’t think that’s what Bob was going for here however. Bob likes to put his LEGO’s together then kinda beat ‘em up before he shows them to you.
The punk version was really cool. Raw. I like especially the wrong harmonica part. That adds the rawness of their performance.
Christopher Casey Good point. It's like Bob Dylan doing his version of The Clash' version of Jokerman by Bob Dylan.
I don't think it matters.It was a historic performance.Rockabilly working here for real.
Bob was on fire at this point. His voice sounded great, writing interesting songs.
I had the same 5th generation VHS tape. Back when collecting meant something.
Just saw this for the first time. Tears are still streaming from my eyes. Unfckg believable.
Wow. Even when it falls apart near the end with Bob's chaotic harmonica playing this is rock and roll at its finest, most earthy. Dylan, just past 40 then, is a live wire twisting through a pool of water. I've never see him this animated, incredible version of this song...
How cool is this? Dylan is on a prime time show to promote his new album and he just rips away on a reworked version of his single. Mr. Dylan, I love you.
This may be the greatest Rock and Roll TV moment post 1964!
This is just another example of why Bob Dylan is so underrated (if it is even possible to suggest that). He can perform his majestic 'magic' in any medium. "Yeah the locusts sang, and they were singing for" . . . him.
It's Bob Dylan, he's not fucking underrated.
Yeah, underrated... He even won the Nobel prize
eu já acho o contrário. Underrated? Nem fodendo.
Stupidity
Wow, I had no idea Dylan and The Plugz ever intersected back then. I used to watch Letterman a lot around this time but missed this show. This version totally rocks.
this shit is rocking i wish he recorded it like this
ME TOO
After all of these years, this video has reintroduced me to Jokerman. What a GREAT version. Yes, this is what rock and roll is all about.
He never sings a song the same twice,love it👍👍
52 years old, watched a million episodes of The Late Show and Dylan videos,Jokerman is in my top5 favorite Dylan songs and I’m just seeing this... wow.
How can something at once be so risible and so bad asssssss? Dylan is like the ultimate in-joke, though he might be the only one who really gets it.
Well put! There will definitely always be people who will never get the joke(erman).
One of Bob's finest post heyday moments, methinks. Almost has a post-punk feel to it. The Plugz dudes no doubt contribute to that. Bob's performance is erratic Genius at it's finest. And funniest. Great Stuff.
RIP Charlie “Chalo” Quintana, drummer of The Plugz and in this historic moment.
And Social Distortion.
I loved Charlie's playing with Izzy Straddling and the Ju Ju Hounds.
Brilliant. Bob Dylan is the emperor of modern music!
So basic and raw and rhythmic and quirky. I've listened to this countless times.
Yeah, of course... now, at your house, thru the magic of internet videos. But back then there was people doing it for the first time.
@@DeeckyRizzo I disagree. The album version has a different time set and is almost overproduced while this is a kind of stripped down take on his own song... just put out. Compare them.
@@mujin70 Wtf are you talking about? I never said the opposite
so basically of tempo and key....that said this song an absolute favourite that tanscenends rock in to a spiritualist message and whom serves who,as above so below and vice versa....
One of my favorite Dylan performances EVER!
Somewhere someone is sitting a on a good quality version of this... but he or she knows... the world is not ready.
He deconstructs his own song for the live version like another band would if they were to cover someone else’s song if that makes sense
So awesome. It's like he is a time traveller that has gone back in time with the strokes to perform this live.
The Strokes wish they could have been almost as good as the Plugz.
@@emoedison The Strokes are pretty damn good, even now. The band has always been mega talented. I think that's why they had such a huge buzz when their first album came out - total 80s New Wave revival. They had the look downpat - that early live performance (called 2 Dollar Bill, I think? It's on TH-cam) even had Nick Valensi with a suit jacket with the sleeves rolled up.
They knew what they were doing ;)
This is totally kick arse. Wish he had made some recordings with these guys. All those negative comments on here are by people who never got him in the first place. They need to listen to 'Positively 4th Street' to understand something about Dylan.
i love that bassist!! what a cool dude
Man it’s been a week since I was here, sorry Bob! Won’t happen again
Amazing performance from any angle. Dylan adapted his music to become new wave. Also, the 3 other musicians are great. The fact that the harmonica was in the wrong key added a mystical quality........off the charts a great event.
This band rocks.
Doesn't get any more pure, more honest, more gut-raw rock than this. What a fucking band!!!
This guy can sing in a very personal way. I hope he can make it and have a successful career.
The backing band look nervous as anything, but proud to be sharing a stage with Dylan. Great performances from all four of them.
The more I watch this, the more mesmerized I become by it.
One of the best Dylan live performances ever
Perhaps Bob should get one of those contraptions that holds a harmonica around his neck.
Funny!!!
The timing of the drummers cymbal is impeccable.
since I found this version of jokerman on youtube @ two weeks ago I have to listen to this at least once every day
haha exactly the same! something spirital
I visit here once a week and usually play it three or four times... brilliant!
This was ROCK and ROLL at it's best.BOB DYLAN making a rare T.V apperence to promote an album on Late night television.You'll never see anything like that on t.v EVER again.This was Eighties t.v. God bless BOB DYLAN AND DAVID LETTERMAN.
Phenomenal.....
I was pretty young when this was on, but I remember 1) being FLOORED & 2) someone gave him the wrong harmonica to start with.
he was amazing. & now, too.
imagine the adrenaline rush. playing with the great Bob Dylan
Here's a great article about that band playing with him on this occasion. www.vulture.com/2015/05/strange-saga-of-dylans-first-letterman-gig.html
Thank you for sharing!
Bob is the coolest.
Watch that drummer at 1:48 hitting the perfect afterbeat twice!
Fantastic u nutter - still brilliant
+Robert Laberge The great Charlie Quintana!
Cool man - Scotland smiling
Charlie Quintana... rip 🌹
Amazing fist pumping cymbal crashes
only time he ever played with this band. legend has it he said "I'll call you guys in the morning" - and naturally that was the last time they ever heard from him haha
at least he called the guy who f***** up with the harmonica😂
If this version had been recorded as a single, it would have went number one.
My two favorite kick-ass TV musical performances...this one and Neil Young doing "Keep On Rockin' in the Free World" on SNL...I've only seen the dress rehearsal of Neil's performance so that's the one I'm talking about. Love how the band just rocked on while Bob finds the right harp! Back when there was still a shred of spontaneity left in TV musical performances.
The drummers face starting at 3:38 is what rock and roll is all about
Never realized how AMAZING this is.....Dylan pulled off punk...SICK!
Esta version es uno de mis top 5 de Bob , sublime !!
This performance encapsulates most of what we should all understand and get excited about when watching Dylan. It is raw, he's excited. The band are with him all the way. Of course they are, it's Bob Dylan for f*ck's sake! The fresh new song they are excited to play. Nothing is going to stop them from taking it to its magnificent end. It's relentlessly and brutally brilliant. It's instinctive and vital. The Stones style Keith Richards guitar line, the lyrics provoking, "what do you care?" Not much I've seen comes close to this. The TV studio crowd are blown away. Letterman is flabbergasted. This is a Dylan performance so vital, so enjoyable. Thank you sir for uploading
Only Dylan would just walk out of the camera angle casually to hand away his guitar and pick up an out of tune harmonica and still make a performance that outclasses most artist
This is the best rock and roll performance of all time. No, I'm not joking.
Love these 3 songs. Have watched them so many times. I think that the harmonica situation Bob finds himself in is a making of his own device. At around 3.40 you see Bob puts the harp down on the amp. At around 3.50 Bob says "F!%k it" and picks up the same harp that he put down. He was running out of time and couldn't fluff around, so he had to wing it, even if the boys running around the back couldn't find the right harp. If I was playing to a TV audience and the roadie lost my harp, then really there is no alternative but to press on. I think Bob played that harp in the wrong key but was so genius that we can't even tell. The last 5 bars are sounding weak ,either the harp is spitting up, or it was a mission to nail it. The look he gives Dave at the end sums it up...." I tried my best mate".
This is Ed Sullivan Show quality. Watch it, and you will eventually agree. It's as Bob is playing on TV for the first time. Everything is perfect, even the mistakes. Check Paul yelping once Bob gets the right harmonica. At that point, everyone's running down the field trying to catch up with Bob before he reaches the end zone. Dave realizes he's witnessessing history being made.
Surely only Dylan would wander around on live TV looking for the right harmonica!
Right. I’d have crapped my pants and caught a cab that would have me.
Infidels was my first Bob album. Actually recorded the entire album off WIDR FM in Kalamazoo the college radio station would play an entire new album every night .. I started fairly young I was in 8th grade at the time ..
Argh, any Bob fan who was lucky enough to see this live must've been jumping out of their seats! This is absolutely rad!! Bob really going for it, the band is on FIRE and Bob is having a heap of fun - the fist punch halfway through (about 2:45) always makes me laugh :) :)
A living poet I just love how nothing is the same but the words
To me this is the best version by far!
Just being able to share a comment on this star-crossed meeting of monolithic talents is a privilege! Scour the internet and you won't find anything half as cool. Thanks!
This version sounds a bit like Elvis Costello. I love it. Best version of this song ever. Also one of my top 20 favourite Dylan songs.
I just keep watching this over and over. Thanks Bob.
Vintage Dylan to rewrite the music like this. Many believe his personal music vault is filled with multiple alternative arrangements like this.
I would argue this was the most fun Dylan ever had on stage
Bob is simply on fire here. Surely, the greatest song & dance man.
Dylan can rock. True garage music at it's best
a lost live jewel dylan is on fire here playing loud live raw & sounding like a rock n roll star
Happy 73th Birthday, to Bob!!! Great live version of Jokerman. Excellent!!!
Rocco
63,267 on Saturday, May, 24 2014
Bob should tour with this band !
There's a reason Dylan's my favorite of all time; this is just one of the several.
What a performance.
How many times has his genius been underrated or plain misunderstood!? Many musicians tell their tales of how difficult it was to work with him, as he would change up every minute. Maybe that's because in a world of constant fads and fashions, he remains current and topical in every sense. A consummate artiste.
Paul joked about playing "authentic Dylan licks" on the keyboards over his headphones while Bob was playing. David shut him down quick with a warning not let it go beyond his headphones.
Rock an forever Bob...you are the soul of our generation......
He hates that shit.
how do you know?
He told it in a interview. ''The spokesman of a generation and all that, I just couldn't relate to it.''
cette version est super votre voix magnifique merci
rip charlie quintana... such a great drummer 🌹
I remember watching that night..Made my day..
I was backstage that night n went into Lettermans office...He was sucking off the bass player...He just shot his load...Brilliant performance I mean joker man...Bob saw too.. That's why they never went on 84...Notice the look after Blowing In the wind..Her skin was really bad ...ok. ..
P