musicians, headed by , that took place in the fall of 1975 and the spring of 1976. Among those featured in the Revue were , , , and . Neuwirth assembled the backing musicians, including , , and , and, from the Desire sessions, violinist , bassist , and drummer Desire, Dylan held rehearsals for an upcoming tour at 's midtown Studio Instrument Rentals space.
Bassist , drummer Howie Wyeth, and violinst , all of whom were heavily featured on Desire, were retained for the rehearsals. Joining them were overall production, but Dylan decided to recruit the trio for the upcoming tour. At the same time, Dylan was casually inviting others to join in with the band. According to Stoner, the group rehearsed "for like a day or two - it [was] not really so much a rehearsal as like a jam, tryin' to sort it out. Meanwhile all these people who eventually became the Rolling Thunder Revue started dropping in. Joan Baez was showing up. Roger McGuinn was there. They were all there. We had no idea what the purpose for these jams was, except we were being invited to jam." " At one point, was invited to join, but amicably declined Dylan's invitation. citation needed
Ronson was the lead guitarist and arranger in 's former backing band, The Spiders from Mars. Ronson would accompany the Rolling Thunder Revue throughout the upcoming tour.
Another musician invited on the tour was introduced to Dylan on October 22nd, when Dylan went to see David Blue perform at The Other End.
It was there that he met , the actress/singer who had recently starred in 's celebrated film, . At the end of Blue's show, Blakley joined Dylan on-stage for a few duets; afterwards, Dylan extended her an invitation to join the Rolling Thunder Revue. She initially declined due to prior commitments, but eventually changed her mind and appeared at rehearsals two days later.
Desire's recorded work done for Desire before its release in January 1976.
Sometime in October, Dylan also contacted an old friend and filmmaker, Howard Alk. Dylan's ambitions apparently included a film of the tour, and Alk accepted Dylan's offer to shoot the film.
When the tour rehearsals were still in progress, Alk reportedly began filming scenes in for possible inclusion in the film.
rehearsals, where Dylan asked him if he had seen 's or 's Poet would accompany the tour for most of its 1975 run, but his planned recitations, as well as some performances by other Revue members, were cut before the opening date to keep the concerts at a manageable length. One concert at the prison where Rubin Carter was serving his sentence did restore Ginsberg's recitations, however.
On October 30th, Dylan held the first Rolling Thunder Revue show at War Memorial Auditorium in . The first leg of the tour was relatively small, spanning thirty shows and reaching only towns along the northeastern seaboard, including some in . However, the secrecy surrounding the tour's intended destinations, the new material Dylan was premiering, ensured the tour a good share of media coverage.
Larry Sloman, who documented the tour, "onstage it was like a carnival. [Bobby] Neuwirth and the back-up band [dubbed 'Guam'] warmed up the audience.
Next, Dylan ambled on to do about five songs. After intermission, the curtain rose to an incredible sight, Bob and Joan, together again after all these years." After a few numbers, Baez took center stage for a dynamic six-song set, followed by a solo set from Bob.
Then he was joined by the band for a few numbers, and the finale, 's 'This Land Is Your Land,' featuring everyone on stage from to Bob's mother Beattie one night. The spirit was so amazingly warm that when flew in to play one concert, she wound up staying for the remaining three nights of the tour. And it all came to a dramatic finale December 8th in where, with the help of , and 14,000 screaming partisans, Dylan performed a benefit concert for imprisoned boxer and Dylan's latest cause, .
Larry Sloman would later document the tour in a book, On the Road with Bob Dylan, in which he "tries to cop the beleaguered hero," according to 's Tim Riley.
Perhaps taking a cue from Ronson's glam-rock experience, Dylan made the surprising theatrical choice of wearing make-up at many of the shows.
Sometimes, he even walked on stage wearing a plastic mask, only to toss it aside after the first song to play harmonica on "It Ain't Me, Babe." citation needed] According to Rivera, one heckler asked Dylan "Why are you wearing a mask?" to which Dylan replied, "The meaning is in the words.
" citation needed] As the tour progressed, Shepard discovered his role as was somewhat superfluous inasmuch of the film was entirely improvised (with little guidance or A number of critics wrote about the tour with a great deal of praise.
.[Dylan] also displayed a vocal precision rare even for him, snapping and stretching words to cajole nuances of meaning from each and every line." "He lights into a biting electric version of 'It Ain't Me, Babe,' and then a thoroughly convincing rock take of 'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll'... and an 'Isis' that makes the Desire take sound like a greeting card." A second Hurricane Carter benefit was held in on January 25. Rehearsals were held in during April, and the first show was on at the in . The tour continued throughout April and May in the and . It ultimately did not attract the same critical acclaim as the fall leg had. Ticket sales were often poor, with several shows being cancelled it typified the feeling about the spring tour: "Although the band has been playing together longer, the charm has gone out of their exchanges," wrote NPR's Tim Riley. "[T]he Rolling Thunder Revue, so joyful and electrifying in its first performances, had just plain run out of steam," wrote music critic for . Then , incorporating performances from a number of the fall shows, saw issue in 2002. As the first official release to capture the Revue at its peak, it was warmly received amongst fans and critics, and sold well. [ tour dates and set lists, 1975 leg
Dylan then tried to recreate the Rolling Thunder Revue's success in the spring of 1976.
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