An Oral History of Dylan's 'Hard Rain' Concert

1976-05-23, Hughes Stadium, Fort Collins, CO

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On September 14, 1976, NBC broadcast Hard Rain, a concert film recorded at the second-to-last date of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue. Taped in Fort Collins, Colorado, the film earned its name for taking place outdoors after a days-long downpour. It’s never been released on DVD or streaming, but the footage circulates widely. For instance, right here:

The film showcases one of the fieriest performances of Bob’s career, with songs given forceful new arrangements and angry new lyrics. So today, on the 45th anniversary of that 1976 Colorado show, I cobbled together an oral history of Hard Rain, the concert and TV special (and to some degree the live album, though half of it came from a different show).

A few of these quotes are from interviews I conducted myself, mostly for last year’s Rolling Thunder show-by-show, but most aren't, and I've linked to the original sources at the end of every quote.

The failed first attempt at taping a TV special

Howie Wyeth, drums: “The rehearsals sucked in that place [Clearwater, Florida’s Bellevue Biltmore Hotel]. It just wasn’t happening. Then we did the concerts and they were filming it and it happened. That was the first day that the music started feeling right again. Bob did a really hip version of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’. He did some tunes that he hadn’t done at all.” (via)

Scarlet Rivera, violin: “The first attempt to capture it live for whatever reason didn't work. I'm really not privy to know what those reasons were. They were technical reasons, from sound equipment [which] had to be brought in. Maybe they had problems with feedback. That whole effort was never released. It forced us to do one final try to capture Hard Rain, which was the Colorado show." (via)

T-Bone Burnett, guitar: "They built these rafters all around and there were all these kids sitting in them, with their legs dangling down. The backdrop was all these dangling legs and we just took one look at it and thought, '[surely] this isn't what we're doing.'" (via)

David Mansfield, multi-instrumentalist: "I don't want to put words in [Bob's] mouth, but I imagine it seemed too sort of staged and pedestrian in terms of approach. It was right after rehearsals and things hadn't quite gelled yet." (via)

Stan Harris, director: “It’s a straight concert, no crap.” (Rolling Stone, May 1976)

Anonymous inside source: “It wasn’t what he was looking for. Dylan felt it looked like every other Midnight Special.” (Rolling Stone, later 1976)

Howie Wyeth: “Bob got into a fight with [one of] the guys that were doing [the Clearwater special]. He got into a big argument with the guy over the dinner table one night after we’d already done half of it. And then he said, ‘No! We’re not going to do it. Fuck it!’ So he decided that wasn’t the way we were going to do it, and then they decided to record it at the end [of the tour].” (via)

Rob Stoner, bassist and bandleader: “I think the deal was that Bob had the right of refusal if he didn’t like the videotape, but the terms were that he had to make good on it, at his expense, by doing his own thing to deliver to NBC.” (via)

The tour continues through the South

Bob Neuwirth, guitar: “When we did the second edition of it down south, we approached it slightly wrong and it wasn't as fresh. The New England magic wasn't there.” (via)

Claudia Levy, tour director Jacques Levy’s partner: “The first part of the tour was unbelievable. It was idyllic. It was romantic. We were all having a wonderful time, and Bob was very happy. The second part of the tour, he was like a different person. I mean, he was great on stage. There was no point in time that he wasn't really good. But he wasn't a happy camper. You know, everything starts at the top, and it filters through. And that was the case on the second tour.” (via)

Scarlet Rivera: “There was a magic to the first leg of the tour. There was a great sense of harmony amongst all the players. Although the music was as good on the second leg, I think it was a little bit less harmonious. Some element of tension wove itself in that wasn't there in the first one. Perhaps it was because Bob was going through his divorce or maybe there was some more tension with the guitar players and the band. I don't know. There was a little bit less of that magic fairydust glow on the second one for me.” (via)

Chris O’Dell, co-tour manager: “It shouldn't have happened, honestly. A good thing happened and then they tried to recreate it in a different space and it didn't work. It just wasn't the same. Nobody felt the same way about it. They should have stopped and just left it at the one.” (via)

Rob Stoner: “All of that mood stuff in the band is always set by the main guy. The train follows the locomotive. And the locomotive was dragging, discouraged.” (via)

David Mansfield: “I knew that Bob kind of had a black cloud over his head during that [1976] tour and that infected everything. By that time, there was a large entourage and a lot of us were close friends. It wasn’t dependent on Bob being in a good mood all the time.” (via)

Louie Kemp, Rolling Thunder producer: “It was a totally different vibe. Bob was very serious and he was totally into it. You can see in some of those concerts - the footage from the Hard Rain concert in Colorado, I think is amazing footage, just amazing. I think that tour, the performances were in some cases more intense than they were relaxed. It was a different atmosphere, but the shows were great.” (via)

The tour arrives in Colorado

Howie Wyeth: “All of a sudden they said we got four days off before we do Fort Collins and the record. They said, ‘You’re gonna love this. We got you in this dude ranch up in the mountains.’ And it was raining so you couldn’t go riding and it was up in the mountains so you couldn’t breathe. There was nothing to do. And we were all stuck up there... For four days we had nothing to do. And it was raining. It was dreary.” (via)

David Hill, attendee: “Dylan and company spent a few days at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park rehearsing. The Stanley is a famous old hotel in the mountains where Stephen King came up with the idea for The Shining. It was perhaps a bit run down in 1976—it’s since been spiffed up. There’s a small auditorium, which is likely where the Rolling Thunder Revue rehearsed.” (via email)

Mike Evans, security: “We were staying at this place called the Stanley Steamer, this hotel up in the mountains that is real famous, with the old clawfoot bathtubs and stuff. I remember sitting in the bathtubs drinking brandy and things just trying to get warm.” (via)

Patricia Maher, local resident: “Estes Park was a very conservative town, and while some of its citizens knew who Bob was, many didn’t - or didn’t care. It was a very small mountain community, which is why Dylan came up there to rehearse in the first place. They knew there wouldn’t be tons of fans hanging out. They’d have been swamped if they rehearsed in Fort Collins.” (via)

Mike Evans: “Fort Collins was angst in a lot of ways. I mean again Neuwirth had taken me off on a horse even though I was in no condition to go off on this horse. I had been up all night drinking, although not to the point of inebriation, when all of a sudden he comes by before sun up and he’s got two horses, ‘Let’s go!’ And we’re off on this trail!” (via)

Rob Stoner: “Bob was really hitting the bottle that weekend. That was a terrible fuckin’ weekend. There was a lot of stuff that makes Hard Rain an extraordinary snapshot—like a punk record or something. It’s got such energy and such anger.” (via)

Patricia Maher: “The night before the show, we all went up to the Stanley to listen to them rehearse in the concert room and music hall. We were able to watch them, because it was almost impossible to close off a public room in the Stanley. They were so loud, they literally shook the place.” (via)

Bob’s wife Sara shows up