Santana Bassist Alphonso Johnson Recalls Bob Dylan Sit-In Drama

1984-06-24, Stadion San Siro, Milan, Italy

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Photo via @guidoharari

When Bob Dylan embarked on his 1984 stadium tour with Santana, jazz bassist Alphonso Johnson had just joined that group (he’d remain through 1989). In addition to playing with Santana every night, one night he sat in with Bob for quite a few songs, alongside his boss Carlos Santana.

Turns out there’s a specific reason Johnson sat in for so many songs—and a specific reason he never sat in again. Below, in a brief conversation, Johnson tells me the story of his one-night-only performance with Dylan, 41 years ago today.

A guide to the Santana band’s many members that was printed in the 1984 tour program. Johnson comes in right at the end.

Was this your first tour with Santana?

We had done a couple of dates in the United States previous to that tour. This was one of the tours that Bill Graham set up. I remember from the Fillmore days that Bill Graham always had very unique billing. [He would have acts like] The Who and John Coltrane on the same bill. He would really try and mix different genres together. So to have Bob Dylan, an American folk songwriter, playing on the same bill as Santana, a Latin rock group, I think it offered a really wide variety of music for the audience.

You were playing huge venues on this tour.

It’s a strange thing, because when I’m on stage, I’m trying to connect with the musicians that are on stage with me first, and then the audience. When you’re playing big venues, you try to really connect with the people that you can see in front, to get a sense of what they’re expressing and showing. And then, as you play, you try to look towards the back to project the sense of acknowledging that you can actually see someone back there, which in most cases you can’t. But at least give the feeling that you’re trying to encompass the entirety of the audience.

In addition to playing with Santana every night, you played with Dylan at one show for a number of songs on bass.

We had a ping pong table backstage and the drummer with Santana at that time, Chester Thompson, he and I would often play ping pong. One night on his way up to the stage, Bob Dylan and his band walked by. I just happened to say, “Hey Bob, have a great set.” He turned around and looked and said, “Why don’t you come up and sit in?”

I was quite shocked. I said, “Yeah, okay.”

So I stood to the side of the stage and waited for him to invite me up. He sees me and nods his head like, “Come on.” So I go up to his bass player [Gregg Sutton]. I say, “Hey, Bob said it would be okay if I sat in. Can I use your bass?” He gave me his bass, I go up, and I play a song.

So I’m playing, and I’m kind of checking out the keyboard player’s left hand to make sure I’m playing in the right key and everything. Then he goes right into the next song, just a quick segue. We must have played about four or five songs before I realized this was going to be like an ongoing thing. So at the end of that last song, I quickly stopped and handed the bass back to the bassist and left the stage.

The video quality leaves a lot to be desired but you can see footage of Alphonso (on the far left) playing with Dylan in this Italian news clip. Thanks to John for helping track it down.

After the show, Bill Graham came up and told me that there was an incident in the dressing room, and that I should try and avoid sitting there with Bob for the next couple of nights.

He warned you off sitting in again?

He did, yeah.

What was the incident?

Somebody got upset and trashed the dressing room.

The other bassist?

Yeah.

Because you had sat in?

The feedback that I got was that I overextended my welcome.

I think it was Bob’s way of having a little prank, you know? He had this great sense of humor.

You mean keeping you on stage that long was the prank at the other bassist?

I think that was it, yeah. I can’t read his mind.

The real funny part was when they released the album of that tour, I looked to see if I had gotten credit for any of the songs that I played on, and there’s a photograph of me on the inner sleeve. I think that was part of the joke.

It has your name, too?

I didn’t see my name. I just saw my photo. I thought, “Wow, this is really weird.”

‘Real Live’ vinyl sleeve. Johnson in lower left.

I’m looking now. It’s funny, because Carlos, who is on the album, he’s kind of hidden in the shadows behind Dylan. But there’s a prominent solo photo of you, who isn’t even on the album.

Yeah. Go figure.

So was there bad blood after that dressing room thing?

Not for me. I try to stay professional and not let things go south. There’s so much stuff to deal with when you’re on tour that the last thing you want is bad feelings between musicians.

Had you had much interaction with Dylan and his band, either before or after this sit-in?

Every night. We both would do soundchecks and hang out. I would extend the invitation for any of [his band] to come up and sit in with us, as long as they ask Carlos first.

Did any of them take you up on it?

No one did.

Do you have any other memorable interactions with Bob?

He was pretty shy, didn’t have a lot to say, but very open to conversation if you would want to engage him.

Do you remember any specific conversations?

I remember once asking him, where did he find his inspiration for his lyrics and his songwriting and stuff. He just kind of looked at me and smiled, and that was it. That was his answer.

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Thanks Alphonso! Check out more of what he’s up to these days at embamba.com.

1984-06-24, Stadion San Siro, Milan, Italy

Here’s some great footage of him playing with Santana on that tour:

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Some other interviews with folks connected to the 1984 ‘Real Live’ tour: