"These Dylan people have a big goon at every corner"
1976-04-20, Bayfront Civic Center Auditorium, St. Petersburg, FL
On night two of Rolling Thunder ’76, Dylan shifts back towards his comfort zone. After an opening night where only three songs of the 22 had been played on Rolling Thunder ’75, Dylan swaps in five different songs, all of which were reprises from the previous fall. That includes the solo opening duo “Mr. Tambourine Man” (which would remain the opening number most subsequent nights) and “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding).” Later on in the set, he added a three-pack of ’75 staples: “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You,” “Just Like a Woman,” “It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.” All three seem to retain their 1975 arrangements (though tape speed fluctuations here make it sound like some unhinged tempo changes have been added). After an opening night where he took such big swings, perhaps he felt a need to return to the familiar.
A reporter for the Miami News met up with Joan Baez backstage. She told him, “Rolling Thunder is Dylan’s baby. It’s all his doing. If I was in charge of it I’d be like a camp counselor. Strict as hell. But Bob’s not that way. He’s very loose. We had one rehearsal and halfway through we broke up laughing. It was shaggy to say the least. Dylan looked at us and said: ‘Don’t worry, everything is going to be alright.’ And damned if it wasn’t.”
Slight exaggeration there; there were five days of rehearsals at the Belleview Biltmore Hotel (where they’d return a week into the tour to tape an aborted TV special). But, as a featured performer rather than a member of the backing band, Baez might not have been there for all of them.
You know who else wasn’t there for all of them? Dylan! Bandleader Rob Stoner told me:
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