The occasion was a tribute to John Hammond who retired from Columbia Records the same year. As you may know, John Hammond was the man who signed Bob Dylan to Columbia in 1962.
This is a very special performance from Dylan and 3 band members Scarlet Rivera on violin, Rob Stoner on bass and Howie Wyeth on drums. They toured with Dylan in 1975 as part of the Rolling Thunder Revue. The tour began the following month after this performance. Dylan’s voice is awesome in this period bearing some gruff and tenderness. At this stage Bob is starting to really wave his voice around and if you listen to the album ‘Street Legal’ recorded in 1978 you’ll hear a transformation in his singing that began in the mid 70s. Bob Dylan just keeps on progressing if you ask me
The band is highly dynamic with Howie Wyeth keeping a tight beat and Scarlet Rivera playing gypsy style violin. Rob Stoner is a fantastic bass player who seems to be able to do anything. Rob and Howie were an established rhythm section before they played with Dylan.
I am posting two versions of this video. This one has better sound quality but the synchronization is not as good between the audio and video.
And here is the other one which is still good!
Some things I hand picked from Amazon related to this video. Hover over the links for picture and description. Let me know if this doesn’t work for you.
Bob Dylan Live 1975 (The Bootleg Series Volume 5) CD
On the Road With Bob Dylan by Larry Sloman and Kinky Friedman
DylanTube 