Dylan's 1975 UML Tour Stop Featured On New CD
06/07/2019
By David Perry
Distant echoes from Bob Dylan鈥檚 1975 Costello Gymnasium performance surface in the final mix of the newly released 14-disc CD box set, 鈥淭he Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings,鈥 which is released on Friday, June 7. Five days later, Martin Scorsese鈥檚 documentary/concert film of the tour lands on Netflix and in select theaters.
The 148-song, cube-shaped CD collection, a 3-LP (much abbreviated) vinyl version and the film are splashy reminders of one of the most unique tours in music history. It was a barnstorming circus of folk, rock and poetry, and it played at the gym (now Costello Athletic Center) on North Campus on Nov. 2, 1975. It was the fourth show on the tour that some consider Dylan鈥檚 finest.聽
Eighty hours of film were shot early in the tour 鈥 cameras were rolling in Lowell 鈥 and that footage, along with new interviews (including one with Dylan), shapes Scorsese鈥檚 film.
The lone song from the University of Lowell gig, a blazing, intense version of the yet-to-be-released 鈥淚sis,鈥 appears on the 14th CD (but not on the LPs).
The show was Dylan鈥檚 first-ever performance in Lowell. Tickets cost just $7.50 (which nonetheless was a bit steep for the era).
The return on investment, says Paul Marion 鈥76, has been vast for those who attended, for the city and for the legend of Lowell-born Beat writer Jack Kerouac.
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 mind was blown,鈥 says Marion, recalling the show, which featured Dylan, Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn and a cast of other musical characters and literary legends. Allen Ginsberg was in tow, as were playwright/actor Sam Shepard and folk-cowboy Ramblin鈥 Jack Elliott. 鈥淚t was amazing.鈥
Marion compared the show 鈥 the first of several to feature Dylan in whiteface 鈥 to 鈥減erformance art, a kind of theatrical Dylan.鈥
Rolling Thunder was Dylan reinventing himself as troubadour to play small venues, surrounded by musical and literary heroes.
鈥淚t was DIY before we really had that term,鈥 says Marion.
In mid-October, Mark Morse 鈥77, chair of the school鈥檚 Social Committee, answered the phone in the student activities office. It was Boston-based concert promoter Don Law鈥檚 agency.
鈥淭hey said they wanted to bring in a concert so big they couldn鈥檛 even tell us who it was,鈥 recalls Morse. He argued, 鈥淟isten, I need to take this to the school administration for approval. I need to know who it is.鈥
Bob Dylan, Law鈥檚 rep told him. Morse could tell the five most necessary people.
鈥淚 kept my word, but I did hint,鈥 says Morse. 鈥淚 told people, 鈥榊ou want to be here that morning. Trust me.鈥欌
鈥淚鈥檓 walking across South Campus, the quad area,鈥 recalls Marion, 鈥渁nd parked there is a lemon-yellow RV with posters on it. I got closer and saw 鈥楻olling Thunder Revue鈥 and the names Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. I thought, 鈥極h, it鈥檚 some kind of tribute show.鈥 It turns out that was a mobile box office, and it really was going to be Bob Dylan. In Lowell.鈥
Marion snagged two tickets. He couldn鈥檛 get the $15 out of his pocket fast enough.
In her review of the show in The Connector, Teresa Sullivan wrote that even with the high expectations attached to the show, 鈥渘o one went home disappointed.鈥 Dylan strode out at around 9 p.m., 鈥渄ecked out in a hip-length leather jacket and a white, wide-brimmed hat, with a feather pinned to one side. He was made up, too 鈥 white face and red eyes.鈥
In all, it was a three-hour show. No cameras were allowed, noted Sullivan.聽
After warmup sets by Ramblin鈥 Jack Elliot and Bob Neuwirth, Dylan ripped through a set laced with 鈥淲hen I Paint My Masterpiece,鈥 鈥淚t Ain鈥檛 Me Babe鈥 and several songs from Dylan鈥檚 soon-to-be-released album 鈥淒esire,鈥 such as 鈥淩omance In Durango鈥 and 鈥淚sis.鈥 He sang with Baez, and she sang alone. It all wound down with a full-cast rendition of 鈥淭his Land Is Your Land.鈥
The night was 鈥渢ranscendent,鈥 says Marion. 鈥淎 surreal night to be on Riverside Street.鈥澛
A few days later, columnist Mary Sampas revealed in The Lowell Sun that Dylan and others had toured Kerouac-related sites in Lowell and that much of the trip was being filmed, including the now-iconic photo of Dylan and Ginsberg sitting at Kerouac鈥檚 grave in Edson Cemetery.
鈥淚鈥檝e always thought the Kerouac revival should be credited to Dylan鈥檚 stop in Lowell,鈥 says Marion. 鈥淎 lot of people peg it to the 25th anniversary celebration of 鈥極n the Road鈥 at Naropa Institute. But what happened here seven years earlier was as important.聽
"The pilgrims had landed, at 51视频, and it was a jolt.鈥