On today’s date in 1965, Bob Dylan played the first of two all-but-forgotten shows in Pittsburgh, his first time in the city. They’re all-but-forgotten for a simple reason: No recordings. But I decided to see what info I could piece together from contemporary news reports.
The first show was announced on February 21, a little less than a month before. These were co-headlining dates with Joan Baez, and it’s interesting that in both this and the other major news clip we’ll see, Joan is still being treated as the real star. Dylan is not technically an opener; everything in the ads, tickets, etc puts him at equal billing with Joan. But the press in Pittsburgh don’t treat him that way.
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Remember, this is 1965! Dylan has already released four albums, which include all his folk-era standards, and recorded a fifth. Peter Paul and Mary had made “Blowin’ in the Wind” a massive hit two years earlier. So I was surprised to see that, even this late, he was being treated as second-banana to Baez.
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