Ray Padgett’s Flagging Down The Double E Newsletter August 1st

Behind the Scenes of the Bob Dylan Center's 'Going Electric' Concert

Hanging with Lee Ranaldo, Emma Swift, Robyn Hitchcock, John Doe, and more

RAY PADGETT AUG 1

Courtesy American Song Archives

Last Saturday night, Tulsa’s historic Cain’s Ballroom — onetime home of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys — hosted the all-star concerts Going Electric: An Evening of Dylan Songs Circa '65. Presented by the Bob Dylan Center in honor of their new exhibit of the same name, the two shows, one early one late, showcased an all-star group of musicians covering Dylan songs from what Robyn Hitchcock called “The Momentum Years”: 1963-1966. Not entirely coincidentally, this was the same period covered in A Complete Unknown, which currently has its own exhibit at the Center.

The lineup they pulled together for this tribute concert was certainly impressive:

Thanks to the show’s music director Lee Ranaldo and Dylan Center director Steven Jenkins and his team, I got exclusive backstage access at Cain’s, hanging out there all day with the artists, watching the rehearsals, and interviewing every single musician who appeared onstage. Plus, of course, I stuck around for both performances: the early seated show, which I watched sidestage with the musicians themselves—some quietly singing along as their peers performed—and the late standing show, which I watched from the middle of a rowdier and more enthusiastic crowd. 

So today, I take you behind the scenes of the Going Electric concerts, with quotes from everyone involved and video clips of all the performances for those that couldn’t be there in person.