Joan Baez and Bob Dylan ~ 1964

Joan Baez was the featured act that night back in 1964 at the Boston Arts Festival. She announced a surprise guest and invited Bob up on the stage to join her. She handed him her guitar and they sang a number of songs together. He normally played a steel string guitar but seemed equally at ease with Joan's nylon stringed instrument.

Joan was the person who originally discovered Bob, and she used to take him with her when she sang at various coffee houses. Back then Bob was pure country folk in the Woody Guthrie tradition, then he went through a more country music phase, Johnny Cash style. He had a charm and charisma that managed to constantly win over new fans, and he somehow was able to hold on to the majority of his existing fan base. They were less than thrilled when their "young Woody Guthrie" suddenly started playing Johnny Cash style twangy guitar and singing contemporary style country & western music.

Another fan rebellion took place when he "went electric" after discovering British rock, but nobody can argue the point that Bob was The Man, the guy who morphed teeny bopper Rock & Roll into a mature musical genre, with the sophistication of jazz and the complexity of classical. Music would never again be the same.

P.S. Want an archival quality print of this or one of my other photos? E-mail me at preacherpop42@aol.com for details.