Bob Dylan 1965 Caricature

Bob Dylan 1965 Caricature, age 23, backstage at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England May 2, 1965.

The Bob Dylan England Tour 1965 was a concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan during late April and early May 1965.

Here’s London’s Mercury review of the event:

“The booming upsurge of folk music throughout the Western world is largely represented by a frail, shaggy-haired 23-year-old American called Bob Dylan.

“In the last few months his “sound” and the almost mystical lyrics which he writes himself – “I reckon I’ve written about 70 songs, but many more words” – have started off a new bandwagon in popular music, and have begun a fresh teenager cult on both sides of the Atlantic.

“But Dylan’s popularity does not entirely rest on the shifting shoulders of the teenagers.

“His 100-minute solo performance to a sell-out audience of more then 3,000 at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall last night proved by its sincerity and sheer magic that he will outlive and probably outgrow any mere popularity boom.

Dylan was the only artist apart from the Beatles to sell out the De Montfort Hall in the 1960s. Even the Rolling Stones did not sell out this venue.
Joan Baez accompanied him on the tour, but she was never invited to play with him in concert.

He left Leicester as a hero to a generation, but 12 months later in 1966 – in the same city and venue – he was booed off as folk diehards turned on him for plugging in an electric guitar.