Bob Dylan 1975 Caricature

Bob Dylan 1975 Caricature, shown here from an out-take in a photo shoot for the album “Desire”, at Plymouth, MA, age 34.

“Desire”, Dylan’s 17th studio album, came between “Blood on the Tracks” (January, 1975) and “Street Legal” (June, 1978).
It was recorded just before the Rolling Thunder tour and released in the middle of it.

“Desire” is one of Dylan’s most collaborative efforts, featuring the same caravan of musicians as the acclaimed Rolling Thunder Revue … Most of the album was co-written by Jacques Levy, and is composed of lengthy story-songs, two of which quickly generated controversy: the over-11-minute long “Joey”, …about the gangster “Crazy Joe” Gallo, and “Hurricane,” a passionate account of the murder case against boxer Rubin Carter, whom the song asserts was framed. Carter was later released.

Other songs on the album include “Isis,” “One More Cup of Coffee,” “Mozambique,” “Oh, Sister,” “Romance in Durango,” Black Diamond Bay,” and “Sara.”

The album cover was shot on October 31, 1975. In the final cover photo, Dylan is wearing a light gray hat adorned with flowers, a blue scarf with large tan spots on it, and a red, white, black, and orange Navajo-type coat.
The photo shoot was taken in Plymouth, Massachusetts, during the opening days of Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” tour in the Plymouth Memorial State Park.

The park sits between two historic monuments: On one side is a historic replica of the Mayflower, the boat on which the Pilgrims came to America from England in 1620.

On the other side of the park is an columned concrete pavilion covering Plymouth Rock, the large boulder on which it is said that the first settlers stood when they arrived.
In the middle of the park, there’s a group of three trees. That’s the general area where the pictures that became the album cover were taken in 1975.