Bob Dylan Newport Poster 1965

Bob Dylan Newport Poster 1965, hand-drawn to commemorate his controversial electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival on Sunday night July 25, 1965, age 24.

In March 1965, Dylan released his fifth album Bringing It All Back Home. Side one features him backed by an electric band, while side two features him accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.
On July 20, 1965, he released his single “Like a Rolling Stone” featuring a rock sound.

Five days later on July 25, 1965, he performed his first electric concert at the Newport Folk Festival, joined by pianist Barry Goldberg, and of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, guitarist Mike Bloomfield, bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay.

The night before, on a whim, Dylan said he wanted to play electric. He assembled a band and rehearsed that night at a mansion being used by festival organizer George Wein.

On the night of Sunday, July 25, Dylan’s appearance was between Cousin Emmy and the Sea Island singers, two traditional acts.
In the documentary footage when the band began to play, both boos and cheers are heard a few bars into Dylan’s first song, “Maggie’s Farm”, and continue throughout his second, “Like a Rolling Stone”.
Dylan and his band then performed “Phantom Engineer”, an early version of “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry”.

Dylan was said to have “electrified one half of his audience, and electrocuted the other”.

Afterwards, Dylan performed two songs on acoustic guitar for the audience: “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”, and then, “Mr Tambourine Man”, his farewell to the Newport Folk Festival. The crowd exploded with applause, calling for more.

Dylan did not return to the Newport festival for 37 years.

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