Dylan's 1st Toronto visit 50 years ago

[HMike]

Dylan was already a folk music star with three well-received albums when he arrived in Toronto in early February 1964 to promote The Times They Are A-Changin’, released in mid-January. (It would be another nine months before Dylan was back in Toronto to play his first Massey Hall concert in November 1964.)

While in Toronto in February 1964, Dylan recorded a half-hour TV studio concert for the CBC arts programme Quest. The set list included The Times They Are A-Changin’, Talkin’ World War III Blues, Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, Girl From The North Country, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall and Restless Farewell.

But get this:

Dylan performed while strolling around a pretend bunkhouse in a pretend lumberjack camp (it’s Canada, get it?) while a bunch of hired actors in plaid-shirted lumberjack costumes smoked cigarettes, drank coffee and pretended to play cards, write letters, sharpen axes, stoke the fire and so on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXqBjYH21mk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQBFjuCSTjw