50 years ago, Bob Dylan silenced the crowd with his performance of "North Country Blues".

[ehrnst]

[Bigmack]

1. Alas

Some things never change…. Ms Bigmack

[ljm2002]

2. Thank you!

That was a wonderful performance.

[octoberlib]

3. K&R!

[treestar]

4. Seems like such a young boy there

He was 22.

All of the people around crack me up. Especially photographer with pipe in mouth.

[Blues Heron]

14. I think that's John Byrne Cooke

Alistair Cooke's son, member of the Charles River Boys.

[kentuck]

5. Bob was just a young'un

k & r

[NoOneMan]

6. Amazing song

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

7. That's Doc Watson next to him

I've never seen this one!

[radiclib]

10. and Judy Collins behind him. Damn they were young!

[2naSalit]

12. And the guy

(I think) who lends him a flat pick is Chet Atkins.

Never saw this video but heard about the concert a number of times back in the day. Good sound for such an old recording of this type.

[kentuck]

13. You're right!

That is Doc! He just passed away this year. One of my all-time favs.

[rgbecker]

8. The lyrics:

"North Country Blues"


Come gather 'round friends
And I'll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron pits ran empty
But the cardboard filled windows
And old men on the benches
Tell you now that the whole town is empty.

In the north end of town
My own children are grown
But I was raised on the other
In the wee hours of youth
May mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother.

The iron ore poured
As the years passed the door
The drag lines an' the shovels they was a-humming
'Til one day my brother
Failed to come home
The same as my father before him.

Well a long winter's wait
From the window I watched
My friends they couldn't have been kinder
And my schooling was cut
As I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner.

Oh the years passed again
And the givin' was good
With the lunch bucket filled every season
What with three babies born
The work was cut down
To a half a day's shift with no reason.
Then the shaft was soon shut
And more work was cut
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen
'Til a man come to speak
And he said in one week
That number eleven was closin'.

They complained in the East
They are playing too high
They say that your ore ain't worth digging
That it's much cheaper down
In the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothing.

So the mining gates locked
And the red iron rotted
And the room smelted heavy from drinking
Where the sad silent song
Made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking.

I lived by the window
As he talked to himself
This silence of tongues it was building
Then one morning's wake
The bed it was bare
And I's left alone with three children.

The summer is gone
The ground's turning cold
The stores one by one they're a-foldin'
My children will go
As soon they grow
Well there ain't nothing here now to hold them.

[MoreGOPoop]

9. Damn

Seems like another lifetime. Thanks for this.

[mountain grammy]

11. I saw Dylan in Newport in 1965 when he "plugged in"

We were loving every minute of it. I was 17, a new high school grad, and Bob Dylan was, well, "Like a Rolling Stone."
Peace, love and rock and roll!

As an American folk singer, few can tell a real American story of corporate greed and workers' heartbreak like Bob Dylan. This is one of his best.

[Enthusiast]

15. K&R! I love that fucker!

Can't help it.