November 25, 1976: The Band's "Last Waltz"

November 25, 1976: Once upon a time, there was a rock and roll band named simply "The Band." On this Thanksgiving Night, their original lineup played its last concert. It led to what has often been called the greatest rock documentary, titled The Last Waltz.

In 1957, in his native Arkansas, high school senior Levon Helm met singer Ronnie Hawkins. Hawkins invited Helm to drum with his band, The Hawks. Hawkins hadn't gotten very far in America, but was popular in Canada. The rest of the band was from the Canadian Province of Ontario: Lead guitarist Robbie Robertson from Toronto, bass guitarist Rick Danko from Blayney, and keyboard players Richard Manuel from Stratford, and Garth Hudson from Windsor, across the Detroit River from Detroit.

In 1963, tired of playing the same old songs instead of original material, the Hawks left Hawkins. In 1965, they joined Bob Dylan, and became his touring band until his motorcycle wreck in 1966. As Dylan recovered in 1967, together, in the basement of Dylan's house in Saugerties, New York, they recorded what became known as The Basement Tapes. These songs wouldn't be released until 1975.

But they did form the basis for the group's 1968 debut album, named for the house: Music from Big Pink. Because the locals called them simply "the band," that's what they called themselves. Three of the songs on the album were written by Dylan: "Tears of Rage," written with Manuel; "This Wheel's On Fire," written with Danko; and one of the best songs Dylan's ever written, "I Shall Be Released." But the album is best known for "The Weight," written by Robertson, who became the group's main songwriter.

In 1969, The Band played at the Woodstock festival, and then released their follow-up album, also titled simply The Band. It included their 2 best-known songs: "Up On Cripple Creek," a truck driver's tale of his mistress (clearly, "my big mama" and "my Bessie," both mentioned in the last verse, are 2 different women); and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," in which a Confederate civilian laments what the Civil War did to his people (who, of course, started it, for an incredibly evil reason).

The continued to record and tour together, but got weary of touring. In 1976, Robertson said they should retire from live performances. On October 30, they appeared on Saturday Night Live. They played 1 more show, on November 25, at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, and it was filmed for a documentary by Martin Scorcese, who was coming off making Taxi Driver.

It was Thanksgiving Night, and free turkey dinners were provided for the 5,000 people in attendance. The night was loaded with guests. The Band had made peace with Hawkins, and he was on hand. So was Dylan. So was blues legend Muddy Waters, whom the whole Band admired. So were ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Rolling Stone Ron Wood, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Emmylou Harris and Paul Butterfield. The show ended with Dylan leading the ensemble singing "I Shall Be Released." The film about the show, The Last Waltz, was released on April 26, 1978.

In 1983, without Robertson, who didn't want to get back together, the rest of the band went back on tour. But on March 4, 1986, after a performance outside Orlando in Winter Park, Florida, Manuel, struggling with substance abuse, hanged himself in his motel room. He was only 42 years old.

In 1992, The Band played "When I Paint My Masterpiece" at the Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden. At that point, The Band consisted of Helm, Danko, Hudson, guitarist Jim Weider, keyboardist Richard Bell and drummer Randy Ciarlante (as Helm switched to mandolin).

Danko died on December 10, 1999; Bell on June 15, 2007; Helm on April 19, 2012; and Hawkins on May 29, 2022. As of November 25, 2022, Robertson, Hudson, Weider and Ciarlante are still alive.

UPDATE: Robertson died on August 9, 2023. Garth Hudson died on January 21, 2025. And it took me until 2024 to think of this, but the 1970s were Schrödinger's Decade. There was too much overwrought music, and, at the same time, not enough of it.

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November 25, 1976, like all Thanksgiving Days, was a Thursday. There were 2 games played in the NFL.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-14 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. In a losing effort for the Bills, O.J. Simpson rushed for 273 yards, a new single-game NFL record. I have a separate entry for this event.

Walter Payton would break that record the next season. O.J., of course, would go on to have a very different kind of "record."

* And the Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 19-14 at Texas Stadium in suburban Irving, 10 miles northwest of downtown Dallas. The leading rusher in that game only had 54 yards, and it was the Cowboys' quarterback, Roger "the Dodger" Staubach.

There were 3 college games:

* Number 11 Texas A&M beat arch-rival Texas, 27-3 at Memorial Stadium in Austin.

* Number 17 Rutgers beat Colgate, 17-9 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. This completed an 11-0, undefeated season for Rutgers. I have a separate entry for that event.

* And Kent State beat Northern Illinois, 42-0 at Dix Stadium in the Cleveland suburb of Kent, Ohio.

One more note from football on this day: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was born.

Baseball was out of season. In recent times, the NBA and the NHL have avoided playing on Thanksgiving, so as not to compete for TV ratings with the NFL. But, this time, there were 3 NBA games:

* The Cleveland Cavaliers, beat the Detroit Pistons, 111-105 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Jazz, 105-99 at the Superdome in New Orleans. In defeat, "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 35 points.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Washington Bullets, 104-98 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

There were 2 NHL games. The New York Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. And the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The New England Whalers beat the Birmingham Bulls, 5-3 at the Jefferson County Civic Center in Birmingham. And the Quebec Nordiques beat the Indianapolis Racers, 5-0 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

August 17, 1969: Woodstock, Day 3

August 17, 1969: The Woodstock Music & Art Fair wraps up on Max Yasgur's dairy farm outside Bethel, Sullivan County, New York.

At 12:30 AM, Creedence Clearwater Revival took the stage. As Bruce Springsteen said when giving their induction speech for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "They were never the coolest band in America, just the best."

Janis Joplin came on at 2:00, not with her original band, Big Brother & The Holding Company, but with The Kozmic Blues Band. Having become famous at the Monterey Pop Festival in California 2 years earlier, here, she cemented her legend for all time.

As did Sly & The Family Stone, who came on at 3:30, and played 50 minutes of psychedelic soul. It was footage of this performance that led jazz legend Miles Davis, already 43 years old, to shift gears, and incorporate rock and roll and psychedelic ideas into his music, giving him one of the great second acts in music history.

Billy Joel was at Woodstock -- not as a performer, but as a fan. A very dissatisfied fan:

I went to Woodstock, and I hated it. I think a lot of that "community spirit" was based on the fact that everybody was so wasted. Because everybody was stoned. Everybody was passing around pot and acid, and I wasn't into it.

There'd been a lot of rain, it was all muddy, and you couldn't go to the bathroom unless you stood up and went right where you were. I was there for a night and a day, and then I left just before The Who went on. I really wanted to see them, but it was very hard to, because everybody was hopping up and down and banging into you. So I walked out and hitched a ride home.

The Who came on at 5:00 in the morning, and gave one of the earliest live performances of songs from their "rock opera," Tommy. By this point, with The Beatles bringing their story to a close, The Rolling Stones were already getting people to call them "The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band." The Who blew that idea over the Catskills.

According to their lead guitarist and main songwriter, Pete Townshend, at the end of the band's gig at 2 weeks later, at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, the field was covered in rubbish left by fans, which inspired the line "teenage wasteland" in their 1971 song "Baba O'Riley." In another interview, Townshend said the song was also inspired by "the absolute desolation of teenagers at Woodstock, where audience members were strung out on acid and 20 people had brain damage. The irony was that some listeners considered the song a teenage celebration: 'Teenage Wasteland, yes! We're all wasted!'

The Sun came up, and so did The Jefferson Airplane. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine for the Festival's 20th Anniversary in 1989, lead singer Grace Slick said it was the worst performance of her career, and that, "The music was better at Altamont." A sacrilege? Maybe, but she was at both, and was in as good a position as anyone to know.

A break was taken. The show resumed at 2:00 PM, with Joe Cocker and The Grease Band. Among the songs Cocker sang was The Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." They left at 3:25, and then, the rain came back. For 3 hours, no one wanted to take the risk of going on. There was nothing for people to do but endure the rain and the mud -- or, perhaps, play in it.

Country Joe & The Fish played from 6:30 to 8:00. By this point, the show should have been wrapping up, but several acts hadn't yet gone on, and wanted to. Ten Years After then played for an hour. The Band started at 10:00, and lasted 50 minutes.

Come Midnight, Monday, August 18, Johnny Winter, the albino Texas blues guitarist, went on, and played for over an hour, including 3 songs with his brother Edgar, also an albino, and a master of several instruments, as he would prove on his 1973 chart-topping instrumental "Frankenstein," on which he played guitar, keyboards and saxophone. At 1:30, Blood, Sweat & Tears came on, and played for an hour.

At 3:00, in only their 2nd performance together, came Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: David Crosby from The Byrds (whose current lineup were invited to play, but turned it down), Graham Nash from The Hollies, and Stephen Stills and Neil Young from The Buffalo Springfield. They played an electric set, then Young left, and Crosby, Stills and Nash sang an acoustic set. In later years, when asked about their signature show, Crosby would call it "The W Word."

People began to drift off. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band started at 6:00, with the Sun coming up. At 7:30, a bunch of Columbia University students who loved doo-wop, calling themselves Sha Na Na, took the stage, and sang for half an hour. Nobody knew it yet, but Woodstock, the ultimate 1960s event, had just given birth to the 1950s nostalgia movement.

By 9:00 AM, there were maybe 200,000 people left, most of them there because they were still waiting for access roads to be open so they could get out. And Jimi Hendrix came on, and played the National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," like nobody had ever heard it before: A loud, screechy, even ugly performance, which sounded more like the bombing of Vietnam than an expression of American pride. At 11:10 AM, he, and the festival, were done.

The immediate reports on the mainstream news said the whole festival was a disaster, full of rain, mud, drugs, naughty behavior, and bad music. But in the middle of the final full day, the venue's host, dairy farmer Max Yasgur, a proud Republican small businessman, addressed the crowd, and said:

I'm a farmer. I don't know how to speak to twenty people at one time, let alone a crowd like this. But I think you people have proven something to the world. Not only to the Town of Bethel, or Sullivan County, or New York State. You've proven something to the world.

This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place. We have had no idea that there would be this size group, and because of that you've had quite a few inconveniences as far as water, food, and so forth. Your producers have done a mammoth job to see that you're taken care of... They'd enjoy a vote of thanks.

But above that, the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids — and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are — a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music, and have nothing but fun and music, and I God bless you for it!

The legend was born. The reality was... better seen in the movie theaters the following Spring, and experienced on television, and now on the Internet, than live. The cover for the film's soundtrack became a classic. The names of the couple in the blanket were Bobbi Kelly and Nick Ercoline. They married shortly thereafter, and as of August 17, 2022, they are still together. (UPDATE: Bobbi died on March 18, 2023, at age 78.)

Seattle Pilots pitcher Jim Bouton did not mention the Festival in his diary of the 1969 season, published the next year as Ball Four. But in Dog Days: The New York Yankees' Fall from Grace and Return to Glory, 1964-1976, Philip Bashe wrote:

Woodstock forced mainstream America to swallow its antipathy and reexamine some of the counterculture's utopian ideals. Maybe, just maybe, these kids were on to something.

Interestingly, in the process of lauding the festival-goers' conduct, commentators drew frequent comparisons to spectators at sporting events, nothing that if you assembled an equal number of beery bleacherites under similar conditions, they'd probably dismantle the stage and cart off every square inch of turf as souvenirs -- once the brawls subsided, that is.

Though many professional ballplayers belonged to the same generation as the Woodstock crowd, the majority of major-leaguers no more identified with this group and its concerns than did your average middle-age Republican from Peoria. Anytime the Yankees team bus pulled up on a red light in some American League city and someone spied a longhair on the street corner, insults inevitably came hurling out the window.

And Bashe quoted Bouton himself as saying:

Many of the players were feeling the social earthquakes going on in the country. But like a lot of our leaders and politicians, they tended to blame things on these longhaired people with bare feet who didn't bathe and smoked pot.

They said, "That's what's wrong with this country. If it weren't for those hippies, Communists and agitators, the war would be going okay and we wouldn't have civil-rights problems." They saw those people as the problem.

A 10th Anniversary show was held in 1979. The times, they had a-changed too much: Only 1,000 people showed up. The whole world was getting more conservative: Israel elected Menachem Begin and his Likud Party in 1977, the first time a right-of-center party had won there. China, under new "paramount leader" Deng Xiaoping, began its move toward a free-market economy in 1978.

In 1979 alone, Iran had its Islamic Revolution, Britain elected Margaret Thatcher and her Conservatives, and Canada voted out Pierre Trudeau and Liberal Party and voted in Joe Clark, though Clark's Conservative Party government (as in Britain, nicknamed the Tories) quickly fell apart, and Trudeau was voted back in the following year. France elected François Mitterand and his Socialist Party in 1981, but West Germany elected Helmut Kohl and his Christian Democratic Union in 1982.

But, as they always do, the times changed again. The Woodstock organizers tried again in 1994, for the 25th Anniversary, but, ironically, couldn't get the original site. This time, 25 years after rejecting them, the Town of Saugerties said, "Yes," and 250,000 people saw a nice show, with a combination of Woodstock veterans, acts from that period that hadn't played the original show (including Bob Dylan), and more recent acts. By this point, people knew how to properly stage a concert of that size or larger, and there were no logistical issues. There was enough food, enough restroom facilities, enough medical facilities, and no rain.

That should have been the last attempt. Another was made in 1999, on the 30th Anniversary, with mostly current acts, and it was another mess, including several women claiming to have been assaulted. There was no attempt at a 40th Anniversary show in 2009, and an attempt at a 50th Anniversary show in 2019 was canceled in mid-preparation.

In 2006, on the site of Yasgur's Farm, a 15,000-seat outdoor amphitheater opened, the Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts. Next-door, the Museum at Bethel Woods tells the story of the area, including the Woodstock Festival. It is 103 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan -- and 60 miles southwest of Woodstock, New York, the original intended site of the Festival.

In 1988, after a game, I came out of Yankee Stadium, and heard what sounded like the Hendrix version of "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was, and there was a guy on 157th Street, in front of the parking deck, dressed like Hendrix, and playing guitar lefthanded like Hendrix. He was playing it perfectly. But when the song got close to the end, it went back to the beginning. It was a looped tape, and he was faking. The busker still got some change tossed into his guitar case.

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August 17, 1969 was a Sunday. It was also the day that Hurricane Camille crashed into America's Gulf Coast, and the day the New York football teams, the Giants and the Jets, played each other for the 1st time. I have separate entries for those events. Also, basketball star Christian Laettner and New Kids On The Block singer turned actor Donnie Wahlberg were born on this day.

And these Major League Baseball games played:

* New York Yankees 5, Chicago White Sox 2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Jimmie Hall hit a home run for the Bronx Bombers. Stan Bahnsen started, and Mike Kekich won it in relief.

* Another doubleheader at Shea Stadium: The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 in each game. Duffy Dyer hit a home run in support of Jerry Koosman in the opener, and Ed Kranepool and Bud Harrelson each got 2 hits in support of Don Cardwell in the nightcap.

* Houston Astros 3, Philadelphia Phillies 2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Minnesota Twins 4, Washington Senators 3 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Tony Oliva's RBI single won it in the top of the 13th inning.

* Los Angeles Dodgers 9, Montreal Expos 3 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* St. Louis Cardinals 5, Atlanta Braves 3 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron, Bob Tillman and Rico Carty hit home runs for the Braves, but all were solo blasts, and Steve Carlton was the winning pitcher for the Cards, as Lou Brock went 2-for-5, and Joe Torre went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* Pittsburgh Pirates 8, Cincinnati Reds 5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Gene Alley, Al Oliver and Willie Stargell hit home runs. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5. The Reds got homers from Pete Rose, Bobby Tolan, Johnny Bench and Tony Perez, but it wasn't enough.

* Boston Red Sox 1, Kansas City Royals 0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4, but Vicente Romo, Sparky Lyle and Sonny Siebert combined for a 4-hit shutout.

* California Angels 7, Cleveland Indians 6 at Anaheim (now Angel) Stadium.

* Detroit Tigers 9, Oakland Athletics 4 at the Oakland Coliseum. Catfish Hunter was knocked out of the box in the 4th inning, as the Tigers got 2 homers from Al Kaline, and 1 each from Jim Northrup, Don Wert, former Yankee Tom Tresh and Mickey Stanley. Denny McLain went the distance, despite giving up a home run to Reggie Jackson.

* Doubleheader at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. 1st game: San Francisco Giants 5, Chicago Cubs 3. 2nd game, Cubs 3, Giants 1. Over the 2 games, Willie Mays went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Ernie Banks only appeared in this game as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* Baltimore Orioles 4, Seattle Pilots 1 at Sick's Stadium in Seattle. Dave May (filling in at right field for Frank Robinson, who got the day off), Don Buford and Brooks Robinson homered for the O's, while Don Mincher hit one for the Pilots. Tom Phoebus won it, Fred Talbot lost it. Jim Bouton did not get into the game. A sweep for the Birds over the Pilots.

As Pilot manager Joe Schultz no doubt said, "Ah, shitfuck. Let's get 'em tomorrow, and then go pound some Budweiser." If Jim Bouton and his book Ball Four are to be believed, Joe Schultz would not have fit in well at Woodstock.

March 23, 1975: The S.N.A.C.K. Concert In San Francisco

Bob Dylan (left) and Neil Young

March 23, 1975: Promoter Bill Graham stages the S.N.A.C.K. (Students Need Athletics, Culture and Kicks) charity concert at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, California, to benefit the city's educational system.

Almost 60,000 people come to see The Grateful Dead, The Doobie Brothers, Santana, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Eddie Palmieri, Joan Baez, Graham Central Station and Neil Young joined by members of The Band, along with a surprise appearance by Bob Dylan. It's the largest benefit concert in history to date.

The original Kezar Stadium was built in 1926, was home to the San Francisco 49ers from 1946 to 1970, made a cameo appearance in "Dirty Harry" in 1971, and was torn down in 1989 -- before the earthquake during the Bay Bridge World Series, not because of it. A new, smaller stadium was built on the site, and is used for high school sports.

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March 23, 1975 was a Sunday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 96-86 at the Boston Garden.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the New Orleans Jazz, 125-114 at New Orleans Municipal Auditorium.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Houston Rockets, 101-95 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Chicago Bulls, 103-101 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City. Nate "Tiny" Archibald scored 35 points for the Kings. Bob Love scored 38 in defeat for the Bulls.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 116-97 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Gail Goodrich scored 36 points.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Seatttle SuperSonics, 102-96 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. 

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Denver Nuggets, 114-111 at the Nassau Coliseum. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 40 in defeat.

* The Memphis Sounds beat the Virginia Squires, 104-101 in overtime at the Hampton Coliseum, outside Norfolk in Hampton, Virginia.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Spirts of St. Louis, 121-110 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Marvin Barnes scored 36 in defeat.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Utah Stars, 117-112 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. George McGinnis led all scorers on the day with 44 points.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the San Diego Sails, 122-102 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 7-5 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders and the Minnesota North Stars played to a tie, 3-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Flames beat the Washington Capitals, 5-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the California Golden Seals, 9-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 4-4 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 3-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Chicago Cougars, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Phoenix Roadrunners beat the Indianapolis Racers, 5-3 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Vancouver Blazers, 1-0 in overtime at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

January 3, 1974: Bob Dylan & The Band Begin Their Tour

Left to right: Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson,

Garth Hudson (mostly obscured by his organ),

Bob Dylan and Levon Helm

January 3, 1974: Bob Dylan and The Band, the band that had backed him up on his 1965 and 1966 concert tours, start a new tour. It was Dylan's 1st full-length tour since a motorcycle accident in 1966.

While recovering at his house in Woodstock, in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, Dylan recorded several new songs with The Band, which were eventually released as the album The Basement Tapes. The Band would professionally record some of those songs without Dylan, forming the basis of their debut album, Music from Big Pink.

Dylan recorded his album John Wesley Harding in the Autumn of 1967, and began live performances again in 1969. When he felt ready to go on tour again, The Band were the ideal choice: Lead guitarist and main songwriter Robbie Robertson, bass guitarist Rick Danko, keyboard players Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, and drummer Levon Helm. Although all the members had songs on which they sang lead, Helm was the main lead singer, and having the drummer be so was unusual for rock bands. Helm was from Arkansas, and the rest of The Band were from the Canadian Province of Ontario.

The tour began on January 3 and 4, 1974, at the Chicago Stadium. It moved on to The Spectrum in Philadelphia on January 6 and 7, Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on January 9 and 10, the Montreal Forum on January 11 and 12, the Boston Garden on January 14, the Capital Centre outside Washington on January 15 and 16, the Charlotte Coliseum (now the Bojangles Coliseum) on January 17, the Hollywood Sportatorium outside Miami on January 19, The Omni in Atlanta on January 21 and 22, the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis on January 23, the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth on January 25, and the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston on January 26.

It went back east, playing the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island on January 28 and 29, and Madison Square Garden on January 30 and 31. It moved on to the Midwest and the West: The Crisler Arena at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on February 2, Assembly Hall at Indiana University in Bloomington on February 3, the St. Louis Arena on February 4, the Denver Coliseum on February 6, the Seattle Center Coliseum on February 9, the Oakland Coliseum Arena on February 11, and closing at The Forum outside Los Angeles on February 13 and 14.

Rolling Stone magazine would later name this tour one of the most significant in rock and roll history. In 1975 and '76, Dylan played a tour he called The Rolling Thunder Revue, with performers including ex-girlfriend Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, early benefactor Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Roger McGuinn, whose band The Byrds had hits with some Dylan songs.

In 1986, Dylan toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; in 1987, with The Grateful Dead; later in 1987, with Petty again. By 1988, he had begun what became known as "The Never Ending Tour." Essentially, as of January 3, 2022, at the age of 80, he's still on it.

UPDATE: It took me until 2024 to think of this, but the 1970s were Schrödinger's Decade. There was too much overwrought music, and, at the same time, not enough of it.

*

January 3, 1974 was a Thursday. Future Congresswoman Katie Porter of California was born.

Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between Playoff rounds. Only 1 game was played in the NBA: The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 120-105 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38 points, and grabbed 16 rebounds.

There were 4 games in the American Basketball Association: 

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Virginia Squires, 110-109 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

* The Carolina Cougars beat the Memphis Tams, 122-104 at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Rockets, 100-97 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* And the Utah Stars beat the San Antonio Spurs, 101-93 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

There were no games scheduled for the World Hockey Association. There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2 at The Spectrum Philadelphia.

* The New York Islanders beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Atlanta Flames beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* And the Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.