Christmas Day brings the release of “A Complete Unknown,” a Searchlight Pictures biopic of the legendary Bob Dylan.
While the 141-minute, R-rated film largely focuses on the singer’s life and times in the early-60s, Dylan beyond that period has had a long and celebrated musical relationship with Arizona spanning 44 years.
Although Dylan would eventually play live in Arizona 28 times (and counting), it did take the folk-rock pioneer a while to get to the Grand Canyon State. Dylan’s first live show here took place in November 1978 when he performed at the ASU Activity Center in Tempe. In fact, between regular appearances in Tempe and Tucson, Dylan wouldn’t debut in Phoenix proper until 1986.
The new film, starring Timothée Chalamet and directed and co-written by James Mangold, focuses on the few pivotal years from when Dylan arrived in New York in 1961 and when he first displayed his blistering electric sound at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, trading his acoustic guitar for a Fender Stratocaster.
During that period, Dylan did name-check Arizona in a song.
His original tune “Let Me Die in My Footsteps” included the lyrics:
Go out in your country where the land meets the sun /
See the craters and the canyons where the waterfalls run /
Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho /
Let every state in this union seep down deep in your souls /
And you’ll die in your footsteps /
Before you go down under the ground.
The song was recorded during sessions for what would become his masterpiece of a second album, “The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.” The track was left off the final record, however, reportedly bumped in favor of "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall." “Let Me Die in My Footsteps” would finally surface in March 1991 on “The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.”
Just a couple years ago Dylan chose Phoenix to debut "Crossing the Rubicon," a song off his 2020 album “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” which became his highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 in more than a decade.
The live debut of "Crossing the Rubicon" took place at the Arizona Federal Theatre on March 3, 2022.
Bob Dylan live in Arizona:
Nov. 18, 1978: ASU Activity Center, Tempe
Nov. 19, 1978: McKale Memorial Center, Tucson
Nov. 25, 1979: Gammage Center, Tempe
Nov. 26, 1979: Gammage Center, Tempe
Dec. 8, 1979: Music Hall, Tucson
Dec. 9, 1979: Music Hall, Tucson
Nov. 24, 1980: Community Center, Tucson
June 18, 1986: Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix
July 30, 1988: Mesa Amphitheater
Sept. 12, 1990: Mesa Amphitheater
Nov. 9, 1995: Symphony Hall, Phoenix
Oct. 20, 1996: Mesa Amphitheater
Oct. 21, 1996: Centennial Hall, Tucson
June 27, 1999: Desert Sky Pavillion
Aug. 23, 2001: Sundome For The Performing Arts, Sun City West
Oct. 21, 2002: Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix
Oct. 23, 2002: Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater, Tucson
April 8, 2006: Maricopa County Events Center, Sun City West
April 10, 2006: Tucson Convention Center
July 24, 2007: Casino Del Sol, Tucson
Oct. 17, 2009: Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix
July 18, 2011: Comerica Theatre, Phoenix
July 19, 2011: Anselmo Valencia Tori Amphitheater, Tucson
Oct. 16, 2016: Comerica Theatre, Phoenix
Oct. 4, 2018: Comerica Theatre, Phoenix
Oct. 5, 2018: Tucson Music Hall
March 3, 2022: Arizona Federal Theatre, Phoenix
March 4, 2022: Tucson Music Hall
(Source: bobdylan.com)
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MORE: Bob Dylan captured in time in Sun City West
Bob Dylan is during his tour through West Germany at the Dortmund’s Westphalia Hall on June 27, 1978, the same year the legend would make his first live appearance in Arizona.
(AP Photo/Heribert Proepper)
Steve Stockmar
News Editor | Sun Life Magazine & Arts & Entertainment
YourValley.net
sstockmar@iniusa.org
Meet Steve
Steve Stockmar joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, and has been an Arizona journalist for almost 30 years. He serves as editor of Sun Life Magazine and contributes to West Valley communities where he focuses mostly on arts & culture, education, and profiles of neighbors making a difference.
Community: Every season Steve serves as a “buddy” with the Miracle League of Arizona in Scottsdale, has volunteered his time with Family Promise in Glendale, and previously served on the Ghostlight Theatre board in Sun City West.
Education: Graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a Journalism major and English minor.
Random Fact: Steve once won a 50-player live Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament.
Hobbies: Anguishing over his beloved Chicago Cubs and Bears; listening to Beatles and Grateful Dead music.
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