Come gather round people, wherever you roam...

March 23, 2018 3:07 AM

On March 10th 1964, Canadian TV viewers tuned to Quest, a show created to inform and entertain. Often controversial and never one to pull its punches, Quest had been branded 'corrupt and immoral' in Parliament. Facing cancellation, show producer Daryl Duke decided to go out with a bang: 27 minutes of nothing but Bob Dylan, his guitar and So. Much. Background smoking.

Tracklist:

00:06 - The Times They Are A Changin'
02:43 - Talkin' World War III
07:36 - The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
13:01 - Girl From the North Country
16:20 - A Hard Rain's gonna fall
22:22 - Restless Farewell

Other notes:

- So. Much. Smoking
- No one in the editing room seems to have spotted that two of those pin-up posters in the background are perhaps a bit too racy for TV (either that or they decided they didn't care)
- Checked shirts for everyone!
- The entire Rainbow Quest YouTube channel is worth digging deep into.
- Duke moved to the US immediately after this episode and the end of Quest. His work in Canada (and beyond) is considered a forerunner to music videos.

posted by garius (18 comments total)

That Rainbow Quest channel is a treasure trove but it looks like it's only cherrypicked the folk music, which leaves a lot of intriguing stuff hidden away, like the hour-long documentary about Charlie Mingus and something titled "The World of S. J. Perelman".
posted by ardgedee at 4:07 AM on March 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

Very relevant to my interests - thanks for the post! Cool.
posted by parki at 4:17 AM on March 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

No one in the editing room seems to have spotted that two of those pin-up posters in the background are perhaps a bit too racy for TV (either that or they decided they didn't care)

Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
posted by Pendragon at 4:46 AM on March 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

I am truly curious about who the guys sitting around playing cards are.
posted by jferg at 4:49 AM on March 23, 2018

Aaaaaah! Rainbow Quest was the name of Pete Seeger's show in the U.S. the following year! (was he inspired by this Canadian fellow? it's too long since I knew everything about Pete).

Anyhow, thanks for this!
posted by allthinky at 5:05 AM on March 23, 2018

At least Bob wasn't smoking. In Don't Look Back, he's constantly smoking.
Nice show; good song selection.
posted by MtDewd at 7:31 AM on March 23, 2018

Darryl Duke gave us one of the great Canadian films of the 70's The Silent Partner.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:15 AM on March 23, 2018

The music is good, but I like how the general atmosphere with background smoking, etc is summed up in that first YouTube comment: "hey kid, make sure to bus tables and change the grease trap after you're done 'changing the world'"
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 8:17 AM on March 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Checked shirts for everyone!

Literally every adult male I grew up with in Northern Ontario looked like this (lumbersexual before it was cool!) In the 70's, when my dad, never a stylish man, would wear an unchecked collared shirt he was considered "fancy".
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:27 AM on March 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

In the 70's, when my dad, never a stylish man, would wear an unchecked collared shirt he was considered "fancy".

I just can't stop picturing this now.

"well look at you Hank. That's a mighty plain shirt you got on there."
posted by garius at 8:36 AM on March 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

I hate when restaurants have live music.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:33 AM on March 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

This is fine.
posted by chavenet at 11:08 AM on March 23, 2018

I hate when restaurants have live music.

"desparado ... you'd better come to your senses ..."

me, too
posted by pyramid termite at 12:28 PM on March 23, 2018

Boy, CBC headquarters was way more "rough and ready" back then.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:39 PM on March 23, 2018

If you're on the fence about spending 27 minutes of your day watching a black-and-white video of a Dylan performance, please make the time. This is outstanding.
posted by ob1quixote at 3:43 PM on March 23, 2018 [5 favorites]

Any chance to see early Dylan, before his voice became a parody of itself, playing live is a treat. His voice is always distinct, unique but I have no trouble at all parsing the lyrics. And the audience adds an unexpected layer on top; focusing in on the one guy's prosthetic arm during one pointed war lyric, the guy on the right end bopping & nodding his head in time to the music. My only regret is the half hour's up.
posted by scalefree at 6:45 PM on March 23, 2018

I honestly love all of Dylan's voices. Folk singer. Smart ass rocker. Country crooner. Desperate yelper. Gospel preacher. Aging fantasy trickster creature. Each serves the music he was doing at the time. For being a guy known for having a less than pleasing voice, he sure can sing.
posted by downtohisturtles at 7:02 PM on March 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

I've never wanted to smoke a cigarette so badly in my life. And I'm asthmatic.

Good stuff. Thanks for the link.
posted by spoobnooble II: electric bugaboo at 4:53 PM on March 25, 2018