Sunday Cinema | Bob Dylan Debuts Hurricane In 1975

Earlier today former boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter died in his Toronto home at the age of 76 as per the New York Times. “Hurricane’s” promising career as a boxer was cut short after he was convicted of killing two men and a woman at a Paterson, NJ bar back in 1966. Bob Dylan was among those who felt Carter was wrongly convicted and penned the protest song “Hurricane” with Jacques Levy in 1975.

Dylan visited Carter in a New Jersey prison shortly after receiving a copy of the boxer’s auto-biography. Bob left the visit convinced of Rubin’s innocence and set about writing “Hurricane.” The song contains a number of references to real people, which led Columbia Records’s lawyers to insist Bob change some of the lyrics for the studio version found on Desire.

On September 10, 1975 Dylan brought his trio to Chicago’s WTTW Studios for a three-song performance that started with the debut of “Hurricane.” Watch Bob Dylan perform the song backed by Scarlet Rivera (violin), Rob Stoner (bass) and Howie Wyeth (drums):

Bob Dylan played “Hurricane” over 30 times between late 1975 and early 1976. He’s yet to perform the song again since January 25, 1976.