BOB DYLAN WALKS OUT ON ED SULLIVAN
New York City (JFK+50) On May 12, 1961, singer Bob Dylan* "walked out" on the set of the Ed Sullivan variety television show here in New York.
Mr. Dylan was informed that his song, "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," could not be performed on the show.
The lyrics include these lines...
"I was feeling kinda a little down, blue
I didn't know what I was going to do.
The communists was-a-comin' around,
They was in the air, They was on the ground."
When he was given the word that this song could not be performed on the Ed Sullivan Show, Bob Dylan said...
"If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear on the show."
The song in question is a satirical comment on the John Birch Society.**
*Robert (Bob) Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1941 & became one of the greatest songwriters of all time. His "Blowin In The Wind" (1963) & "The Times They Are A Changin" (1964) were anthems of the Civil Rights & Anti-War movements. In 2016, BD was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
**John Birch Society was founded by Robert W. Welch, Jr. in 1958. It was named in honor of Captain John Birch, US Army Air Corps, the 1st casualty of the Cold War. JBS is a political advocacy group opposed to communism & supportive of limited government. It has been described as supporting extreme anti-government doctrines.
