Exactly 50 years ago today, Bob Dylan strolled onstage at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village and strummed a brand new song called 'Blowin' In The Wind.'
Chances are you know the song. But you might not be aware of its Canadian connection, which traces back to Dylan's adaptation of the old spiritual 'No More Auction Block' that was sung by former slaves who fled Britain in 1833. According to Alan Lomax's 'The Folk Songs of North America,' the song originated in Canada with those slaves, and it was a standard of Dylan's live repertoire at the time.
When visiting Canada fifty years ago, he performed an early version of the song, then titled: 'How Many Roads Must A Man Walk Down?'
Recently on the show, we looked at the five sides of Dylan: the wordsmith, the faith seeker, the capitalist, the activist and the trailblazer. With a little help from singer-songwriter Al Tuck, Reverend Will Ingram, business journalist Fred Langan, Grace Wu of Amnesty International and music journalist Karen Bliss, we run through his ever-changing legacy.
And for another taste of Dylan circa the early- to mid-sixties, he performed a short set in Toronto two years after first playing 'Blowin' In The Wind.' Check that out below: