Bob Dylan is one of the most accomplished living musicians, but Joan Baez said he still deals with stage fright. According to Baez, though, Dylan’s pre-show jitters manifested differently than in most musicians. Baez explained that while Dylan didn’t seem bothered by an impending show, he would eventually lash out in such an outsized manner that she could only describe it as a tantrum. She said that Dylan also didn’t like when she called him out on this. Still, she did, proving that she was an important figure in his life.
Joan Baez said Bob Dylan seemed unsure of how to handle fans
With The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in 1963, Dylan found success far outside of New York City bars. As an intensely private person, though, he wasn’t sure how to handle his newfound fame. Baez, who dated and performed with Dylan, said she worried about him because of this.
“I was always afraid for Bobby,” she told Rolling Stone in 1972, noting, “He didn’t seem to have the stage fright kind of fear. He seemed to submerge that and it came out in paranoia about people afterwards, like coming at him for autographs. He was so terrified.”
Baez said that Dylan’s instinct was to run away from his fans.
“One time, we got out of a limousine somewhere, when we were doing concerts together, and two girls came screaming, ‘There’s Bobby,’” Baez said. “They came screaming at him and he said, ‘Oh, wow, let’s run,’ and I said, ‘You dumb a**, just stand here,’ and I took his hand, and he was like a little kid and they came up all hysterical and teary, and I said, ‘Now stop acting so stupid and he’ll give you his autograph.’ And then he calmed all down.”
Joan Baez said Bob Dylan threw temper tantrums when he had stage fright
Baez said that Dylan swallowed his stage fright in the time leading up to a concert. Because of this, it often came out angrier and more explosive than it would have.
“I saw it come out in very different ways,” she explained. “He never had the traditional stage fright the way I did, sit down and have diarrhea and feel nauseated for 45 minutes before a concert. He was always bopping around writing songs. But it would come out in another way, a sudden furious tantrum because his coat was stolen one time. That scene you probably heard about — it was unbelievable.”
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Baez said the “horrible” coat stunk and had remnants of dried vomit all down the front. Still, Dylan loved it and blew up when he realized it was missing.
“One night we showed up backstage — I guess we must have left for a while and gone back to the dressing room — and his jacket was gone,” she recalled. “And he had a tantrum, I mean like a five-year-old, and he screamed at the policeman and the policeman scurried out, and he screamed at who else was there and they all scurried out. I think [Bob] Neuwirth was there. And there was that kind of tension that I would always think would have something to do with having to perform.”
She proved she was a positive presence in his life
Baez eventually calmed Dylan down, but not before he turned his fury on her.
“I said, ‘Oh Bobby, take it easy,’ or something, and he started to blow up because nobody was supposed to talk to him like that,” she said. “And I asked, ‘You want to practice or do you want to have a tantrum?’ Or some equally dumb maternal thing like that, and then he calmed down. He said, ‘I’m not mad.’”
Given his level of celebrity, Dylan was used to people agreeing with his every word. By calling him out for his tantrum, even if she thought what she said was “dumb,” she got him to calm him down enough to perform. Instead of bowing to his anger, she successfully snapped him out of it.
“I mean I’ve seen that in other people before and I don’t know what you’d call it but he refused to admit he was mad,” Baez said. “He switched roles, we practiced, he gave a brilliant performance in the first half. At intermission, I said ‘Gee, you ought to get pissed off more often,’ and he had another tantrum. I mean, it was terrible. He said, ‘I was not mad,’ and I said, ‘No, you were furious, but I won’t talk about it here.’”
Baez provided the dose of reality that he needed, just as she had when fans approached. This proved she was a positive, necessary presence in his life.
