Key developments
Rolling Thunder night two resets the setlist
Ray Padgett’s Flagging Down the Double E’s post covers Bob Dylan’s April 20, 1976 Rolling Thunder Revue stop at Bayfront Civic Center Auditorium in St. Petersburg, Florida. Compared with opening night, Dylan swapped in five songs from the previous fall, including a solo opener of "Mr. Tambourine Man," plus "It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)," "Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You," "Just Like a Woman," and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." The piece also quotes Joan Baez on the tour’s loose rehearsal atmosphere and references bandleader Rob Stoner on coordination.
Why it matters
It captures a concrete shift in Dylan’s Rolling Thunder performance approach just one night into the tour.
Sources & driving stories
FLAGGING DOWN THE DOUBLE E'S · Ray Padgett
Flagging Down the Double E's coverageSara revisited as Dylan’s most personal song
Andrew Dirst’s Grunge article argues that "Sara" is one of Bob Dylan’s most emotionally direct songs, tied to marriage and autobiographical detail rather than the more dramatized storytelling common to the era. The piece links the song to recollections of the Chelsea Hotel, family life, and a mournful arrangement that reads as deeply personal. It also repeats the account that Dylan performed the song in the studio during a strained period and that the performance helped temporarily ease tensions.
Why it matters
It adds fresh mainstream coverage to one of Dylan’s most intensely personal late-1970s songs.
Sources & driving stories
GRUNGE · Andrew Dirst
Grunge coverageHuck’s Tune framed as concealment
Tony Attwood’s Untold Dylan essay reads "Huck’s Tune" less as a literal poker song than as a meditation on guarded survival. It centers the line "You push it all in and you’ve no idea what you’re doing here" as a moment where bravado collapses into uncertainty, then extends the idea to modern online poker, where tells are read through timing, pressure, and digital patterns rather than facial cues.
Why it matters
It is a new interpretive angle on a later Dylan song that connects the lyric to contemporary forms of unreadability.
Sources & driving stories
UNTOLD DYLAN · Tony Attwood
Untold Dylan coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Feinstein bridged Dylan and Harrison
Anne Margaret Daniel’s Spectator piece traces Barry Feinstein’s role across Dylan and George Harrison circles, including Friar Park visits, Harrison home photos, and Concert for Bangladesh artifacts.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
How complete is the Rolling Thunder rehearsal record?
Padgett’s account suggests a loose, partly improvised rehearsal process, but the exact attendance and sequence of rehearsals remain only partially documented.
OPEN QUESTION
What source trail supports the Sara reconciliation story?
The Grunge piece repeats a familiar anecdote about a studio performance easing marital strain, but the underlying documentation is worth checking.