Mike Bloomfield and Bob Dylan 1965

You may remember this brief clip from Martin Scorsese's excellent documentary, "No Direction Home." It shows Bob Dylan and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band sharing a few drinks in a relaxed moment. Scorsese's film offers no explanation of where the segment comes from, and appears to associate it with the festivities at the Newport Folk Festival from July 1965. In fact, the clip comes from a Super-8 home movie taken at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York, probably in late August or early September of that year, shortly after Dylan had finished recording "Highway 61 Revisited." Both Mike Bloomfield and Sam Lay were part of those sessions, and the Butterfield Band was performing on ensuing weekends at the Cafe. Also seen is singer Oscar Brown Jr. who shared the bill with the PBBB. Sam Lay recalled in an interview that this clip was made at a "party given by the Associated Press," though that seems unlikely. It's more probable that Albert Grossman had arranged a "Highway 61" release party for Dylan at the Cafe, and members of the wire services along with other reporters attended. Because the Butter Band was in residence, they also joined the celebration. The unnamed fellow swigging from the bottle to everyone's delight is bassist Jerome Arnold. Mark Naftalin, the sixth member of the Butter Band, had yet to join the group, making his first recordings with the band on September 9. Dylan was still wooing Bloomfield at this point, hoping that he would join his touring band. Michael didn't, prefering to stay with Butter, and he and Bob never really connected again -- until 1980, a few months before Michael's death.

Added 7 Apr 2026