Bob Dylan Live Photos by 1984 Tour Photographer Guido Harari
"I was disappointed at the choice of photo for Real Live"
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The best known document of Bob Dylan’s 1984 stadium tour is the album Real Live. The cover of that album was shot by the photographer Guido Harari. The Italian photographer had been hired by Bill Graham as the official tour photographer, and shot a number of the shows, both the ones in his home of Italy (the Verona opening, Milan, three nights in Rome) and a few further afield. That great shot above, which I’d assumed was a posed portrait, was actually something he snapped at a press conference at the start of the run.
For the tour’s 40th anniversary, Harari agreed to answer some email questions from Italy about the tour. Appropriately enough, this is a photo-heavy installment, sharing some of his great pictures alongside his memories. Find more of his work shooting musicians at WallofSoundGallery.com.
When was the first time you shot a Dylan concert?
First time was in Nuremberg, Germany, in the summer of 1978. This was a major outdoor festival, oddly enough in the very same arena where Hitler used to have his rallies. I believe Dylan may have been amused by this as he sneaked a quite quick Nazi salute a couple of times during the show. Dylan’s set was preceded by Champion Jack Dupree and Eric Clapton, who later joined Dylan for a couple of songs. David Zard, the Italian promoter who would later organize the 1984 Dylan/Santana Italian dates, had provided me with press passes. But I had no contact with Dylan or his staff on that occasion. I could only shoot the whole show from the press enclosure.
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How did Bill Graham hire you to become the tour photographer in 1984? What does it mean to be the "official tour photographer" exactly?
I had met Bill Graham in 1977. He was a huge legend for me. Along with David Zard, he was the promoter of a Santana & Chicago Euro tour. I’ve always been a huge Santana fan since I saw his incendiary performance in the Woodstock movie, and Graham was managing the band at the time. I became good friends with Santana’s personal manager Ray Etzler and got to attend countless gigs whenever they toured Europe.
Being the official tour photographer means you’re hired to shoot everything: backstage, live performance, travelling, capturing a real life reportage of the tour or sometimes just a bunch of gigs. Your pictures end up in the tour brochure, on a possible live album cover, and some may get used for press. Basically, the official tour photographer has unlimited and exclusive access to the artist during the tour.
Bill Graham had granted me total access except to Dylan's dressing room. I never got to talk to him as the golden rule was that you should never speak to Bob, not even look at him. All the tour personnel was instructed to look the other way when he was around. But Bill knew how to please a “fan” like me. See the photo of Dylan shot with the whole arena illuminated by hundreds of lighters? This is how Bill commented on it: “I remember being behind the amps on stage and seeing all the lighters going up in the audience, the Arena glowing in the darkness, and the fans enthralled in the presence of this magician. I spotted you on the side of the stage and realised that you simply had to capture that moment. I ran over to you and maniacally dragged you to the spot behind the drums to show you what was there for you to capture.”1
A few of my favorite of his live shots from the tour:
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What were you aiming to capture—both on stage and in the portrait shoot?
Sometimes I could set up my portable studio with strobes and backdrop in any kind of location: hotel rooms, backstage dressing rooms, sometimes even in the street, in parking lots, whenever and wherever the artist and their manager deemed ideal. I never got to have a proper portrait session with Dylan. I tried many times with Dylan’s then-tour manager Gary Shafner promising Dylan would agree to this, but it never happened. My only portraits of Dylan were captured, thanks to Bill Graham, during the 1984 press conference in Sirmione, Italy, the day before the opening concert of the 1984 Dylan/Santana European tour in Verona. But I was allowed to shoot the whole shows from any angle, from the pit as well as onstage, and this allowed me to capture some very unusual expressions of Dylan.
You mention setting up you portable studio in hotel rooms, etc. What were you capturing in those spaces? I know Dylan himself wasn't posing.
I got to set up my studio in that arena at the time of the Dylan/Petty tour with Roger McGuinn. As you may expect, shooting Dylan this way was out of question, but I took portraits of Petty and McGuinn.
Is there a trick for getting a great live shot of Dylan? For capturing what it feels like being in the room?
You have to concentrate and be ready at all times to capture stuff that, when you’re shooting on stage, only you and the musicians get to see. It’s fascinating and very exciting.
What was the venue in Verona like? I saw one shot that made it seem like an old coliseum.
It was the ancient Roman Arena which is world-famous for epic operas and now also for amazing rock concerts. I saw there Tina Turner, Simple Minds, Santana, Chicago, Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel and so many others.
I imagine Santana was a fun act to photograph. How do you capture that energy in a still image?
I would shoot countless rolls of film, trying to capture the energy of the performance shooting from all angles, at all times. It was addicting being in the middle of the action on stage, so close to the artists.
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Were you shooting much behind-the-scenes, offstage etc?
There was not much happening behind the scenes, mostly because Dylan, escorted by his “mind guards” (this is how he called his bodyguards), wanted everybody, even the tour staff, to look away when he would be around. Very odd atmosphere backstage.
Who chose the photo for the Real Live cover? Why that one in particular?
I was in touch with Nancy Donald, the famous art director at Columbia, because I had received an album slick and I was very disappointed at the choice of photos. Dylan had requested that I consigned all the photos, including the rejects. When she told me that one day Dylan appeared at Columbia headquarters with the master tapes in one hand and a bunch of my photos in the other, I knew that he had picked among the rejects probably! He had selected photos from the first night in Verona, and had missed some incredible stuff that I had shot the next day and in Germany. There's a few interesting ones where Dylan has that 1966 look and his face hasn't changed much yet. Too bad, but it’s all very Dylan!
How did he end up signing this photo of yours for you?
It was Stan Golden, Dylan's cousin and famous dentist to the Hollywood stars who was part of the tour entourage as Dylan's assistant, who volunteered to have that print signed by Dylan. I was not present, so I cannot guarantee it's been signed by Bob. Maybe yes, or may it was signed by Stan. But that looks like very similar to a signature my ex-wife obtained from Dylan right after the press conference in Sirmione.
Thanks Guido! More unseen photos from the 1984 Euro tour were selected for the Bootleg Series, Vol.16, Springtime in New York.
Find more examples of his work, including some classic shots of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, Tom Waits, Kate Bush, Miles Davis, and many more at WallofSoundGallery.com. You can buy signed prints there too.
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'Mind Guards' is the gem from this outstanding interview and many gorgeous new (to me at least) photos.
Another great one, Ray. When Real Live came out, I was disappointed with the whole thing. Other than a passable Tangled, it just seemed...blah and the cover shot seemed sloppy. I know about then Bob preferred to not show detailed pictures of his face. I suppose the intensity of the Hard Rain live album both musically and graphically ruined me for anything less.