Bob Dylan – Boo WilburyHAT FACT… A straw boater is a stiff straw hat with a flat top, a brim, and traditionally decorated with Petersham ribbon. The ribbons once signified allegiance to a particular educational institution or sailing club. Legend has it that these hats were brought to the USA by Italian immigrants and named ‘boaters’ because they were worn by Venetian gondoliers. However, they were also popular in England as summer headgear, especially for rowing and punting activities, from the late 19th Century onwards. Bob’s hat in 1990 had a dark navy and red trim. It is more likely to be an authentic early style boater with no significance to the ribbon colours.24.06.1990 ‘Unbelievable’ promo video Wearing a chauffeur’s uniform hat Mojave Dessert Under The Red Sky20.02.1991 Grammys Lifetime Achievement Award “Well, my daddy, he didn’t leave me much, you know he was a very simple man, but what he did tell me was this, he did say, son, he said…” [Nervous laughter from the crowd] “…he said, you know it’s possible to become so defiled in this world that your own father and mother will abandon you and if that happens, God will always believe in your ability to mend your ways.”20.11.1999 Bob Carpenter Centre, Newark, Delaware US Fall Tour with Phil Lesh and Friends05.07.1990 Internationales Congress Centrum Berlin, Germany 5 July 1990 The hat is a genuine ushanka this time – with the earflaps tied up and a badge on the brim. An interesting choice of headgear to wear in Berlin during the year the wall came down.17.10.1990 Beacon Theatre New York City, New York Photo by John Hume1991 Travelling Wilburys Promo photograph White baseball cap worn backwards! Recording sessions were a year earlier:Late 1991 LA Times photo Uncredited and undated. Bob Dylan wearing a bandana. HAT FACT… In 1991 an ‘interview’ with Bob Dylan was published in The Telegraph (issue 42). It was supposedly conducted by journalist and translator Eduardo Bueno in Budapest on 12 June 1991. The interview was a fake. Bueno had compiled a selection of previous Bob Dylan responses from other interviews. One extract from the ‘interview’ was about hats: EB: On your 50th birthday, an English newspaper, The Independent, asked a lot of people what they’d give you as a birthday present. Mick Jagger said, After what I saw on the Grammys, a new hat and some good songs. BD: Well, a new hat I’ve already got. It’s here. It’s called a Borsalino. I bought it in Milan, five days ago, for $75. New songs? Well, I don’t think he’s ever written a song like Masters of War. But to do my show, I don’t need to be moving from here and there. But I love Mick, I always did.18.03.1992 Australia tour, 1992 Brooklyn baseball cap under hoodie – and carrying a didgeridoo.17.01.1993 Bill Clinton’s Inauguration Concert21.07.1993 Camden Lock Market. London Blood in My Eyes video shoot Photos by Anna Marie Velez World Gone Wrong album recorded in May 1993: HAT FACT… Dave Stewart directed the video for ‘Blood In My Eyes’. It was filmed at Camden Lock Market, London, on July 21st 1993 and featured Bob Dylan walking around, juggling, talking to passers-by and signing autographs. On Dave Stewart’s website, he displays the result with the following caption: “Below is a video I directed with Bob Dylan using 8mm one morn in London. I hired a top hat. It was our only prop!” It is hoped that Bob Dylan’s appearance that day, while exciting enough for passers-by, did not cause the ‘Menace to Society’ that the first appearance of a top hat in London instigated 196 years earlier: “According to The American Hatter, London haberdasher John Hetherington nearly caused a riot when he wore the first top hat into the Strand on Jan. 15, 1797: An excited throng gathered about the owner and the crowd soon increased to such a dangerous extent that the authorities had to interfere. The next morning the daring haberdasher was brought before the Lord Mayor charged with ‘walking down a public highway wearing upon his head a tall structure having a shining lustre calculated to alarm the people.’ Witnesses testified that “women had fainted, that children had gone into hysterics and that one lad sustained a broken arm through the violence of the mob.” Hetherington asserted his right to dress as he chose, but the Lord Mayor fined him $5,000.”12.02.1994 Shin-Osaka Station, Japan. What kind of a hat is this? A tweed golfer’s hat or ‘newsboy cap’ worn peak-backwards?July [?] 1994 This is a photograph of Bob Dylan meeting Rabbi David Pinto, reportedly in Paris during the European leg of his 1994 tour. Bob is pictured wearing a traditional Jewish kippah (כִּיפָּה) which is also known as a yarmulke. This is a round skull-cap usually made of cloth that fulfills the customary requirement that the head should be covered at all times.Summer 1996 Photographed by Sam Erikson in Germany during the summer tour of 1996. Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews Grosses Zelt Klein Venedig Konstanz, Germany 3 July 1996 Zeltfestival. The style of hat worn by Bob Dylan here is a variation on a top hat. It is sometimes referred to as a ‘coachman’s hat’ or Junior Top – with a flat crown, not as tall as a traditional top hat, and a curved brim. The style has since become popular with Steampunk costume designers. Another first in the field? 😉02.05.1997 Memphis Beale Street Festival Tom Lee Stage, Tom Lee Park25.02.1998 Grammy Awards Radio City Music Hall, New York Pictured with Tommy Mottola
Ugur is an editor and writer at Need Some Fun (NSF News), covering world news, history, archaeology, cultural heritage, science, entertainment, travel, animals, health, and games. He delivers well-researched and credible stories to inform and entertain readers worldwide. Contact: [email protected]
