Bob Dylan Reissuing Landmark 1963 Record With Controversial Song That Made Him Walk Off Ed Sullivan Show
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Revisiting a Classic Album
Bob Dylan is marking Record Store Day on Black Friday with a special reissue of his influential 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. The new release, titled The Original Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, will feature four songs that were left off the final version of his celebrated second album.
One of those tracks is “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” a controversial song Dylan wanted to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 12, 1963. The performance was set just days before the official release of Freewheelin’.
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Why Dylan Walked Off Ed Sullivan
During a Saturday rehearsal, Dylan played the song and both Ed Sullivan and the show’s producer enjoyed it. However, at the dress rehearsal the next day, a CBS executive stepped in and told Dylan the song could not air. The network feared the John Birch Society might file a lawsuit for defamation.
Rather than switching to another tune, Dylan chose to walk away from the program. The decision was bold, considering The Ed Sullivan Show had launched careers for acts like Elvis Presley and later the Beatles. The move caused controversy, and Columbia Records quickly pulled the song from Freewheelin’. Copies with the original tracklist soon became collector’s items.
The Song’s Sharp Commentary
In “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” Dylan’s narrator expresses fear that communists—called “Reds”—are taking over the country, leading him to join the far-right John Birch Society.
The lyrics use satire to highlight paranoia, suggesting Betsy Ross must have been a communist for adding red stripes to the U.S. flag. The narrator even accuses President Eisenhower of being “a Russian spy,” along with “Lincoln, and Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy.”
Other Changes to the Record
Once Dylan removed “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” he rethought other tracks as well. Songs like “Let Me Die in My Footsteps,” “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie,” and “Rocks and Gravel” were cut, as Dylan felt they were too close to his earlier folk style. In their place, he added “Masters of War,” “Girl from the North Country,” “Bob Dylan’s Dream,” and “Talkin’ World War III Blues.” These choices reshaped the album into the form that became widely known.
Record Store Day Release
The Record Store Day edition of The Original Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan restores the album as Dylan originally envisioned. The release announcement noted, the RSD edition “celebrates the album as Bob Dylan intended, before the suits at Columbia Records censored some of the tracks. Today we are less paranoid about offending members of the John Birch Society.”
Also planned for RSD Black Friday is a 7-inch single of “Masters of War,” recorded at ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax’s apartment in 1962. Its B-side includes a conversation between Dylan and Lomax after the recording session.
