By the mid '60s, Bob Dylan was known for toying with the media as much as he was known for his songwriting; most famously, in 1965 when he cryptically answered questions in a San Francisco press conference on the eve of his biggest tour to date (posted on YouTube). Asked if he thought of himself as primarily a singer or a poet, the future Nobel laureate replied he thought of himself as a song-and-dance man. One of Dylan's earliest confrontations with the media, though, came two years before that. This time, on TV, when he walked out on "The Ed Sullivan Show," in 1963.
Legend surrounding that incident says Dylan refused to perform in dramatic fashion over an issue of artistic integrity. At that time Dylan had released only one album, but was already known for his performance at the March on Washington, the hit "Blowin' In The Wind" as an icon of the Civil Right Movement, and for those opposing the war in Vietnam (per History). The real reason Dylan walked out on "The Ed Sullivan Show," however, goes to show that when it comes to an artist as mysterious as Dylan can sometimes be, it's hard to separate fact from fiction.
