Barry Goldberg – who played keys with Bob Dylan at Newport ’65 – dies, aged 83

nme.com:

Bob Dylan at Newport ’65, has died. He was aged 83.The news of his passing was shared by a representative, Bob Merlis, who revealed that the keyboardist died in hospice care.

He had had a 10-year-long battle with non-Hoghkin lymphoma, and his wife of 53 years, Gail, and son Aram were by his side at the time of death.Born in Chicago in 1942, Goldberg began his career in music as a teenager and aligned himself with the other great blues and rock n’ roll groundbreakers at the time like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters.One of the standout moments of his extensive career came in 1965 when he – performing as part of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band – took to the stage at the Newport Folk Festival for one of Bob Dylan’s most iconic performances.The historic set was Dylan’s first time playing an eclectic guitar alongside a live band and famously sparked a huge wave of backlash.

Although controversial at the time, the set went on to become one of the biggest moments in the songwriter’s career.It is also the climactic finale depicted at the end of the new biopic A Complete Unknown, in which Dylan is portrayed by Timothée Chalamet.Recalling the set back in 2022, Goldberg told The Forward: “I walked offstage that night feeling like a hero, and I didn’t want anything to break that spell.”Other bands that the musician performed in included the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band, which he formed with Steve Miller, as well as The Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield and The Barry Goldberg Reunion.