It was the year 1984

A tour that would have seen Fabrizio De André, Bob Dylan and Santana share the same stage. A dream for everyone, except for one of the three artists involved, so that incredible live rendez vous fell through and there was never another chance to make it happen.

The story was recently recalled by Dori Ghezzi in an interview with Corriere della Sera. In 1984, Bob Dylan and Carlos Santana embarked on a European tour destined to go down in history for Italian audiences too. After years without the big international stars in Italy - a consequence of the unrest that had marked the great music gatherings of the Seventies - the run of concerts marked Italy's return among the essential stops of major world tours, a comeback already set in motion by Bob Marley's historic show in June 1980 at the Meazza stadium in San Siro, Milan.

The schedule gave Italy a starring role: two opening dates at the Verona Arena (May 28 and 29), followed by three concerts at Rome's Palazzo dello Sport (June 19, 20 and 21) and the grand finale at Milan's Meazza stadium on June 24. The six Italian dates were handled by promoter David Zard, who thought to make the event even more memorable by pairing the two international legends with the most prestigious singer-songwriter on the Italian scene: Fabrizio De André. The Genoese singer-songwriter's publisher had years earlier received a letter from Bob Dylan, praising his version - written together with Massimo Bubola - of "Romance in Durango". The Minnesota songwriter, so the story goes, was deeply struck by De André's voice, especially after David Zard played him "La buona novella", translating the lyrics for him on the spot.

Buoyed by that interest, the promoter suggested to De André the possibility of a duet with Dylan on stage, and even future recording collaborations.

The proposal, however, never came to fruition. “Fabrizio turned it down because he didn't feel ready,” Dori Ghezzi revealed to Mario Luzzatto Fegiz of Corriere della Sera. “Our dear friend Fernanda Pivano, who knew both him and Dylan well, once said to him mischievously: 'Tell me the truth, Fabrizio, didn't you just not want Dori to meet Dylan?'”

A journalist from the time, however, recalled the episode differently: “When Zard told me what had happened, I asked De André why he had turned down such an opportunity. He replied, with a swagger that wasn't like him: 'I don't play support act to anyone.' Then he added, jokingly I think: 'If I found myself on a stage next to Dylan, I'd probably shit myself.' Years later, when I reminded him of it, he denied it: 'If I said that, it was just a joke.'”

In reality, at that time De André was already fully immersed in the making of "Creuza de mä", the project that would become the boldest and most innovative of his career. It wasn't just a matter of singing in Genoese dialect: he had to rediscover the instruments and rhythms of Mediterranean tradition, give voice to its colors, and find a perfect balance between music and words, content and atmosphere. An extremely ambitious project, developed together with his friend Mauro Pagani (PFM).

On the same occasion, Ghezzi also recalled another episode tied to the international market: in the mid-Seventies, when she was performing as a duo with Wess, she was offered a five-year contract by Motown, the storied Detroit label founded by Berry Gordy. The opportunity arose during the Rome filming of "Mahogany" (1975), produced and directed by Gordy, starring Diana Ross. "I would have been the first, perhaps the only, non-Black artist on Motown," Ghezzi recalled. But the deal never went through, probably due to difficulties tied to Wess's status in the United States - where he was seen as a Vietnam War draft dodger - as well as resistance from the Italian market.

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01/02/2026