Hard Rain predates the Cuban Missile Crisis apogee

Evidence

Despite a common assumption that Dylan wrote “Hard Rain” at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he premiered the song a month before, September 22, at Carnegie Hall, as part of the all-star “Travelin’ Hootenanny” organized by Pete Seeger, and not long after he recorded a version at the Gaslight-part of an “audition” tape orchestrated by manager Grossman as a possible end run around Columbia to establish the direction of Dylan’s second album. — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 383

Categorization

• CANDY: Fun myth-busting fact about a famous song’s timeline that a music-interested friend would enjoy.