1970s: Walking Through Changes
Movies, Rolling Thunder & Religion
1970: Honorary Doctorate of Music by Princeton University
1970: Returns to New York and buys town house on MacDougal
1971: First book "Tarantula" finally published (originally written in the mid-1960s)
1972: Buys house near Malibu, starts building up "Xanadu"
1972: Supporting act as "Alias" in Sam Peckinpah’s "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" and contribution of soundtrack
1973: First US-Nr.1-Hit "Knocking on heaven’s door", taken from the original motion picture soundtrack of "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" by Sam Peckinpah
1974: In his first tour since 1966 (!) Dylan joined The Band performing both Dylan- and Band-classics in new "Planet Waves"-style arrangements. The tour resulted in the double-album "Before the Flood".
1974: First Billboard #1 album: "Planet Waves"
1975: Rock history’s probably most anarchistic tour ever: the "Rolling Thunder Revue", featuring musicians as Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, Mick Ronson, Bob Neuwirth, T-Bone Burnett and the complete "Desire"-sessions-crew as well as artists like beat poet Allen Ginsberg, writer Sam Shepard and actress Ronnee Blakely.
1975: "Blood On The Tracks" tops the US Billboard album charts.
1976: Performance for The Band’s "The Last Waltz", directed by Martin Scorsese
1976: "Desire" is Dylan’s third consecutive studio album to reach the Billboard #1.
1977: Divorced from Sara
1978: Movie "Renaldo & Clara" about "The Rolling Thunder Revue" of 1975, directed by and starring Bob Dylan
1978: Converted from jewish belief to christianity and releases the "religious" albums "Slow Train Coming" and "Saved", as well as "Every Grain Of Sand" off the album "Shot Of Love".
1979: First Grammy Award in "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" for "Gotta Serve Somebody" off the 1979 album "Slow Train Coming".