America's secret Cold War weapons: Cables reveals Washington wanted to unleash Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor on the USSR to defeat Communism
Music icons Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor could have helped rock the foundations of Communism, according to a Cold War US government memo.
The artists were named in a U.S. government dream list of stars who could have won over public opinion by going on tour in the Soviet Union.
Walter Stoessel Jr, a former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow, wrote that Soviets had little appetite for American soul music.
Bob Dylan (left) and Joni Mitchell (right) were two of the stars named in a U.S. government list of those believed to have been able to win over public opinion by going on tour in the Soviet Union
But in his January 1975 diplomatic note to Washington, he suggested 'soft rock' like 'American Pie' by Don McLean or 'Free Man in Paris' by singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell could be a big hit with the oppressed.
He added that 'priority' should also be given to 'blues/rock' or 'country rock.'
The note adds: 'While this would be new for Soviet tour, as would most aspects [of] current music, believe time ripe to make attempt.'
The cable, one of a new batch of 1.7 million U.S. diplomatic communications from the years 1973 to 1976 released by the whistleblower Wikileaks website on Monday, suggests bigger stars should be approached rather than 'lesser-known more derivative artists.'
As well as Dylan, Mitchell and Taylor, the ambassador's wish list included seventies rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd, Poco and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
None of the artists ended up playing behind the Iron Curtain at the time and it's unclear whether any were asked.
Singer Elton John pictured in Moscow in 1979. He was the first major western artist to play concerts in the Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev making his speech in Moscow's Red Square in 1985 after the funeral of his predecessor Konstantin Chernenko. That year Bob Dylan appeared in Moscow
In 1993 Santana (pictured), Bonnie Raitt and the Doobie Brothers headlined the joint Soviet-American 'Summit' concert in Moscow to herald the dawning of glasnost
Dylan's only public appearance in the USSR was at a poetry concert in Moscow in 1985, but neither he nor Joni Mitchell of Don McLean ever toured there.
The first major western artist to play concerts in the Soviet Union was Elton John in May 1979.
Eight years later, James Taylor, accompanied by Santana, Bonnie Raitt and the Doobie Brothers – all artists fitting the U.S. ambassador's criteria – headlined the joint Soviet-American 'Summit' concert in Moscow to herald the dawning of glasnost.
Later that same year, Billy Joel would perform three sold-out shows in Moscow and three more in Leningrad that were hyped as 'the first time an American pop music star had brought a fully staged rock show to the Soviet Union.'
Although from a different musical genre, Duke Ellington and his band also visited the USSR in 1971 on a tour backed by the US State Department.
Cold War paranoia over pop music was so intense that youngsters from East Germany were not even allowed to congregate near the Berlin Wall when Michael Jackson played an 1988 concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate on the western side of the city's divide for fear they would rebel.
The wall that had separated the city since 1961 fell a little over a year later in an era of change triggered by the reforms of Soviet President Michhail Gorbachev.
A month after Jackson's 1988 concert, Bruce Springsteen performed in front of 160,000 East Germans - the biggest concert in the Communist country's history.East Germany welcomed him as a 'hero of the working class,' but Springsteen instead fuelled widespread dissatisfaction with the words: 'I came to play rock 'n' roll for you East Berliners in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down.'