What Were Bob Dylan and John Lennon Really Saying in the Back of That Limo?

On the night of May 26, 1966, the Beatles entered EMI Studios on Abbey Road to work on their most ambitious album yet, “Revolver.” Three miles away, their friend Bob Dylan stepped onto the stage of the Royal Albert Hall.

Blade-thin, on the verge of exhaustion, Dylan, 25, was nearing the end of a grueling world tour, his first with a band, during which he’d been the target of frequent boos and occasional death threats. Many fans felt betrayed by this new Dylan, a wild-haired character with an electric guitar who wouldn’t play his old protest songs. On this night in London, he and his fellow musicians received “the harshest reaction yet,” according to the guitarist Robbie Robertson.

Around 1 a.m., John Lennon, 25, made his way from Abbey Road to the May Fair Hotel. That was where Dylan was staying with his band and a documentary film crew that was tracking him, onstage and off. Lennon and his fellow Beatles had spent a lot of time at Dylan’s suite in recent weeks. They avoided the film crew as they smoked pot with their host and listened to tracks from “Revolver” and Dylan’s soon-to-be-released album, “Blonde on Blonde.” On this night at the May Fair, however, Lennon said yes, albeit reluctantly, when Dylan asked him to appear in a scene.