In an interview in the 1970s, Annie Nightingale said that she would love to play Bob Dylan’s Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands on her radio show.
However, she accepted that the song’s running time of nearly 12 minutes – it had first appeared on the album Blonde on Blonde in 1966 – meant that her BBC bosses would never allow it to happen.
Therefore she must have been delighted when a listener asked for it to be played on her request show on Radio 1 in the late 80s. As I recall she played it in its entirety, without interruption. It would be very surprising if by then she had requested anyone’s permission before doing so.
