According to Robertson, the idea of collaborating with Dylan evolved from a conversation that took place sometime after July 28, when The Band played to hundreds of thousands of people at Summer Jam at Watkins Glen in upstate New York.
The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen was a 1973 rock festival which once received the Guinness Book of World Records entry for "Largest audience at a pop festival." An estimated 600,000 rock fans came to the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway outside of Watkins Glen, New York on July 28, 1973, to see the Allman Brothers Band, The Band, and the Grateful Dead perform.
Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, an outdoor rock festival held "Woodstock-style" outside Watkins Glen, New York in 1973
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Jim Koplik (along with Shelly Finkel) were co-promoters of the "Summer Jam at Watkins Glen" (rock concert in Watkins Glen) in New York in July 1973.
Live at Watkins Glen is a 1995 album by The Band, presented by Capitol Records (without the band's involvement) as a live album from the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen rock festival held outside Watkins Glen, New York on July 28, 1973 in front of 600,000 people.