Bob Dylan, Mavis Staples (& Ol’ Blue Eyes) share bill at Ravinia

In 1964, Frank Sinatra was basking in the glow of the big-screen adaptation of “The Manchurian Candidate,” the release of “It Might as well be Swing,” with the legendary Count Basie and his Orchestra, and the kitschy singles “Three Coins in the Fountain” and “My Kind of Town.”

At the opposite end of that year’s musical spectrum, Bob Dylan released two albums, “Another Side of Me,” with the conciliatory “It Ain’t Me Babe,” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” with its title anthem a powerful addition to the soundtrack of the Civil Rights movement. At the Newport Folk Festival, the poet captivated with the bittersweet “Hey Mr. Tambourine Man” and the playful “All I Really Want to Do,” — guitar in hand, harmonica rack at the ready. He also played Ravinia for the first time.

Fifty-two years later, Dylan returned to the Highland Park venue Friday night, sharing a bill with opener Mavis Staples, Chicago’s beloved R&B/gospel queen and 2016 Kennedy Center Honoree (Dylan was honored in 1997), and “sharing the stage” with the songs made famous by Sinatra, in a setlist that traversed the crooner’s universe quite fervently (check out the last two Dylan albums for the full effect) and with plenty of pedal steel guitar in tow.

Sinatra and Dylan’s worlds never collided all those years ago. At 75, Dylan can’t get enough of the Great American Songbook. In a 2015 interview with AARP, Dylan remarked about Sinatra: “He had this ability to get inside of the song in a sort of a conversational way. Frank sang to you — not at you. I never wanted to be a singer that sings at somebody. I’ve always wanted to sing to somebody. I myself never bought any Frank Sinatra records back then. But you’d hear him anyway — in a car or a jukebox. Certainly nobody worshipped Sinatra in the ’60s like they did in the ’40s. But he never went away — all those other things that we thought were here to stay, they did go away. But he never did.”

And so it was at Ravinia, as Dylan meshed “Things Have Changed” and “Pay in Blood,” with “Autumn Leaves” and “All or Nothing At All.” “Tangled Up in Blue” shared a dance card with “Why Try to Change Me Now.” The pacing seemed a bit troubled at times; perhaps the rapid-fire crisscrossing of the Dylan and Sinatra songbooks was too much for the audience (a wide range of age groups was represented on the sold-out lawn and pavilion) to truly absorb, waiting patiently till the encore for a revamped “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Love it or hate it, Dylan did it (ahem) his way.

In a glorious opening set, Staples, in her indomitable fashion, brought the crowd to its feet, delivering a (much too short) seven-song set that was as hot as the summer night that enveloped the outdoor concert venue. Opening with “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me”), Staples was unstoppable. By the time she and her impossibly talented ensemble got to “Freedom Highway” the crowd was a sea of raised, swaying arms and heartfelt “amens.” A sizzling revival meeting if ever there was one.

Bob Dylan Set List, Ravinia, June 24, 2016

Things Have Changed

She Belongs to Me

Beyond Here Lies Nothin’

What’ll I Do

Pay in Blood

Melancholy Mood

Duquesne Whistle

I’m a Fool to Want You

Tangled Up in Blue

Intermission

High Water

Why Try to Change Me Now

Early Roman Kings

I Could Have Told You

Spirit on the Water

Scarlet Town

All or Nothing at All

Long and Wasted Years

Autumn Leaves

Encore:

Blowin’ in the Wind

Love Sick