Reviews
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Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
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Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
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Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
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Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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While watching Martin Scorcese’s Bob Dylan biopic, No Direction Home, I kept wondering just what might have happened if all of the obsessed Dylan-philes from the early ‘60s had known all the facts as they are presented here. At the time of Dylan’s fairly sudden rise to fame, he was surrounded by so many myths – many of them self-perpetuated – that the true Dylan fan of the time could only believe what he heard (or not). This naturally lent Dylan a mysterious aura that only made him more attractive to his fans, especially those that preferred mystery to the truth. More importantly, it also lent his writing that same aura of mystery, leaving every single person who came in contact with his words to apply their own interpretations, or scratch their heads in awe, wondering what all of it could possibly mean. This method of self-mythification worked brilliantly for Dylan, although it also backfired in some ways, especially when it led to people rifling through his garbage for clues, or assigning their own opinions and meanings to words that he did not intend. Nonetheless, it was fascinating to watch the contemporary Joan Baez explain (rather saucily) how Dylan would write some verse that even he considered mysterious, then show it to Joan Baez to ask her opinion. When she offered her own interpretations, Dylan was pleased, and commented that years from now, people would probably still be doing the exact same thing.
Watching the modern day Dylan remove much of the myth that surrounded his early days is perhaps the most fascinating element of this 2-part biography of Dylan’s first foray into fame. His lucid explanations of how his thought process functioned back then would have been a Rosetta Stone for the obsessed Dylan fans, but I wonder if they would have believed what they heard, even if they knew that it came straight from Dylan’s mouth. After all, they already sensed that he was ‘colorizing’ aspects of his past and so might have considered the source untrustworthy, but more importantly, they probably didn’t want to see the myth disturbed. The truth would have made everything so plebian. From today’s perspective, though, the truth is just as fantastic as the myth.
No Direction Home covers the time period from Dylan’s youth in Hibbing, Minnesota to the global fame and controversy that followed his adaptation of electrification. A lot has been made of Dylan’s constant reinvention, but few people concede that in the beginning, he reinvented himself with virtually every record. Here, Dylan himself makes it clear that the changes were a combination of deliberation and a reaction to the times. His first album was a quickly assembled hodgepodge of random influences, painting him as an adequate folk singer. The second album launched his career as a serious songwriter, with thought-provoking words and melodies that could be ‘beautified’ by Peter, Paul and Mary or Trini Lopez. A rather telling (and amusing) moment occurs when a music publisher takes credit for making Dylan famous because he managed to distribute his songs among so many different artists. It’s a ludicrous claim, but it has an element of truth to it, too, since middle-class America is unlikely to have accepted Dylan without middle-of-the-road artists softening the rougher edges of his own performance. His third album has him addressing political concerns without any overt political affiliation, while his fourth album (“Another Side of Bob Dylan”, which is only alluded to here) has him mostly abandoning literal statements for impressionistic musings. By the time he ‘plugged in’ on his fifth and sixth albums, it’s a wonder that his core audience was surprised at all since he already morphed into so many different shapes.
My only complaint here is with Scorcese’s means of assembling some of the footage. Perhaps sensing that he would lose some of his audience if he didn’t let us see some ‘electrified’ Dylan, he continually cuts into the future, showing us footage of Dylan and the Band before a hostile English audience. The result is disconcerting, especially since it was usually irrelevant to the topic that was previously being discussed. I think it might have been ultimately more effective to watch Dylan evolve organically into his electrified phase, since it would probably better convey the shock and sense of betrayal felt by his older fans. Instead, it is confusing, especially for younger fans who wish to understand this very important phase of musical history, and it somewhat softens the sudden impact of the change when it is addressed in part two of this biopic.
Interestingly, this film helped me to better understand how John Lennon became obsessed with Dylan at almost exactly the same time that the folk faithful were becoming disenchanted. Besides the obvious connection to rock and roll instrumentation, this new phase portrayed an angrier, more rebellious side of Dylan, unwilling to yield even to his own audience. I’m sure the surreal imagery of his electrified music also added to Lennon’s sense of attraction, and ultimately, as an influence to his own songwriting with the Beatles.
At one point in part two, the modern-day Dylan makes it clear of his opinion that an artist needs to continually move forward if they want to remain relevant and/or artistically sound. Still, though, nothing can adequately explain Dylan’s phenomenal lyrical output at this stage of his career. His songs careen through verse after verse with a steady energy that is almost machine-like, unstoppable and unimpeded, with his wrath serving as his most prolific muse. Some of his performances here are truly electrifying, especially those filmed with members of what would soon be The Band, before an unappreciative English audience. This footage is stunning, both for the unwarranted hostility of the audience, and the ferocity of the musical performances. It is truly fascinating to see these legendary performances. They have taken on an aura that is mythical, but this footage does not lie.
Martin Scorcese’s , No Direction Home is a fascinating assemblage of rare footage, myth debunking, and revisionist history that does not let go. After viewing this film in its entirety, I can only wish that Scorcese and Dylan would consider continuing their collaboration, all the way up to the present day.
DVD Grade: A
Tom Ryan
 
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