Posted on 09/25/2005 3:47:51 AM PDT by dennisw
Edited on 09/25/2005 10:11:40 AM PDT by Lead Moderator. [history]
About an hour into Bob Dylan: No Direction Home, Joan Baez—in an interview that will be edited by your PBS station—recalls an invincible young Dylan imagining what they'll be saying about him in the future: "A bunch of years from now, all these (expletive deleted) are going to be writing about all this (expletive deleted) I write, and I don't know where the (expletive deleted) it comes from and I don't know what the (expletive deleted) it's about, and they're going to write about what it's about." Here we are. This documentary comes complete with a Starbucks tie-in, an Apple logo, and a celebrity director's credit. That director is Martin Scorsese, who has surely coveted access to this footage—donated by D.A. Pennebaker, Murray Lerner, and others—having already shot Dylan as the pièce de résistance to his documentary about The Band, The Last Waltz. But before you get too excited about this crossroads meeting, viewer, beware: This project was co-produced by Dylan's manager Jeff Rosen. Scorsese was brought in well after Rosen had already conducted the interviews and approved the material. What will all these assholes be saying about Dylan? In this "Martin Scorsese Picture," whatever the Dylan people want.
We'll take it gratefully, of course. No Direction Home is framed by footage from a 1966 European tour in which Dylan was hounded by the folkie furies for plugging in with the Hawks, who later became The Band. (This footage is from Pennebaker's never-released and seldom-seen Eat the Document.) As the documentary opens, we see Dylan performing the classic rock warhorse "Like a Rolling Stone." The record had already been a No. 2 single, but it was still a rock 'n' roll Rite of Spring, too raw
He told Diane Sawyer that he firmly believes in the second coming...he also continued to write Chritian themes in songs, such as the song Ring Them Bells, and he continues to perform several of this strongest Christian songs, "I Believe In You", "Saving Grace", and "Solid Rock"....
I know some Jewish Christians who do take part in Jewish holiday rituals....after all, Christianity is a continuation of one faith.
Is all of the above hands down proof?...No...I only know that the biographers were wrong when they said he renounced is faith after three years....some songs he wrote later certainly seem to dispell that claim.
When is it on dennis? Or did it happen already? I don't keep up with TV much, but I'd like to see this.
I don't know what more people want from him. He's raised good kids who apparently love him; he's written music that will last for generations; his lyrics are part of our lexicon; and he's stated clearly, righteously and publicly the faith in Jesus Christ which brought him peace.
Who among us has done more?
Wonder what he's talking to his Jewish friends about?
My favorite Dylan song.....Garcia sang nicely too.
You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun,
Crying like a fire in the sun.
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.
The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense.
Take what you have gathered from coincidence.
The empty-handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.
All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home.
All your reindeer armies, are all going home.
The lover who just walked out your door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor.
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.
Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you.
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you.
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore.
Strike another match, go start anew
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.
LOL...well glad to get a perspective on that crybaby from someone I respect.
Yea I agree with you and I am happy I got to see him live on a couple of occasions. A genuine legend and giant in music, he was and is a very talented man. His memoirs are excellent, also.
I depart with you a bit on baby boomers. In my direct experience (I'm 37) they have consistently been the most self cenetered and some even narcissistic bunch I have ever encountered.
Younger people (20s-30s) tend to be more beholden to a strange mixture of strong self esteem and almost no genuine self assurance. Boomers tend tohave strong self esteem and exagerated self assurance. Both combos aren't notably good - the self esteem is shallow, and the self assurance is often very misplaced.
I can't speak for every member of that class, but I do criticize the class mostly because of one lost 'gut check.' Even though most were not hippies nor were they protesters, they did fail to keep those types honest and in check when they were branding their generation as such. They also, as a class, stood by and let a small & vocal group of women lay the foundation for what has esentially become a de-balled male population in the 21st Century.
The truth is a lot of crap when down of the watch of the baby boomers - while most are not directly responsible, most certainly didn't mount an effective countermovement to the wide-eyed navel gazers that they allowed to define their generation.
My generation stinks, by the way. :-)
I have NO problem with people not liking his music..or his voice...we have different tastes...Some folks cannot stand to hear him sign (particularly now)...my wife is one of those...in fact, most females don't like to hear his voice these days...
However, he still writes incredible music and great lyrics...such as Moonlight on the Love and Theft album...or, Make You Feel My Love, from the Time Out of Mind album.
I only wanted to set the record straight about the claim that he is a LEFTY through and through, and false claims about his faith...
In fact, he STILL sneaks some lyrics into his songs about his faith...from the Love and Theft album:
Your charms have broken many a heart and mine is surely one
You got a way of tearing the world apart, love, see what you've done
Just as sure as we're living, just as sure as you're born,
Look up, look up, seek your Maker, 'fore Gabriel blows his horn
Amen again.
And by the way, I know one of his security guys, that lives part time with Dylan at his place in Malibu. He's told me the man is a great family man, a straight shooter, a very private individual and a nice guy.
Regardless of the title of this documentary, I look forward to reading about Dylan's path homeward in the second installment of "Chronicles."
Dylan will laugh last.
I think the problem young folks have with a lot of boomers is that the ones you describe didn't make great parents. Nothing worse than a preening self obsessed parent.
The Boomers were also the first generation that had it easy...(sans Vietnam for those that went)..relatively speaking and their large numbers have tended to expand everything unrealistically....
...the economy and culture.
It just sort of gobbles up everything.
Leftist culture never really took off where I'm from.
We got a bit of the dope and sexual revolution stuff.
The Civil Rights movement at which I was at ground zero is more honestly attributable to pre-boomers.
I love Dylan's music. I just got a 3 disc CD set as a birthday gift. The man is a genius. Thanks for heads up on this documentary.
I agree with you. Leftist culture didn't take root in my household, though it took root in nyc where I was raised.
LOL. I heard Catholic school girls are throwing away their mascara...
However, the true story is much more complicated than that.
Bob Dylan ranks among the greatest songwriters that America has ever produced. His body of work is consistently good right up to the present day. He was recording before The Beatles and he is still recording three and a half decades after The Beatles broke up!
Bob Dylan's "left-wing credentials" is also questionable as any reader of his latest autobiography will attest. It seems that Dylan is as tired of the granola-eating, commie, America-hating crowd as we all are. Maybe Dylan is not a dyed-in-the-wool conservative but he's not all that bad a guy either. And his immeasurable talent is unquestioned.
Thanks Doc.
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