Daily Ramblings:
It Takes A Lot ...03/11/2005
05:49:52 pm
More from our friend Russell Kelly, who picked up
a copy of the Tour Program at Dylan's show in
Seattle. He notes that there are some interesting new
photos in it ... and then, there is the text.
Contrary to some earlier
reports about the contents, apparently not all of
the Tour Programs contain the same text. Russ
speculates that different versions may be sold at
different venues. Time will reveal more on that.
However, Russ says that the text of this particular
"limited edition" program consists entirely
of a 1992 Dylan interview from the Times-Sentinel.
What was Dylan talking about in this interview? The
film "Hearts Of Fire." As Russ
said, "No, that's not a typo." If anyone
doesn't know, that is the 1987 movie that Dylan acted
in, and which is universally regarded as being
atrocious. Its reputation is such that I'm sure that
many dedicated Dylan fans have not even bothered to
see it (admittedly, yours truly is one). I know of no
one who has ever defended the thing. And that
includes Dylan himself.
Russ provides quotes from the Tour Program
interview:
Highlights from Tour Program
#007.04:
Q: So you read the script?
A: Yeah.
Q: So what did you think after you read it?
A: I thought it was a terrible script, a
pointless story. There was
nothing about it that rang true at all.
Q: So why did you do it, then?
A: I did it for the money. I mean,
why else would I do it? They probably
paid me as much as they paid DeNiro or Pacino to
play a role. I mean, how
could I not?
--------------------------------
Q: Were there rehearsals?
A: Oh yeah, in London where it was filmed
there were some. The only guy
who had any acting experience was Rupert
(Everett). He was the only real
actor on the set.
Q: Did he help you at all?
A: Are you kidding? We stayed drunk
most of the time.
-------------------------------
Q: Do you think the studio had high hopes
for this movie?
A: No, no. It was some kind of death
wish for somebody. The director
himself, he died right around the opening night
premier of the film in
London. That always seemed strange to me.
So, here we are. In March of 2005,
Bob Dylan's Tour Program contains an interview on the
subject of a catastrophic film that he starred in
back in 1987. That's it.
What are we to make of this? (After
we've stopped laughing, that is.) Do we really think
this is the independent act of a professional who was
employed to put together the Tour Program? From all
of the available choices, they pick that?
I just don't buy it. I think that
Dylan's old fashioned enough to take some kind of
interest in what's in the Tour Program. I think
putting an interview like that in it jibes with his,
shall we say, michievous sense of humor. Think about
it: a Tour Program generally has a lot of publicist
drivel in it, talking up the artist, listing their
great achievements, gold records, awards, hit songs,
milestones, quotes from other celebrities on how
wonderful they are ... you name it. Here comes Bob's
Tour Program and instead we have an old, irrelevant
interview in which he admits to starring in a movie
which he knew was garbage, purely for the paycheck.
All hail the great Bob Dylan! Makes you feel real
good about dishing out the cash to go see this guy,
huh? Talk about puncturing illusions.
The guy's giggling himself to sleep
in the tour bus. And long may he giggle.
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