(Dig the alliteration!)

So there are two Dylan related DVD’s being released around about now, both with some reference to Dylan’s gospel period. One seems straightforward enough, and one seems, well, dubious, although I have to say upfront that I have not obtained and watched either one at this point.

The one that seems dubious to me is Rolling Thunder and the Gospel Years, which describes itself as “a totally unauthorized documentary.” It also describes itself as “an epic four-hour masterpiece, with music by Dylan’s key musicians,” though small print elsewhere confesses that it “contains no Bob Dylan songs.”

It does apparently contain an interview with Rubin “Hurricane” Carter.

In his first interview in 30 years, “The Hurricane” tells all. Folk legend Rambin’ Jack Elliott, violinist Scarlet Rivera, bassist Rob Stoner, and Ms. Jacques Levy reveal the inside story of the Desire album, Joey Gallo, the Rolling Thunder Revue and the maligned tour film, Renaldo and Clara.

Well … fine, if that kind of tangential “inside” stuff interests you all that much, I guess. I wouldn’t expect anything a great deal more illuminating than you’d get by just listening to the Desire album, and the live recordings from that period. I don’t know what “all” the Hurricane can tell, that hasn’t been covered already, and done to death. He certainly won’t tell you a lot about Dylan’s music.

The DVD then moves on to the gospel years:

… his radical new direction alientated fans and enraged critics as he preached evangelical messages from the Book of Revelation. In his first ever interview, Dylan’s Bible class teacher, Pastor Bill O’Dwyer, describes Dylan’s born-again transformation. Legendary Slow Train Coming producer Jerry Wexler, background singer Regina McCrary, keyboardist Spooner Oldham, songwriter Al Kasha, San Francisco Chronicle rock reporter Joel Selvin, AJ Weberman and others tell the tale of Bob Dylan’s Gospel Years.

Well, I for one sure don’t need self-promoting crackpot A.J. Weberman telling me the story of Bob Dylan’s gospel years, nor do I expect any particular illumination from a San Francisco rock reporter.

I’m sure that most of the people who cooperated with this film did so in good faith, and maybe the film has even been made with good intentions all round; I have no way of knowing. But what it ends up looking like, after reading this promotional bilge, is an extremely gossipy and exploitative piece of product trying to portray itself as a thorough documentary.

And the question that occurs to me is, literally, “Who needs it?” If you’re sufficiently into Dylan to care about this stuff, you probably know everything that’s relevant about these time periods already. And even if you’re new to Dylan, you’re going to learn a lot more by listening to the music than by listening to some of these characters give their spin on it. And reading a couple of appreciative books on Dylan’s music would be time better spent than 4 hours in front of the tube.

The DVD boasts “live concert video clips,” yet, if you recall that small print, the film “contains no Bob Dylan music.” So those would have to be silent clips. Yabba yabba doo.

On the other hand, the DVD Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan definitely does feature Bob Dylan music. It even features Dylan himself, apparently both duetting with Mavis Staples on Gonna Change My Way of Thinking, and in a live performance from 1980 of When He Returns. And it promises to feature footage of the gospel performers who recorded Dylan’s songs for the 2003 Gotta Serve Somebody CD doing their thing (in the studio presumably?), as well as apparently talking about the music. A few of the people who are in the other film are also in this one: namely Regina McCrary, Jerry Wexler and Spooner Oldham, along with Jim Keltner and Fred Tackett, all presumably reminiscing about working with Dylan during those gospel years. It also features a couple of “music journalists,” which may be a drag, but missing, I expect, would be anyone trying to tear down Dylan’s songs or portray him as a nut or a charlatan.

I’ve heard recordings of Dylan doing When He Returns in 1980. “Knockout” doesn’t even come close. So, for me, the price of this DVD would be justified by virtue of being able to see and hear that performance alone. The rest will be a bonus.

...................
Share this!

Posts which might be related to this one based on a mysterious algorithm:

• “Inside Bob Dylan’s Jesus Years: Busy Being Born … Again!”
• Serving Somebody
• Groovin’ on a Sunday afternoon