No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

Martin Scorcese’s display of Bob Dylan up through 1966 documents one of the most inspiring, tumultuous, and controversial periods of creativity in modern music. It begins with his life in Minnesota, moves through his early days in Greenwich Village with Allen Ginsberg, and into his mythical meeting with Woodie Guthrie. Throughout this part of the film, Scorcese enlightens us as much about the history of American folk and blues music as he does about Dylan.

We are eventually shown his rise as an artist, a reluctant spokesperson for a generation, and eventually a pop icon. Interviews with Ginsberg, Joan Baez, and Pete Seeger provide a more personal insight into Dylan’s complex nature and set the groundwork for understanding a man who would eventually reinvent himself and his music a number of times throughout his career.

By the time of the now infamous Newport Folk Festival during which Dylan launched his new electric brand of folk music, we have seen Dylan as a creative artist who was more interested in pushing boundaries and denying definitions than someone interested in travelling down a path which would make people happy and make himself rich and famous.

Through the interviews, press conferences, candid moments with his band, and interactions with fans, it became obviously apparent how much the controversy over his electric music was affecting him. He became stand-offish, sarcastic, and reluctant - not at all the up beat and generous person he appeared as in the beginning of the documentary. It is during this time that Dylan utters his now infamous phrase: “Get a new Bob Dylan and see how long he lasts”. At this point, Dylan withdraws from playing publicly and his music takes a downward turn, become less vibrant and less consistently remarkable.

By the end, though, instead of seeing Dylan as a bitter rock star who dislikes the spotlight, Scorcese has us feeling sympathetic for him because his idealism had become so tarnished by the music industry, the media, and, the final straw, his very own fans who, during the first half of his shows - the acoustic set - would cheer, but during the electric part would boo. What we ultimately see in Dylan is a superstar upon whom fame and expectations are thrust and someone who, despite all of his denials that he does not care what people think of him or his music, is ultimately crushed by the negative receptions he received. Ironically, the music that caused this is now seen as the strongest music that he, or anyone else in history, has ever produced - Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde. Dylan’s withdrawal ended what was possibly the greatest four year ruin in music, producing seven classic albums and enough great songs to secure Dylan’s legend.

PJ20

Without mixing any words, this was fucking amazing. Written, directed and narrated by musical journalist and film director Cameron Crowe (Singles, Almost Famous), PJ20 shows the evolution of the band from the beginnings with Green River and Mother Love Bone through Temple of the Dog and Mookie Blaylock and eventually coming out as Pearl Jam. Crowe incorporates so much outstanding archival footage in telling this story, that, even though the film commemorates the 20th Anniversary of Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten, there’s a feeling that Crowe has been making this documentary for well over 20 years.

I am continually Impressed by what great music fans the guys in the band are. And when you throw in other members of the Seattle sound into the mix (like Dave Grohl) it really makes you think about what a great musical city Seattle is. These guys always seem like fans who got into a band, made the decisions a fan would make (whether it’s in the songs or in decisions like breaking away from Ticketmaster in order to keep ticket prices down), and ended up getting huge. Despite their success, the guys always seem humbled by the attention they get and twenty years later still work with the idea that it could disappear at any moment. Perhaps that’s why the band works with an urgency which comes through in the music.

On a side note, the documentary made me want to punch Andy Rooney in the face. He makes some incredibly disparaging and ignorant comments about the teens of “the grunge generation” after Kurt Cobain’s suicide.