The essence of Martin Scorsese’s new documentary, Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese is a little nugget about why Dylan wore white makeup during the 1975 tour the movie features. He didn’t get the idea from the 1945 French film Les Enfants du Paradis as some had speculated or mimes, but from KISS. As in, Paul, Gene, Ace, and Peter. Every kid in America was dressing up like them for Halloween in the mid 1970s, but it is a little surprising that Dylan was as well. Then again, Dylan, perhaps more than any other artist, has always used the entire buffalo of American culture, not just the parts that seem obviously nourishing: Professional wrestling, Alicia Keys, Cadillacs, Christmas.
Then again again, you should never trust anything Bob Dylan ever says about what inspires him because he doesn’t want you to know. Since his first interviews, he has enjoyed making up things about himself, which journalists faithfully repeat as fact. (An alternate title to the movie could have been “Trolling Thunder Revue.”) The important thing for him has always been the words and music, not where he was born, not who his songs are about, not which hard-rock act he’s into. (Though it’s probably Ozzy.) This inscrutability has created a mystique around him, which is a major reason we’re still interested in his work. And this continued interest is why someone like Martin Scorsese would want to make a movie about a tour from 44 years ago.
That tour, the Rolling Thunder Revue, kicked off around the same time as Elton John’s famous shows at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where he played for 100,000 fans over two nights in late October of 1975. In a year where John was the world’s biggest rock star and “Kung Fu Fighting” went gold, conditions weren’t exactly ideal for a huge Dylan tour, but he was a big enough name that he could have sold out traditional concerts in large arenas. Instead, he decided to play hastily arranged shows in small venues–“how come he’s coming here?” asked one resident of Plymouth, Massachusetts–inviting a diverse crew of musicians to take part. During the tour, Dylan also had them act in the movie he wrote with Sam Sheppard, Renaldo and Clara, which was a 4-hour film starring Ronnie Hawkins as “Bob Dylan.” So, no sequined Dodgers uniform or black belts here.
Instead, midsize-town crowds who had planned just to “get a buzz” on a Friday night got to see Allen Ginsberg recite poetry (until he was demoted to luggage handler), Ramblin’ Jack Elliot ramble about Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez dance onstage while Roger McGuinn played “8 Miles High,” a Goth gypsy violinist who may or may not have brought a snake on tour, and Mick Ronson of Spiders From Mars fame, looking (and feeling) somewhat out of place. This was, in other words, not exactly a commercial endeavor.
What was it, then?
Ginsberg describe the tour as a “community,” and some of the musicians spoke of their excitement to have the opportunity to explore the outer reaches of their talent. That seems closest to what Dylan was going for: a community of artists having fun, with an audience being optional. It’s impossible to guess what was in his mind, of course, but the scenes where he is with other musicians, either playing or just hanging around reveal a side of him we rarely see: open, relaxed, happy. If there is a “real” Bob Dylan, this is as close to that as you’ll find.
But forget the explanations, motivations, costumes, people in make-up, made-up people, and real people with made-up stories (Sharon Stone). The real reason to watch is the music. With all the subterfuge and chicanery involved in the story of the tour, the actual performance is stellar. Dylan is absolutely ferocious singing “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “Isis,” and “Hurricane.” The band is completely locked in, finding new places to take familiar songs and getting away with it. Joan Baez’s voice is the perfect complement to Dylan’s, blending together to create a richer and more beautiful sound than he could ever achieve on his own. Onstage they work as one, and the looks she gives him makes you feel like she can see right through him but loves him anyway. And Joni Mitchell might have had the best performance of them all, with a mesmerizing version of “Coyote” played for the band at a party at Gordon Lightfoot’s house.More On:
bob dylan
-
The Best New Netflix Movies of 2024... So Far
-
Huey Lewis Tells Drew Barrymore What He Learned About Bruce Springsteen While Recording "We Are The World"
-
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Joan Baez: I Am A Noise’ on Hulu, A Deeply Personal Documentary About The Singer, Songwriter, And Activist For Social Justice
-
R.I.P. Debra Byrd: Former 'American Idol' Vocal Coach Dead At 72
Bob Dylan has been confounding expectations for more than 50 years, so there was no reason to expect him to change that for Netflix. It would have been easy to release a straight documentary of the tour, but that’s just not his style. As a result, fans and casual viewers might find themselves a bit frustrated by this “mix of fact and fantasy.” Some of the interviews don’t add much information, some of the fantasy is silly, and you sometimes find yourself wanting them to get back to the music. But in the age of algorithms feeding us exactly what we want, making our interests ever narrower, maybe it’s good to be a little frustrated.
Jason Hartley is a writer, musician, and high-powered advertising executive based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of The Advanced Genius Theory and can be found on Twitter at @advancedgenius.