Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story By Martin Scorsese

Trailer

 (A reminder to watch the film on Netflix).

Update, 12 June:

From "Mr. Tambourine Man" to "The Water is Wide", I've just finished watching this riveting film on Netflix. Tremendous versions of "Isis", "One More Cup of Coffee", "Oh Sister", "Simple Twist of Fate", "Ira Hayes", "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll", "Hurricane", "Knocking on Heaven's Door"; Dylan and Ginsberg at the grave of Jack Kerouac (both quoting from Mexico City Blues).

      "When rock becomes air
I will be there.”

(231st Chorus)

Some pretentious and some revealing conversations, in almost equal measure! Poets, singers, musicians, and some unsavoury hustlers...Beautiful electric violin playing by Scarlet Rivera.

The Rolling Thunder Revue ran from 30 October 1975 - 25 May 1976.

I'd been working in Ethiopia from 1971-1975 (I bought "Planet Waves" when I was in Ethiopia, and "Blood on the Tracks" during the Ethiopian Revolution). In September 1975 I moved to Nairobi, Kenya (where I bought the album "Desire", soon after its release early in 1976).

When I was out filming on safari, they were filming on the road. I guess they had a different kind of fun, and a very different lifestyle, discovering "the most extreme versions of themselves".

An interesting comment from President Jimmy Carter:

"I grew up as a landowner but I don't think I ever realized the proper interrelationship between the landowner and those who worked on a farm until I heard Dylan's record I Ain't Gonna Work on Maggie's Farm No More".

That made me recall that I was once driving John Lee Hooker around London in 1965 when John Lee first heard "Maggie's Farm" on the car-radio and started to sing along with gusto. He was really surprised by Bob's change of style. Martin Scorsese's film contains many surprises and new insights. 


The Chaotic Magic of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, David Remnick, The New Yorker


Rolling Thunder Revue, Wikipedia


Jack Kerouac - On the Road