2007 was an eventful year for the living folk rock legend known as Bob Dylan (a.k.a. Robert Allen Zimmerman). He continues to tour at the ripe old age of 66, and last year shared stages with Elvis Costello, an influential veteran songwriter in his own right who has been doing his act for three decades.
This was also the year of Dylan tributes, in the form of the very well received movie and
soundtrack I'm Not There and retrospectives like the triple disc set Dylan. He also recently re-recorded "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" exclusively for the Expo Zaragoza 2008 world fair in Spain, which is designed to help the Zaragoza economy and work towards maintaining clean and safe water there. And a new original song, "Huck's Tune" appeared on the soundtrack to the 2007 film Lucky You.
As for this treasure, which was released late last year, The Other Side Of The Mirror captures previously unseen and raw footage of a young Bob Dylan performing some of his most legendary songs over a three-year span in Newport, Rhode Island. By the end of this run, he broke new ground for popular music, became an influential folk and rock star, and won over legions of fans in the process.
Followers of folk music were just getting to know Dylan on a national stage by 1963. His rather simple guitar work, matched with dynamic and extremely gifted lyrical talent related and spoke to the "counterculture" of the time, and wasn't afraid to be political or question the status quo of society ("Blowin' In The Wind" comes to mind, for example). And though he was not yet the biggest star on the scene, he had started to build a following and establish musical relationships with some highly respected singers who were successful in their own right.
The beautiful and powerful voice of Joan Baez shows up with Dylan on quite a few of the nearly 20 performances in this DVD. One of the highlights of these early collaborations was when she, along with Peter, Paul and Mary and the Freedom Singers joined Dylan for a powerful, gospel-ish version of "Blowin' In The Wind" during his 1963 appearance at Newport. Talk about a sign of the times, it was a true blend of racial and musical harmony, performed during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement.
Baez also joined Bob — or "Bobby" as she once called him — during the antiwar ditty "With God On Our Side" early in his 1963 outdoor set (July 26 afternoon workshop). Together, their loud and in tune voices drowned out Dylan's slightly out-of-tune acoustic guitar (for the most part). Perhaps because of the guitar sound, Academy Award-winning director/producer Murray Lerner seamlessly switched to the July 28 night performance about halfway through the song.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Nice review Charlie. If you put this together with Scorsese's No Direction Home, it pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Dylan during that period. (psst...by the way, I think that frustrated stage announcer you mention is actually Peter Yarrow).
-Glen
2 - handyguy
This is a great movie. We should all be grateful that this long-dormant footage has at last been put to good use.
3 - Charlie
Handyguy, I totally agree, hence my high praise in this review. The DVD (with the exception of the Murray Lerner interview, I believe) is all in black and white and kind of timeless in a way. And getting to see Dylan develop as an artist over a three-year period and in 80+ minutes is really fun and enjoyable. I hope many others think so as well.