No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

Sky Arts have the Martin Scorsese documentary for download. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan is the 2005 story of the early years of the singer/songwriter. It is very long (far too long) at 3 hours and 27 minutes. I felt that the first half was an awful mess. Interesting but all over the place. Robert Zimmerman is finding his way as a folk singer, maybe just a Woody Guthrie tribute singer. So why oh why do we have to have these flash forwards to his London tour of 1966 (when he gone electric) that was filmed by D A Pennebaker. There are excerpts from his documentary Don't Look Back scattered through Scorsese's work. 

Crucially, there is the interview with Bob himself that is intriguing. Well, not an interview as such as it is just Bob talking. His recollections of his early days are great, explaining that he was not actually a song writer. There are good clips from the Newport Folk Festivals of 1963, 64, 65 and the appearance there in 1966 when he first went electric. And the fallout from that. 

My favourite piece of the film is when a certain Al Kooper explains his contribution to the recording of Like a Rolling Stone. thought he was going to play the electric guitar on the track until the arrival of top musician Mike Bloomfield. So Al packed up his guitar and was banished to the control room. However, the organ player moved to the piano and Al took the opportunity when no-one was looking to bluff his way to the organ. He had no idea of the arrangement so just listened and came in an eighth behind the band. When the track was replayed, the producer Tom Wilson  turned off the organ, only for Bob to insist that it be turned up. That is why it is the most distinctive instrument on the record. Al went on to join Bob's backing band on his next tours. 

The second half (or second episode as it was shown) is much better. I can remember watching Dylan on a tiny TV in 65 or 66, possibly that BBC concert that was wiped from their precious videotape. On Rotten Tomatoes I liked the article from super reviewer Cameron J which included:

Overall, the lengthy runtime is achieved by such not-so commendable means as some repetition, as well as some excess footage that throws inconsistency in the documentary's focus and renders it ever so occasionally convoluted, a situation made worse by a somewhat uneven pacing.