Bob Dylan Revealed

By John Lane

One can expect the usual onslaught of products and merchandise to cash in on Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday on May 1. Just as we have become used to more Beatles product every time Ringo coughs or Paul sneezes, so too must we be inundated with Bob Dylan product when he reaches a significant birthday mark.

My Cynical Alarm was tripped and screamed into the pitch-black night when I discovered that director Joel Gilbert was behind this. Gilbert has left behind a trail of patchwork documentaries on Dylan’s various periods; more recently he was behind last year’s almost-too-farcical-to-be-embarrassing Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison DVD [which Popshifter reviewed here—Ed.]. Even before I took on the review assignment, I feared that I might be labored with the task of reviewing the video equivalent of “Puppies Playing Poker.”

So, cards on the table: Bob Dylan Revealed is really nothing but a patchwork quilt of Gilbert’s previous Dylan documentaries put together. And as for the title, it reminds me of the great stanza from “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest”:

No one tried to say a thing
When they took him out in jest
Except, of course, the little neighbor boy
Who carried him to rest
And he just walked along, alone
With his guilt so well concealed
And muttered underneath his breath
“Nothing is revealed”

Gilbert, unfortunately, is the little neighbor boy and indeed, nothing is revealed that hasn’t already been said in countless Dylan biographies or the amazing Scorsese documentary No Direction Home.

Additional strikes against this documentary include (1) excessive air-time given to Rubin “Hurricane” Carter who milks every last drop of publicity out of his association with Dylan while referring to himself in the third person (beware of people who do this, like John McCain); (2) air-time given to Dylan-stalker and general nutter A.J. Weberman. Gilbert has kindly called Weberman a “journalist” in this documentary, which is like calling Mark David Chapman a “literature scholar” because he carried around a copy of Catcher in the Rye; and (3) referring to Dylan’s post-motorcycle-crash period as his “drug rehab” period even though it’s never been proven and Dylan has never acknowledged that—so we’re dancing on a thin legal line here.

However [dramatic pregnant pause here], this documentary is not without its charms, too.

It is clear that Gilbert loves Dylan dearly; his interviews with various subjects are all in-depth. Drummer Mickey Jones, who accompanied Dylan on the grueling 1966 tour, is an amiable raconteur; on the whole, he helps provide perspective, allowing the viewer to appreciate how rock/pop had not become a full-blown industry and spectacle. By 1966 standards, a tour was still a more workman-like affair, a bit no-frills compared to the future excesses of Led Zeppelin and The Who in the early ’70s.

Props should also be given to Gilbert for thoughtfully putting focus onto the creation of Dylan’s Desire album (1976), one eclipsed by its predecessor Blood on the Tracks. It is here where Gilbert’s directorial abilities shine, because he takes his time and allows the story to develop and breathe. Bassist Rob Stoner and violinist Scarlet Rivera provide detailed and thoughtful analysis of that period. This “chapter” and the adjacent one on Bob’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” tour make the disc worth anybody’s time.

As I stated earlier, Bob Dylan Revealed appears to be a stew combining Gilbert’s previous documentaries. At the very least, he has boiled down everything into one meal. This feast is for hardcore Bob Dylan fans only, and even then, I tend to wonder if they will finish everything on their plate.

Bob Dylan Revealed was released on May 1 from Highway 61 Entertainment and MVD Visual. It is available through See Of Sound and Video On Demand (check your cable provider for more details). You can check out the DVD website here.