There is a scene early in ‘ROLLING THUNDER REVUE‘ (A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese – a Netflix documentary recounting the aforementioned mid-70s North American tour undertaken by Dylan) when Bob reflects:
‘I don’t have a clue what Rolling Thunder was all about – I don’t remember a thing about it.’
The two hours plus film that ensues (142 minutes, which is about the only exact thing of the piece), is unlikely to refresh his memory – as for the most part it bares only passing resemblance to what actually happened.
Interviewees professing to be among the tour entourage were not there, the man said to be director of the original footage is a scripted role played by an actor – with most reminiscences given by fictitious characters, all of whom give plausible accounts from behind believable titles.
For a first-hand precis of events, the non-converted may head for a fine song entitled ‘Take Me Away’ by Roger McGuinn (‘the mystery man all painted like a clown‘) – ex-Byrd McGuinn a definite member of the troupe, seen in actual 1975 footage and contemporary interview.
But those enraptured by Dylan will find the same enthral and fascination in ‘Rolling Thunder Revue‘ as they do in his truly great albums.
With his creative muse fired by a disintegrating marriage, in January 1975 Dylan delivered the utterly compelling ‘Blood On The Tracks‘ – a masterpiece of quite breath-taking conviction.
Inspiration re-discovered, Dylan eschewed the option of heading out to play vast arenas as he had done on a reunion tour with The Band the previous year – and instead came up with the intriguing, if somewhat vague, concept of taking an eccentric band of musicians, poets and playwrights out on the road. They would play comparatively small venues and form a tangible connection with the audience.
Among those invited along are McGuinn, Joni Mitchell, folk-singer and former paramour Joan Baez, poet Allen Ginsberg, actor Sam Shepard – with Dylan’s top-notch backing band led by former Bowie-sideman and guitarist extraordinaire Mick Ronson.
The whole shooting match would be filmed for a movie Dylan was intending to make (some of the footage later appearing in his frankly perplexing 1978 film ‘Renaldo and Clara‘) and if there was a concept about the whole thing it was the notion of ‘Rolling Thunder‘ being an ‘anti-tour‘ tour – a reaction to the vast stadium shows being played at the time by the likes of Led Zeppelin and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
For the promoters and crew it proved a logistical nightmare – huge cast, small-sized theatres, three hour shows in far-flung, out of the way places.
In one of his ‘Rolling Thunder Revue‘ remembrances that does sound based in fact, Dylan states: ‘The tour was a disaster. Not a success in terms of profit, only in the sense of adventure.’
The footage of Richard Nixon and American Bi-Centennial celebrations is real enough and anchors the documentary in its 1975/76 time frame. As for what is happening to Dylan and the wandering minstrels he has assembled for this elaborate game of road-trip charades, in the end boils down to separating fact from fiction.
But did anyone really expect Dylan of all people, to come out with a straightforward exercise in documentary nostalgia over a tour, no matter how momentous, that occurred over forty years ago?
The essence of ‘Rolling Thunder‘ is probably best captured in the appearance of actress Sharon Stone – who describes how, as a young model, she became a member of the tour after a chance meeting with Dylan, when the show came to her hometown.
Stone offers an interesting perspective of life aboard the travelling circus, including a claim that while they were talking backstage, Dylan says he has written a song about her. Cut to a clip of him singing ‘Just Like A Woman‘ – a song written nine years before and appearing on the 1966 ‘Blonde on Blonde‘ album.
Obviously the track is not about Stone – her recollections a complete fabrication, as she was nowhere near the tour at all. This is just one of several instances when truth is suspended in order for whimsical fantasy to take hold – Dylan, for example, saying the idea to wear white face make-up on stage came after he attended a Kiss concert, another episode that sounds just too fanciful to be true.
All of which makes ‘Rolling Thunder Revue‘ sound a vehicle for self-indulgent adjustments to history. There is, however, no such confusion attached to the music as Dylan and his cohorts produce several astonishing performances – including a revved-up version of ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall‘ played with an energy The Kinks would envy.
Each time Baez appears on stage the chemistry between her and Dylan seems unique. Of the two scenes that really resonate from footage shot at the time, one is a conversation between Dylan and Baez when they reflect on their love affair of ten years before – the other a mesmeric clip of Mitchell teaching Dylan and McGuinn the basic structure of her song ‘Coyote‘, the three acoustic guitars coming together in glorious unison.
Former World Middleweight Boxing Champion Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter – subject of the Dylan song ‘Hurricane‘ – makes the observation that ‘Bob is always searching‘ and although this notion draws little in the way of response when put to him, Dylan does feel inclined to remark:
‘Life isn’t about finding yourself or finding anything. It’s about creating yourself.’
He goes on to add that if you ask someone wearing a mask a question, they tell the truth – but without a mask, hardly ever.
Masks figure prominently in the ‘Rolling Thunder Revue‘ (at one point Dylan laments ‘we didn’t have enough‘ when reflecting on the tour), so with his face painted was he playing a purposely conceived character in his own film? Or once more merely occupying the space between the man and word-wizard that has existed ever since Robert Zimmerman created Bob Dylan?
One third baffling, two thirds brilliant, ‘Rolling Thunder Revue‘ will not hold the interest of the uninitiated for too long, but Dylanists will find it absolutely captivating as he weaves beguiling patterns between truth and illusion – which is exactly where we like him.
This article was first published on 20/6/2019.
NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as Amazon Kindle Book.