It is a quite Sunday afternoon in space between the last morning Mass and the 5:30 pm evening Mass. Outside the people of Northern Virginia are attentively watching emails and text messages to see if their place of work, their children’s school, or their plans are on hold while the stream of closures begin to digitally arrive. A winter storm this way comes. It brings back memories of the “traffic armageddon” in Northern Virginia during this first week of January 2022. It was a perfect storm of events: (a) rain preventing salting the roads, (b) suddenly turning to snow, coupled with the (c) extremely hilly area around Quantico (Occaquon to Rappahannock Rivers) and (d) a super-heavily traveled truck route – and the back up was 65 miles with people stranded 15-24 hours.
Memories being what they are, I am ensconced in my office with the friary but a 4 minutes walk away. My passing interest is in the movie, “A Complete Unknown” about the early years of Bob Dylan’s career. When asked if I was going to see it, my response is “maybe when it streams for free.” While some hail him as the great song writer of the 60s, I am far more tepid and listless about his status. While some praise the authenticity of his voice, I just thought he didn’t sing very well. Which would bring the counter: “his lyrics are amazing.” Still not convinced – maybe if amazing met up with muddled. Now, don’t get be wrong, I liked his music well enough, even learning to play a song or two on the guitar.
My passing interest is that a generation of people will watch the movie as an episode of musical history or a documentary of the early 60s. Michael Moynihan’s article on the movie, the reactions, and the historicity is a good read for such a Sunday afternoon. I loved his commentary about the movie: “When I left the theater with my 13-year-old daughter, she rendered her judgment of A Complete Unknown with a shrug, confused by the film’s dramatic crescendo, when a famous solo musician decides to play with a band who play amplified instruments. So what’s the big deal?” (referring to the 1964 Newport Jazz Festival appearance)
What’s the big deal? I have no clue, but if you have a passing interest in such things, the article is an interesting read. Enjoy.
Image credit: Word Press AI
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i saw Dylan years ago and was literally laughing that they would be 60 seconds into the song before I could guess (mostly correctly) what the song was. I left disappointed. The “Dylan and the Dead” album with the Grateful dead was wonderful. The Dead seemed to be able to keep Bob on track and the music wasn’t confusing. My favorite thing about Dylan was the time he spent with the Band. I have probably watched the Last Waltz at least 50 times. But the Band was better when the left him
Finally, Jakob Dylan, the lead singer and guitarist of The Wallflowers was able to provide what I was looking for from Bob. Clever and sometimes deep lyrics, intricate music and straight ahead rockers. But he does it with emotion, a better voice, and as a better musician. He is also funny and doesn’t take himself TOO seriously. Highly remind checking him out on Spotify or however you stream. Even Annmarie -not a musician or concert addict like her husband – looks forward to when the Wallflowers are touring.
Thanks for a great topic!