Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
‘Dear Mummy’I’ve gotten very close to Bobby in the last month. We have such FUN! ‘He is beautiful to me. He bought me a beautiful coat and a dress and earrings and he’s just a joy to be with. We understand each other’s need for freedom and there are no chains, just good feelings and giggles and a lot of love. And I enjoy his genius!’ ‘ excerpt from a 1963 letter by Joan Baez to her mother As a Jewish Minnesotan named Robert Allen Zimmerman, he was known to relatively few. As the musician Bob Dylan, he became ‘The Voice of a Generation.’ His evolution from the former to the latter, and his skyrocketing early career trajectory, informs Experience Music Project’s traveling exhibit, ‘Bob Dylan’s American Journey: 1956-66,’ now at the Skirball Cultural Center through June 8. And like one of Dylan’s signature songs, ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’ the show is a solid, thought-provoking hit. Let’s be honest: there’s an inherent contradiction in seeing a subject as singular, as rebellious, as underground and as revolutionary as Bob Dylan featured in a museum. But Dylan has become so comfortable with and cavalier about his potent artistic legacy that he can let his anti-establishment flag slacken. In the last decade, he’s contributed tunes to studio film soundtracks, released CDs exclusively through the decidedly corporate Starbucks, and has appeared in Victoria’s Secret commercials (!!). The man known for his literary lyrics has even shrugged off a plagiarism controversy in which he was accused of liberally lifting passages from a Japanese novel. So, hey, perhaps it’s about time Dylan endured some scholarly scrutiny. In projecting early Dylan up on several walls, ‘American Journey,’ neither stuffy nor pretentious, hits the right note (so to speak). Enter the exhibit, and what you’ll find is a chronological journey beginning with Dylan’s humble roots in Hibbing, Minnesota, and ending with the high-octane, celebrity-frenzy period immortalized by 1967’s ‘Don’t Look Back,’ D. A. Pennebaker’s cornerstone documentary capturing his chaotic 1965 British tour at the height of Dylanmania. Born in Duluth on May 24, 1941, Dylan was the son of an appliance store owner. His American journey evidently starts at age 15 with his discovery of rock ‘n’ roll and American roots music. A historical timeline at the onset of ‘Journey’ places the development of Dylan’s youthful musical interest in the larger context of what was happening on the U.S. pop charts (the usual suspects’Chuck Berry, Elvis, etc.). Along the way, visitors will find a section of a classmate’s 1959 Hibbing High School yearbook dedicated by the young Zimmerman; encased acoustic guitars belonging to Dylan heroes Woody Guthrie, Bruce Langhorne and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott; even a guitar and harmonica used by Dylan himself during his Greenwich Village days. Another glass showcase boasts original vinyl LPs of contemporaries making waves during Dylan’s folk phase”Harry Belafonte, Carolyn Hester, Dave Van Ronk. The singer/songwriter’s lyrics (always Dylan’s strongest suit) from early gems”’Masters of War,’ ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”’adorn the exhibit’s far walls. Taking some academic wind out of Dylan are interactive set-ups designed to let museum-goers fully experience his musical path. A room dubbed the Interactive Music Experience (designed by the Skirball, in conjunction with Roland Corp. U.S. and Boss U.S.) allows laymen without any musical skill to isolate and manipulate instrumental tracks on ‘Like a Rolling Stone,’ with the same type of Hammond B3 organ used by Al Kooper to famously open Dylan’s acid-tongued kiss-off with. Other installations include drum pads and a kit on which anyone can rhythmically accompany ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ and other early ditties. A listening booth lets you don headphones and dig clear-as-a-whistle audio of Dylan’s first concert (November 4, 1961, Carnegie Chapter Hall), caught on tape by sound engineer Toni Mendell. We learn from this historic recording that Dylan, at 20, was already quite the raconteur with his rambling song segues. The same month of that performance, Dylan scraped together $402 to record his eponymous 13-track debut. Initially, ‘Bob Dylan’ sold only 5,000 copies. In addition to his first album, visitors can enter listening booths and hear his seminal early Columbia Records albums ‘The Freewheeling Bob Dylan’ (1963), ‘Another Side of Bob Dylan’ (1964), ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ (1965), and, of course, ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ (1965), home to ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and considered by many to be his early masterpiece. All are annotated with footnotes. Throughout this horseshoe-shaped, Dylan-themed art crawl, you’ll find push-button booths where you can access his musical influences, both developmental and contemporary. The former includes Hank Williams (‘Cold, Cold Heart’), Odetta (‘Buked and Scorned’), Woody Guthrie (‘Tom Joad); the latter includes The Beatles (‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand)’, Lotte Lenny (‘Pirate Jenny’), Robert Johnson (‘Hellhound on My Trail’). For all of the high-tech aspects of ‘American Journey,’ the exhibit’s strength comes from its ephemera in pencil, ink, paint”in the hand of Dylan or someone connected to the troubadour. There’s a visceral charge from seeing the original lyrics of ‘It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ decorated with Dylan’s sketchy pen noodling along the sheet. Another highlight: a pair of Guthrie’s original pen-and-ink illustrations for his ‘Bound for Glory’ autobiographical account”the book that became the bible and style guide for Zimmerman’s ‘Bob Dylan’ persona, and roused the University of Minnesota student to borrow his ‘rustic attire and Okie accent and memorize his songbook.’ A definite ‘Journey’ highlight is a pair of letters to Joan Baez’s mother by Dylan and by Baez, famous folk singer and the lover via whom Dylan coat-tailed his way into the folk music spotlight and onward to greater fame. In every sense, the contrast between these two missives is glaring. Baez gushes, while Dylan disguises, pretending to be Baez in his letter and wasting her mother’s time with some crazy Seussian yarn. Baez’s correspondence, personal and clean, looks carefully, neatly and respectfully handwritten in pencil. Dylan’s is typed and appears distant, rushed, sloppy with errors. Baez is obviously smitten with Dylan, while Dylan comes off as sardonic and mocking of Baez. These letters stand as a strong testament to the romantic inequity and the careerist nature of Dylan’s whirlwind love affair. ‘Journey’ curator Jasen Emmens has ensured that booths and benches make for a comfortable viewing experience. Monitors play scenes from ‘Don’t Look Back’ and other archival footage. Clips from the Martin Scorsese-produced 2005 Dylan doc, ‘No Direction Home,’ illuminates key Dylan topics”such as ‘Highway 61’ guitarist Mike Bloomfield”in Dylan’s own words. ‘I always thought he should’ve stayed with me instead of go to the Paul Butterfield band,’ Dylan tells the camera. ‘He was the best guitarist I ever heard, on any level. He could flat pick, he could finger pick. It looked like he was born to play guitar, you know.’ Sadly, Bloomfield”a fellow Jewish, Midwestern-bred musical prodigy”died a tragic heroin-overdose death in 1981, not even two decades after he left Dylan to follow his Chicago blues muse. The year 1965 became a turning point in both Dylan’s career and pop music at large. He went electric at the Newport Folk Festival, effectively turning his back on the folk movement, which by the mid-sixties had calcified into a pallid rainbow of pat clich’s that no longer moved its most prominent associate. When Dylan plugged in, he tuned out folk music and everyone involved, including Baez. It was an AC/DC charge that resonated around the world. You could easily call this ‘American Journey’ show ‘Bob Dylan: The Early Years.’ The exhibit wisely ends with 1966, right after the moment in time captured by Pennebaker. In doing so, ‘Journey’ keeps its overview tight and finite, and the exhibit stops short of the wilderness years that followed, which included Dylan’s bust-up with Baez and subsequent marriage to Sara Lowndes, as well as the July 29, 1966 motorcycle accident that nearly claimed his life. ‘American Journey’ serves as an excellent primer for younger fans unfamiliar with Dylan’s musical legacy. Given the Skirball’s Jewish culture mandate, it’s interesting to note that there is no real mention of Dylan’s Jewish origins or background. But recall that during these formative, chameleonic years, Dylan essentially modeled himself after the poor white Appalachian and the blues-playing African-American. He would not embrace his Judaism for another few decades. ‘American Journey’ serves as an excellent primer for younger fans unfamiliar with Dylan’s musical legacy. Given the Skirball’s Jewish culture mandate, it’s interesting to note that there is no real mention of Dylan’s Jewish origins or background. But recall that during these formative, chameleonic years, Dylan essentially modeled himself after the poor white Appalachian and the blues-playing African-American. He would not embrace his Judaism for another few decades. ‘American Journey’ serves as an excellent primer for younger fans unfamiliar with Dylan’s musical legacy. Given the Skirball’s Jewish culture mandate, it’s interesting to note that there is no real mention of Dylan’s Jewish origins or background. But recall that during these formative, chameleonic years, Dylan essentially modeled himself after the poor white Appalachian and the blues-playing African-American. He would not embrace his Judaism for another few decades. In terms of information, Dylanheads may not derive much new data on their idol. Even the accidental fan might go into this exhibit knowing the name of ‘Journey”’s tune. After all, there’s been a recent (apologies to the artist Picabia) ‘Adoration of the Bob’ going on lately, and this period of his life is literally well-documented. A 40th anniversary edition of ‘Don’t Look Back’ came out in 2007. Both the Scorsese documentary and ‘The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival’ are current PBS pledge drive staples. Cate Blanchett, who won a Golden Globe and several critics prizes for her role in last year’s ‘I’m Not There,’ is expected to win the Oscar for her performance on tonight’s Academy Awards broadcast. Even Dylan weighed in on Dylan with his well-reviewed 2004 memoir, ‘Chronicles, Vol. I,’ a New York Times bestseller. Yet for the casual fan and the diehard Dylan fanatic alike, ‘Journey’ is a must-see. Just ask guests at the Skirball’s preview night festivities (which featured a Dylan tribute band), such as Jamie Levenson, who eagerly attended because he considers Dylan ‘a modern day Mozart. He forever stands so far apart from any other artist, including but not limited to, himself. Unlike any other living cultural icon, he gets better with age. He’s tuned into the great big inspiration channel, broadcast universally to a select few, of which he is a lifetime subscriber.” Perhaps it’s best we wrap up our appreciation of ‘American Journey’ with some wise words by Dylan himself, from the lyrics of ‘Up To Me’: ‘If I’d thought about it I never would’ve done it, I guess I would’ve let it slide/ If I’d lived my life by what others were thinkin’, the heart inside me would’ve died/ I was just too stubborn to ever be governed by enforced insanity/ Someone had to reach for the risin’ star, I guess it was up to me.’ Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 Western ‘Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid,’ which features Dylan in a supporting role and on the film’s soundtrack (most famously, the song ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’), screens tonight at 8 p.m. A gallery tour led by musician/producer David Was will take place on Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. Tickets: $10 general, $7 seniors and full-time students with ID; $5 children 2-12. Free to Skirball members and children under 2. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Visit www.skirball.org.
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