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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Bob Dylan's American Journey
Wednesday 28 March @ 15:08:03 |
 by LIBERTY FINCH
My insatiable appetite for music-related art recently led me to the Bob Dylan retrospective at the Weisman Art Museum. Whereas the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ San Francisco Psychedelic champions the relevance of a group of counterculture performers, Bob Dylan's American Journey 1956–1966 at the Weisman focuses on the historical significance of one musician, one decade. This diverse and prolific amalgamation of all things Dylan is a multimedia extravaganza that captures the essence of young Bob, and offers insight into how an Iron Range kid became a world-renowned musical icon.
The significance of the decade highlighted in Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-1966 cannot be over emphasized. During that time Dylan was driven by an artistic passion that established him as the new It boy. His rise in popularity as a musical poet resulted in the resurgence of American folk music, defined the role of the singer-songwriter and—when he went electric—redefined rock ’n’ roll as the pre-eminent genre of American popular music.
At the entrance to the exhibit are a few images of Hibbing, Minn., Dylan’s birthplace. Work by photographers such as John Vachon and Jerome Liebling reveal the bleakness of the Iron Range, and shots of the community reflect the stiffness of 1950s rural America. In one picture a young girl selling bits of iron ore to tourists stands next to a table draped with an American flag, staring vacuously at the camera. In another, the black and white landscape of an iron mine conveys complete desolation. Nearby is this message from Dylan’s “My Life in a Stolen Moment”: “I ran away when I was 10, 12, 13, 15, 15 ½, 17 and 18. I been caught an’ brought back all but once.” Dylan left Minnesota and never looked back, and it’s fitting that this introductory element to Dylan’s American Journey is separate from the bulk of the exhibit. For the viewer, leaving the entryway is a bit like Dylan leaving home: we easily and anxiously pass by Hibbing for the promise of what lies ahead.
Parts of Dylan’s American Journey feel like a three-dimensional representation of Martin Scorsese’s documentary “No Direction Home,” and in fact, several video stations run clips from it and other Dylan docs, including “Don’t Look Back” and “Eat this Document.” But it’s other Dylan-related treasures that are most engaging, so allow enough time to savor the booty, which features copies of LPs, 45s, playbills, gig posters, ticket stubs, lyric sheets, instruments, clothing and more.
There’s a rare photo of Bob’s first teenage band, The Golden Chords; the desk of his English teacher, BJ Rolfzen; Dylan’s 22-page high school essay on “The Grapes of Wrath” (for which he received a “B”); a map of Dinkytown hot spots; Dylan’s own dog-eared copy of Woody Guthrie’s “Bound for Glory”; Guthrie’s own Greystone Hospital T-shirt that he wore during his five-year stint at the New Jersey state institution; handwritten lyrics to “Like a Rolling Stone”; a copy of hand-scrolled liner notes for the bootleg recording Great White Wonder; an oil painting by Dylan; never-been-commercially-released audio of Dylan’s first concert (recorded Nov. 4, 1961, by Toni Mendell) at Carnegie Chapter Hall; and on and on.
Listening stations offer choice cuts from Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited and more. But what’s also intriguing is the display of 45s that offer samples of “Blowin’ in the Wind” covers. More than 100 artists recorded this tune, and next to familiar versions by Peter, Paul and Mary and the Hollies are renditions by Marlene Dietrich (in German), Stan Getz, Trini Lopez, Les Petites Chanteurs a la Croix de Bois (a French boys’ choir) and others.
Albert Grossman, Dylan’s manager, was responsible for doling out Dylan songs for other artists to record, making Grossman wealthy and establishing Dylan as a premier songwriter. From familiar folk and rock covers by the Byrds (“Chimes of Freedom,” and “Tambourine Man”) and Jimi Hendrix (“All Along the Watchtower”), to other, lesser-known tunes, Dylan’s catalogue dominated the music scene in the 1960s. At the time what set him apart from other songwriters was that Dylan recorded his own material, thus firmly establishing and legitimizing the genre of the singer-songwriter. ||
Dylan’s American Journey, 1956–1966 runs through Apr. 29. The Weisman Art Museum is located at 333 E. River Rd., Mpls. 612-625-9494. Hours are Tue., Wed. & Fri. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thu. 10 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sat.–Sun. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. The exhibit premiered at the Weisman and will tour nationally.
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