|
VISIONS OF JOHANNA AND BOB DYLAN
By now die-hard Bob Dylan fans will have seen the excellent long-awaited two-part rock documentary 'No Direction Home' made and directed by Hollywood's Martin Scorsese for BBC TV. Relished in all that never before seen icon archive from maybe his greatest period and chats with Mr Dylan himself. Maybe purchased the accompanying ongoing, ongoing and ongoing bootleg series seven soundtrack CD, The Dylan Scrapbook 1956-1966 and the Chronicles paperback book (even if you already have the first edition hardback).
I could go on about all the other Dylanology material out in the shops at present and a kind of Dylan world memorabilia festival, but how long have you got. I know, I hear you shout, "The answer is "Blowin' in the Wind".
An official exhibition of more than 100 rare photographs of a mostly young singer in his formative stage and on the cusp of fame is on show at the Proud Galleries in Camden Town, London NW1. A must-see exhibition of images of Dylan, some of the work on display gives you an insight of how he was when first in New York. Such as John Cohen's (who had worked as a bluegrass musician and amateur cowboy!) early photograph of a playful 21-year-old Bob hitching up his trousers and a wonderful shot of Dylan, Ralph Rinzler, John Herald at the Gaslight,1962. Don Hunstein's (his pictures have appeared on more than 200 LP and CDs) famous cover shot from The Freewheelin 1963 album, featuring Dylan and his girlfriend at the time Suze Rotolo.
Other distinguished Dylan photographers include, Fred W McDarrah, who was the original picture editor of the influential Village Voice and remains as consultant to the publication. Daniel Kramer is an award-winning photographer and film director and was recently nominated by the Music Journalism Awards for his work on Bob Dylan. And John Byrne Cooke, he was manager of Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin's white blues band).
The pictures in this original and inspirational visual tour delve into the vaults of Dylan's life and career as a folk singer, protest voice of a generation, and rock star. The show gives a balance to his influential lyrics.
He who turned rock music into an art form, this Dylan photofest should not be missed! So don't be "Stuck inside Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" head to Camden instead!!
Dylan Exhibition, until October 15
Sony Ericsson Proud Galleries
Stables Market, The Gin House
Chalk Farm Road
London NW1
www.proud.co.uk
Tel: 020 7482 3867
No Direction Home.The Soundtrack-The Bootleg Series Seven Vol.7. The 28-track retrospective on Columbia/Legacy. Col: 520358 2
Chronicles Volume One (paperback) and The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, both published by Simon & Schuster.
PS: Visions Of Johanna was written for the folk singer Joan Baez. Stuck inside Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, both songs are on the CD Blonde on Blonde 1966, and was one of the first rock music double LPs. |
