Bringing It All Back

I finally caught Martin Scorsese's documentary on Dylan's early years, No Direction Home. If it weren't someone famous like Scorsese, he'd just be called the editor, since all he did was arrange old footage.

I enjoyed it, but if I weren't a fan, I wonder how I'd feel. I was recently watching The Dreamers, a so-so film by Bertolucci, and "Queen Jane Approximately" came on the soundtrack. Suddenly, there was more magic onscreen for a minute or two than anything in the documentary.

I believe some eras have better music than other--it's not just imprinting and nostalgia. At one point in No Direction Home, we see the charts when Dylan's biggest hit, "Like A Rolling Stone," hit its height at #2 in 1965. Without comment, except to say the quality and diversity was not unusual for the period, here's the top ten that week:

1. Help
2. Like A Rolling Stone
3. California Girls
4. Unchained Melody
5. It's The Same Old Song
6. I Got You Babe
7. You Were On My Mind
8. Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
9. Eve Of Destruction
10. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me

PS I recently read the overview of Dylan's career in Entertainment Weekly. They told you which albums were essential, for collectors or worthless. One album they give the back of their hand to is Street Legal. It may not be as brilliant as the albums that preceded it, Blood On The Tracks or Desire, but this 1978 work may be Dylan's best that slipped through the cracks. It's also more soulful than usual, especially the first cut (remember when cut order used to matter?), "Changing Of The Guard," truly one of his best songs.