Bob Dylan's American Journey, 1956-1966
No, Bob has not passed away, despite what the title of the Morgan Library & Museum's exhibition on the man might lead you to believe. And this is where I found myself this Friday afternoon, after another morning of being neglected by NYC's sub service. I arrived at Grand Central, after a 45 or so minute trip from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. It was 2:30, belly empty, mouth parched, so I stopped at Midtown's Bar (I think? We'll have to get a ruling on the exact name). Started with an appetizer of Guinness, followed by their version of the chicken sandwich, and two Buds.
On to the actual exhibit:
You're first hit with some video of Bob, one being footage of him in the streets of London talking about how he needs a place that will bathe his dog, buy his bath, burn his bird and give him cigarettes. Or something like that. Showcasing Bob's humor, which is what made me truly interested in his music. What is funnier than him snapping pictures of photographers snapping pictures oh him. Rhetorical.This was followed by Bob's high school yearbook, a pic of lil' Zimmerman, and a quote of him saying, "follow Little Richard".
The focus of the exhibit was about his admiration for Woody Guthrie, his journey to NYC, leading to the making of his first six albums (Bob Dylan, Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, The Times They're A-Changin', Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blond on Blonde). Yes, you counted 7 albums; however, the exhibit didn't say much about his first album (self titled, and didn't sell very well until Freewheelin' was released).
There's more to the exhibit, but my favorite parts were seeing his first acoustic guitar and handwritten lyrics. Bob traded his electric guitar for the acoustic shortly after he discovered Guthrie. So does this mean he wasn't a bastard, he didn't sell his soul, or sell-out - or whatever those crazy bohemian kids thought of him when Bob went electric for the first time(?) at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965? And seeing the handwritten lyrics was the most classic. Little pieces of paper with scribbles of lines that developed into such songs as Like A Rolling Stone and Blowin' in the Wind. There were also two poems he wrote in high school; Bob describing one as "a good poem", and the other as "a bad poem" - although if he didn't label this one as "bad", I'm sure most fans would marvel over it anyways because not many people really know what he's talking about in these songs. But everyone still loves them, and will after he really passes away. - G
(Morgan Library and Museum - 225 Madison Ave. @ 36th St.)
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