[Click To Enlarge]
Email A Friend - Gift Reminder |
The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965
Availability:
In Stock
Price:
$19.98
$10.26*
|
| Part No: | B000W1V5TM |
| Manufacturer: | Sony |
| MFG Part: | SMVD714466D |
| Customer Rating: | 4.5 / 5.0 |
|
|
Studio: Sony Music Release Date: 10/30/2007
Matched only by the Beatles and Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan continues to captivate music and pop culture fans with a seemingly never-ending stream of new and old recordings, books, documentaries, feature films, and more.
The Other Side of the Mirror - Live at Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 is a worthy addition to the canon; whether this 83-minute compilation will serve to illuminate the Dylan myth or merely perpetuate it is open to question, but without a doubt there's plenty of fascinating material here. There are nearly 20 songs represented, covering three consecutive years of Dylan appearances at the famed Rhode Island festival. Some have been seen before (most recently in
No Direction Home, Martin Scorsese's 2005 Dylan doc, and in
Festival, a Newport chronicle released on DVD that same year and directed by Murray Lerner, who is also responsible for
The Other Side of the Mirror). Some are from Dylan's daytime "workshops," others from his nighttime main stage performances. Some are complete, others oddly truncated. Some are terrific (like "Chimes of Freedom," 1964), others not so much (cf. the turgid "With God on Our Side" from '63, with Joan Baez adding shrill harmony). In any case, these were the years when Dylan assumed the mantle of "spokesman of a generation," whether he wanted it or not. We see him evolving from the earnest young protest singer of '63 to the visionary artist of the following year who, with the astonishing torrent of rhymes, alliterations, symbols, and brilliant turns of phrase in "Chimes" and "Mr. Tambourine Man," turned the whole notion of songwriting on its ear. And, of course, we also witness Dylan's turn from acoustic to electric guitar, when he was joined onstage by members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band (
sans Butterfield himself) in 1965; only two songs from that legendary (and, at the time, infamous) gig are seen here, and viewed four decades after the fact, neither "Maggie's Farm" nor "Like a Rolling Stone" is all that special, notwithstanding some searing solo work by guitarist Mike Bloomfield. The DVD package, which includes a bonus interview with Lerner and a nice booklet with liner notes by Tom Piazza, adds to the appeal of what has to rank as a must-have for Dylanologists of every stripe.
--Sam Graham
| bob dylan dvd | 2008-08-29 | 5 / 5 |
|
| this was a very nice dvd..it was in excellent condition..this is a excellent seller and i would buy from this seller anytime..and i would recommend this seller to anyone.thank you |
| Unplugged and Plugged at Newport | 2008-08-06 | 5 / 5 |
|
Were we ever really that young? That is the first reaction I had in viewing this film. A young Bob Dylan featured with his lady at the time (I believe, if memory serves) a young Joan Baez. And who, at least for the controversial 1965 concert (where he did that taboo couple of electrified guitar numbers that freaked the old-time folkies out) had this reviewer as part of his audience. I am not altogether sure that in the end Bob Dylan cared one way or the other whether he was the voice of a generation, my generation, the generation of '68 but in this very well configured musical documentary there is certainly a case to be made for that proposition. This is the high tide of Dylan's career as an acoustic folk performer making the transition to, for lack of a better term, folk rock or just flat out rock.
Probably the most important reason to view this documentary, however, is to observe Dylan's visual, vocal and professional transformation during this short two year period. In 1963 Dylan is dressed in the de rigueur work shirt and denim jeans with an unmade bed of a hairdo. His voice is, to be kind, reedy and scratchy, and his songs sung at that time are things like Blowin' in the Wind (done here with Baez and others in an incredible finale) and With God on Our Side (with Baez) reflecting the influence of traditional folk themes and of a style derived from his early hero Woody Guthrie. Newport 1964 is a transition. The hair is somewhat styled, the outfit more hippie than traditional folk garb, the voice is stronger reflecting the established fact that he is now `king of the hill' in the folk world. And he sings things like the classic Mr. Tambourine Man that give a hint that he is moving away from the tradition idiom.
Newport 1965 gives us the full blown Dylan that we have come not to know. The one that once we think we have him pegged slips away on us. Here we get no mixing it up with Baez or other folkies but a full-bore rock back up band to play Maggie's Farm and one of the anthems for my generation, Like A Rolling Stone. Then back to acoustic with It's All Over Now, Baby Blue and Love Minus Zero, No Limit (which is something of the love song anthem for my generation or, at least, one of them. All done in a very strong and confident voice that says here it is, take it or leave it. Wow. You know my answer.
This film, seemingly consciously, shies away from an investigation of any of the controversies of the time concerning the direction of Dylan's work. Pete Seeger's only shot on film, as I recall, was to introduce Dylan at the 1964 festival. The most controversial subjects addressed seem to be whether or not it would throw the schedule off to give into the crowd and have Dylan play longer. Or whether it was okay for the jaded youth of the day to have folk singers as idols. Aside from that shortcoming, which in any case can be pursued elsewhere, this film will go a long way to solving any lingering controversy about whether Mr. Dylan belongs in the folk pantheon.
|
| BOB DYLAN:The Other Side Of The Mirror-Live at Newport Folk Festival | 2008-06-29 | 1 / 5 |
|
| This album is unequivically the BIGGEST RIPOFF of all time. I was so disappointed when I put on side one and heard nothing but dead silence. Under NO circumstances fall for this ruse. All you will get is a BLANK CD. Nothing, nix,nil,nada.. I can't believe would stoop to this depth for a few dollars. I suppose if you sell thousands of copies and only a hand ful of payiny customers complain for their money back, it pays big dividends for ! I am truely disappointed. David J. McCormack, Alex., VA asin:the other side of the mirror |
| Musical Metaphor for Society at the Time | 2008-05-05 | 5 / 5 |
|
| Bob Dylan moving from acoustic to electric music reflected the switch the entire society was making from the agricultural and industrial ages to the electrical or computer age. It also bookmarked the start of the drug revolution, as people turned up the volume and distortion in answer to the mind-blowing stress of the Vietnam War. Bob Dylan's move led many others to electrical music, from folk, as well. Bob Dylan was the most influential artist of his age. |
| a rare new piece of vintage Dylan | 2008-04-07 | 5 / 5 |
|
| The producer of this film sought publication in some form for decades, and finally got it. This is a fascinating and completely straightforward portrayal without commentary or interpretation of Dylan's first three years performing at the Newport Folk Festival. The progression from uncertain newcomer to a bold, defiant leader of a new folk movement unfolds in the sequence of individual performances documented in this movie. |
)
