Bob Dylan’s birthday today. He’ll be 78. As ever, we wish him a very happy birthday. The big news (reported earlier) is the upcoming Netflix Martin Scorsese film, “Rolling Thunder Revue – A Bob Dylan Story”, and the release (on June 7) of a monumental 14-CD Box Set, “Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings” (including all five of Dylan’s full sets from that legendary tour that were professionally recorded. The collection also includes recently-unearthed rehearsal-tapes, plus a bonus disc showcasing one-of-a-kind performances – 148 tracks in all. Also included in the box set is a 52-page booklet featuring rare and never-before-seen photos and an essay by novelist/musician (formerly John Wesley Harding), Wesley Stace)
All of Bob’s recordings are of interest, but this one has, perhaps, a particular interest, since Allen was among those accompanying him, a prominent figure in the retinue, an active participant (see the accounts of the tour, among them, Sam Shepard’s Rolling Thunder Logbook and Larry “Ratso” Sloman’s On The Road With Bob Dylan, as well as the visual record, Ken Regan‘s iconic images, for example that stop-over at Edson Cemetery and Jack Kerouac’s grave in Lowell )
and, of course, Allen was a notable cast-member of (and believer in) Renaldo and Clara
Other news:
Chuck Smith’s Barbara Rubin movie – Barbara Rubin and The Exploding New York Underground has its theatrical premiere tonight in NYC at the IFC
J.Hoberman writes on her for the New York Review of Books
Glenn Kenny in the NewYork Times
Here‘s the review on New York radio (WNYC)
& here‘s an extended piece on Rubin and the film that appeared last week in the New York Post
Smith appeared as special guest last night on Tom Needham’s WUSB program “The Sounds of Film”
Here’s another film of interest (opening next week) Karen Kramer’s Renegade Dreamers – Greenwich Village – ah, the lure of Greenwich Village!
which brings us, in a roundabout way, to this:
Izzy Young, (who passed away, ninety-one years old, in Stockholm, as we previously noted, earlier this year).
World Citizen Allen Ginsberg as Traveller – we’ve also noted before this important volume – Tomm McCarthy’s review of the book appears here on the always-informative Hyperallergic web-site.
William Burroughs & Friends – don’t miss this on-line exhibit from the Emanuel Von Baeyer Cabinet
So, next weekend, Walt Whitman’s birthday (but heading in to Walt Whitman week this upcoming week) – Too many events to spotlight here, but we’ll direct you to the Walt Whitman 2019 Consortium and the Walt Whitman Initiative