As an admittedly casual fan of Dylan I did catch parts of the Monday night portion on PBS. For me most of the material was new and quite interesting. I'll probably buy the DVD.
But then I'm a sucker for this type of documentary on the creative process. I devoted three hours of my life to watching a documentary on Southern Rock, and then a couple of nights later spent a couple of hours watching a documentary on the legendary Blues guitarist Robert Johnson. (By the way, even if you're not a fan, I highly recommend the documentary on Johnson).
However, I think some Dylan fans need to be a bit more restrained. A commenter named Saul wrote on Ann's blog, "The Dylan documentary is not about Scorcese, it is a celebration of the genious of Dylan. The early footage is breathtaking and reveals an almost Christ-like transformation." Ooooh-kay. Let's dial that down a bit. After all, even Dylan referred to his transformation in New York as his deal with the devil.
More than any musician in the 20th Century, more than Coltraine, Billy Holliday, Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, and the Beatles, Dylan took songwriting to a level that will probably never be seen again. He channeled God.Um, yeah. Was that before or after he stole the Woodie Guthrie records?
