Of a Boat That Can Carry Two, or Many

Scorsese's Rolling Thunder on dvd. Terrific. The force and passion in Dylan's singing ca. '75, the stage shows in all their band-of-gypsies glory—just amazing. Dylan and Baez in their mid-thirties talking about their past together, their respective marriages that ended their affair; you see the feeling that transcends the old wounds, a love that maybe finds its real form and substance in their harmonizing on stage. “What a couple,” says an audience member. “A couple of what?” Joan replies with a smile in her voice, an arm around Dylan. It occurs to me now that the phone call from Dylan of which she sings in “Diamonds and Rust” may well have been the one he made to ask her along on the tour.

I've never seen Renaldo and Clara. Based on what I've read about that film, I don't know that Scorsese used much or any of the footage from it, at least not the fictitious stuff. Sara Dylan doesn't seem to be in RT, certainly not in any conspicuous way.

The new interviews are interesting. Dylan (for once? Just kidding...) is pretty straightforward. Baez—she's got his number and loves to do her teasing imitations of him, but he's Dylan; what else need be said? He's Dylan.