Jeremy L. Berg

Happy New Year!

Let me share a new artistic endeavor in the making to kick off the new year. I am part of that strange club known as Dylanphiles. I’m a lover and big fan of the art and music of Bob Dylan. Bob was a slow and gradually acquired taste in my late 30s, so I understand those who still don’t “get it” yet.

Anyways, I have been eagerly awaiting the new film, “A Complete Unknown,” to hit the theaters this Christmas starring actor Timothee Chalamet. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it. I took my musical son, Peter, and another friend and fellow Dylanphile.

“In 1961, an unknown 19-year-old Bob Dylan arrives in New York City with his guitar and forges relationships with music icons on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates worldwide,” is how the IMDb website summarizes it.

Now you don’t have to be a huge fan of Dylan to really enjoy this film. It’s a wonderfully acted, beautifully shot fun trip back to Greenwich Village, New York, in the tumultuous years from 1961-1965. Cuban Missile Crisis. JFK assassination. Civil Rights activists. And more.

The film climaxes when “at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, a young Bob Dylan shakes up his act on the folk music scene by going electric and siring rock as the voice of a generation – defining one of the most transformative moments in 20th century music.”

But what I enjoyed most was, well, the music – duh! The talented Timothee Chalamet spent 5 years studying Bob and learning to play and sing his music. He played, strummed, picked and sang all the songs in the film. So thrilling to watch them in the studio, recording these legendary songs, using actual 1960s microphones and instruments to capture the accurate 60s sound. I’m told there are bits and pieces of 40 songs in this 2 hour film. It flew by and I just didn’t want it to end.

Okay, so back to my new creative endeavor to kick off the new year. I have two concerts on the books for January and February (and hopefully more to come), and I’ve decided to put together a full show of Dylan covers. I’m having fun with Dylan song titles and calling the show:

The Reverend from the North Country

performs the music of

BOB DYLAN

with a Simple Twist of Faith.

I’ve picked out about 20 of my favorite Dylan songs and have begun learning and rehearsing them for these upcoming shows. I just wanted to share the poster and setlist today as a sneak peek.

WORKING SETLIST

• Blowin’ in the Wind
• Girl from the North Country
• She Belongs to Me
• Times They are a Changin’
• Mr. Tambourine Man
• Don’t think twice
• It Ain’t Me, Babe
• My Back Pages
• Love Minus Zero/No Limit
• Like a Rolling Stone 
• I Want You 
• Just like a woman 
• Simple Twist of Fate
• A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall
• Living the Blues
• Tangled up in Blue
• Forever Young
• It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
• Positively 4th Street

I’ll keep you up to speed on where you might be able to catch one of these shows in the coming months. Until then, watch this powerful scene where Bob first plays “Blowin’ in the Wind” for a beautifully portrayed Joan Baez. Then go see this film!

PS: I learned in the postscript of the film that the choppy romance between Bob and Joan Baez has been captured in Joan’s song, “Diamonds and Rust”, where she doesn’t hold back her raw feelings and snark in proto-Swifty fashion. Worth a listen as well here. :)