NEW YORK -- Adding to an already robust
slate of Bob Dylan-related releases this fall,
Columbia/Legacy will on Oct. 30 release the DVD
"The Other Side of the Mirror -- Bob Dylan Live at
the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965," Billboard.com
has learned.
Directed by Murray Lerner, the film sports 80 minutes of
performances, approximately 70% of which have never been
released in any form.
Dylan's July 1965 performance at the Rhode Island
festival has gone down in history as the moment when he
"went electric," startling the crowd and
prompting a negative reaction from fans accustomed to
the acoustic music of the artist's early recordings.
The film includes Dylan's rehearsal with his electric
band Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Sam Lay (drums), Jerome
Arnold (bass), Al Kooper (organ) and Barry Goldberg
(piano), plus two of the three songs they performed
during their set ("Maggie's Farm" and
"Like a Rolling Stone"; "It Takes a Lot
to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry" is omitted).
Dylan then returned to the stage for solo versions of
"Mr. Tambourine Man" and "It's All Over
Now, Baby Blue."
Lerner eschewed narration and interviews with other
artists (including Dylan himself) for
"Mirror," which will also air on PBS after
Thanksgiving. "[There's] nothing except the
experience of seeing him," he says. "That to
me is exciting. Just the clear experience gives you
everything you need."
