Father Geek here posting a uber rare "non-Weekly Recap" appearance of Elston Gunn.

Harry and/or I seldom attend any of those overpriced giant stadium concert events. You end up way tooooo far from the stage... and... and well, we just prefer the intimacy of club atmosphere over the chaos of the MEGA show. We do make exceptions to this though. One of those was several years ago when the living legend BOB DYLAN came to Austin's Erwin Center on tour with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. We fought the crowds, and ended up checking it all out from high and far away. The performers were mere dots on a postage stamp size stage, but the sound was great... and the atmoshere was rarefied and heavily laced with a certain herbal aire. Everyone, and I do mean everyone was singing along with Bob... it was worth every penny of expense and every instant of time spent. We'll NEVER forget the experience.

It wasn't the 1st time Father Geek witnessed the bard live in concert, I was lucky enough to catch him several times in the sixties when Harry's mom and I did Lightshows for a living, but introducing him to Harry... that's the time I'll always remember! Petty wasn't too bad that night either.

Happy Birthday BOB from everyone at Geek World Headquarters here in Austin... Many Happy Returns of the Day!!!

"Knowing that to imitate the living is mockery and to imitate the dead is robbery, there are those who are beings complete unto themselves; herein is a helluva poet and lots of other things." -- Johnny Cash, 1969, from the liner notes of Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline"

The headlines have been reading "Dylan Still Going Strong at 60" and the like. Bob Dylan turns 60 years old today and it's a birthday of note to several generations. From his high school rock 'n' roll band Elston Gunn and the Golden Chords in the late 50s to his New York folk days visiting a sick Woody Guthrie in the hospital to his socially conscious songs in the 60s to going electric to going country to creative Renaissance in the 70s to singing about "Hurricane" Carter to his born-again Christian phase to some middle-of-the-road 80s work to the Traveling Wilburys to his Never-Ending Tour to his Grammy-winning "Time Out of Mind" to his cover of Dean Martin's "Return to Me" on the second "Sopranos" soundtrack released last week, Dylan has outlived Elvis, outlasted the Beatles, reinventing himself for the past four decades becoming one of the most important artists of the last century.

One could compare Dylan to Woody Allen as the two share a few parallels: both are prolific as hell; aesthetically, they're short, pale-faced men with hard-to-miss noses; their early work is generally the most revered though they're still capable of cranking out some gems as they get older; and we wonder where in God's name do they come up with some of those lines? Just an interesting thought and since this is a movie site, it seems appropriate as is recognizing Dylan's contribution to film. Getting back on track, other than many of his songs being featured on soundtracks, Dylan is actually rather scarce when it comes to video and film, but when he has managed to pop up in front of the camera, the results range from the tremendous to the tedious.

Some folks take HARD DAY'S NIGHT, others GIMME SHELTER, and then you'll have people who swear by DON'T LOOK BACK, the documentary filmed during Dylan's short English acoustic concert tour in 1965. The movie captures a brash and irreverant young Dylan not long before he picks up an electric guitar and changes pop music forever. Some moments he's a silent observer and others he is an absolute cocky bastard.

To celebrate Dylan's 60th birthday, DON'T LOOK BACK is being re-released on DVD. The disc contains five uncut audio performances from the '65 acoustic concert tour including "It Ain't Me Babe;" "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue;" "Love Minus Zero/No Limit;" "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" and "To Ramona." Also included in the disc: a commentary from D.A. Pennebaker and Bob Neuwirth; another version of the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" scene (which is considered one of the first music videos); Dylan's discography, Pennebaker's filmography, the original trailer and biographies of the cast and crew. A must-see.

Pennebaker also produced EAT THE DOCUMENT, a follow-up to DON'T LOOK BACK taking place in 1966 and features Dylan interacting with Johnny Cash, the Band and John Lennon in different scenes. It features Dylan at the height of his popularity before his life was turned upside down after a motorcycle crash later that year. The film hasn't been released on video officially, but you may easily find it on eBay. There, you may also find RENALDO & CLARA, Dylan's poorly-received 978 four-hour directorial effort that he wrote with Sam Shepard. It features a lot of concert footage from his Rolling Thunder Revue tour, but intermittently reverts to a surreal fictional story about troubled relationships.

Dylan took his first (and best) feature role in Sam Peckinpah's PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID, where he plays a quiet knife-throwing stranger named Alias opposite Kris Kristofferson and James Coburn. Dylan wrote the score and the song "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" for the film, nearly thirty years before he won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for "Things Have Changed," the next song he penned specifically for a film (WONDER BOYS). The director's cut of PAT GARRETT is available anywhere and is another good watch.

Other films featuring Dylan include:

- Martin Scorsese's THE LAST WALTZ chronicling The Band's farewell concert in 1976 boasts a climactic performance by Dylan and an encore featuring Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Ringo Starr among others on a rendition of his "I Shall Be Released."

- In 1986, Dylan appeared in the awful awful movie HEARTS OF FIRE written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Richard Marquand (RETURN OF THE JEDI) who died during post-production which may explain the results. Dylan is somewhat watchable and it's kind of interesting to see Rupert Everett, the other male lead, pre-MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING, but you have been warned. Watch it with friends and make fun.

- Speaking of flops Dylan also makes a cameo appearance in Dennis Hopper's BACKTRACK as an artist conversing briefly with Hopper's character. I think you can purchase the DVD at Wal-Mart for 7 bucks.

- More interesting is Dylan's brief performance of "One Too Many Mornings" with Johnny Cash, which you can find on Cash's 1969 special THE MAN & HIS MUSIC. Cash, who is actually turning 70 next year, is also an influential artist who has been recording some of his best work recently, but I digress.

If you were to view these projects chronologically you would see a fraction of the different and interesting stages of Dylan's career, but, alas, it doesn't nearly compare to listening to his best music throughout the same years. However, last year it was reported that Dylan was to star in an HBO special created by Larry Charles ("Seinfeld"). The project would showcase both music and comedy, so Dylan's time in front of the camera is not over and may yet take an even stranger turn. Glad to see his activity isn't ceasing anytime soon. Try to go see him live, if you can. He's still on the road headin' for other joints. And we're lucky to still have him around.

Happy 60th to Bob.

Elston Gunn

elstongunn@hotmail.com