Bob Dylan’s 1975 tour, the Rolling Thunder Revue, is considered his “most peculiar tour of all.” At least according to critic-at-large Jon Pareles of The New York Times. Pareles is writing about the tour 44 years later because on June 12, Netflix is premiering Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese. The film includes tour footage and current interviews with Dylan.
Dylan famously wore a mask, whiteface paint, while performing on the Rolling Thunder Revue tour. (Joan Baez wore whiteface on stage with him, too.) Dylan says in the Scorsese film: “When somebody’s wearing a mask, he’s going to tell the truth. When he’s not wearing a mask, it’s highly unlikely.” He also says he got the idea for whiteface from the band KISS, whose members famously painted their faces.
There’s also the release of a 14-CD boxed set of music from the tour, The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings, which includes music from rehearsals and incomplete/outlier performances. See link above.
