With new books, CDs and a Scorsese-directed film, now's the time for Bob Dylan fans to celebrate the former Robert Allen Zimmerman. DON COHEN Special to the Jewish News n ow many times can a man turn his head and see Bob Dylan? The answer is blowin' through the airwaves, the bookshelves, and the music and video stores. Dylan, of course, was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minn. Raised in nearby Hibbing, he escaped to New York City at age 19, having adopted the surname Dylan in tribute to poet Dylan Thomas. The course of American musical history would be forever changed. This month is a high point of both Dylan marketing and product, or, as it is referred to on his official Web site, w-ww.bobdylan.com: "The Film, The Soundtrack, The Book." It is a bit disconcerting for some to see "Dylan the prophet" seeming to become "Dylan the profit." After all, what was that Victoria's Secret commercial all about? But considering some of what passes for music and entertainment these days, why fault Dylan for cash- ing in, as long as he keeps providing pleasure for so many. For most who care, the recent proliferation of Bob Dylan music, video and commentary is much more than welcome. It's Ion.- overdue. The Film "I was born very far from where I'm supposed to be, so I'm on my way home," Dylan says to the camera in No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, a new documentary directed by Academy Award-nominated film director Martin Scorsese. The three-hour film, the first fea- ture-length film biography of Dylan, and made with his full cooperation, was released as a two-DVD set on Sept. 20 and will be broadcast over two nights, Sept. 26-27, as part of the Public Broadcasting System's award-winning American Masters series. No Direction Home, narrated in its entirety by Dylan, includes archival, never-seen-before footage of Dylan concerts, recording sessions and interviews from the time, as well as more recent interviews with Dylan and musicians and friends like Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and Al Kooper, conducted by Dylan's manager and archive curator, Jeff Rosen. The film focuses on Dylan's early music career from 1961-1966, an incredibly pro- lific and influential period that saw him release seven albums — includ- ing Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and the double album Blonde on Blonde — during a span of just 16 months in 1965-66. Scorsese, better known for films like Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The ON THE CO VER RABBI AARON BERGMAN, Southfield Favorite Album — John Wesley Harding: "The Bible, the Apocalypse, the End of Days and the return of God in 40 minutes of American roots music." Favorite Song— "I Shall Be Released": "One of the best Yom Kippur faith in redemption songs of all time." Dylan Memory. "The first time I was blown away Rabbi Aaron Bergman with Dylan was when I saw the movie about The Band, called The Last Waltz. He showed that rock was the real folk music. Also, my cousin Milton Glaser did the famous psychedelic poster included with Dylan's first greatest hits album." Gangs of New York, has told musi- cal stories before. He served as an assistant director for the monu- mental film Woodstock (1970) and directed what is often referred to as the best concert film ever, The Last Waltz (1977), capturing The Band's final concert, which includ- ed a performance by Dylan, who had often used the group as his back-up band. It's not since D.A. Pennebaker's fly-on-the-wall documentary Don't Look Back (1967), which followed Dylan on his 1965 tour of England, that we've had a chance to see and hear the early Dylan. In fact, outside of his appearance on The Last Waltz, there has only been one concert film released, Dylan's 1989 Unplugged perform- ance for MTV that was just made available in 2004. The Soundtrack Here is where we really get down to business. The music. No Direction Home: The Soundtrack was released at the end of August as Volume 7 of Dylan's "The Bootleg Series." Not an actual soundtrack — some songs aren't in the film, and some are of different versions than were included — it is not only a worthy companion to the film but stands solidly on its own. A full 26 of the 28 songs on the two- disc set had never been released or are alternative takes laid down in studios in New York and Nashville. The collection starts with a histor- ical, if not musical, highlight, the first known Dylan recording, a 1959 home recording of the self-penned "When I Got Troubles." The set fol- lows Dylan on his trip from tradi- tionals (a never-released "This Land is Your Land) and folk ("Song to Woody," a paean to Woody Guthrie Dylan Best-Sellers Multi-Platinum: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2: 12 million Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: 10 million Desire, Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde. 2 million Platinum: (1 million): Nashville Skyline, Slow Train Coming, Biograph, Highway 61 Revisited Before the Flood The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, John Wesley Harding, Bringing It All Back Home, Time Out of Mind The Essential Bob Dylan (Recording Industry Association of America, June 2005) from his first album) to protest (live 1963 performances of "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Masters of War") to his own vision, most clearly seen in the second disc, which is heavy with alternate studio recordings from Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, all wrapped up with the pre- viously released and very much live and electric "Like A Rolling Stone," delivered to a folk-loving taunting audience in Manchester, England, in 1966. The Book The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, 1956- 1966, is a slip-covered collection of photos, interviews with Dylan and friends, and facsimiles of memorabil- ia and hand-written lyrics. Just released on Sept. 13, it includes an hour-long audio CD of early Dylan interviews and a rare performance. TANGLED UP from page 54 JOEL SHAYNE, Farmington. Hills Favorite Album — Blonde on Blonde. "It could have been someone else's greatest hits album, but for Dylan it was just another album. Plus, as a double album, it was highly unusual." Favorite Song— "The Gates of Eden": "This has been one of my favorites since I first heard it because of the strong imagery. But picking a favorite Dylan song is like trying to pick a Joel Shayne favorite diamond." Dylan Memory. - "I took my bar mitzvah money and bought the Great White Wonder bootleg, which later morphed into The Basement Tapes album. Seeing him with guests Joan Baez and Roger McGuinn in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April 20, 1976."