The music of Bob Dylan was celebrated Sunday night at Tulsa’s Circle Cinema.
“Stepping into the Unknown” is a series of rare and unreleased clips featuring the modern-day troubadour. Fans like Jeremiah Hyslop got to enjoy multiple eras of Dylan’s music. But Hyslop has a couple favorite records.
“I mean, I’m old school. I like it all. I like all Dylan,” Hyslop said. “His first two records, (The) Free Wheelin’ Bob Dylan and Bob Dylan, those will always be my favorite records.”
Whether it was Dylan’s original folk phase, his switch to electric guitar, a gospel turn or even his Christmas album, fans at Circle Cinema were treated to clips from each stage of the musician’s career.
Hyslop said Dylan got so many stories from just a few strings.
“It’s just amazing,” Hyslop said. “Three chords and a song, just the power of the emotion of a story. I just learned so much through listening to his songs.”
Tulsan musician Jesse Aycock joined Dylan Center Director Steve Jenkins for a question and answer session after the short films. He was surprised to learn of all the elements Dylan had to play through during his first day performance at the Newport Folk Festival.
“You could see the trees were blowing like crazy in the background. This has to be an insanely windy day there. The mics were wrapped with so many layers of foam and rags,” Aycock said. “That was something. I guess I just never noticed that or seen that in footage.”
The next day during calmer conditions Dylan shocked many by switching to electric guitar. He was accused of leaving his folk roots. This change is an important element in the new Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” releasing Christmas Day.
The evening ended with Aycock playing his rendition of Dylan’s “Every Grain of Sand.”
