Time Tripping

Last night, flipping around the channels, I came upon a film about the Newport Folk Festival from 1963 to 1966 featuring a very young Bob Dylan and even younger Joan Baez.

I can't say I am a magnet for these kind of shows. I typically keep moving as I pass the Peter Paul and Mary fundraising special on PBS -- I feel as if I've seen it all 100 times before.

But there was something about this that was compelling to watch. At one point, Dylan sings Mr. Tambourine Man and I've always preferred his version to the later, more popular Byrds' version and I thought the very opening line to me is a time machine. I have heard it 1000 times and never get tired of that nasally soft voice. It's been years since I've heard a young Joan Baez sing -- and her voice then was so beautiful, so angelic, so fragile yet with such strength to it that it was impossible not to stare at the TV screen.

What I noticed when the audience was being interviewed is that they interviewed ten males for every female. These were contemporary interviews, meaning done at the time of the event, and I reluctantly guessed that female opinions didn't mean as much. They were mostly teens and college students and as I looked at their boyish faces, I tried to age them in my mind and imagine them as the 60+ year old men they are today. How weird it would be to be one of them and see yourself back then.