Timothée Chalamet has been busily proving his Bob Dylan bona fides ever since he was forged as the nice songwriter in “A Full Unknown.” He has studied guitar and singing, immersed himself in Dylan lore, worn fastidiously researched Dylan outfits and mastered a satisfactory imitation of Dylan’s talking and singing voices.
On Saturday, together with his Oscar marketing campaign for greatest actor revving up, he hosted “Saturday Evening Dwell” and sang Dylan songs, doubling as musical visitor. He vouched for credibility like many one other Dylan fan: selecting songs from the deep catalog as a substitute of apparent hits. “You won’t know the Bob Dylan songs I’m performing, however they’re my private favorites,” he stated in his monologue.
He selected folky, electrical and spoken-word songs. “Tomorrow Is a Lengthy Time” was demoed within the early Sixties, however was recorded by others (Judy Collins, Odetta, Ian & Sylvia, the Kingston Trio, Elvis Presley) earlier than Dylan’s personal 1963 model was launched in 1971. “Outlaw Blues” got here from Dylan’s 1965 electrical breakthrough album, “Bringing It All Again House,” and “Three Angels” was on Dylan’s 1970 album, “New Morning.” Though Dylan has sung “Tomorrow Is a Lengthy Time” on numerous excursions, he has by no means carried out “Three Angels” in live performance and has solely sung “Outlaw Blues” onstage as soon as.
Chalamet delivered the songs as earnest homages — not imitating Dylan’s nasality as slavishly as he did in “A Full Unknown,” however nonetheless echoing Dylan’s phrasing in his personal voice. Visually, nonetheless, he introduced a star’s full prerogatives: costumes, lights and video, as nicely a band that included the English songwriter and producer James Blake on keyboards.
As a substitute of maintaining the concentrate on the musicians, as Dylan does in live performance, Chalamet surrounded himself with visible aids — maybe within the perception that younger listeners want them. Strobes flashed as he sang three (out of the 5) verses of “Outlaw Blues,” whereas Chalamet wore the “darkish sun shades” and video screens confirmed the “mountain vary” (presumably Australian) talked about within the lyrics. Sporting a hooded parka — the lyrics point out “9 beneath zero” — Chalamet grinned with undisguised glee as he delivered the track’s greatest zinger: “Don’t ask me nothin’ about nothin’ / I simply would possibly let you know the reality.”
Dylan’s “Three Angels” is considered one of his oddest songs. It’s a calmly recited situation, set to gospel-tinged organ, that envisions angels making music as an unnoticed backdrop to mundane occasions. Chalamet’s model, segued from “Outlaw Blues,” was gussied up with animated video photos from the lyrics, digital results on vocals and further lyrics elaborating on Dylan’s laconic strains — none of them mandatory.
Dylan’s one look because the musical visitor on “Saturday Evening Dwell” got here on Oct. 20, 1979, when he was in his Christian section and carried out three songs from his album “Gradual Prepare Coming”: “Gotta Serve Someone,” “I Consider in You” and “When You Gonna Wake Up.”
For his second efficiency, Chalamet returned in restrained, folkie guise for the quietly elegant love track “Tomorrow Is a Lengthy Time.” He fingerpicked an acoustic guitar in Dylan’s authentic key and tempo, joined by a respectfully subdued band. In the meantime, a backdrop of large video close-ups emphasised the star over the track. It was a transparent tribute to Dylan’s music, however with a whiff of self-promotion, too.