All the hoopla over the great new Dylan movie Complete Unknown, reminds me of some moments for a lifelong fan.

Before I quit seeing him perform in person, (I just couldn’t enjoy the reworking of the songs I worshipped, the voice change, the guitar noodling. His choice, no harm, no foul and very Dylan actually) I had some special memories.

3. Madison Square Garden after 9/11, packed house. He was in great form and actually spoke. “I write a lot of my songs in this city.” For him this was downright chatty. Great night.

2. St. Louis. Early days. He sat down at the piano and played a scorching version of “Ballad of a Thin Man.”

Heaven.

1. I’ve written about this before. After a near death motorcycle accident and rumors that he was anything from dead to badly hurt, The Band on their first tour played at festival in the St. Louis area. He came to do three songs with them at an encore. I just remember jumping and yelling. If it had been a Gene Wilder movie I would have been standing on my seat screaming “He’s Alive!”