Lawrence of Arabia, Bob Dylan, and the Art of Holding a Grudge

Composed by Maurice Jarre, the soundtrack for Lawrence of Arabia is considered one of the greatest soundtracks of all time.  In 2005, AFI ranked it third on its 100 Years of Film Scores list, behind Star Wars and Gone with the Wind.  In 2013, it ranked sixth on the ABC Classic FM Classic 100 Music in the Movie List behind The Mission, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Chariots of Fire and Doctor Zhivago.  But wait there is more.  The soundtrack was critically acclaimed in its time as well.  It won the Academy Award for Best Music Score-Substantially Original and was nominated for two Grammys.

And Lou’s Mom hates it.  Hates Lawrence of Arabia with a passion.  In 1963, the film was nominated for ten Oscars and won seven, including Best Picture and Best Director.  Like the soundtrack, the film is considered one of the greatest ever made, making the top ten of too many lists to name.  Lou’s Mom is a To Kill a Mockingbird fan.  She can’t let it go that To Kill a Mockingbird did not win Best Picture.  It is not enough that Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch won Best Actor over Peter O’Toole, as Lawrence.  It seems weird to Lou that a teenager would have a thing for Gregory Peck over O’Toole.  Peck seems a bit mature as a heartthrob.  That said, Lou has a friend from college who held a torch for Alan Alda, complete with a scrapbook of photos from the TV Guide and People.  You can’t predict love.  By the way, O’Toole was always the bridesmaid and never the bride.  He holds the record (with Glenn Close) for most Oscar nominations without a win, nine.  Lawrence of Arabia was his first nomination.

Like mother, like son?  Not really.  Lou is a Peter O’Toole guy.  He is one of the legendary boozers in Hollywood history.  He is on the Mount Rushmore of British boozehounds with Richard Burton, Richard Harris, and, Lou’s favorite, Oliver Reed.  Go on YouTube and you can find footage of all these guys in action on talk shows of the time.  O’Toole has some particularly good ones.  Guy tells a great story.  Kinda guy that would be a hoot at a pub.  He does not seem to have the threat of violence about him that Harris and Reed possess, but Lou is probably wrong.  O’Toole knew his way around a bar brawl no doubt.  As with everything, there is a book about these guys.  Hellraisers:  The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, and Oliver Reed by Robert Sellers.  There was also a documentary.  If you love drinking stories, these are some of the best you’ll ever hear.  As Lou remembers it, O’Toole was in New York one day and woke up in Spain the next and has no idea how he got there.  Classic.  The book is also a cautionary tale of wasted talent for those Puritans out there that need some medicine with their whisky.

As Lou was saying, his Mom holds a grudge.  To this day, she despises Lawrence of Arabia no matter how many accolades it continues to pile up.  But her distaste for Lawrence is nothing compared to her hatred of Bob Dylan, which developed around the same time in her life.  And therein lies a story.

In 1964, my mother was on the Activities Committee at Tufts University.  Part of her duties was getting musicians to perform on campus.  On March 7, 1964, Bob Dylan was scheduled to perform at Cousens Gym.  This was quite a coup.  As you know from the Dylan movie, this period was one of the heights of his popularity.  Well, the concert never happened.  AI will tell you “the concert was cancelled because Dylan fell ill with a virus, according to reports from the promoter at the time.”  Bullshit will say Lou’s Mom.

Lou’s Mom spent much of March 7, 1964 searching high and low for Dylan in and around Boston.  They finally found him, not ill in bed at a hotel, but drunk in a bar around Harvard Square.  He could not perform.  Lou’s Mom was furious and will hear nothing positive about Dylan to this day.

As part of the promotion for the show, flyers were made and distributed around town and campus.  The flyer for the Tufts show is considered by Dylan collectors as something of a holy grail.  It is extremely rare.  Heritage Auctions stated at one point that it had been almost 15 years since they had sold one.  Lou must admit that it is a sharp-looking flyer with several great pics of Dylan and that Tufts blue all the alumni love so much.  Lou would like to think that his Mom had a hand in the creation of the flyer.  It would be quite a feather in her cap.  But Lou’s Mom wipes her ass with this flyer.  Good riddance.

One day while watching Antiques Roadshow, Lou saw a woman with one of the coveted Tufts flyers.  She told a story as interesting as Lou’s Mom’s.  According to this woman, she was in a taxi with the Dylan flyer when Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry got in the cab with her.  Being a committed folkie, she quickly asked them for their autographs and the only piece of paper she had was the Tufts Dylan flyer, so she had them sign it.  Instead of signing, Brownie McGee wrote down some lyrics.  Pretty cool piece of ephemera.  The flyer has since been auctioned off.  It sold for several thousand dollars.

Now here is Lou’s theory.  Dylan was not ill.  He had merely become too famous to perform at a venue like Tufts University.  The payout wasn’t worth it to Dylan.  In 1964, Boston was happening in the folk scene.  So, in addition to being too famous, he had better things to do in a hip town.  Such as seeing Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry perform.  Lou pictures Dylan drunk at the venue where they had just performed or were scheduled to do so.  Believe it or not?

Ill, drunk, or disinterested, Dylan is persona non grata with Lou’s Mom.  And Lawrence of Arabia.  Which is sad because Lou likes Dylan and O’Toole.  Maybe Dylan and Lou’s Mom can come to Lou’s bookhouse and play the soundtrack to Lawrence of Arabia and make peace?  Break bread?  Smoke a joint?  Not a chance!!!  Persistence and consistency.  That is what makes a grudge a grudge after all

Suggested Sites and Sounds:

Lawrence of Arabia:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v9Jype6VmU

O’Toole on Carson:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaFH5_btHvA

Hellraisers:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nErb-dtNUPw

Bob Dylan in the Winter of 1964 with Better Things to Do:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXR-rmN5Q4s&list=RDnXR-rmN5Q4s&start_radio=1

The Flyer in Question:  https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/music-memorabilia/posters/bob-dylan-1964-medford-ma-handbills-w-brownie-mcghee-s-blues-lyrics-on-back-2-/a/7297-89195.s

The Flyer in Question Part II:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsrYF7v1J0

 — Lou Waxman