Arena

Episode Synopsis

Last programme in the Arena series tracing the origins of classic rock songs. This musical journey travels the famous highway that has inspired successive generations of musicians, including Bob Dylan and his 1965 song. One of the longest roads in the USA, Highway 61 runs from the Canadian border, passing by Dylan's home town of Hibbing, Minnesota, en route to New Orleans in the south. The film takes a guided tour of Hibbing in the company of John Bucklen, Dylan's high school friend, who provides some new insights into Dylan's earliest musical experiments. As well as recordings of conversation and music that the two teenagers made in 1958, there are clips of the musicians who have been associated with Highway 61, from Bessie Smith to Elvis Presley and Little Richard.