Timothée Chalamet delves into the Bob Dylan catalog on ‘SNL’

On By Littum

The Bob Dylan song choice Timothée Chalamet chose for his “Saturday Night Live” musical appearance was … well, completely unknown to most of the viewing audience. The actor’s dip into more obscure choices pleased many Dylanologists, who stood by even as his choice defied expectations that he would recreate songs he performed as Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” which proved to be the furthest thing from his mind.

In his opening monologue as host, Chalamet signaled that viewers would be surprised by the choices during his musical segment. “You may not know Bob Dylan songs that I perform, but they are my personal favorites,” he told the audience. “I’m so thankful ‘Saturday Night Live’ is still doing weird things like this 50 years in. They’re either really nice to let me do this or incredibly mean and it’s all a big prank.”

In an unpictured cameo, Chalamet joined well-known singer-songwriter James Blake on keyboards for the musical numbers, further delighting avid music fans.

It was quickly clear that Chalamet intended to perform in his own voice – and have some irreverent fun with it – as he launched into two songs back-to-back for his first musical spot on the show, wearing sunglasses and a hooded winter coat over his head.

For the first performance, Chalamet sang a fast, fun and daring medley of “Outlaw Blues” and “Three Angels,” two tracks familiar to serious Dylan fans but never appearing on any greatest hits album. “Outlaw Blues” dates back to at least the period depicted in the film, having appeared on the 1965 album “Bringing It To Home.” The second selection, “Three Angels,” would be up for recording if James Mangold ever makes a sequel—it’s from 1970’s “New Morning” album, when Dylan settled .

Chalamet took a more subdued approach when he returned later in the show to sing a third Dylan selection, but he still avoided a direct Dylan vocal style and still stuck with the deep catalog.. He closed the night by performing “Tomorrow Is Long Time” A song that Dylan first sang live and demo-ed in 1962, but did not release in any form until the 1970s, although many other artists covered it in the 60s. (See that number here.)

(The history of the track in question is complicated: A live version of “Tomorrow Is Long Time” first officially appeared on 1971’s “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. Released, much less a hit. Ever issued his own versions, including Judy Collins , Ian & Sylvia and the Kingston Trio.)

Chalamet clearly had a good time as he usurped expectations with the performance, especially the first performance that felt like a chance to cut loose and celebrate the Oscar nomination he picked up for Best Actor this week, one of eight nominations that the film got.