Bob Dylan & the Strange Journey of Warhol’s Silver Elvis

In 1965 Bob Dylan was brought to Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory by Barbara Rubin, a filmmaker and a mutual acquaintance of Dylan and Warhol’s, to be the subject of one of Warhol’s screen “tests” — two-minute silent movie portraits starring Factory regulars and outside celebrities.

Although some accounts have the meeting happening in January 1966, it more likely took place in July `65. Whatever the date, Dylan sat sullenly staring into the camera for a few minutes and then was either given or appropriated (depending on the teller) a…