NEWS

For the Hardcore Dylan Fan

Film: Bob Dylan World Tours 1966-1974

By Paul Autry | May 12, 2005

I believe this documentary by director Joel Gilbert is for the hardcore Bob Dylan fan. Someone who is really hungry for details. The feature, to me, seemed like a small slice of the Bob Dylan story as told by other people and, to be honest with you, I really zipped through this disc because it wasn’t really something that caught my attention…and 120 minutes was a bit too much for me to take. I did, however, find the interview with “fanatic Dylanologist” A.J. Weberman to be exceptionally interesting though.

I’m no Dylan expert and I’m not sure if I really “got” this release, so to speak. Like I said, I zipped through it, I watched maybe half an hour at the most and the impression I got was that is was more about the people featured here. Kind of a “behind the scenes” look at people who had a connection to Bob Dylan in one form or another. It’s good for what it is and I’m sure it will find an audience, which, again, will probably be the hardcore Bob Dylan fan…and that’s pretty much all I have to say about it. If you’re looking for a better description, best I can do for you is to quote the back of the DVD cover, which goes something like this…”Barry Feinstein was the exclusive photographer on Bob Dylan & The Band’s legendary 1966 & 1974 world tours. In this film, Feinstein & director Joel Gilbert chronicle these epic Bob Dylan tours, featuring over 150 selections of Feinstein’s finest portraits…most revealed for the first time…in this extraordinary document of Bob Dylan and rock music history. For the years in between, Gilbert visits Woodstock and Greenwich Village, New York, where he investigates Dylan’s secluded life before his return to the road in 1974. Gilbert recreates the singer-songwriter’s 1966 motorcycle accident, pays a visit to Big Pink, examines Dylan’s first encounter with The Beatles and even confronts fanatic Dylanologist A.J. Weberman. Interviews with filmaker D.A. Pennebaker, rock journalism godfather Al Aronowitz, Band drummer Mickey Jones and suprise guests help reveal Bob Dylan’s hidden history behind Feinstein’s astonishing images.”
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