Bob Dylan: World Tour 1966: The Home Movies (2002)

• 60% of users liked it
  (21 ratings)

In 1965, Bob Dylan was the reigning king of the new folk music boom, but while he had earned a large and loyal audience playing earnest and elliptical songs of social protest and romantic puzzlement accompanied by his acoustic guitar, he was eager to strike out into new territory, and he shocked… More In 1965, Bob Dylan was the reigning king of the new folk music boom, but while he had earned a large and loyal audience playing earnest and elliptical songs of social protest and romantic puzzlement accompanied by his acoustic guitar, he was eager to strike out into new territory, and he shocked fans at that year's Newport Folk Festival by showing up with an electric guitar and a thrown-together rock & roll band. Later that year, Dylan took his joyous outrage on the road, with a tight, but hard-hitting, rock & roll combo, the Hawks, joining him for a series of shows in which the singer and his band (who would later rename themselves the Band) were often confronted by puzzled and vocally angry crowds. Hawks drummer Levon Helm, unhappy with the unfriendly reception, dropped out after a few dates, and after substitute timekeepers Bobby Gregg and Sandy Konikoff both vacated the drummer's seat, Mickey Jones -- a Texan transplanted to Los Angeles who had enjoyed successful gigs with Trini Lopez and Johnny Rivers -- landed the job of joining Dylan and the Hawks for a tour of Europe. A photography buff, Jones brought his home movie camera along with him, and Bob Dylan: World Tour 1966 -- The Home Movies compiles Jones' amateur footage of life on the road and off-stage with Dylan and the Hawks. In addition, Jones shares his memories of the tour, discusses his career before and after working with Dylan, and offers his own observations on what Dylan's music meant to him and to music fans everywhere. The Home Movies includes no musical performances from Bob Dylan; accompaniment for Jones' silent footage is provided by Highway 61 Revisited, a Bob Dylan tribute band. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi