Bob Dylan - 1966 World Tour: The Home Movies [DVD]

This DVD has a number of strengths, but it has to be highlighted from the outset, that ostensibly it is a snapshot of Mickey Jones' life. The fact that he had close involvement with Dylan during the mid 60s serves as a focal point for the DVD, but in many respects, the DVD is more interesting as an historical artifact, if we view it as a travelogue of a man's life during one of the most potent cultural epochs. It's amazing how a man's 8mm footage can render the overly familiar landmark of St Stephen's Tower in London into something vital, owing to such variables as weather.

Mickey Jones has a remarkable memory of details and the DVD revealed to me some Dylan facts I was unaware of such as the fact that the Liverpool gig in 1966 was recorded with the possible intention of releasing it as a live album. He also espouses an interesting theory regarding the identity of the person who responded 'Play f**king loud' at the Manchester Free Trade Hall concert on 17th May 1966. This was previously considered to be Dylan or one of the band members, Jones suggests one of the stagehands caught up in the tension of the moment. He may be wrong, but then again it's a theory that is intriguing.

The extras on the DVD are fairly limited. You can access photos of the tour, some of which are not that familiar and capture Dylan during his most powerful and alienated moments. He appears totally in control at times yet sidelined by his own ambition. The time gap between fades from one photo to the next is a little bit too long for my liking and it may have been nice if the photos had been thumbnailed to enable easier access to the photos we wanted to see. But it's good that they are there too.

The DVD's greatest weakness is the soundtrack, which is provided by Highway 61 Revisited, a Dylan tribute band. I imagine that the DVD producers could not obtain permission to use material from the 1966 tour or simply this was impossible due to cost, but it does detract slightly from the DVD. Fortunately, though the majority of the Manchester Free Trade Hall heckle and retorts are there for the viewer's enjoyment.

To conclude, this is not a DVD to replay constantly, but it is an interesting exploration of a man's life (Mickey Jones) and it does reveal facts about Dylan that may well be true (most notably, Jones' take on Dylan's motorcycle crash). Mickey Jones' 'whoopee finger' is also a highlight of this DVD. To see that you have to get the DVD!