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Band:Bob Dylan DVD:Bob Dylan 1966-1978: After the Crash Released by:MVD Writer: Dr. J- Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

“Bob Dylan 1966-1978: After the Crash” was a project of the collaborators of “Isis” (Bristish Dylan-fanzine) and covers DYLAN’s career from the notorious/legendary motorcycle crash in 1966 through his conversion to a born-again Christian in 1978.

Being an “unofficial” release, you’re not going to see footage of DYLAN, but rather an array of interviews, shots of Greenwich village, and recording tapes (the actual tapes, not footage or music). The music on the DVD is performed by a band called “Dylanesque”, instead of DYLAN.

The basis for information provided is in chronological order, beginning with interviews from (British) music critics. The topic of conversation is primarily about DYLAN’s country slant, referencing albums from John Wesley Harding to New Morning as the primary influence - at least that’s how I interpreted it. For those not the utmost interested in DYLAN history, these will be tedious, especially the interview(s) with Al Aronowitz, Perhaps more disquieting is the interview with A.J. Weberman, who readily admits going through DYLAN’s garbage and harassing the artist. Evidently, DYLAN delivered an inspiring beating to Weberman, who seems pretty proud of it – especially the part about Weberman breaking a bottle over DYLAN’s head as DYLAN rode off on his motorcycle. I’m not sure whether to call that interesting or disturbing.

There are some interesting interviews, which include some of the musicians who had the opportunity to work with him during this span of his career. Surprisingly, DYLAN is depicted as spontaneous. The fact that DYLAN would typically come into the studio with nothing but ideas may surprise a few. An interesting point made by Ron Cornelius (guitar on “Self Portrait” and “New Morning” was that song after song was hammered out with not preparation. Cornelius speculates that this was, in fact, DYLAN’s method to essentially force the musicians to rely on their instincts. Eric Weissberg and Kevin Odegard, who backed DYLAN on the “Blood on the Tracks” session(s), offer their experiences in a somewhat compare/contrast fashion. Jacques Levy provides commentary on what it was like to write songs with Dylan and Scarlet Rivera talks about how DYLAN ‘plucked’ her out virtually randomly while she was walking around the village with a violin. Rob Stoner’s interview offers discussion on how he was fired from the tour in 1978 after a disagreement with a backing vocalist who was close to DYLAN.

The bonus features of the DVD consist of screens of text that detail DYLAN’s discography, and the Weberman tapes, documenting a phone conversation he had with DYLAN about being stalked. Some may find these predominantly illegible on a regular television screen. I was able to more easily define them on a computer.

Overall, the signals are mixed on this “unofficial” documentary. Devout DYLAN fans many find much of the material rehashed. New DYLAN fans may get lost in some of the material’s relevance. So, perhaps it can be said the fan somewhat familiar with DYLAN’s career may find some of the material interesting, especially those with the musicians that formerly played and wrote with the artist. Still, many of the other interviews tend to meander and some of the information pointless, leading to a somewhat frustrating ending when you try to put it all together. The DVD is best suited for those collectors that must have everything related to DYLAN. Other than that, the structure and material essentially fails to compose a truly informational piece (with the exception of the musician interviews)that, overall, is very interesting.

Band:Bob Dylan DVD:Bob Dylan 1966-1978: After the Crash Released by:MVD Writer: Dr. J- Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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