Looking back at Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back (1965 Tour Deluxe Edition): Viewing Bob Dylan's "Don't Look Back" now one has to wonder how it ever got made? Dylan lived in a world of his own. So how filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker managed to get full access is a miracle.
The real miracle, however, is viewing "Don't Look Back," a vivid chronicle of the singer's 1965 British tour and one of the most stunning rock documentaries ever and now available in a deluxe expanded two-disc set.
Dylan's music is, of course, the focus, but the camera's eye also focuses in on Dylan's world. Especially riveting are his encounters with the media and the Establishment. Both are clearly nervous about approaching Dylan, clearly not knowing what to expect and the singer plays on their apprehension.
In one memorable scene, Dylan takes a Time magazine interviewer named Horace Judson (and the media as a whole) to task.

"'Cause you know I've never been in Time magazine and yet this hall's filled twice, you know, and I've never been in Time Magazine. I don't need Time Magazine ... and I don't think I'm a folk singer. You'll probably call me a folk singer, but, you know, the other people know better 'cause the people, you know, that buy my records, listen to me, don't necessarily buy Time Magazine. You know the audience that subscribe to Time Magazine? The people that work during the day and read it small, right? And it's concise and there's pictures in it."

Interestingly enough, Pennebacker, in an interview with Time this year, says Dylan isn't being as mean-spirited with Judson as it appeared.
In the interview, Pennebacker says,

"I have the story [Judson] wrote. He wrote a very good piece on Dylan. I thought Dylan was kind of nice in the end. He made jokes out of it. When I show the film, especially to kids, they want to see that as someone thrashing TIME. But it isn't that. He's thrashing a whole system of media that people had been thrashing for a long time. I never thought of it as mean-spirited.

This new release includes a newly remastered version of the original DVD from the original single-disc release that contains the film, commentary by Pennebacker and Dylan tour manager Bob Neuwirth, additional audio tracks, an alternate version of the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video and the theatrical trailer and adds a second disc called "Bob Dylan '65 Revisited," that features roughly an hour of outtakes (mostly music) from the original film with commentary from Pennebacker and Neuwirth. In addition, the set includes a 168 page companion book, that was originally released in the late '60s, of pictures and dialogue from the film , plus a engaging flip book of the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video sequence.
It's a trip back in time worth taking.
Short takes: While we're on the subject of reissued rock films, we'll mention Don't Knock the Rock / Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Twist / Twist Around the Clock, two two-fer film reissues of four vintage rock films that Sony has just released. The films are the standard rock films of the era with the usual plots about the music being persecuted and the usual remedy of "Let's put on a show!" They're basically just excuses for the music they contain, as good as some of that music is.
But Sony gets major demerits for their sloppy treatment of the DVDs. Neither set contains chapter links from the main menu and the chapter links contained in the films don't link up with all the music performances. To find Little Richard's performances in "Don't Knock the Rock," for example, you'll have to manually scan through the film.
As much as we're glad to have these again and give them our recommendation, we have to say they deserved a lot better treatment in putting them to disc than what they received.
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Featured DVD: "The U.S. Vs. John Lennon"

The trailer for "The U.S. Vs. John Lennon"


"The U.S. Vs. John Lennon" (Lionsgate): Everyone knows the story of John Lennon and the Beatles. But it's less known, especially to younger audiences, how Lennon was the focus of FBI investigations during the Vietnam War Era because of the Nixon Administration's paranoia against protesters.
"The U.S. Vs. John Lennon" , which goes on sale Feb. 13, is a frightening reminder of that. The 96 minute documentary looks at how John Lennon changed from a cuddly Beatle to an outspoken protester of the Vietnam War and the Nixon Administration policies. It also recounts how the government used the controversy to hold the U.S. citizenship Lennon hoped for in hostage.
It was indeed a scary time. As Yoko recounts early in the film, while the Lennons were on a Michigan stage playing a benefit concert to help free John Sinclair, who was busted for possession of a small amount of marijuana, the FBI was in the audience taking down the lyrics to his songs. The film recounts how the government spied on him through wiretaps.
The hatred and pervasity of the Nixon Administration was chilling. In one of the bonus features, Nixon Administration member G. Gordon Liddy recalls how he ordered his children planning to attend a public event not to sing Lennon's song "Imagine" when it was played there.
The DVD includes interviews with his widow, Yoko Ono Lennon, George McGovern, Bobby Seale, Gore Vidal, John Dean, author Ron Kovic, John Sinclair, Geraldo Rivera, Walter Cronkite and Mario Cuomo.
It includes 10 clips of additional footage left out of the film. The most touching is a reading of the letter Yoko wrote to the New York State parole board requesting her husband's killer remain in jail. It's an emotional moment for Yoko, who manages to read the letter, but not without her voice quivering to the point of almost breaking.
For anyone who lived through the '60s turmoil, the documentary brings back frightening reminders of the paranoia that swept the country.
It also sends a message that the nation should have learned from its mistakes. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case thanks to the Bush Administration.

Featured DVD: "Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows" (Image)

Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows (Image): When SOFA Entertainment released "The Four Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring the Beatles" in 2003, not only was it a surprise, but it was almost unthinkable that a release of shows this historic and significant would be given the go ahead for the marketplace. That release was nothing short of amazing -- the four shows were released in complete form including commercials. It wouldn't be likely to happen again -- or would it?
Comes now "Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows," perhaps a more historic three disc set from Image Entertainment that features two complete shows from 1956 and another from 1957 -- again with commercials -- featuring the landmark performances from Elvis Presley on those shows.
What's more exciting about this release is that these shows occurred almost 8 years earlier than the Beatles' shows -- making their release even more unlikely.
The Elvis shows may be even more interesting historically than the Beatles' shows. Why? Anyone tuning in "The Ed Sullivan Show" each week knew they were in for a crap shoot. Variety was the key word and "variety" didn't always mean it would be worth wading through.
So in the Sept. 9, 1956, show, we see Charles Laughton, filling in for Sullivan, who was recovering from an auto accident, take charge of hosting the show and introducing Presley to the Sullivan audience. As rock critic Greil Marcus, who wrote the eight-page booklet that comes with the set describes it, it was basically a vaudeville show with something for everyone. Laughton starts with a fairly inane poetry bit, something we suspect he would have done on the show if Sullivan had hosted it. But such was the "variety" viewers saw every week -- nothing offensive, but generally entertaining.
Also on the show: the Vagabonds, trying to sing a hip version of "Up a Lazy River" that looks insipid when you know what's coming later in the show; comic magician Carl Ballentine, later of the "McHale's Navy" sitcom, acrobats the Brothers Amin and Toby the Dog.
But Elvis is far and away the star of the show and he knows it.
"Thank you, friends. Thank you, Mr. Laughton," he says somewhat shyly. But he hears the screaming girls in the audience loud and clear. Introducing "Love Me Tender," he jokes about it being "our new RCA Victor escape ... release," which, of course, sends the young audience into a frenzy.
The other two shows include other historic performances besides Presley. The Oct. 28, 1956, show features Senor Wences (s'awright ... s'awright), while the Jan. 6, 1957, show features a young Carol Burnett and boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
Musically, Presley repeats three songs from the first show -- "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender" and "Hound Dog" -- on the second, with only "Ready Teddy" the first week changed to "Love Me" the the second.
His performances the third show in January of 1957, however, are nothing short of spectacular. He opens with a medley of "Hound Dog, "Love Me Tender" and "Heartbreak Hotel," then comes back with "Don't Be Cruel." His second spot finds him burning hot with "Too Much" and "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again." He closes the show features a spectacular version of "Peace in the Valley," backed by "the wonderful Jordinaires."
All-in-all, this one's a must have, if for no other reason than it shows the clips unadulterated by titles that all the previous Sullivan releases have included. But it also, like the Beatles release, returns the shows to their historical context. For TV history buffs, it doesn't get much better than this. (Rating on scale of 1-5: Five DVDs)

Bonus features: These include a rare color 8mm home movie shot in 1955 which is the first-ever recorded footage of a very young Elvis (age 20) who was not yet managed by Col. Tom Parker; special Elvis moments including an appearance by comedian John Byner; and home movies of Elvis and Priscilla with some of the earliest shots of their daughter Lisa Marie; interviews with producer Sam Phillips of Sun Records, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires, Marlo Lewis, producer of the three Sullivan shows, television host Wink Martindale, who was a Memphis DJ when Elvis lived there; Elvis friend George Klein and Memphis Mafia member Jerry Schilling.