Bob Dylan - The Folk Years DVD

Advantages: Live Dylan performances
Disadvantages: not many extras

...No direction home is an extraordinary DVD covering the world famous singer/songwriter Bob Dylan from a young age to today. It shows what life was like with Dylan, and how he coped with his supporters, and those who held him in a lower esteem. This is a unique opportunity to discover everything there is to know about one of the greatest folk singers that has ever lived. No direction home starts by presenting Dylan at a young age, speaking to his friends, his family, and the man himself. The DVD shows how Dylan got slowly sucked in to the american Folk culture, who his idols and role models were, as well as showing rare footage of Dylan playing in front of small crowds near his hometown, or just practicing. The storyline is constantly interrupted by live performances by Dylan, starting with him as a popular young man, playing... Read review

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Advantages: Sharing musical history from an American Viewpoint.
Disadvantages: None at all.

...When I bought this DVD from Amazon at the modest price of 14.99, I thought that it would simply be a compilation of historical songs of Dylan. However, having watched it, I found that what it presented was a journey of discovery that goes back to the late 50's, and shows the music that was part and parcel of this great artists' background, and the influences that made the artist what he is today. Interestingly enough, the DVD was comparable to a series that I have been watching on the BBC about the roots of folk music in the UK, and was an interesting contrast, in that it covered the same timescale though from an American perspective. Dylan comes over in the DVD as articulate and reasonably well educated although it appears that most of his education was from his experiences in the sixties, mingling with artists and poets alike... Read review

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Advantages: Interview footage with Dylan and scenes from D.A. Pennebaker documentary
Disadvantages: not many special features

...on Dylan's music. Intertwined with all these Scorcesse begins with and continues to return to Dylan's tour of England with the Band where he was booed for going electric and playing 'pop' music rather than folk. The best bits are the clips of Dylan answering questions from reporters at press conferences. The reporters seem dated and stiff by today's standards, but Dylan's answers are witty and sarcastic and just as funny now as they would have been then. The only let down on the DVD is the lack of special features - it could have done with a director's commentary or maybe other footage from some of the interviews they did for it. You can just watch the performances which is good, but with the other extras like an ad for positively fourth st. you can pretty much see why they left them out in the first place. All in all very engrossing... Read review

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