Dylan Speaks – The Legendary 1965 Press Conference
In San Francisco (Eagle Media)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Interview: C+
With yet
another resurgence of interest in the legendary Bob Dylan, enjoying his first
#1 album in a very long time, more archival material is finding its way out on
DVD. The latest piece of interest is
from Eagle Media. Running 51 minutes,
Dylan talks about music, politics, specific artists and where he is coming
from. That enough should have fans happy
to see and hear his thoughts at the time at his first peak of popularity.
What is
even more interesting is how the press approaches him. For one thing, you get more intelligent
questions than, usual, even if they are misguided. Also, even when they are smart, they can
still be awkward. Just as well, some of
the questions are shades of character questions bordering on the kind of
character attacks too many media press people seem to have nothing else but to
offer. The result is a program (taped at
KQED) that is as much about Dylan as the era and the emergence of television.
The 1.33
X 1 black and white image was videotaped in professional analog NTSC video of
the time, reel-to-reel and all. There
are flaws, but Eagle has done its best to capture it at the best fidelity. Though it may not look as good as the recent
DVDs Geneon issued of The Judy Garland
Show reviewed on this site, it still looks good considering its age and the
limits of the format at the time. The
sound is here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo boosting the original mono and Dolby 2.0
Mono for purists. This is good for its
age. Also, there are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
