Bob Dylan, explored
‹ Going Electric

1965

Solo tour of England, filmed for Dont Look Back

In the spring of 1965 Dylan toured England with an acoustic show, and D. A. Pennebaker filmed the trip for the documentary Dont Look Back, released in 1967.

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The Royal Albert Hall, London, where the 1965 tour filmed for Dont Look Back ended (photo 2016)
The Royal Albert Hall, London, where the 1965 tour filmed for Dont Look Back ended (photo 2016) · Ermell · CC BY-SA 4.0

The tour came just after Bringing It All Back Home, an album with one electric side and one acoustic side, yet on stage he still appeared alone with guitar and harmonica. British fans treated him as a star, and the press followed him everywhere. Pennebaker's camera caught the backstage life: sparring with reporters, hotel-room song swaps, Joan Baez in the entourage, a meeting with Donovan, and his manager Albert Grossman at work. The film's opening, with Dylan flipping cue cards to "Subterranean Homesick Blues", became one of the most imitated images in music. It was the last tour of his solo acoustic period. Weeks after returning home he recorded "Like a Rolling Stone", and the sound of his music changed for good.