Bob Dylan Never Ending Tour Diaries: Drummer Winston Watson's Incredible Journey

Bob Dylan Never Ending Tour Diaries: Drummer Winston Watson's Incredible Journey (2009)

*** (out of 4)

Here's another Bob Dylan Special from director Joel Gilbert who is making a minor career out of doing this direct-to-DVD releases. This time out the subject is Winston Watson who worked with Dylan over a stretch of four years during The Never Ending Tour. As with WORLD TOUR 1966: THE HOME MOVIES, this documentary features Gilbert interview Watson as they go through a wide range of topics with the majority of them aimed at Dylan die-hards. If you're only a minor fan of Dylan then it's doubtful this documentary is going to be you're cut of tea. Obviously if you're new to the man it's best to go with DON'T LOOK BACK or NO DIRECTION HOME but if you're a die-hard like me then these films from Gilbert gives you a backstage pass to the rather secretive Dylan. I enjoyed this documentary because of the backstage pass it gave you because while Watson was on tour they had several big events including the Woodstock gig, opening for The Rolling Stones, touring with the Grateful Dead and there were many other big acts who joined them on stage including Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison among others. It's interesting hearing Watson talk about his memories including working with these people as well as hearing how he was hired, why he walked away and what it was like touring four or five times a year across the globe. I do think at times Watson slaps his own back too much but I guess you really can't blame him considering what he was able to do during this time. We get quite a bit of concert footage (without sound I'm sure to legal issues) as well as some home movies shot by Watson. At 96-minutes the thing starts to get a bit long but die-hard fans of Dylan will probably enjoy the thing.