SAN DIEGO ARCHIVE FINDS LOST FOOTAGE OF DYLAN’S 1969 ISLE OF WIGHT PERFORMANCE
Reelin’ in the Years founder discovers video of storied show in trove of news clips
David Peck’s birthday gift came early this year. The founder of San Diego’s 30-year-old Reelin’ in the Years Productions — a leading archive for rare music film and video footage — on Tuesday announced the discovery of previously unseen 1969 concert footage of Bob Dylan and The Band.
The two-minute clip is the first known professionally shot film of Dylan’s Isle of Wight performance. It marked his official return to the stage following a three-year hiatus after his 1966 motorcycle crash in Woodstock, N.Y. His Isle of Wight gig drew three members of The Beatles, two members of The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, along with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and hundreds of thousands of other fans.
The footage features performance excerpts of three classic Dylan songs — “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” The quality and rarity of the footage prompted Emmy-winning director Jennifer Lebeau to incorporate some of it into the immersive film experience she created for the Bob Dylan Center, which opened Tuesday in Tulsa, Okla.
“The Isle of Wight performance is a critical landmark in Dylan’s story,” Lebeau said in a statement. “Having the opportunity to debut this beautiful footage Reelin’ in the Years Productions has uncovered enables storytelling I haven’t yet had the opportunity to portray, thanks to its quality and breadth of songs. I’m thrilled the material will make its debut for the film at the Bob Dylan Center.”
Reelin’ in the Years founder Peck discovered the Dylan and The Band footage earlier this year, buried in a trove of 1960s news clips his company acquired from the German TV network WDR. In February, Peck and WDR mediagroup GmbH signed a deal granting Peck exclusive worldwide rights to license WDR’s vast library of music-related footage.
“I screamed when I saw it!” said Peck, 56, who shares the same May 24 birthday as Dylan, 80.
“My first call was to Jeff Rosen, Dylan’s manager for the past 33 years, and he’d never seen the Isle of Wight footage. Neither had Jennifer Lebeau, who’s done a lot of Dylan-related work. So, this is historically significant — and a great birthday gift for me.”