Last Update: 04/05/2026 at 2:50 PM EST
Dylan London Footage Shapes Music Video
Coverage from Rolling Stone, Mojo, and others
Articles
7
Latest Article
02/22
Active Days
3213
Executive Summary
Dylan's 1965 Savoy alley footage and London tour films became touchstones for music videos and rock documentaries, shaping later artists and directors.
- The Subterranean Homesick Blues sequence was shot in a London alley behind the Savoy Hotel
- Pennebaker said the cue-card concept came from Dylan and was filmed in one take
- The footage became a prototype for later music videos and was widely imitated
- Artists and bands including Curiosity Killed the Cat, INXS, Weird Al Yankovic, Margo Price and others echoed it
- Dont Look Back captured Dylan's 1965 English tour and changed music documentary style
- Eat The Document documented Dylan's 1966 tour with The Hawks but ABC rejected it
- Dylan's early London visits in 1962 included performances at the King and Queen and the Troubadour
Quick Facts
- What: London filmed Dylan footage shaped music video and documentary forms
- Where: Behind the Savoy Hotel and other London venues
- Why: The footage became a lasting template for later artists and filmmakers
- Who: Bob Dylan, D A Pennebaker and later musicians
- When: Mostly 1962 and 1965 through 1966
Coverage Timeline: 3213 Days
Featured Article
MOJO revisits D.A. Pennebaker's mid-1960s filming of Bob Dylan in Dont Look Back and Eat The Document, spanning English tours and subsequent US editing.
Additional Articles
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Rolling Stone reports that Bob Dylan's 1965 Dont Look Back lyric-card footage, filmed by D.A. Pennebaker in London, became a widely imitated music-video prototype.
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A review of a book by Jackie Lees and K. G. Miles examines Bob Dylan’s 50-year musical relationship with London through venues, hotels and personal encounters.
DA Pennebaker shot Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues sequence for Dont Look Back in the 1960s in London, choosing the Savoy alley for the final setup.
Dylan travelled to London in winter 1962, performed at The King and Queen and the Troubadour with Martin Carthy, and played the Pindar of Wakefield, per Clash.
On May 8, 1965, Dylan filmed the Subterranean Homesick Blues clip in an alley beside the Savoy Hotel in London to open D.A. Pennebaker's Dont Look Back.
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Bob Dylan's 1965 England tour, filmed by D.A. Pennebaker, took place over two weeks from Sheffield to Liverpool to London in spring 1965.