Remembering Mickey Jones With Bob Dylan ‘Eat The Document’ Film
By Scott Bernstein Feb 8, 2018 • 8:07 am PST
Yesterday, the world lost the multi-talented Mickey Jones. Not only was Mickey Jones an actor featured in National Lampoon’s Vacation and Home Improvement, among countless other TV shows and films, he was also a skilled drummer. Jones was behind the kit for a number of projects including The First Edition, which featured lead singer Kenny Rogers, as well as Bob Dylan’s band for 1966 tours of Australia and Europe.
1966 was an extremely important year in Bob Dylan’s career, as he had recently added electric performances to his concert, a move that didn’t make folkies happy. Dylan was backed during most of the 1966 World Tour by the group that went on to become The Band with one major exception. While guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel and keyboardist Garth Hudson signed on, Levon Helm quit due to the stress of being constantly heckled by Dylan audiences.
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Filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker hit the road with Bob Dylan and his band to document the tour. The resulting footage was assembled by Dylan and Howard Elk for a documentary titled Eat The Document. While Eat The Document was never officially released, a version of the film has circulated in fan circles for decades and can be viewed via Archive.org below.
Viewers see Dylan and his group perform “Tell Me, Momma,” “Ballad Of A Thin Man,” “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” and more. There’s also footage of Bob performing with Robbie Robertson in hotel rooms, Dylan touring through Europe, the Minnesota native answering questions at press conferences and the infamous “Judas!” situation in which the famed performer was heckled. Mickey Jones was behind the kit during the electric live performances.
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Watch Eat The Document:
Mickey Jones was 76 and had been battling illness for a longtime ahead of his death on Wednesday morning according to TMZ, who first reported Mickey died.
