Watch Down The Tracks: The Music That Influenced Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan shaped a generation. But who shaped him? This compelling documentary unearths the voices that built his revolution. Through precise musical archaeology, it traces his sound back to its sources: Leadbelly's prison work songs, Pete Seeger's defiant anthems, and the aching delta blues of Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Willie McTell. Above all, it honors Woody Guthrie, the drifter poet whose Dust Bowl ballads taught Dylan that songs could be weapons. From the hum of guitars in Greenwich Village basements to the front porches of the American South, we watch a hungry young Dylan absorb and transfigure everything he hears. We witness raw talent devour tradition and spit out prophecy. What emerges is a revelation: that Dylan's genius wasn't creating something from nothing but hearing the unfinished revolution in old songs and finishing it.

Down The Tracks: The Music That Influenced Bob Dylan is a 2008 documentary with a runtime of 49 minutes.