Product Description
Dylan s friends from Pete Seeger to Bruce Springsteen to Rosanne Cash to Bono to Tom Petty offer insight into the singer-songwriter s artistic genius and personality. This is an oral history of a major musician who played a significant role in America s cultural history. His story is told by the musicians who were at his side during the60s rollicking changes and artistic breakthroughs. Bob Dylan: Musicians on the Man provides a keen portrait of the friendships that helped shape important musicians whose voices influenced our society as a whole. Herein are insights not only into Dylan s elusive personality but into the lives of the major musicians of our times. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Unless this is the first thing you've read about Bob Dylan...
...don't bother purchasing this book.

I don't think that I've read all that much about Dylan, but next to nothing in this book was 'news' to me... it's not much more than a rehash of old, previously published information that has been carefully gathered (and annotated) from multiple places.

On the other hand, by reading this book you will learn lots of little tidbits without having to look elsewhere.

Your choice, but for the price, I'd rather buy another Bob Dylan CD.

Aahhh......so disappointing
I am a long time Dylan fan, and have most every book written.....I hoped
this would be interviews with those who know him sharing their thoughts
and insights. But it is just a rehash of previous interviews, statements,
published thoughts, etc. Not an original interview to be found. I have
read all that was in this book elsewhere. I think it is more than a bit
misleading. I do not recommend it.

Exploitation with little substance
Whip out a book about Dylan with a cool photo on the cover and a couple of enticing quotes, and you have a good shot at reeling in enough Dylan fans to make a buck. This is a shallow effort that made me feel foolish about falling for another exploitation project. There aren't many intimate details here. In fact, this is largely a clip job wovenwith a collection of puff-piece essays on not particularly forthcoming sources from journalist who should have known just how low down in the profession she was going to release this. More marketing than meat. Don't fall for it.

THIS BOOK IS A FUN READ ABOUT ACURIOUS FELLOW
TO ALL OF YOU WHO GAVE THIS BOOK LESS THAN 4-5 STARS...YOUR WRONG!!!!
THIS BOOK "IS WHAT IT IS", KATHLEEN MACKAY DID NOT TITLE IT "WAR AND PEACE"....SHE NEVER SAID IT WAS THE BEST BOOK ON ZIMMY EVER TO REACH HIS PUBLIC.......DYLAN IS AN ICON AT THE VERY LEAST, AND IN A WORLD FULL OF PEOPLE THAT THE PUBLIC ADORES AND ARN'T WORTH GIVINGA SECOND THOUGHT TO, THAT MAKES HIM REAL REAL IMPORTANT!!! YA DIG?? ZIMMY WILL BE RANKED AMONG THE LIKES OF COLE PORTER, CHOPIN, DUKE ELLINGTON, AND HANK WILLIAMS, FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC.
WHAT MS. MACKAY DID IN THE BOOK I THOUGHT WAS A GOOD IDEA. SHE SPOKE TO FRIENDS, AND OTHERS WHO HAVE KNOWN HIM OVER THE YEARS AND SIMPLE TOLD US HOW THEY FELT AND WHAT THE KNEW ABOUT THIS GIANT IN MUSIC...WHO IS A BIT SHY WHEN IS COMES TO "BRAGGIN ON HIMSELF".
READ THIS BOOK!!! WHAT YOU WILL LEARN WILL NOT ALWAYS ASTOUND YOU, BUT AS WAS THE CASE WITH BONO INTERVIEW...BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE AND MAKE YOU KNOW THAT YOUR TIME WAS NOT WASTED ...LISTENING FOR MANY, MANY,MANY HRS. TO A TRUE AMERICAN TREASURE.THANKS KATHLEEN.
PAUL ZAMMARELLI

Not worth the money
Sure, there's some "intimate insights" about Bob Dylan in this book, but not much that we haven't read before in other books. However, my primary issue with this book is that there is WAY WAY WAY too much written about the people who are the ones giving the information about Dylan. I mean if you're really interested in the history of "Peter, Paul, and Mary" and if you really want to know how the "Band" got it's start and if knowing trivia about Liam Clancy, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson and others, then this is the book for you. If you want insights about Dylan there are a lot of books out there with MUCH more information. Again, if you're wanting to know more about Bono, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, then I'd suggest buying this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Clinton Heylin has devoted his career to Bob Dylan's work and presents here a comprehensive study of all of Dylan's recording sessions. "A must for rabid fans."--Seattle Times. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

How can you do without it?
Heylin's study of Dylan's recording sessions starts in 1960 with the period immediately preceding his signing with Columbia and ends in 1993 with World Gone Wrong (clearly an update is needed).Each chapter, starting with a sessionography, is dedicated to one of Dylan's official studio releases.Four chapters cover sessions that did not lead to official releases and one chapter is dedicated to soundtrack and tribute recordings Dylan contributed to.An appendix listing bootlegs that might have been available at the time of the book's release closes the book.

Heylin is wonderfully opinionated and uses each chapter to highlight the merits and flaws of the released and unreleased content of each album.To his credit, and unlike many who write about Dylan, Heylin is not afraid to separate the dross from the gold.He clearly has a problem with the way Dylan's art has been made available to his fans (the book is amusingly "NOT dedicated to Jeff Rosen," the man responsible for overseeing Columbia's vast archives of Dylan's work).Reading the book both provides a glimpse into what Dylan's official oeuvre might have been and serves as a guide for collectors of unofficial recordings in determining what is worth seeking out.

You might not agree with all of Heylin's opinions, but if you're a Dylan fan, this is essential reading.

For obsessive fans only
Clinton Heylin, one of the leading writers on Bob Dylan (and author of, perhaps, the best biography on the man, Behind The Shades), deserves kudos for the exhausting amount of research he put into this book and the information he has presented. It is essential for obsessive Bob Dylan fans - is there any other kind? - who must have every little tidbit of information about the man and what he did in the studio. It is particulary interesting for collectors as it goes into detail about the many, many songs Dylan has recorded throughout the years and not released. It is a chronicle of absolutely everything that Dylan put to tape between the 1960 recordings made in the apartments of friends when he was still in college up to his Good As I Been To You album, as well as soundtracks and appearance on the albums of others, where relevant. Heylin includes not only a list of every song, but also the different takes, and shows what songs are circulating among collectors and which ones still have not seen the light of day. He also includes other relevant information such as what musicians played on the sessions, as well as several appendices such as a list of Dylan compositions, covers he has recorded, and even the session charts from the Desire sessions. The only thing that brings the book down is Heylin's own constant interjected commentary. It is unfortunate that seemingly every commentator on Dylan seems to see it as their duty to critize certain aspects of the man's work and say what he should have done differently - as if they had any right to question the genius of the greatest songwriter of the 20th century. Certainly, Heylin is entitled to his opinion, and never does he make the claim that this book is entirely objective, but, at times, it happens so often as to get in the way. Still, for the true Dylan fan, this book is still a must-have for the priceless information it gives. Casual fans need not bother.

Good Information, Badly Written
If, like me, you want to know as much as you can about Dylan's recordings, you have to get a copy of this. But that means reading endless badly-written diatribes against Dylan and whomever else Heylin dislikes. Apparently, it's okay for Heylin to prefer the original "Blood on the Tracks" recordings, but for Greil Marcus to prefer the acoustic "Blind Willie McTell" is, to quote Heylin, "wrong."

Dylan Good, Heylin Bad
I must give it to Mr Heylin.He appears to have a wealth of knowledge concerning Bob Dylan.In this book he lays out that knowledge in a straight-forward, understandable way.Had he stopped there this would be a great book filled with insight.As it is, the book is worthy of 3 stars only because the topic is good.

I found it tiresome to have to slough through Mr Heylin's personal comments (often in parenthesis) that gave no value to the book.In fact, I found these comments so regular to be distracting to the subject.I found myself frustrated by Mr Heylin's constant interjection of himself into the book.Often, they transformed a behind the scenes look at the recording life of Bob Dylan into a discussion of what Bob Dylan should have done to create a better work.

Certainly, Mr Heylin's opinion can be well thought out.Certainly, he has a right to his opinion.I was just disappointed that he constantly hid his opinion among good discussions relating to the recording life and style of one of music's most influence songwriters.

(Not to mention, Mr Heylin's constant use of bazaar names for "Mr. D".)

Interesting and Useful
Dylan fans love to read about the recording sessions; especially the songs left off the original albums, and this book gives the relevant and fascinating information wanted...a well written book by an unashamed fan. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

The political Art of Bob Dylan
I have a lot of Bob Dylan books and this is one of the better ones. He stretches sometimes for a point but overall I thought it very insightfu of Dylan's music.

Interesting articles, lots of typos, alternative-universe timeline
An interesting set of well-written articles taking political perspectives onBob Dylan's career, including his most recent work.HOWEVER: for a second edition, there A LOT of typos and misprints, from misspellings to typesetting errors.And the timeline at the back is a curiosity -- not only for the choice and wording of some of the events, but for the bizarre belief that George Bush was inaugurated as President of the United States in 1985... and began a second term (sic) in 1989.

CONFUSED
I AM TOTALLY CONFUSED ON HOW TO RATE THIS BOOK..I OWN OVER 70 BOOKS ON DYLAN. & WITH A LIST PRICE OF $75.00 I EXPECTED IT TO BE INCREDIBLY GOOD AND HUGE IN SIZE.500 PAGES?NOPE IT IS 178 PAGES,YES I KNOW THERE IS MORE TO THE BOOK THEN JUST THE SIZE. BUT THAT IS A LOT A MONEY FOR JUST A LITTLE INFORMATION.BUT I TRULY ENJOYED THE BOOK. ... Read more

Product Description

Exposing the depth of two major artists' philosophies, creative visions, stylistic tendencies, and contributions to their craft, this unprecedented comparative analysis synthesizes biographical material, critical interpretation, and selected exemplars of the writers' work. Smith reinterprets their work in a new and fascinating light, presenting Dylan as a songwriter of enigmatic wordplay and Springsteen as the melodramatic narrator of a specific community's life struggles.

Both songwriters have had unique responses to the celebrity singer/songwriter tradition begun by Woody Guthrie. Smith reveals the power of authorship and the creative drive necessary to negotiate an artistic vision through the complicated mechanisms of the world of commercial art. Both have discovered their own means of traveling this difficult terrain, and Smith probes their lives and work to reveal the myriad ways in which two distinct, equally significant artists have learned from and contributed to an ongoing and important American musical tradition.

Customer Reviews (2)

Outstanding
Mr. Smith manages to capture the very essence and nature of the two artists' craft and work. A stunningly insightful glimpse into two of America's greatest singer-songwriters!

"Must" reading for the legions of Dylan and Springsteen fans
Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, And American Song is a combination dual biography and musical critique of two great and much beloved modern-day American songwriters and performers. Their distinct flavors, creative drives, and musical works are discussed in detail and contrasted in depth throughout the pages of this respectful, informative, and thoughtfully presented commentary. Simply put, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, And American is "must" reading for the legions of Dylan and Springsteen fans, and a very highly recommended addition to academic and community library American Music History collections. ... Read more

Product Description
In his seventh decade and still going strong, Bob Dylan is the ultimate singer-songwriter - hugely revered, baffingly idiosyncratic, an enigma and a music legend responsible for a staggering number of classic songs. Now in it''s second edition, the Rough Guide clarifies the mysteries surrounding the man and the music, looking at the lyrics, the influences, the legends and the musicians he worked with. Features include: The Life - from Minnesota to Manchester, from the Albert Hall to the Never Ending Tour, The Music - 50 essential Dylan songs and the stories behind them and Dylanology - the movies, the sayings, books and websites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Thorough, concise and user-friendly overview of Mr. D
After a long hiatus, I recently got very deeply back into Dylan. I'd missed 20 years of incomparable music (don't ask) and needed to catch up quickly. Nigel Williamson's crisp and pointed overview was the perfect solution. Done with a good deal of expertise and passion for the man and his music, "Rough Guide" helped me search out and prioritize the albums I would be adding to my library, providing me with context and analysis. The book, highly user-friendly in terms of everything from writing style and chronology to the same level of minutiae baseball lovers crave, will easily serve the needs of anyone new to Dylan, an artist so complex that even with this book and a host of others you'll be both overwhelmed and humbled. Williamson's book can be read front to back, by topic or simply "applied as needed." He covers Dylan's personal life, the songs ad their many versions, the personnel and of course the lyrics. I'm a musician, I covet every dollar and I'm OCD picky and I would still recommend this book to anyone who needs to know more about Bob Dylan.

The single most readable and useful Dylan book
The best book for newcomers to Dylan, but useful even if you already have a Dylan library.

If you are just getting into Dylan, this accessible, balanced book has a straightforward biography, an overview of Dylan's career (all the albums to 2005 with careful dates and sensible assessments), a brief analysis of 50 outstanding songs, and smart suggestions for further exploration.It's peppered with lots of fun and factual one-page 'boxes' on issues such as Dylan and The Beatles, Dylan and Allen Ginsberg, Dylan and Joan Baez, Dylan and drugs--you name it!No other book comes close to it as an introduction to the man and his music, and it's a pleasure to read.

It's useful, too, even if you already have a larger Dylan collection.I have many books on Dylan--I've been listening to him for 45 years, teach a university course on him, and enjoy access to tons of Dylan recordings, books, and films.Whenever I have a quick question, this is the book I always check first (and usually last). To get the facts of the biography, of the official and bootleg recordings, of whatever, it's a convenient and reliable reference.

For anyone interested in Dylan, a great book to have on hand.

Rough Guide to Bob Dylan review
Excellent book on Dylan. Very informative

Sections on books on Dylan, sections on each album, and a list of the best songs by the man

Nice small book, but a very good read!

Solid overview
Nice overview of Dylan and his career and puts a lot in perspective. Not suggested for Dylan freaks, but casual fans will learn plenty.

Rough Guide to Bob Dylan 2
Anyone who has even the slightest interest in Bob Dylan will enjoy this book.It is a very easy read and a complete resource for all fans of the Great One.The sources are clearly noted and the writer goes into great detail.I loved the book. ... Read more

Product Description
The visual arts have always played a significatn role in Bob Dylan's worldview, and drawing and painting served as an outlet for his huge creative energy. Exquisitely reproduced, these intensely colored works are variations of sketches Bob Dylan completed while touring America, Europe and Asia, revealing a new facet of the artist.

Bob Dylan's watercolors and gouachse recreate scenes of everyday life in riotous color: hotel room and apartment interiors; land- and cityscapes; views of sidewalk cafes, train tracks and wandering rivers. this beautiful collection, which reveals yet another dimension of Bob Dylan's poetic vision, will be treasured by all who respond to his extraordinary talent. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Bob Dylan, the Painter
"BOB DYLAN: The Drawn Blank Series," edited by Ingrid Mossinger & Kerstin Dreschel (288 pgs., 2006, 2007).This book contains 170 painted variations of drawings Bob Dylan did between 1989 & 1992.The original drawings & sketches were published in 1994 in a book entitled "Drawn Blank."The drawings were never publicly exhibited.In the Forward to the book, Dylan wrote that the drawings were intended as sketches for future paintings.The paintings in this book are the result of him following through on his intentions.This book was published in conjunction with the first public exhibition of his works at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, in Germany.
Along with the artwork, there are four essays (including one by Diana Picasso), a short Dylan bio, a list of all his record releases (including each individual cut), a list of each painting (including how & when they were done) & some other rear of the book information.
All of these paintings are watercolors.Some were done in the gouache method.Dylan studied art during the long convalescence from his motorcycle accident on July 29, 1966.He combined his art training with his unique outlook on the world & life.Many of his works might remind one of Picasso's more abstract pieces.Some might remind others of Marc Chagall, especially the piece on the cover.The works includes nudes, still-lifes, landscapes & views of urban grit out of windows.
This book is one of those oversized coffee table art books which measures 9 ¾" x 12" & costs quite a bit to publish.Would Dylan's art have received such treatment if he was not Bob Dylan?Who knows?In the crazy up & down art world, he might have made a reputation just on his own art work.Did his artwork floor me, just like his songs?No.A big resounding NO!Did I enjoy perusing this book?Yes, and I guess that's enough for any artist.

Very good quality
I was surprised at how good both paper and print quality is. Also, each drawing is showed in multible versions.
- Marc

Excellent drawings
Enjoyed both the original drawings & the new colorized interpretations.Always interesting to share a glimpse inside the mind of a genius.

The Bard Knows No Bounds
Bob Dylan has been painting for decades and his abstract post-modern folk art style does him well. He shows us a seemingly unsophisticatedyet highly evocative presence in his images with the door wide open to interpretation,like much of his poetic lyric. These often haunting pieces speak to me as the will not to you and vice versa - as well they should. Understand however, like his music, Dylan's art is an acquired taste and definitely not for everyone. I paid half the price the museums are charging for this book and I am sure have gotten twice the value from it.

GREAT BOB DYLAN
What an incredible artist he is...in so many ways.A poet, musician, philosopher, artist, humanitarian.I'm looking for a book of photography yet so I may also experience his vision in that medium.BTW....great seller.Shipped fast and packed well.5 STAR***** ... Read more

Product Description
The third book in the acclaimed series of critical studies of Bob Dylan by Paul Williams once again turns the microscope on the continuing evolution of rock s master singer and songwriter.After focusing on the start and roots of the Never Ending Tour, Williams surveys Dylan s work in 1990, and the 1997 Time Out Of Mind and 2001 Love & Theft albums. There s also an essay on a fine example of a Never Ending Tour show from 1998. Paul Williamswriting about Bob Dylan has been praised by such distinguished Dylan fans as Sam Shepard, Jerry Garcia, and Allen Ginsberg. One member of Dylan s band says he found reading Williamsbooks on Dylan helpful when he first joined the band and needed to become more familiar with his new bosshuge output of work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The real stuff...again
Paul Williams demonstrated years ago that there is at least one well-known Dylan commentator who is wholly focussed on what the artist does, rather than on theories of his alleged role as mystic, guru or cultural revolutionary. In other words, he understands what Dylan's art form actually is: the writing and performing of classic songs.So an incidental pleasure in reading this book alongside Dylan's recently-released memoirs, `Chronicles' volume 1, is the confirmation that Williams was always closer to understanding what Dylan was up to than the many pretentious, more arty Dylanologists.
This third volume of an already-superb series maintains that focus and meets the high standards set by its two predecessors. Here he takes up the pen again as if he finished the last volume only yesterday, instead of a decade ago. The continuity he achieves is a considerable achievement, and all the more so since the period covered [1986-1990] was almost certainly Dylan's most fallow. These are the days when Bob was struggling - for inspiration, for relevance and for audience. Williams captures that struggle admirably and, as always, he does not shirk the task. When something was awful he says so bluntly. Some of Dylan's low-ebb 1987 shows, for example, are described, as `a painful listening experience'.This type of candour is unusual among his fellow Dylan scribes, always excepting Michael Gray. But when the opposite assessment is made, it means we can have confidence that the enthusiasm is real and follows real assessment of the work. Listening again to the recordings, it is quickly clear that Williams' ratings are a far more reliable pointer to the quality of Dylan's performances than all those routine whoops and shouts that some find so irritating at many concerts.
Ultimately that is the greatest attribute of all Paul Williams writings on Bob Dylan. He inevitably takes the reader back to the recordings - to the music and its performance. And given his mastery over four decades as a `performing artist' isn't that what Bob Dylan is all about? ... Read more

Product Description
A celebration of the great songsmith's political engagement.

"Keep a good head and carry a light bulb."—Bob Dylan's response to the question "What is your advice for young people?", London 1962.

Bob Dylan's lyrics are at once abstruse and evocative, urgent and timeless. But, as Mike Marqusee's compelling new book makes clear, behind the anarchy and playfulness of Dylan's imagery lie meanings that are often highly charged with political and social concerns.

It was blues and folk songs that first led Bob Dylan to politics. But it was politics that unlocked his own astonishing songwriting ability, evidenced by dazzling responses in the early 1960s to the civil rights movement and the threat of nuclear war. Marqusee traces the young song-writer's subsequent reluctance to be pigeonholed, his rejection of "protest," and his turn to electric rock at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. He shows the way folk tradition, modernism, and commercial popular culture are sublimely fused in Dylan's masterworks of the mid-1960s, notably on the albums Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, and discusses the artist's quest for American identity—amid the continuing carnage in Vietnam and growing chaos at home—in The Basement Tapes.

Following his acclaimed study of Muhammad Ali, Redemption Song, Mike Marqusee again demonstrates an engaging ability to fuse biography and politics, storytelling and original insight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

a history book that tells you how the people feel
In his Chronicles, Dylan states that he has never read a history book that tells how people feel. Chimes of Freedom, however, is such a history book. In researching Dylan, this is by far the best source I have come across, but more than that, Chimes of Freedom relates the brutal realities of civil rights oppression in the South of the 60's. Marqusee analyzes not just Dylan but also the incredible struggles that the singer witnessed, causing the reader to feel the same anger and sorrow that these protesters felt.

excellent
This is an excellent book. It is especially reccomended for serious Dylan fans.very easy to read, incredibly insightful. Tremendous assimilation of history and music. if this was a test the author would get a 96%. he rarely gets it wrong. one of the best dylan books that i have ever read.

What a remarkable book
I have been waiting a for a book with this level of political sophistication for a long time.It's finally here.Marqusee sees the politics in America in the 1960s in its complexity, and Dylan's music equally so.As a result, he avoids the cliches about both and teases out many new insights and comments.Bravo! An especially important book for young activists.Marqusee clears away the romance and the clutter of those years so that you can better appreciate the difficulty of struggle today.And at the same time, he clears the way for you to find companionship in Dylan's music from that time.

Freedom Chimes
This is the third book on Dylan I have read in the last couple of weeks, and by coincidence they all take quite different approaches that serve to sharpen the contrasts in how Dylan's lyrics are interpreted. The first two, by Marqusee and Ricks are essentially contextualist. Ricks' context is the canon of Anglo Saxon poetry and literature which, I presume, he thinks enables us to understand better Dylan's lyrics (his choice of what is great poetry in Dylan is eccentric). Marqusee takes a different form of contextualism, and sees the events, political and social as providing the context for understanding Bob Dylan's lyrics. I found his elaboration on political events and movements extremely illuminating, but at times they were not wholly integrated and appeared instead as juxapostions against the lyrics rather than serving to clarify them. The third book is on both Dylan and Leonard Cohen (much underrated in the States but huge in Europe). The author, I see, has also edited a book with Gary Browning due out in November 2004 with a similr title to Marqusee's The Political Art of Bob Dylan). Boucher in his Dylan and Cohen appraises the two types of contextualism just mentioned, and with reference to the statements of Dylan and Cohen show how referents often serve to obscure rather than illuminate meaning. In many of the songs it is the images rather than the meanings that are evocative. Here a prime example would be 'Desolution Row'. Anyway, all three books are well worth a read.

Vanguard Into Rearguard
In "Chimes of Freedom: The Politics of Bob Dylan's Art," Mike Marqusee treats us to a full-on analysis of the cultural, political and historical significance of Bob Dylan in the context of the early-to-mid 60s when Dylan was at the height of his powers.But even more, he shows how Dylan, at the vanguard of the social protest movement, was in the vanguard of the next development as well -- the turn away from the mass politics of the left, the social patriotism of Guthrie, toward the private politics of expressive individualism, the search for "authenticity" in an increasingly inauthentic world. With psychological nuance and sensitivity, he explores Dylan's defensiveness and arrogance, his sometimes convoluted and confused politics and his attempts to cope with nearly overwhelming fame and notoriety in the midst of social and political turmoil.

Essentially, Dylan is the core around which the story of the decline of the American Left is told. Marqusee provides insight in the factors that gave rise to the sense of hopefulness of the early 60s, a hopefulness that could not be sustained by most of the new white college kid converts to the civil rights and other social justice movements. Dense, packed with insight, this is a cogent corrective to the many misconceptions and platitudes that have come to describe this turbulent time in American history. In Marqusee's reading of the time, in the contextual backdrops he weaves, rescues a complex era from the oversimplifications of the media, e.g., the Woodstock Nation.

Emblematic of Dylan's break with the Old Left was his adoption of rock and roll instrumentation at Newport.Launched into new sonic and social spaces, Dylan cleared the way for all kinds of experimentation, the explosion of creativity that ensued in such performers as Hendrix.But in the explosion, Marqusee insists, the consumer state, sniffing around for new game, created an entire new marketing segment out of the excitement and wild extravagance of the ethos of personal freedom.Soon, he shows, protests were uncool. The struggle did not provide the instant gratification that young white America had come to expect from the consumer state. Soon, the enormous wave of civil disobedience and protest against the Vietnam War subsided into the cynical selling of rebellious culture and its many accoutrements.

Marqusee suggests, perhaps a bit too patly, that consumer culture and its mechanisms swamped the last vestiges of leftist New Deal politics.Still, he convincingly defends the notion that Dylan after emulating the social patriotism of the folk-singers in the generation before his, began to form a more profound and more withering critique of the "system," a critique which eventually pitted him against the Old Left, who still believed in the possiblity of the Popular Front.Eventually, the New Left took up the notion of a revolution in consciousness as the only way to defeat the Establishment -- and as they did mimicked Dylan's search for the authentic.A vexed notion, authenticity, as Marqusee notes, all the more sought after as it become harder and harder to find in the midst of the expolsion of the consumer state.He shows us this tension in Dylan, who, after his early anthemic songs in the style of Guthrie, moved toward the imagistic, the satirical, the non-sequitur, the private hipster moves of Kerouac and Ginsberg and their in-crowd critique of (consumer) society as a way to distance himself from the Seeger and Baez crowd.

Another strategy Marqusee employs well is the examination of Dylan's evolution against other music and other performers.He does a particularly insightful job with Curtis Mayfield, showing how the music of protest came from gospel and was given new life by artists like Mayfield.He also contrasts Phil Ochs with Dylan, who remained until the end a protest singer in the more generally accepted mold. In the epilogue, he cannily examines Dylan's decline through the rise of one of John Hammonds "New Dylan" -- Springsteen.He suggest that Springsteen started out by aping the moves of the imagistic, stream-of-consciousness era Dylan, then, after studying some history and the some of the roots of popular music, began to align himself with the older stream of social protest music in the "Tom Joad" album.

No book of left social criticism is able to avoid mentioning Adorno and the Frankfurt School.Thus Marquesee cites Adorno's views on popular music in his analysis.Quite rightly disputes Adorno's views on the exploitation by capital of "popular" music in the case of early Dylan, but suggests Adorno's view of the impossibility of popular music remaining truly of the people in a consumer state. Adorno's grand and paranoid theories still a bit redolent of the determinism of his Marxist heritage, but there is more than a little truth in his theory. Still, more to my taste are the citations from Adorno's sometime friend and colleague, Walter Benjamin.More Dylanesque, more elliptical, more paradoxical, less programmatic.

Dylan, an unwilling accomplice of the exploitation of rebel culture, troubled by his fame and its implications, grew conservative after "John Wesley Harding." His great period came to an end just as the mass of young people began to experience the 60s, to "question authority."Marqusee has gone deep into this chaotic, watershed time, and pulled from it through his examination of Dylan, an historical and cultural vision which is bracing, balanced, and thoughtful.Incidentally, a good companion read is "Power and Protest" by Jeremi Suri which shows how the leaders of both the free and unfree worlds after promising good times in the late 50s and early 60s, all moved toward conservative agendas in the face of a protest movement among youth, a movement in some ways fueled by the grand gestures and promises made -- "The New Frontier" and "The Great Leap Forward" -- and upon which they had not been able to deliver during the nuclear stalemate. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1962, a young John Cohen and the young songwriter Bob Dylan went to Cohen's East Village loft and rooftop for a few hours to make some photos in "a moment of invention…without planning, and with the freedom that comes from uncertainty," recalls Cohen. The never-before-published, black-and-white photographs in Young Bob: John Cohen's Early Photographs of Bob Dylan reveal the soon-to-be-legendary musician of the cusp of fame, just before the release of his revolutionary self-titled first album. "These are pictures from a more innocent time at the beginning of Bob Dylan's career," Cohen recalled. "his is what he might have looked like when he first arrived in New York…. the making of these photographs was quite naïve. We weren't into creating a persona for Bob. I was more interested in documenting what was before the camera, and what I was seeing wasn't so clear. The session was just a free-flowing pursuit of picture making and taking poses. We didn't know what he was going to look like." To complement the images, Cohen has painstakingly transcribed and edited forgotten radio interviews that aired between 1961 and 1963. The interviews conjure up voices from the past, where you can hear a youthful Dylan joking and quipping with WBAI's Cynthia Gooding, WNYC's Oscar Brand, and WFMT's Studs Terkel. With a flourish of color, Cohen's recently rediscovered Ektachromes shot in 1970 for the album "Self Portrait" appear at the end of Young Bob. These finely constructed "self portraits," art directed by Dylan himself, offer a contrast to the uninhibited loft and rooftop photos and serve as a reminder that just a few years later the famed persona of Dylan had truly been formed and that the young Bob we caught a glimpse of on Cohen's rooftop was now and forever gone. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

fast and honest
only minor damages to the spine, but something to be expected when buying a used book. Seller was fast and honest

QUALITY PICTURES
This is a quality book of great pictures--not "Forever Young" that I wouldn't buy even if the price was right since I got it from the library first as one customer review recommended.This book is first class in clarity, paper quality, and quality of pictures.You also get three transcribed radio interviews which coincide with the times of the photographs.

The first photographs (black and white) were done at Cohen's place when Bob was just starting out in New York City, and he was 20 years old.You will see a few real stunners, some casual ones, funny offbeat ones, and then some color 1970 snapshots of him (probably on his property and just walking across the street).

The first photograph inside is the one offered in the booklet that goes with Bootleg #7, which is a real stunner only here you get a full photo and it's clearer and bigger.Then on page 6 is the one I like even more than the first one (maybe).I, being female, can tell you that this makes Bob look like a model.Guys may be shy of pointing out his good looks, but I can do that.So gals and guys who see Bob as a hero or idol should like this book.There is a casual photo of Bob strolling alongside his baby in a buggy, and I really like this one too because it reveals his high forehead--FINALLY!!!!!!!!

(Some movie-type small photos also.)

You will not be disappointed.

Get this book instead of wasting your money on "Forever Young."

Superb photos & splendid edition
I bought this book together with Douglas R. Gilbert's 'Forever Young' and they are both interesting portraits of Bob Dylan as a young artist. Yet taken as a book, John Cohen's is in a different league altogether. The paper on which this book is printed is wonderful (compared with the cheap seeming one used for 'Forever Young') and the printing of both B&W and colour images is first-rate.

As accompanying text there are three transcribed radios interviews with Bob Dylan which are contemporaneous to the photographs. This is also a winning point of this book; having both the photographs and the young Dylan speak for themselves.


... Read more

Product Description
A survey of DylanÂ’s unique approach to harmonica playing through the transcriptions of: BlowinÂ’ In the Wind, DonÂ’t Think Twice ItÂ’s All Right, Baby IÂ’m In the Mood for You, Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35, Just Like A Woman, I Want You, I Shall Be Released, IÂ’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, All Along the Watchtower, Simple Twist of Fate, Dark Eyes, and What Was It You Wanted. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Dylan Harmonica Music Presented Very Well
This book is the only one I have found that gives accurate description of Dylan's harmonica music for those that would like to play it the way he did. For each song, there is a story about the song and how Dylan's choices on harmonica relate to the song. The background material is relevant and interesting. Tips on the different techniques Dylan used in each song are there as well. The author conveys knowledge and generates enthusiasm for the music she presents.

This book is much more than just harp tabs.Appleby give the key of the song (I think they are correct, which is not true for many books out there), and also the key of the harmonica Dylan used. Blows and draws, slurs, slides, bends, trills, throat popping, and wah-wah are indicated. Guitar chords schematics are on each page of music. I only wish the book had more than 12 songs. I would definitely by another if the author creates a similar book with more songs.

honest transcription, but no style at all
From the harp point of view, this book is just a collection of honest transcriptions. If you want to play exactly like Bob Dylan, go ahead, buy this book.

But talking about the "harp styles", it seems that there is no style at all. It says nothing about how to use the harp support, or about any technique, embouchure, etc.

There is ONE single page talking about how Bob start playing rough and amateurish and, that after 5 months, he was a "competent" harp player (I don't agree). Then, the music sheets.

So, what are the "styles" the books claims to talk about? Almost no bends, lots of chords, lots of go-forth-and-back-notes. No harp teacher I know will teach his students to play like that. They will insist for months until their students learn to breathe and how to play single notes, with nice tone and vibrato.

This book may be nice for Dylan's fans, but certainly is not suitable for real harp players. ... Read more

Product Description
Fifty first-person accounts of fans who have had a closeencounter (usually face-to-face) with Bob Dylan, one our mostenigmatic and reclusive public figures and the 20th Century's mostinfluential songwriter.

The contributors come from around the world, and some even haverecognizable names, such as mandolinist David Grisman, journalist NatHentoff, the late Hall-of-Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter, rapperKurtis Blow, and noted groupie/author Pamela Des Barres. Collectively,their stories provide compelling, sometimes amusing, insight intoDylan and his long and complicated relationship with his legion ofdevoted admirers.

The book also includes 24 photographs, many of them previouslyunpublished images of Dylan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Interesting and fun, could have been better.
Bob Dylan fans will enjoy this book. It holds several surprises with some of its well-known contributors. If you have ever met Bob Dylan you will recognize yourself in some of these reminiscences. Others are a little eccentric, and a few illustrate the obsession with which some fans will carry out their desire to meet, touch, encounter Bob Dylan. For the most part, the recollections are limited by the insights, or lack of them, presented by the writers. The editing is very hands off, with both benefits and disadvantages to the reader. This is a book that in the hands of a more resourceful and perceptive editor could have been a lot better than it is. Yet, it's worthwhile.

fan's recollections, fan's delights
Tracy Johnson has done a very good job of finding a variety of diverse people in her compilation of Dylan fans and the stories they tell of meeting, seeing and being inspired by Bob Dylan. Certainly a must read for any Dylan fan.

Interesting if you're a fan
As the greatest - not to mention most important, in every sense of the word - songwriter of the 20th century, Bob Dylan has, unsurprisingly, inspired a legion of devoted fans. Although every major artist has their share of obsessives and fanatics, the ones who follow Dylan have far surpassed mere "groupie" or "hard-core" status: they reside in a legendary status - even mythological. Some of these, branded "Dylanologists", have achieved a level of notoriety compared in a small way with the artist himself. Many fans know of the famous (or infamous) "Garbologist", A. J. Weberman, who even went so far as searching through the dumpsters outside Bob's house for his baby's soiled diapers - allegedly looking for clues to obscure lyrics, and even conjuring up a paranoid fantasy conspiracy that the government was out to get Dylan for raising sentiment against the Vietnam War, and that Dylan knew it, and alluded to it, through subtle messages in his songs. Bob Dylan's history is filled with many other such characters and ancedotes. Perhaps it comes as no surprise, then, that Dylan is a very mysterious character, and known for his ambivalence towards fans. Securing a personal meeting with Dylan is a difficult thing to do, and those fans who do manage it are held in a kind of revered awe by the faithful. This book is a record of such encounters. There are many books available on Dylan (certainly more serious and scholarly works than on any other rock musician), but this is just about the only one where the air of pretentious intellectual refinement is removed, and you hear it straight from the mouth of the ones who really matter: the fans. These are the fans personal reminisces of meeting Dylan, or otherwise coming close in some way. These are the normal, everyday fans - people like you and me (although there are certainly a few obsessives - such as the man who keeps a "Dylan shrine" in his house), although there are a handful of semi-famous names in here as well. The accounts range from revelatory (people being personally invited backstage by Dylan, a record store employee purporting not to know who he is, a man who retrieves Dylan's stolen cap); to hilarous (a fan who meets Dylan in a cafe and asks him a strange question, a meeting between Dylan and a fan in an alley before a concert), to just plain boring and inane. You are hearing these recollections as told straight from the fans - granted, then, the prose is often crude, and some stories are better than others. This, then, is a book you'll want if you're looking for personal, often funny, sometimes touching stories from the fans themselves - rather than pseudo-intellectual exposition from so-called "rock scholars." I would not rate this as an essential Dylan book: rather I reccommend it if you are a fan and want a slightly more personal and unique book about Dylan than you normally find.

Song and Dance Man
Ms. Johnson has done a wonderful job in illustrating the fanatic nature of Dylan's fans combined with the reclusive nature of their hero.As the lights have burned ever brightly on Dylan in the latter stages of his career, Bob has increasingly receded into the shadows, content to let his son Jabob bask in the spotlight for the family.This book, though, shows the connection that Dylan's fans still feel towards him, whether they have met him or just been touched by him in some small way.I especially enjoyed the story of the young man who had Dylan autograph his tattoo of Bob's likeness.

Whether you are a Dylan fanatic or just a reader who enjoys touching anecdotes, this book is for you.It is refreshing to see that not every entertainment star has forgotten that it is the fans that make or break your career.Buy the book.You'll love it.

Another Side of Bob Dylan
Let's face it:Bob can be a jerk to his fans.But then again, it's got to be hell being accosted by obsessive fans everywhere you go.If you've read some of the Dylan biographies out there you have an idea of Dylan's life and work.This book gives you a glimpse into what it's like to be a Dylan fan.Some of the accounts are more engaging than others and some don't even involve meeting Dylan at all.I wish they'd left those out...Anyway, this is interesting but very brief.You can read the whole thing in a day and I think there are just as many stories out there (for free) on the internet at the many Dylan sites. ... Read more

Product Description
The images and text in this book chronicle the public life of a unique talent. Bob Dylan has written some of the most memorable popular songs of the twentieth century, as well as being a charismatic performer and cultural influence on succeeding generations of audiences and artists. Yet Dylan remains an enigma: a shy, retiring man who hardly speaks to audiences, yet now hosts a weekly radio show; a performer who, in his own words, is 'mortified' to go out on stage, yet continues a punishing tour schedule as he heads towards his seventh decade because he believes it's what he was born to do. Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24th May 1941 in Duluth Minnesota. His early years were spent in a conventional and middle class Jewish household. In his teens, Dylan began to play and sing in local bands and when he left school his main ambition, as recorded in his high school yearbook was 'to join Little Richard.' But it was folk, not rock 'n' roll, which gave the young Dylan his first taste of fame, when he moved to New York, became part of the burgeoning folk music scene and recorded a series of albums cementing his fame as a leading light of the early sixties protest movement.In 1965 Dylan famously 'went electric' at the Newport Folk Festival, outraging purist fans, but finding a new and ever growing rock audience. Dylan toured the world with a rock backing band, creating music of an intensity never been heard before in rock, once again outraging some fans and thrilling others with the power of the music. A mysterious motorcycle accident put paid to the touring in 1966 and Dylan retired to Woodstock to raise a family. It was not until 1974 that he returned to touring and began to make great music again, notably the "Blood on the Tracks" album which many consider to be his finest. In 1979 Dylan was 'born again' and made several albums of overtly Christian music, yet again dividing his fans. Through the 1980s Dylan struggled to find his way musically and personally, although embarking on what has since become known as the never-ending tour: a punishing schedule of touring around the world, unprecedented in size and scope, all the more surprising for a man of his age. The 1990s saw another creative renaissance and Bob Dylan today has rarely been more feted critically and commercially.His last three albums have been acclaimed, his autobiography "Chronicles" was both a critical and popular success and his "Theme Time Radio Hour" radio show a joy to fans and new listeners alike. And the never-ending tour continues... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Photography Book Without Photo Credits!
My wife and I are avid Dylan fans. He's the best. My wife purchased this book. The photos are wonderful, and printed beautifully. Evidently Bob Dylan was a magnet for photographic talent. Notably missing from this collection are Avedon's photos of early Dylan. What I find disgraceful and offensive is that there aren't any real photo credits other than Getty Images. Screw Getty Images. Who are they? Just a corporation that usurps the works of artists to make an obscene profit and to brand these works with their corporate identity. The so called author Chris Rushby should be ashamed of himself. Why does he have an author credit? He's not an author, merely someone who sent a photo request to Getty, negotiated a deal to screw the photographers and advance himself. It must be a bitter pill for the photographers whose work was "acquired" for this collection to see it printed and then not see any credit. Chris, I hope you read this review and get hip to your creepy self. ... Read more

Product Description
Bob Dylan, enigma and superstar, has intrigued millions of fans over the past five decades. His life, music, and influences have been explored through numerous mediums and the market for Dylan-related products continues to grow. Nonetheless, the oral records of his career-his interviews-have been unavailable until now. Gathered here are the most revealing and personal of Dylan's interviews. As a group they show a brilliant, adored, and eclectic musician, unsettled and angered by the fame and reverence surrounding him. In one interview with Time magazine he denigrates his newfound celebrity status, belligerently attacking the interviewer, pushing him nearly to tears. In a later Rolling Stone interview Dylan announces that the archangel Gabriel has visited him, and that he is a born again Christian. Collected from small publications and zines like Positively Tie Dream, Trouser Press, and New Music Express as well as mainstream outlets as disparate as Seventeen, Playboy, Spin, and the New York Times, Dylan's interviews illuminate his journey from ornery folksinger to acclaimed Grammy-winner. Included are interviews by Pete Seeger, Nora Ephron, Susan Edmiston, Studs Terkel, Jon Pareles, Nat Hentoff, Kurt Loder, Steve Allen, Ron Rosenbaum, Bono, Jonathon Cott, Jann Wenner, Robert Shelton, and many others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mistitled
"Younger Than That Now" is subtitled "The Collected Interviews with Bob Dylan," which implies you'll find every interview Dylan has given through the years. That may be an impossible task, but certainly it would be practical to collect the interviews he gave to major publications in one thick volume.

"Younger Than That Now" doesn't do that. Notably absent are the interviews I was hoping to find, particularly Dylan's hilariously elusive conversation with Jann Wenner in a 1969 issue of Rolling Stone in which Wenner tries and fails to get Dylan to acknowledge that he's a "youth leader" and a spokesman for someone other than himself. Then there's the 1978 interview with Jonathan Cott, also in Rolling Stone, that, in hindsight, hinted at his conversion to Christianity while also demonstrating his sense of humor.

So, "Younger Than That Now" isn't definitive. As long as you know that before you dive in, it's a worthwhile read collecting many memorable exchanges Dylan had with the press through the years.

Brian W. Fairbanks ... Read more

Product Description
Spanning 30 years (1965-1995) this book contains the collected writings of Paul Williams, renowned Bob Dylan critic.Amazon.com Review
Critics seem to flock around Bob Dylan the way earlyphotographers gravitated to New York's Flatiron Building: there's justso much to appreciate. Of all the scribes who have commented onDylan's astounding contribution to music, Paul Williams stands apartas the person who perhaps best fit the criticism to the music.Muchin the way that Dylan has created not just art but an entire genre,Williams, over the course of 30 years, has created his own uniquestyle of writing about Dylan as a performer. Williams is not afraid togo out on a limb--some of his observations are eccentric, but he'slucid and never boring. Watching the River Flow collects thebest of Paul Williams's essays about Dylan, from his 1966 comments onthe classic Blonde on Blonde to his December 1996 concert dates (atwhich Patti Smith was the opening act and tributes to Jerry Garciafilled the air). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Leading Authority on Dylan's Music
I have enjoyed this book & the 2 others Paul Williams has written about Dylan's music & also the one he wrote on Neil Young's music. The "Performing Artist" volumes are more scholarly & well-thought-out (I'm still waiting anxiously for volume 3 in the series) but this book (& the Young book) are written more from a fan's viewpoint. But a fan who really knows his subject. Williams can be rambling & eccentric at times but his enthusiasm for his subject's work is so infectious, you find yourself caught up in his thoughts & feelings. He definitely makes you want to run to your stereo & play Dylan's albums. And that is what the job of a good critic should be. He makes you even want to run & play albums that he doesn't like, just so you can see what he's talking about. He writes these essays in a very excited enthusiastic manner. He is someone who really listens & studies & tries to get everything out of a recording that you can possibly get. And he makes you want to do the same. He makes you want to look at all kinds of art the same way - to really spend time looking, listening, reading & watching. He tries to teach you how to truly appreciate art. That is a hard task in the time that we live in, where everything has to be consumed in a half hour. We treat art (movies, albums, books, etc.) in a very impatient, cynical manner - waiting to be entertained, instead of putting some effort into it, to truly get all that can be gotten out of it. He points out that to appreciate art in a deep & lasting way, we also have to put some effort into it - not just the person who created the art. We're part of the creation as well.
I can read these essays over & over again - which I have. I truly wish there had been a lot more. As someone else pointed out, Williams' writing is like a performance itself. He doesn't worry much about saying something the correct way - he just unleashes his thoughts in a mad, rambling way (often repeating himself) that truly grabs you. It's nothing but a joy to read this man. And I really trust his opinion on Dylan's work. Like Lester Bangs, he really is a fan of music & his reviews & essays are as much about himself as the people he writes about. They are worth reading, even if you don't agree with them. But unlike most critics, Williams gives you his own personal opinion but doesn't assume that you feel the same way or that you should feel the same. I look forward to several more books on Dylan, Young or anybody else he may want to share his opinions about. Definitely get this book. It's a must for Dylan fans & an even bigger must for people who have never gotten into Dylan's music. If this doesn't get you to listen with "new" ears, nothing will.

A Little Too Much
I think Mr. Williams write beautifully. His style flows through the whole book, his concert reviews are rather unique, and, even though I have never had the opportunity to see a Dylan concert, I really could grasp a good picture of them. The only problem is: I think the reviews should have been made a bit less fan-ish. I cannot be sure about the concert part, but the album reviews have such an exaggerated tone that, more than once, I had to think if the album he had reviewed was the same I had listened to. I love Bob Dylan. But, come on, making no difference in quality between albums like Blood on the Tracks and World Gone wrong does sound more like a fan writting than a critic.

Buy it. . .
"Buy it, give your money to the rich as long as you have it, you're better off with the music." Williams on "Down in the Flood" (p. 34)

Superlatives?I'll give you superlatives.Paul Williams is as much a performing artist as Bob Dylan, only he uses a pen rather than a guitar. Like the great Dylan performances, the best pieces in this collectionshould be "heard" more than once; "Blood on the Tracks" (1974) "Dylan -What Happened?" (1979) and "The Supper Club Shows" (1993) are just three ofthe ones I return to again and again.

You should expect a mostly positiveassessment of Dylan's output here.The author admits in the introductionthat he prefers to write about performances which excite him ". . .becausedisappointment was not the kind of news I felt compelled to spread." (p.11) We'll have to wait (how long?) for volume three of Willams's outstandingPerforming Artist series to read more about such"disappointments."

Williams has resisted the temptation to tamper withthe originals (he does, however, introduce and provide context for them) soin effect WTRF is a snapshot of two artists' work-in-progress.

So buy it.You'll be better off with the book.

Bob Dylan approximately
Spanning over 30 years of an incredible career, "Watching the River Flow" is a fantastically perceptive collection of Dylan essays and comment by perhaps the most e enthusiastic - and least pretentious - author/critic who regularly writes on Dylan. Rather than read it cover to cover like a novel, I like to return to it now and again and skip around, knowing I can still pick it up and read a review or essay that I haven't read yet. If you're into Dylan, I suggest picking this one up. William's passion for Dylan's music is contagious, and his insights illuminate the music. I heartily recommend Williams's 2-book "Performing Artist" series about Dylan as well. (And if you're looking to buy a Dylan album, I suggest "John Wesley Harding.")

A great book by the best commentator on Dylan's live work
Paul Williams is easily the best (and most pleasant to read) commentator on Dylan's live performances. This book contains reviews of Dylan's live work, plus other pieces of note.Contents include 24 essays. Of special interest to this reader are the review of Hard Rain, the essay "Who Pagan Became," an extended 72 page essay "Dylan - What Happened" dealing with Williams' impressions after the initial November 1979 concerts following Dylan's becoming a Christian, an essay "Those Talking Crazy, Spilling My Buttermilk, Not One More Kiss Blues" about Under the Red Sky, and reviews of World Gone Wrong, the Supper Club Shows, and the Paradise Lost Tour. Buy this book. ... Read more

Product Description
From his apocalyptic expressions onstage and in the studio, to his unapologetic biblical views that leak out during interviews, Bob Dylan's spiritual journey makes for a fascinating story. A curious icon of popular culture, yet distinct in his Judeo-Christian expressions, Bob Dylan doesn't fit neatly into the typical rock 'n' roll mold. Who else would have the chutzpah to publicly contribute to Orthodox Jewish communities while publicly singing songs about Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection and eventual return? RESTLESS PILGRIM wrestles with the seemingly contradictory facts of Dylan's preoccupation with Jesus and his own Jewish heritage, by looking through the lens of this reluctant legend's four-decade career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Restless Fan
I am a committed Christ-follower in pursuit of truth.I hope Mr. Dylan in his search for 'salvation' has truly found it.This book may not have answered that for me (who can know the heart of another?), but it gave evidence that he may be a fellow Christ-follower.I hope so.

Clues to the Spiritual Side of Dylan
Much has been written about the many phases of Bob Dylan.And there are many points of view.This book offers a compelling case for Bob Dylan, the ongoing Christian.If you are interested in spiritual side of Dylan and his lyrics, this book is for you.

Bob Dylan's Spiritual Journey
Bob Dylan is a wizard with words. But his life is almost as interesting as his compositions, especially his spiritual life. Scott Marshall takes us on a tour of Dylan's spiritual life. His thesis seems to be that even though Bob is a seeker of truth, he is still a Christian after all these years. He highlights interviews that Dylan has given through the years, from the Sixties all the way to the present day.

However, when you read a Dylan interview, you never know whose answering the questions; the real Bob Dylan baring his soul, or Dylan the icon, or Dylan the whatever. Bob seems to enjoy being masked and anonymous, so I think it is tenuous at best to make a firm conclusion based on his interviews.

I think Dylan has gone back to the Judaism of his youth, and so I disagree with the author. Yet I also appreciated the fascinating journey that this book takes you on. Dylan truly is a restless pilgrim, and Marshall's book is faithful to its title. Recommended reading.

Pilgrim's Progress

One thing that really struck me about Martin Scorcese's recent Dylan documentary, "No Direction Home," is how much integrity Dylan displays when considering his artistic vision.And the pressure has been tremendous, as different camps have sought him out to make him their own.Joan Baez's comments regarding the desire to enroll him in protest efforts is perfectly illustrative of this.Just as illustrative is Dylan's push-back, which would result in his severing, at least partially, ties with that activist singer.His words have that kind of pull, but Dylan insists that the songs stay in a territory that he, not others, defines.

Still, the real career capper that went beyond Dylan's rejection of the folk movement, is his turn to Christianity.What to make of this turn?As Marshall and Ford point out in their book "Restless Pilgrim," his fans shouldn't have been that surprised, since Dylan has been signaling a religious sensibility for years in a number of his songs.And Dylan has said, look to his songs, if folks want answers about where his head and soul are at.

"Restless Pilgrim" is for the most part a distillation of things Dylan during the "faith" part of his career.Following this progression, Marshall and Ford make a strong case for Dylan still being a Christian - and a Jew, which are not at odds with each other.Looking at the songs Dylan still plays in concert, not to mention any number of comments made to interviewers over the years, you can't help but shake your head at the various Dylan "experts" out there who insist the Christian thing was just a phase.Well, clearly it's a phase that goes on.

One aspect of the book I really liked, were the various discussions of neglected albums.For example, Marshall and Ford suggest that the much maligned gospel albums "Shot of Love," and "Saved," are, upon examination of the actual songs, much better than critics have given them credit for. Listening to "Shot of Love," after reading the book had me agreeing."Shot of Love" is a very good album, and I didn't even know that the great song "Every Grain of Sand" could be found on it.But Dylan's biblical interest didn't stop with these albums.Far from it. Marshall and Ford follow the thread up to the near present.If anything, Dylan's biblical vision is of a conservative and apocalyptic nature.But Dylan being Dylan, it's a vision that operates as a prophetic sword, one that cuts neither right nor left, but only aims at the truth.

too much propaganda
Very interesting subject, but as I got farther into the book, I noticed that some of the reference Bible verses and quotes were starting to last over a page.I soon came to realize that the book was published by a Christian publishing company (Relevant Books).I learned more about "the sermon on the mount" than I did new information about Bob Dylan."Restless Pilgrim" included some interesting facts, but was definitely written from a point of bias. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I Got Dylan's Autograph in Mine
The book was given to me by my FIRST Love.
I saw Dylan play in Milwaukee at the Riverside theatre & was determined to get his autograph/meet him.
SOMEHOW it did...

Just get "Lyrics"
Though invaluable and unsurpassalbe as far as it goes, this edition of Bob Dylan's lyrics and assorted other poetry has been replaced by (the now equally out of print) Lyrics, 1962-1985. A book like this is invaluable to the Bob Dylan fan: it can resolve arguments, end bets, and settle a worried mind kept up at night worrying over whether a certain lyric went this way or that. However, this collection has been rendered obselete by the publication of Lyrics; the two books are identical, down to the layout, font and text styles, except for the differing front and back covers. That, and this book covers Dylan's lyrics through New Morning, while Lyrics covers them through Empire Burlesque. So, if you're looking for a Dylan lyrics Bible, get that book instead of this one. Of course, if you're an obsessive Dylan collector *looks around innocently*, you'll want to get both, anyway.

Note: Being as even Lyrics is now well out of print, and itself misses 15 years of Dylan artistry (including such major albums as Oh Mercy, Time Out of Mind, and Love and Theft), it is time for a new edition of this book. This would also give them the opportunity to include some of the songs that were left out, for whatever reason, from both this and Lyrics (along with such items as the Planet Waves linear notes.) There are various seeming typos and changes (sometimes inexplicable) from the lyrics here (apparently the original ones that were copyrighted), and the ones that were actually recorded. This would be a chance to rectify these as well. And now is the perfect time to release it: Love and Theft was a success, huge with the critics, Dylan's touring his butt off to great raves, thousands are turning to his music for healing in the wake of September 11th, he's nominated for three Grammy awards (including Album of The Year), and there is much talk about him still because of his 60th birthday, previous Album of The Year, Things Have Changed, Nobel Prize nomination, etc. If ever there was a perfect time to release the book, it is now. Come on, publishers! ;-) ... Read more

Product Description
Bob Dylan has been a prolific graphic artist since the 1960s, and his graphic art is marked by the same constant drive for renewal that characterises his music. Never content to remain static in a single form of expression that he has already cultivated, he is constantly experimenting and testing new artistic techniques and expressions. This book of the exhibition at the National Gallery of Denmark encompasses some 100 works, including completely new works to be seen in public for the first time. Bob Dylan has recently delved into painting in acrylic, and the exhibition is the first to document this new direction in the artist's work, showing larger format paintings alongside drawings. Dylan's works are often created during his exhaustive touring, and his motifs bear corresponding imprints of the environments and people that he crosses in his life. As a graphic artist he functions as a phenomenal observer who depicts the immediately banal and everyday facets of life in such a way that they appear fresh and new for the viewer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Treasure
Received as a gift this collection is real treat for any fan. Most entertaining is following along to his represented recordings of the songs to catch the variations from text to vocalization.

The drawings are a bit scarry, he must have kept them from his analyst's visits. They are a combo of Shel Silverstein and kindergarten art class. ... Read more