Entertainment For Lively Minds
How to cultivate a Bob Dylan obsession...
Posted by mattbrammer on 24 March 2009 - 4:46pm.
Hello all
I have caught myself listening to Bob Dylan almost every day for the past few weeks / months...I feel I may be succumbing to a musical obsession not held since I was a young babe in shorts listening to Genesis records on various record players lifted from my older brother's rooms.
To cultivate this new Joie de Bob what good books should I consult to really steep myself in the musty scent of Dylan?
Apologies if this has been covered in another place, but I can not see anything having done a quick review...
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The joys of discovering, and
The joys of discovering, and understanding, Dylan. It takes me back to when I was studying for my A-levels a whopping six years ago. I'm no expert on the man, but if you're just looking for a biography then "Down The Highway" by Howard Souness is arguably as good as any.
I bought "Song and Dance Man III" by Michael Gray about four years ago, and have still yet to finish reading it.
I'm sure there are others, but those are the only ones I have in my collection. I'm very much looking forward to Clinton Heylin's "Revolution In The Air" though; if it's as good as I think it is, it'll be up there with Ian MacDonald's masterpiece on The Beatles.
I´ll try to keep it short (and fail)
Sounes is probably a nice place to start, yes. And the autobiography Chronicles of course, but you need to know the basics before that and so we´re back with Sounes. Bob Dylan - The Essential Interviews (edited by Jonathan Cott) is nice. It covers 1962-2004 and thus takes you all the way from shy youngster via high as a kite era via the married with children era via the born again christian era via the rather lost eighties era up to the current creative high of the last decade.
A Bob obsession is somewhat a step in the right direction from the Genesis obsession, tough.
I don´t know if consult is the right word when it comes to Lewis Shiner´s Glimpses. But it´s a fascinating book for anyone who likes music of the sixties.
Good luck, sir!
Excellent
Revolution in the air looks great!
I never knew it was on the way...
,
,
Song and Dance Man III
by Michael Gray really opened Dylan's work to me. And Down the Highway too.
Gray's Bob Dylan Encyclopedia is basically a re-arranged Song and Dance Man, so you could go for that instead. All recommended!
RE: Song and Dance Man III
I've been finding the book slightly too high-brow, and analytical; and struggle to get beyond the first couple of hundred pages without feeling like I've lost part of my brain. I might go for a different approach and, instead of trying to read it from cover to cover, treat the chapters as individual books.
Try dipping into it
- I agree it goes pretty deep. I've used it as more of a bedside book.
Cambridge Companion?
Anyone seen the new Cambridge Companion to Dylan yet?
I enjoyed "Behind the Shades"
some years ago, by Clinton Heylin. I gather, from Amazon, that it has been revised and revisited.
I've got quite a few Dylan books...
... these are the ones I think are most accessible:
Watching The River Flow - Paul Williams
Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions - Clinton Heylin
My Back Pages - Andy Gill
Chronicles - Bob Dylan
Restless Pilgrim - Scott Marshall
Like The Night (Manchester Free Trade Hall 1966) - C.P. Lee
Million Dollar Bash - Sid Griffin
On The Road with Bob Dylan - Larry "Ratso" Sloman
ISIS: A Bob Dylan Anthology - Edited by Derek Barker
Michael Gray...
I've never read any Bob books, personally, and don't plan to start, but I can certainly underline the view that Michael Gray can be hard-going. I read his Blind Willie McTell biog a year or so back and while his research and tenacity is admirable, and odd passages (the preface/intro is the best bit, frankly) like oases in a desert, the bulk of it is one hell of a slog. I'm sure he's a lovely bloke, and there's nothing wrong per se in taking a serious approach to things, but....
A Man Named Gray...
... I can understand where you're coming from in relation th the "density" of his books. I supose it just depends how "deep" you want to go.
His blog is quite good:
http://bobdylanencyclopedia.blogspot.com/
you must look at this everyday...
http://expectingrain.com/
It's my home page...
... the "CNN" of Dylan news.
It might be contagious
Oddly enough, most of the listeners at http://www.DylanRadio.com report having the exact same disease. I hope it doesn't mutate!
Dylan books
I would suggest reading the Paul Willams series on Dylan, the performing artist. He'll get you all excited about Dylan. But these books only concern themselves with live performances.
Been with the professors
I've read 'em all over the years, but not all at once. A recent favorite is The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan, 2nd edition. It gives a concise overview of the albums, the biography, and suggestions for further reading, and it has only one or two inaccuracies (pretty good for a Dylan book). I also highly recommend Across The Telegraph and Wanted Man, compiled articles from the late, lamented British journal, The Telegraph, edited by John Bauldie and Michael Gray, but I think those can be hard to find.
Dylan
I know this is an old one but I find Anthony Scaduto's bio on Dylan a good one.