The Bob Dylan Book Guide

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Down The Highway

Down The Highway - The Life Of Bob Dylan There is a new biography out by Howard Sounes. A journalist who previously wrote a bio on the serial killer couple Fred and Rose West. This is what amazon says about it: With a recording career spanning 40 years and sales of over 57 million albums Bob Dylan was a true revolutionary, bringing serious ideas and poetry into the song lyric to become an iconic figure of contemporary music. Containing reviews and interviews with over 250 people including fellow artistes, former girlfriends and members of Dylan's close family. the book also includes details of Dylan's business affairs, personal wealth and property interests together with previously unseen photographs of Dylan and friends. It's available from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.

Formative Dylan

Clinton Heylin

Encounters With Bob Dylan

This book has been out for a while, but I recently got my copy and liked it a lot, so I thought I'd share my thoughts with y'all. This is a unique book, no lyrical interpretations, no biography, just 50 stories from fans (and/or fellow musicians) who encountered Bob Dylan at some point in their live, from the early sixties to the late nineties. It does remind me of the interviews with people that met Dylan in the Telegraph, the Dylan magazine that was run by the late John Bauldie.

When reading this book, Dylan comes across as a somewhat shy, private though very friendly person. Not the bully to his fans the press wants him to be. Apparently his 'piercing' eyes are one of his most significant features, because they keep being mentioned in most stories. Most of the stories included are from fans who somehow got in touch with him, usually before or after a performance, though a few stories are from people in the music industry, like David Grisman and Kurtis Blow.

All in all this book is a very entertaining read and really shows 'another side of Bob Dylan'. It should be on every Dylan fan's bookshelf, not only because of the stories, but also for the pictures, some of them have never been published before.
The book is published by Humblepress and is avaible from amazon.com or amazon.co.uk, amongst others.

Like a Bullet of light

Lyrics '62 - '99

John Hume - Photo books

• In Jersey Anything's Legal (As Long as You Don't Get Caught); Bob Dylan in the USA and Canada, 1986-98
  
• Clear Focused All Around (Most of the Time); Bob Dylan in Europe, 1984-98
  

The Bob Dylan Companion Four decades of commentary This is a new book, articles collected by Carl Benson (Editor) and Clinton Heylin (co-editor). It's an excellent book containing a few articles and interviews I had never seen before. Especially the piece about MTV unplugged and the entire part 6 (which covers unplugged up to TOOM) are priceless. A very nice typeset is used, very easy to read. Furthermore there is an excellent disco graphy in the back, and a list of rarities compiled by Alan Fraser. This book should be on every Bobfan's bookshelf ! Order The Bob Dylan Companion from Amazon.com or from bookshop.co.uk.

Some books on this page are out of print, you might want to try your luck at getting them from powells.com. Excellent prices and service ! Here are some searches you can try or you can try the search box... Search on writer: Paul Williams , Clinton Heylin or Bob Dylan (tarantula, drawn blank).

These books are by Paul Williams, definitely my favorite Dylan / Rock author. All these come highly recommended.
	Watching the river flow, Hardback	Paperback Edition
	Performing Artist, '60 - '73	Watch out for these 2 'performing artist' books ! After reading them you'll probably be as enthusiastic as the author about Dylan's music.
	Performing Artist, '74 - '86
	Neil Young - Love To Burn	Obviously not a Dylan book, but an excellent collection of Williams articles on Neil.

These are other Dylan and Dylan related books.
	Tangled up in tapes by Glen Dundas.	Tangled up in tapes by Glen Dundas is an excellent resource for tape tapetraders and other Dylan enthusiasts. It contains all known setlists, tv appearances and recording session ever done by Dylan. Highly recommended !
	Encounters With Bob Dylan by Tracy Johnson	Interesting book about people who actually met Bob
	The Superhuman Crew	The Superhuman Crew (J. Paul Getty Museum, $24.95 cloth) brings together two visionary masterpieces: James Ensor's Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889 (painted in 1888) and Bob Dylan's haunting "Desolation Row" (from his 1965 album, Highway 61 Revisited). Created nearly eighty years apart on different continents and in different media, these two works of art share a surprisingly similar vision of an alienated society: jarring, grotesque, and anarchic.
	Chimes of Freedom, Dylan in the '60s (the stories behind every songs) by Andy Gill	Revealing the people, places, and events behind the songs of the preeminent musician of his time, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right Bob Dylan, The Early Years" charts a chronological course from Dylan's first album to 1969's "Nashville Skyline". 90 color photos.
	Like The Night by C.P.Lee	Very thoroughly researched book about everything that lead up to Dylan's legendary performance in Manchester on the 17th of may, 1966. That show was released as The Bootleg Series Vol.4, live at the Royal Albert Hall which is a reference to the mistakenly mislabeled bootleg that did the rounds for many years before the official release. In case you're interested to know more about one of the greatest moments in Rock History you should read this book.
	Bootleg : The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry by Clinton Heylin
	Bob Dylan : The Recording Sessions 1960-1994 by Clinton Heylin
	Life in a stolen moment by Clinton Heylin
	Behind the shades By Clinton Heylin	This excellent biography is currently out of print, but powells.com might help you track a copy down.
	Invisible Republic	Excellent book by Greil Marcus focusing on the basement tapes and their place in american music history.
	Mystery Train	Great book by Greil Marcus about American Rock and Roll history.
	Tarantula	Dylan's only novel.
	Drawn Blank	Dylan's Drawing's book
	Dylan's Bio-Bibliography
	No direction home	Nice biography by Robert Shelton
	Early Years	Excellent collection of articles from the first years of Dylan's career.
	30th anniversary celebration
	Mansion on the hill by Fred Goodman	It's not available anymore at amazon, but powells.com might have a few copies !
	Wanted Man	Collection of articles (mainly interviews) from John Bauldie's Telegraph
	Positively Bob Dylan by Micheal Krogsgaard	Essential Dylan book for all tape collectors, this book has all the setlists and outtakes from '60 - '91
	Time Out Of Mind paperback
	Nanci Griffith's Other Voices; A Personal History Of Folk Music Author: Griffith, Nanci (Joint Author:Jackson, Joe)	Not a book about Dylan, but about the history of folk music. Needles to say Dylan is mentioned through out the book, especially in the interview with Pete Seeger at the end of the book.

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