Themes, Dreams and Schemes: Revisiting Dylan: The Quest Begins

Welcome

My intention is to explore Dylan's work from the objective viewpoint of one who has always admired him but has only recently come to appreciate the depth and intricacy of his writings--let alone his staying power. In recent months I've come upon an avalanche of information: biography, music and literary criticism/interpretations, photos, interviews, etc. Among these are some books and websites that may cover a broad spectrum of information while others focus on minute details. Truly, an abundance--perhaps an overabundance of information. What I really would like to have found was a pathway through this maze that could point me to some sort of logical progression toward a better understanding of the man and his work without getting bogged down in the fanatacism and/or misinformation/speculation that's out there.

So, to both give myself a framework for organizing this information and a logical approach to understanding it, I've decided to follow the music. The method I have chosen is to listen intensely to 1 album per week--in the order in which they were recorded (not necessarily in the order in which they were released) which are listed below. This way I hope to get a sense of the progression and development that are so much a part of Dylan's presence in the historical context of 20th/21st century popular music. Using this as the trunk of my knowledge tree I can then 'branch out' to other information as it becomes relevant, thereby building a chronological knowledge base.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

The Quest Begins

Well, I have gathered and numbered my Dylan recordings in preparation for tomorrow: Day 1, Week 1. The list is posted here under "The Recordings". I have set a few parameters which I believe will not only enhance the historical aspect of this experience, but present the material in the fairest manner:

No unsanctioned bootlegs.
No compilations (greatest hits, etc.)
No recordings where Dylan is not the primary focus (i.e. Traveling Wilburys).
Listen in the order in which they were recorded, not as they were released. (This places a live concert from 1966 in 1966 when it was recorded, not in 1998 when it was released.)

The recordings are numbered in the order I'll be hearing them. Asterisks denote recordings that will not be included in the project but that I wanted to include in the list for chronological perspective. I'll be listening to these recordings on my commute to and from work each day devoting one week to each album (about 100 miles driving each week) which will give them approximately equal listening time (taking into account the luck of the draw with rush hour traffic) and similar listening circumstances.

I plan to do a bit of research about the historical (what was happening in world & national news, etc.)timeframe for each recording and, if I am aware of actual Dylan comments about the recording and/or composition process for particular songs I will take them into account. (These would include mentions in his autobiography, Chronicles, Part I, recorded interviews and reliably published interviews.) Any such references will be duly cited.

I do not plan to critize or analyze Dylan's work either on a musical or literary level, but rather to approach them as one who enjoys listening to good music or reading good writing. Nor will I refer to the myriad of subjective musical and literary criticism out there or to unsubstantiated connections to events in Dylan's personal life that may or may not have a bearing on the composition or performance.

Elsewhere in this blog I hope to create an annotated bibliography (gee, I'm a librarian...what do you expect?) that will present bibliographic information and my personal reactions--both positive and negative--to the published critical and biographical materials with which I am familiar as well as a 'webography' with similar information about several of the numerous websites dedicated to some aspect of the Dylan phenomenon.

Finally, along the way I expect I'll have some thoughts not only about this project, its process and purpose, but about Dylan's role as a creative being. Frankly, creativity is a subject by which I am thoroughly intrigued and which is, truly, the foundation for this effort.

For those of you who join me on this journey, welcome aboard. I hope you find it both enjoyable and, with any luck, thought provoking.

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The Recordings (w/ Release Dates)

1. Bob Dylan (1962)
2. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)
3. The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964)
* Live 1964-Philharmonic Hall (2004)
4. Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)
5. Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
6. Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
*"Royal Albert Hall Concert" Live 1966 (1998)
7. Blonde on Blonde (1966)
* Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (1967)
8. The Basement Tapes (1975
9. John Wesley Harding (1967)
10. Nashville Skyline (1969)
11. Self Portrait (1970)
12. New Morning (1970)
* Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (1971)
13. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Soundtrack (1973)
* Dylan (1973)
14. Planet Waves (1974)
15. Before the Flood (1974)
16. Blood on the Tracks (1975)
* Rolling Thunder Live 1975 (2002)
17. Desire (1976)
18. Hard Rain (1976)
19. Street Legal (1978)
20. At Budokan (1978)
21. Slow Train Coming (1979)
22. Saved (1980)
23. Shot of Love (1981)
24. Infidels (1983)
* Real Live (1984)
25. Empire Burlesque (1985)
* Biograph (1985)
26. Knocked Out Loaded (1986)
27. Down in the Groove (1988)
28. Oh Mercy (1989)
29. Under the Red Sky (1990)
* Bootleg Series: Rare & Unreleased Vols. 1-3 (1991)
30. Good As I've Been To You (1992)
31. World Gone Wrong (1993)
32. Unplugged (1994)
* Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 (1994)
33. Time Out of Mind (1997)
34. Love and Theft (2001)
* No Direction Home (2005)
35. Live at the Gaslight (2005
36. Modern Times (2006)
* Dylan (2007)

Sources : Media

Biography: Bob Dylan, A&E Productions, 2000.

Bob Dylan, 1985, ABC News Classics, 2007

Bradley, Ed, 60 Minutes Interview, Dec. 2004

Lerner, Murray, The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965, MFL Productions, Inc., 2007.

Pennebaker, D. A., Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back, Pennebaker Hegedus Films and Ashes & Sand, Inc. 1967.

Pennebaker, D.A. Bob Dylan 65 Revisited, Pennebaker Hegedus Films and Ashes & Sand, Inc., 1967.

Ralph J. Gleason presents Dylan Speaks: The Lengendary 1965 Press Conference in San Francisco, Jazz Casual Productions, Inc., 1965, 2006.

Scorsese, Martin, No Direction Home, American Masters, PBS, Spitfire & Grey Water Park Productions, 2005.

Annotated Bibliography

THE BIOGRAPHIES:

Heylin, Clinton, Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited, Harper Entertainment, New York, 2001.
Heylin and Sounes compete to uncover intimate details of Dylan’s life and interpret them within the context of their own particular opinions of Dylan.

Shelton, Robert, No Direction Home : The Life and Music of Bob Dylan, William Morrow, New York, 1986.
Although the book was long in the making and rides a bumpy road between opinion and fact in places, the access Shelton was allowed to Dylan's life sets it apart from the others in this group.

Sounes, Howard, Down the Highway : The Life of Bob Dylan, Grove Press, New York, 2001.
(See Heylin above.)

ESSAYS and CRITICISM, etc.:

Do You, Mr. Jones : Bob Dylan with the Poets and Professors, Neil Corcoran, Ed., Pimlico-Random House, London, 2003.
Academic essays on specific areas of Dylan’s work written, in most part, by fans who are also involved with literature on the academic level. Both amusing and thought-provoking.

Dylan : Visions, Portraits and Back Pages, Mark Blake, Ed., Mojo Magazine/DK Publishing, New York, 2005.
Oversize format, LOTS of photos, organised by theme which is its greatest downfall.

Gray, Michael, Song and Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan, Continuum, London, 2000.
This man must never sleep: in-depth coverage of Dylan’s songs within the context of both music and literature. I’d wager that the research for this led to his compiling The Bob Dylan Encylcopedia. (Why throw out those crust trimmings, when you can use them for another pie?) Don’t plan on reading this cover to cover unless you’ve been put on indefinite bed rest.

Griffin, Sid: Million Dollar Bash : Bob Dylan, The Band and The Basement Tapes, Jawbone, London, 2007.
Fascinating, exhaustive investigation of the process and the product that are the legendary Basement Tapes by a knowledgeable musician. Saved from what might be a tedious cataloging effort by anecdotes and asides that give the book a unique charm within the Dylanologists’ genre.

Ledeen, Jenny, Prophecy in the Christian Era: A Study of Bob Dylan’s work from 1961 to 1967, emphasizing his use of enigma to teach ethics and comparing him to Dante Alighieri and other poets, Peaceberry Press of Webster Groves, St. Louis, 1995.
This book pretty much proves that if you’ve written something about Dylan, there’s a publisher out there that will print it, although, oddly, I can’t find anything else Peaceberry Press has published and it’s an interesting coincidence that Ledeen’s parents’ last name is Newberry. If there is any validity to this woman's thesis, it’s lost in a disorganized and biased presentation.

Marcus, Greil, Like a Rolling Stone : Bob Dylan at the Crossroads : An Explosion of Vision and Humor That Forever Changed Pop Music, Public Affairs, New York, 2005.
As is always true with Marcus, this exploration of the genesis and influence of Like A Rolling Stone within the culture of popular music and its antecedents is coloured by his personal reactions to and associations with the material at hand. Otherwise, it is certainly a thorough study.

Polizzotti, Mark, Highway 61 Revisited, Continuum, New York, 2006
Part of a series that explores popular music and musicians. Polizzotti, in a small space covers a large work in Dylan’s discography. Clear, clean, concise.

Ricks, Christopher, Dylan’s Visions of Sin, Ecco/Harper Collins, Inc., New York, 2003.
Tracing the Sins, Virtues and Heavenly Graces through Dylan’s work. An ambitious undertaking that sometimes goes awry in the service of meeting the needs of the premise.

Studio A : The Bob Dylan Reader, Benjamin Hedin, Ed., W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2004.
Essays and articles from a variety of sources, including Dylan himself, spanning the entirety of his career. Although most are available elsewhere, the fact that they have been compiled in a single, chronologically organised format makes them easily accessible.

Scobie, Stephen, Alias Bob Dylan Revisited, Red Deer Press, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 2003.
Dylan’s work subjected to literary analysis. Chronologically presented, each section uses a particular song as a main thematic focus. Seems to lack an overall thesis with which to connect the information.

Williams, Paul, Bob Dylan Performing Artist 1960-1973 : The Early Years; Bob Dylan Performing Artist 1974-1983: The Middle Years; Bob Dylan Performing Artist 1986-1990 and Beyond: Mind Out of Time, Omnibus Press, London, 2004, 1994, 2004, respectively.
An almost unimaginable conceit: to listen to as many of Dylan’s live performances as possible (whether by actually attending them or obtaining recordings of them) and then analyse the differences between them to ferret out what Dylan was trying to accomplish with various songs and the styles of their performances. Certainly a work for the compleat collector, but rather tedious reading after a while even though valuable insights may be gained while slogging on.

Williams, Paul, Bob Dylan: Watching the River Flow, Observations on His Art-in-Progress, 1966-1995, Omnibus Press, London, 1996.
If the 3-volume set is too much info, maybe this single one will fit the bill. Actually, reading this may leave you wanting more—then you know it’s time to tackle the Performing Artist trilogy.

OTHER:

Dylan, Bob, Tarantula, Scribner, New York, 1966/1971/1994.
Wow. I’m sure there’s information here. Whether or not the author wants the reader to find it is a legitimate question, I believe. The fact that it was written at a time when Dylan’s wariness of public attention was at its high point does not bode well for true self-revelation, but perhaps…in a Joycean way…

The Rose and the Briar : Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad, Sean Wilentz and Greil Marcus, Eds., W.W. Norton & Co., 2004.
Great background information on several traditional ballads that figure strongly as roots in Dylan's writing and performances.

Rotolo, Suze, A Freewheelin' Time : A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties, Broadway, 2008.
Thankfully, Ms. Rotolo is not interested in writing the tell-all about the Dylan of this period. Instead, she gives us a glimpse of her life and how Dylan did or did not fit into it. Bravo.

Van Ronk, Dave, Mayor of Macdougal Street, DaCapo Press, New York, 2005.
A fun read. Takes us back to Greenwich Village in the late 50s and early 60s, including Dylan's arrival on the scene. VanRonk was a major figure during that time and for decades after.

Younger Than That Now: The Collected Interviews With Bob Dylan, Thunder Mouth Press, New York, 2004.
A mere bridesmaid to Jonathan Cott’s collection.

Themes, Dreams and Schemes: Revisiting Dylan

Mr. Dylan