Bob Dylan in America [Paperback]

390 pages including 14 page introduction,318 pages of text, 28 pages of selected readings/notes/ discography, 23 pages of credits and index. There are many (small) b & w photos of both Dylan and other people mentioned, (many unseen before now) interspersed throughout the body of the book, which add a great deal (especially the early photos) to this analysis of specific songs/albums/concerts of Dylan's work.

This book, by Sean Wilentz (who wrote the liner notes for "The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall"), is a combination of fact, interpretations, and constructive criticism. Taken together this gives a good, sometimes unique look into Bob Dylan's music in relation to the era (s) that influenced him. His relationship to Dylan goes back to the early days when his father owned a bookstore important to the "beat" generation of writers (Dylan first met Allen Ginsberg in Wilentz' uncle's apartment, upstairs from the family bookstore), and just down the street from The Gaslight Cafe and Cafe Wha?, important to Dylan's (and many others) burgeoning career. The author places Dylan, beginning in the early 60's, in the context of America and the changes and influences that were already beginning to happen, and would increase rapidly throughout the decade and beyond. Wilentz takes a good, but selected, look at Dylan's writing and his growing performance style throughout specific times in Dylan's career, up to the present time, while not focusing at length on Dylan's place in American life, through the eyes and ears of listeners.

The author had access to unreleased recordings, and even the studio logbooks and notes from Dylan's career, and unseen photographs which help immensely in formulating an in depth look into both Dylan's writings and performances. Wilentz has done a good job in putting all of his research into an easy to read (but not strictly chronological), interesting, and informative book. Of great interest, after writing about Aaron Copland's combination of left-leaning politics and music, in the first portion of the book, is how Wilentz places Dylan's work in the context of "The Beat Generation", writers, particularly Allen Ginsberg, and a number of others from this period. The author makes a strong connection between "the beats" and Dylan's early, burgeoning writing style by going back in history to the 1950's, when Ginsberg et al, were becoming an albeit small, but influential force in America. The author places into this context two of Dylan's best albums-"Bringing It All Back Home", and "Highway 61 Revisited".

The vast portion of the remainder of the book is taken up with selected eras of Dylan's work, beginning with Dylan's mid 60's recordings and concerts, and the recording of "Blonde On Blonde" and later concerts (Rolling Thunder Review for example). The author doesn't dwell on the early 60's to a great extent because so much has already been written about this particular time. Wilentz then looks at Dylan selectively up through and into the 90's after his, arguably, fallow period, and how he looked for inspiration in early forms of folk music and country blues. Using individual songs, ("Delia", "Lone Pilgrim" for example), Wilentz paints a good overview of Dylan during this period with his chosen examples of Dylan's work. The author concludes with his critical look at "Love And Theft" at the turn of the century, and ends with Dylan's "Christmas In The Heart' album in 2009-which created quite strong opinions on both Dylan and his current work.

By using individual compositions or a single event, Wilentz constructs a fairly deep, sometimes unique, look into his subject at specific times throughout his long career as an artist. Examples of this are the song "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35", which has a drumbeat in the opening, which is very similar sounding to the opening of the 1966 hit song "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa". This is a subtle (and later not so subtle) acknowledgment of Dylan's use of what he hears around him, and how he assimilates those sounds into his own work. Wilentz also ties together Dylan and the country blues singer/guitarist "Blind" Willie McTell, and shows the influence old-time country blues had (has) on Dylan's writing. The author, too, looks at "Renaldo and Clara" (and Dylan's other movies), and the influences found throughout, and his desires to produce a movie. The book is not in any strict chronological order-the author at times skips back and forth to make a particular point. At times this style can seem a bit disjointed-one moment you're reading about a particular song/person/event, only to find yourself reading about something from an entirely different era, which Wilentz uses to make his points. Once understanding the authors method of historical (he's a writer of history) analysis, his placement and observations on both Dylan's writing and live performances comes together into one larger picture. In the end this book is well worth reading for the author's placement, and insight, of Dylan in the contexts he has set out. Using Dylan's interest in history, literature, and of course, music, this book does what Wilentz set out to do-take an in depth look at selected periods of Dylan's work. This book should be read by anyone who has followed Dylan,both live and in the studio, through these many years and changes.

Sean Wilentz looks at Bob Dylan as a historian, as a fan and as one who has written on Dylan's official web site and his liner notes. He has personal recollections of Greenwich Village during the beginnings of the folk movement, so his connections to Dylan and this genre are indisputable.

The one warning that some might desire, is that this is really not a biography of Dylan. The closest the writing comes to that is the astute observation that even though Dylan owned the 60's, he was a product of the 40's and 50's. This is an examination of the influences on him, the history of Dylan's impact on the music world and his `connections to the currents of American history and culture`. The book goes beyond Dylan himself to muse on Dylan's self proclaimed only idol, Woody Guthrie and other musicians and the connection to the beat generation.
The book starts with Aaron Copeland, whose music Dylan uses as an introduction to many of his live performances and then goes on to scrutinize much of Dylan's musical heritage. The second part of the writing commences with a concert the author attended in 1964 at New York's Philharmonic Hall; goes through the years and decades of Bob Dylan's music examining his styles and interpretations and ends with the Christmas recording of 2009.
Those associated professionally with Bob Dylan are well covered, as well as some of his dealings with films such as `Don`t Look Back` and 'Masked and Anonymous`. At times the chronology is a bit jumpy, but nothing that would confuse a reader. There are 28 pages of selected readings, notes and discography and a well done index. There are numerous black and white photos interspersed with the readings, that really help with appeal and understanding as do some well placed footnotes.
This would be a book of attraction to those wanting to learn more about the 60`s late 20th century culture, folk and modern music and of course those who are fans of Bob Dylan himself.

Brilliant! Really, the only word for this book. It covers several different phases of Dylans career, but the main focus is on his more recent output. You will especially love it if you are REALLY fascinated by Dylan's output since "Love and Theft", which I believe to be one of the best albums of the last 25 years.

The first two chapters are fantastic background into what other forms of culture have influenced Dylan besides Woody Guthrie, and they are well worth plowing through because from there on it only gets better.

This book gives you a lot of interesting information when it matters, not necessarily chronologically, which makes it a fascinating read. You aren't getting bogged down in encyclopedic facts, just what matters when the subject comes up.

The book gives a remarkable insight as to how and where Dylan's music was influenced by many parts of American musical culture, including minstrel shows, Bing Crosby, Blind Willie McTell...not just Woody Guthrie.

I actually got EXCITED reading the chapter on "Love and Theft" and plan to download a lot of the songs the writer sites as influential to that album, because I've NEVER had more fun listening to any other recording...to me Dylan's last few records are better than anything else anyone is currently releasing.

Believe me, this is well worth reading.

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