- Paperback: 480 pages
- Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (Aug 27 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400045967
- ISBN-13: 978-1400045969
- Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 2.8 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 358 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#196,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #18 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( D ) > Dylan, Bob
- #73 in Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Folk & Traditional
- #92 in Books > Entertainment > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Composition
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
When Dylan personally invited the fledgling author Sloman (Reefer Madness) to chronicle his Rolling Thunder Revue tour back in 1975, Sloman thought he had landed his dream gig, expecting all-night parties and intimate chats with the tour's supporting cast, which included Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson and Allen Ginsberg. In fact, Sloman, who first published this memoir in 1978, found access to the stars very limited. After the first concert, Dylan's manager bounced him from the band's hotel. Yet he decided to do whatever it took to stay on tour, earning the nickname "Ratso," after the wily con man played by Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy. Sloman embraced the role: "I was Ratso, I realized, rolling with the punches, licking my wounds in auxiliary highway hotels, stuffing my frayed dreams into a tattered suitcase, limping along the highway in search of that warm sun that always follows the thunder." But by the end of the tour, Sloman is still stuck with inglorious duties like looking after Dylan's beagle puppy. A brisk and funny (if somewhat over-the-top) prose stylist, he records some interesting moments a sunrise ceremony led by an Indian chief, coincidentally named Rolling Thunder; an emotional encounter with Jack Kerouac's bartending brother-in-law Nicky in Lowell, Mass. but he never really gets close enough to Dylan to offer readers any insights. Ultimately, this book is about one fan's attempt to be accepted by his rock-and-roll heroes, and in Sloman's hands the project is as narcissistic as it sounds. Reading his memoir, one goes from rooting for the underdog to wishing he'd just go home. 16 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
“An invaluable insider’s look at a legendary tour.” —Michael Musto,the Village Voice
“An all-access pass to hang with the greatest singer-songwriter of our time. On the Road with Bob Dylan remains a true gonzo rock journalism classic and a revealing study of music’s greatest genius/enigma.” —David Wild, contributing editor to Rolling Stone and host of Bravo’s Musicians
“An all-access pass to hang with the greatest singer-songwriter of our time. On the Road with Bob Dylan remains a true gonzo rock journalism classic and a revealing study of music’s greatest genius/enigma.” —David Wild, contributing editor to Rolling Stone and host of Bravo’s Musicians
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
To begin at the beginning, you'd have to go back to the old folkie days of the Village or maybe just the set of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid or maybe even the old auditorium of Hibbing High. Read the first page
To begin at the beginning, you'd have to go back to the old folkie days of the Village or maybe just the set of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid or maybe even the old auditorium of Hibbing High. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Love Dylan, but Not That Much,
By A Customer
This review is from: On the Road with Bob Dylan (Paperback)
The whole thing seemed to be too much Dylan exultation for me. The concert was perfect, exactly the way it was supposed to be. Dylan was always so sage-like and untouchable. Get real! This is the story of Ratso following around a concert and he has a little more access than a fan who could follow the revue around. This seems like fiction not like "historic document" of a rock and roll tour.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Obviosuly Five Stars,
By Danny King (Summerside, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: On the Road with Bob Dylan (Paperback)
Sloman's rant cuts to the bone and shares more than enough scraps from the feast of Dylan's mid '70's rock n' roll circus. His gonzo inspired adventure and inside/outside perspective are essential to understanding the status system of the stars on tour and the underbelly of the music industry. He writes with passion, humour, and desire. To be sure, he seems a pathetic sycophant at times, often treated like a mascot by the musicians and promoters, but his honesty and sincerity in not shying away from a less-than-flattering portrait of his situation makes one believe all the more in the truth of his tale. Anyone who feels that the book needs more Dylan and less Sloman clearly misses the point. His descriptions of Dylan as mystery man, his cogent intuitions about Rubin Carter, and his revelations about Joni Mitchell's songwriting process are bang-on. This is decidedly NOT a biography of Dylan, it is a story of one man's journey ON THE ROAD with a Bob Dylan tour. Any attempt on Sloman's part to disguise his experience behind a false veil of objectivity would render the story mute and destroy its delightful spirit. Hat's off to Ratso for a brilliant rendering of the Rolling Thunder Review.
4.0 out of 5 stars
far more depth than most rock books,
By
This review is from: On the Road with Bob Dylan (Paperback)
i read a LOT of books on music, and though a solid Dylan fan, i wouldn't call myself a fanatic. This book really stands out in the level of detail it relates, and i would say it's as good as any writings about what it's actually like to be on a big rock tour. Sloman (also the ghostwriter of howard stern's 2 books) tape recorded 100s of hours of backstage chatter, so you do really get an accurate picture of the personalities here. Yes, its' slanted to the positive, since Ratso is certainly a superfan, but it's by no means a snow job. i'd compare it to "spanish tony" sanchez's book on the Stones insofar as you get far better insights to the players involved from this kind of account as you do a typical bio. i've read 5 or 6 other dylan bios and found this to be most enjoyable and insightful. The only reason i woudn't give it 5 stars is that you really have to be a pretty big fan of Dylan, folkies, or the rock touring world in general, because the level of depth here also means it's not for the more casual fan etc.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Composers & Musicians
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( D ) > Dylan, Bob
- Books > Entertainment > Music > Biographies
- Books > Entertainment > Music > Instruments & Performers > Voice
- Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Folk & Traditional
- Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Rock
- Books > Entertainment > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Composition
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
