Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973 - Hardcover

Heylin, Clinton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1556528434 ISBN 13: 9781556528439

Publisher: Chicago Review Press, 2009

Synopsis

The first of two volumes, this companion to every song that Bob Dylan ever wrote is by far the most comprehensive book on the words of America’s greatest songwriter. Here you’ll find not just opinionated commentary or literary interpretation, but facts, first and foremost. Clinton Heylin is the world’s leading Dylan biographer and expert, and he has arranged the songs--including a number that have never been performed--in a continually surprising chronology of when they were actually written rather than when they appeared on albums. Using newly discovered manuscripts, anecdotal evidence, and a seemingly limitless knowledge of every Bob Dylan live performance, he has uncovered a wealth of information about the songs, leaving no stone unturned in his research.

            Here we learn that the middle verse of “Blowin’ in the Wind” was written much later than the first and third verses; that “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” was based on a complete distortion of the facts of the case; that “Mixed Up Confusion,” despite being Dylan’s first single, was composed later than many of his early masterpieces; that “Fourth Time Around” was a direct response to John Lennon’s “Norwegian Wood”; and much more.

            Reading this volume will fundamentally change how you hear Dylan’s songs and will make you want to revisit the man’s lesser-known masterpieces. This is an essential purchase for every true Bob Dylan fan--and perhaps your most essential purchase, for, as a guide to the man’s work, it will never be surpassed.

About this title

About the Author

Clinton Heylin is the author of Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades, So Long as Men Can Breathe: The Untold Story of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Can You Feel the Silence: Van Morrison, From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk, Despite the System: Orson Welles vs. Hollywood, Babylon’s Burning: From Punk to Grunge, The Act You’ve Known for All These Years: A Year in the Life of Sgt. Pepper and Friends, All Yesterday’s Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print, Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, and others.

Reviews

Prolific Dylanologist Heylin makes his arguably greatest contribution with a painstakingly researched consideration of every song Dylan is known to have written, some 600, all told. Drawing from manuscripts, studio logs, concert recordings, and other sources, Heylin traces Dylan’s career by listing the songs in order of writing rather than public presentation. This first of two volumes collects everything from juvenilia predating his 1961 arrival in New York to his 1974 comeback album, Planet Waves. Even songs that were never recorded or performed are noted, but the major ones receive multipage write-ups that are, in essence, insightful, revelatory mini-essays. Documenting the mercurial performer’s transitions from Guthrie-influenced folkie to raging rocker to laid-back country singer, Heylin, who appears to have heard virtually all of the concerts Dylan has performed during the past 20 years of what has come to be known as the “Neverending Tour,” reveals how vintage songs take on new meanings as they’re recast by their author on stage decades later. --Gordon Flagg

Edition details

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1556528434
• ISBN 13: 9781556528439
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496