New Dylan book oh no!

And I don't think Riley makes his case in this review for why someone can't just do an analysis of Dylan's lyrics as text.

the structure of the traditional and popular songs that dylan has adapted (not just literally adapted, but drawn from etc.) determine in large part the structure and meaning of the lyrics, so it's not simply a matter of paying lip service to the music and proceeding to analyze the lyrics, as riley's review suggests the book in question does. it's a matter of analyzing the records *as* records, with the vocal and the words being sung just one part of a whole.

really, i thought this kind of criticism went out with those ghastly "the poetry of rock" and "the poetry of soul" books published in the early 70s.

apart from that by jody beth rosen of course!

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/131531-bob-dylan-in-america-by-sean-wilentz/

I'm thinking of going to see Sean Wilentz do a book talk for his new Dylan book. Has anyone seen him talk?

Wilentz’s father ran the Village’s Eighth Street Bookstore, a legendary gathering-hearth for Beats and Bards in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The author has childhood tales to tell about Dylan and the world he came out of though he resists the temptation to turn his study into a memoir in disguise. Name-dropping remains at a minimum even as its clear the author has plenty of names to drop.

Wilentz is perhaps the most important living American historian, writing key works on 19th century American history including Chants Democratic, a study of working class culture and politics in 19th century New York City, the magisterial Rise of American Democracy, and numerous other works (including his Age of Reagan that is perhaps the most detailed history of the last third of the twentieth century available). He is also a devoted fan of the work of Bob Dylan and the author of the liner notes for the 2003 release of Dylan’s Bootleg Series 6, insightful and evocative reflections on Dylan’s 1964 concert that snagged Wilentz a Grammy nomination.

says Professor W. Scott Poole for PopMatters. I haven't read Wilentz yet I must admit.

Wilentz is controversial I see--A Hillary Clinton-loving Obama critic who likes to interject his political views and verbally spar with other historians

http://chronicle.com/article/Sean-Wilentz-Bringing-It-All/124221/

haven't read the new Marcus book yet, but it's on the shelf waiting

Dylan books make me feel old(er)

i haven't read the wilentz book yet, but the blonde on blonde sessions stuff published in oxford american a few years back (which i think is expanded upon in the book) is heaven for dylan nerds.

So, when's Dyl doing his Chron vol 2?

Greil Marcus is gonna be at the Library of Congress in DC Thursday night. Think I will try to go to that too.

Yep, gonna go see Greil Marcus talk tonight (for free), and probably Wilentz on Saturday.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2010/10/20/your-bob-dylan-weekend-scholars-greil-marcus-and-sean-wilentz/

Marcus' presentation was not directly re Dylan. There were only 20 to 30 people there.

Even if you can't stand longtime critic/writer/teacher Marcus's style--connecting 1920s and 30s era sounds with Melville and Bob Dylan and more(no mentions of the Mekons surprisingly for him)--it was interesting to listen to. Marcus proclaimed Rabbit Brown's "James Alley Blues" (from the Harry Smith collection) "the greatest record ever made." He described musicians Sam McGee, Emory Arthur, and the Green County Singers as creating "their vision of America." He said for one singer that "death is more meaningful than pleasure." He played cuts including Dylan's version of "When First Unto this Country" (from the laast disc of a Bootleg series collection) plus someone else's (Emory Arthur? Dock Boggs? my notes aren't clear) version of "Man of Constant Sorrow." He phrased questions like why would the man in "Railroad Blues" ever pause? He gave "poseur" the French pronounciation. He told a story about how everyone on the Titanic was white (decision by the owners) except for a black stowaway who survived (and whom Rabbit Brown sung about). He talked about Skip James, "notes creeping like tadpoles", and acknowledged that Dylan might have heard the New Lost City Ramblers version of "When First..." He mentioned Daniel Boone and Johnny Appleseed in addition to Moby Dick. He made fun of the '60s folk revival. He spoke for 45 minutes and took questions.

A couple of fantastic posts on a great blog. Regarding Dylan and the New Lost City Ramblers: http://www.celestialmonochord.org/log/2005/08/harry_smith_and.html

Lots of excellent Dylan-related stuff (as well as other folky/songwriterly/tradition things) on that site. Bookmark it!

Cool.

I saw Sean Wilentz talk about his book 'Dylan in America' last night. He said it was an "appreciation" and not a biography. The title is meant to be an allusion to two books: 'Dylan Thomas in America' and 'Alan Ginsburg in America.' He started out just babbling cliches about how Dylan is the greatest songwriter of the last 50 years, and the most importnat cultural figure. He eventually mentioned and read from his book's comparison of Dylan with Aaron Copland. Copland music for a Billy the Kid movie, Dylan's Billy the Kid references. Frustratingly, the book talk excerpt re Copland and Dylan did not have alot to it. Maybe I need to read the whole portion in the book. Then he jumped to Dylan and the Beats--especially Alan Ginsburg. Not too much insight. He says Dylan was the first and best at putting beat poetry style lyrics to music. He noted how Dylan spent time in the NY Public Library reading up on 1840s to 1860s US history, on the library's microfilm machines. He talked about the DA Pennebacker movie and the Rolling Thunder revue tour. He enthusiastically responded to a question about various factors other than age explaining the different sounding vocals Dylan has offered over the years--cigarette smoking, Dylan trying to evoke certain styles, and production techniques. This q and a portion was in some ways more exciting that the reading and earlier portion.