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By Michael Gray - Bob Dylan Encyclopedia
The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia is one of the most wide-ranging, informed, entertaining, provocative, and compulsively readable books ever written about popular music. It's the culmination of over thirty years of dedicated research and scholarship by Michael Gray.Inside these pages, you'll find a world of ideas, facts, and opinions. It's a world in which Baudelaire flows on from the Basement Tapes and A.S. Byatt looks out at the Byrds; in which Far from the Madding Crowd follows Ezekiel and Bob Geldof introduces Jean Genet; and in which Hank and William Carlos Williams stand side by side while J.R.R. Tolkien trails the Titanic. Most of all, of course, it's a world in which everyone and everything interconnects, in endlessly fascinating ways, with one of our greatest living Bob Dylan."Michael Gray... probably Dylan's single most assiduous critic." -New York Review of Books"Fans of Bob Dylan have a multitude of choices when it comes to biographies and retrospectives, but author Michael Gray outdistances them all with this voluminous collection of all things Dylan. ... Insightful and entertaining, Gray's tome will broaden appreciation of the artist, his influences and his legacy." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)"...has all you need to know, and more" -Richard Corliss, Time"This is no mere catalog of facts, but a work of oceanic immersion. It has wit, opinion, style, and asks to be read, not just consulted." -Village Voice"Deeply impressive...destined to be the most important Dylan book, bar none."-Gerry Smith, The Dylan Daily"Utterly idiosyncratic." -Janet Maslin, New York Times"Amazingly well-researched and surprisingly readable work." -Library Journal (starred review)"Door-stopping detail." -Toronto Star"Magnificent...won't just astonish readers with its detail about Dylan's work...contains so many insights and refutes so many myths about the rock 'n' roll era in general that it's invaluable as both a reference guide and a personality study." -Nashville City Paper"Comprehensive and up-to-date." -Slate
Unknown Binding
First published June 15, 2006
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About the author
Michael Gray
136 books23 followersMichael Gray is a critic, writer, public speaker & broadcaster recognised as a world authority on the work of Bob Dylan, and as an expert on rock’n’roll history. He also has a special interest in pre-war blues, and in travel.
His latest book, in 3 volumes, is the 50th Anniversary re-publication of his classic pioneering study of Bob Dylan's work, Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan. Instead of the 900+ page 1-volume whopper that has been out of print for over ten years, the new series is published by The FM Press (NYC). Volume 1: Language & Tradition, is out now either from http://amzn.to/43q3MHn or can be ordered from your favourite bookstore, ISBN 979-8-9-9882887-0-1.
Michael grew up near Liverpool, England, went to the Cavern, and graduated from the University of York with a BA in History & English in 1967, having interviewed (as a student journalist) the distinguished British historian A.J.P. Taylor and the distinguished American guitarist Jimi Hendrix.
His pioneering study Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan, published in the UK in 1972, was the first full-length critical study of Dylan’s work. US and Japanese hardback editions, and a UK paperback, were published in 1973. A second, updated edition was published in 1981 in the UK and 1982 in North America.
The massive third edition Song & Dance Man III - including a 112-page study of Dylan’s use of the blues - was published in December 1999 in the UK and early in 2000 in the US. A seventh reprint was issued in 2008, and the book remained in print until late 2010.
More: see http://www.michaelgray.net/biography....
His latest book, in 3 volumes, is the 50th Anniversary re-publication of his classic pioneering study of Bob Dylan's work, Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan. Instead of the 900+ page 1-volume whopper that has been out of print for over ten years, the new series is published by The FM Press (NYC). Volume 1: Language & Tradition, is out now either from http://amzn.to/43q3MHn or can be ordered from your favourite bookstore, ISBN 979-8-9-9882887-0-1.
Michael grew up near Liverpool, England, went to the Cavern, and graduated from the University of York with a BA in History & English in 1967, having interviewed (as a student journalist) the distinguished British historian A.J.P. Taylor and the distinguished American guitarist Jimi Hendrix.
His pioneering study Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan, published in the UK in 1972, was the first full-length critical study of Dylan’s work. US and Japanese hardback editions, and a UK paperback, were published in 1973. A second, updated edition was published in 1981 in the UK and 1982 in North America.
The massive third edition Song & Dance Man III - including a 112-page study of Dylan’s use of the blues - was published in December 1999 in the UK and early in 2000 in the US. A seventh reprint was issued in 2008, and the book remained in print until late 2010.
More: see http://www.michaelgray.net/biography....
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 23, 2009
They wrote off Bob Dylan so often. These are just the times I remember.
1) 1964 - his 4th album Another Side dumped the protest stuff and concentrated on personal stuff, so his political fans were outraged. Free Bob Dylan from Himself!
2) 1965 - he plugs in and turns up the volume - this is the act of betrayal everyone has heard of. Judas!
3) 1969 - he records an album of the music of the enemy of the hippies - country. Nashville Skyline? and a duet with Johnny Cash? Nooooo! Traitor!
4) 1970 - he releases a double album of deliberate crud and calls it Self Portrait. I think it was Greil Marcus who commenced his review "What is this shit?"
6) Had to wait nearly ten years for Bob to sell us all out again, but finally he outraged fans by being Born Again and ranting on about Jesus and the end of the world and releasing Slow Train Coming.
7) His exit strategy from the ghastliness of fundamentalist Christianity was to release increasingly shoddy and worthless albums - this caused most of his dwindling fans to finally definitely absolutely can't-take-it-no-more write him OFF - I name the guilty albums
Shot of Love - echhh
Infidels - eugh
Empire Burlesque - bleurgghhhh no no no
Knocked Out Loaded - grrgnnnghhhhshhhhhhblublubplease no more
Down in the Groove - zzzzzzburbleburblezzzzggglaaahhhhhe killed me
8) In the middle of that farrago of ghastliness came Live Aid where he was the Top of the Bill and was frankly a living embarrassment, performing blearily with two completely drunken English blokes
9) The solo acoustic album in 1992 Good as I Been to You followed by another one World Gone Wrong the next year proved that he couldn't write songs any more and more than that his voice was shot, it had the dynamic range of a vacuum cleaner, it sounded like an autopsy, he was finished.
10) And Mrs K reminded me of this Victoria's secret atrocity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAAUV6...
Noooooo.............my eyes, my eyes....
But just like The Mummy in the old movie every time you looked round your shoulder for some reason he was STILL THERE and no matter how fast everyone else was moving they just couldn't shake him off. And every single time he made some bad albums he'd make a great album. And every time he became dull and uninspired he'd do something you wouldn't expect - like, say, be a dj on his own record show, or write a stunning book of memoirs, or release all his unreleased stuff, or be the oldest living person to have a number one album. On and on he goes, sometimes he's distant as Chaucer and sometimes he's a voice so close in my ear I turn round to see who's there. What's today's favourite Dylan song? It could be one of about 400. It could be this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC44dx...
1) 1964 - his 4th album Another Side dumped the protest stuff and concentrated on personal stuff, so his political fans were outraged. Free Bob Dylan from Himself!
2) 1965 - he plugs in and turns up the volume - this is the act of betrayal everyone has heard of. Judas!
3) 1969 - he records an album of the music of the enemy of the hippies - country. Nashville Skyline? and a duet with Johnny Cash? Nooooo! Traitor!
4) 1970 - he releases a double album of deliberate crud and calls it Self Portrait. I think it was Greil Marcus who commenced his review "What is this shit?"
6) Had to wait nearly ten years for Bob to sell us all out again, but finally he outraged fans by being Born Again and ranting on about Jesus and the end of the world and releasing Slow Train Coming.
7) His exit strategy from the ghastliness of fundamentalist Christianity was to release increasingly shoddy and worthless albums - this caused most of his dwindling fans to finally definitely absolutely can't-take-it-no-more write him OFF - I name the guilty albums
Shot of Love - echhh
Infidels - eugh
Empire Burlesque - bleurgghhhh no no no
Knocked Out Loaded - grrgnnnghhhhshhhhhhblublubplease no more
Down in the Groove - zzzzzzburbleburblezzzzggglaaahhhhhe killed me
8) In the middle of that farrago of ghastliness came Live Aid where he was the Top of the Bill and was frankly a living embarrassment, performing blearily with two completely drunken English blokes
9) The solo acoustic album in 1992 Good as I Been to You followed by another one World Gone Wrong the next year proved that he couldn't write songs any more and more than that his voice was shot, it had the dynamic range of a vacuum cleaner, it sounded like an autopsy, he was finished.
10) And Mrs K reminded me of this Victoria's secret atrocity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAAUV6...
Noooooo.............my eyes, my eyes....
But just like The Mummy in the old movie every time you looked round your shoulder for some reason he was STILL THERE and no matter how fast everyone else was moving they just couldn't shake him off. And every single time he made some bad albums he'd make a great album. And every time he became dull and uninspired he'd do something you wouldn't expect - like, say, be a dj on his own record show, or write a stunning book of memoirs, or release all his unreleased stuff, or be the oldest living person to have a number one album. On and on he goes, sometimes he's distant as Chaucer and sometimes he's a voice so close in my ear I turn round to see who's there. What's today's favourite Dylan song? It could be one of about 400. It could be this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC44dx...
December 13, 2011
Bible black, and about the same dimensions as that holy tome, over seven hundred pages and each page split into two columns. Take me back some four decades, and this is a work I would have clung onto like some religious fanatic. Unfortunately, 'The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia' was only extracated from the burning bush of Michael Gray in 2006.
The author parted the waters back in 1972 with his highly acclaimed 'Song and Dance Man-The Art of Bob Dylan', which remains for me the essential must read of this subject. However, parted waters eventually flow on, hence this encyclopedic addition, which Gray has set out in alphabetic order, not just a critic's research of Dylan's art, but a highly prized reference to twentieth century Americana.
The author parted the waters back in 1972 with his highly acclaimed 'Song and Dance Man-The Art of Bob Dylan', which remains for me the essential must read of this subject. However, parted waters eventually flow on, hence this encyclopedic addition, which Gray has set out in alphabetic order, not just a critic's research of Dylan's art, but a highly prized reference to twentieth century Americana.
May 2, 2011
Fortunately this huge tome is written in a funny, charming and Brit-cynically controversial way, e.g. when Bono ends Bob's 1984 Dublin concert it is by Gray as ending the show "not so much with a bang as with a wanker."
June 25, 2018
The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia isn't so much a comprehensive reference work as just an alphabetical listing of stuff that the author wants to say about his favourite musician. There is no entry for "Maggies Farm" or dozens of other songs that most readers would consider essential for any Dylan encyclopedia. There is however an entry for "Early Morning Rain" a Gordon Lightfoot cover which Bob recorded for Self Portrait, along with 7 pages dedicated to "Angelina" an obscure track from Shot of Love (which means it warrants four times as many words as the entry on Joan Baez). There are esoterically entitled entries such as "Blues , inequality of reward in." "Book endorsements, unfortunate" and "frying an egg onstage, the prospect of" which are thrown in because it's Gray's book and he can do what he wants.
This would be simply maddening if the writer concerned wasn't Michael Gray. Mr Gray has fully immersed himself in his subject matter for decades and knows Dylan backwards. He's noted for his "depth of research into Dylan's sources" as he modestly says himself in his own entry in his own encyclopedia. Gray doesn't just know Bob, he knows the blues, the bible and the folk traditions that inspired Bob at the start of his career and every year since. Entries like "Film dialogue in Dylan's lyrics" make it clear that Gray has every word of Bob's catalogue lodged in his brain and even when he's watching a movie he's looking for Dylan connections. When Bob sings "Somebody is out there, beating on a dead horse" he might be referencing the movie version of Catch 22, as Gray suggests, or he might not. Either way it's fascinating to see Gray's mind at work.
Equal to Gray's extensive research is his body of forthright opinions, which he is never reluctant to share. He spares no punches in his entry on his rival Clinton Heylin, whose work he praises but whose "notorious belittling" he clearly blames for the fact that they don't get on. Gray is also quite prepared not to mince words when criticizing the subject of the book, describing songs like "John Brown as "wretched" and "Mutton-headed, mawkish and crass."
The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia is undoubtedly self-indulgent but Gray's knowledge, opinions and writing styles are worth indulging in. I'd recommend Song and Dance Man III, his more systematic work, before I recommend this, but but for the true Dylan obsessive, this is a long strange trip indeed and worth taking.
This would be simply maddening if the writer concerned wasn't Michael Gray. Mr Gray has fully immersed himself in his subject matter for decades and knows Dylan backwards. He's noted for his "depth of research into Dylan's sources" as he modestly says himself in his own entry in his own encyclopedia. Gray doesn't just know Bob, he knows the blues, the bible and the folk traditions that inspired Bob at the start of his career and every year since. Entries like "Film dialogue in Dylan's lyrics" make it clear that Gray has every word of Bob's catalogue lodged in his brain and even when he's watching a movie he's looking for Dylan connections. When Bob sings "Somebody is out there, beating on a dead horse" he might be referencing the movie version of Catch 22, as Gray suggests, or he might not. Either way it's fascinating to see Gray's mind at work.
Equal to Gray's extensive research is his body of forthright opinions, which he is never reluctant to share. He spares no punches in his entry on his rival Clinton Heylin, whose work he praises but whose "notorious belittling" he clearly blames for the fact that they don't get on. Gray is also quite prepared not to mince words when criticizing the subject of the book, describing songs like "John Brown as "wretched" and "Mutton-headed, mawkish and crass."
The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia is undoubtedly self-indulgent but Gray's knowledge, opinions and writing styles are worth indulging in. I'd recommend Song and Dance Man III, his more systematic work, before I recommend this, but but for the true Dylan obsessive, this is a long strange trip indeed and worth taking.
August 27, 2017
This exhaustive tome also includes a CD-ROM of the book's printed information. Nice touch!
August 23, 2019
The book is totally bad.
Read
January 2, 2010This book feels more like the author's excuse to write endlessly about Dylan than an "encyclopedia." That's not really an insult to the book; the author seems very excited to write about some of these subjects, and it can come out brilliantly, like when he spends like 7 pages convincing us how good "Dignity" is or, at least, could have been.
Otherwise, a lot of this book is full of strangely biased opinions, like other reviews here say, so I won't go into it. Instead, I'll dig into the weirdly repetitive phrasing, including many instances of "not least" (is it British?) and his tendency to count albums while inconsistently including compilations in his numbers, making "Down in the Groove" his 33rd while "Desire" is only the 18th (by my count, it's his 17th, but that excludes live albums. whole other bag; i give up.)
Excellent entry on the Chabad telethons, though.
Otherwise, a lot of this book is full of strangely biased opinions, like other reviews here say, so I won't go into it. Instead, I'll dig into the weirdly repetitive phrasing, including many instances of "not least" (is it British?) and his tendency to count albums while inconsistently including compilations in his numbers, making "Down in the Groove" his 33rd while "Desire" is only the 18th (by my count, it's his 17th, but that excludes live albums. whole other bag; i give up.)
Excellent entry on the Chabad telethons, though.
June 29, 2008
Half illuminating, half irritating. Fascinating historical information filtered through the often bizarre musical prejudices of the author. Certainly not a fawning tribute to Bob, but too often betrays a kind of socio-political musical hatred. Indicative of so much that is good and also utterly wrongheaded about British Dylan criticism.
March 29, 2016
This. A. Book. To. Get. Also. Very. Interesting.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews