The Bob Dylan Scrapbook: 1956-1966

by Robert Santelli, Bob Dylan

A slipcased scrapbook of rare photographs, removable documents, and memorabilia offers insight into one of the musician's most eventful and formative periods, tracing his arrival in New York and emergence as one of the most distinctive voices of his time, providing on the accompanying CD excerpts from early interviews and his 1965 performance at the Newport Folk Festival. 100,000 first printing.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Cultural, American

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Robert Santelli (born January 31, 1952) is the executive director of the Grammy Museum and former CEO/artistic director of the Experience Music Project. He is the author of nearly a dozen books and a contributor to magazines such as Rolling Stone.

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1960 toting his guitar, 19-year-old folk-singer Bob Zimmerman left Minnesota for New York City. He changed his name and his past. Bob Dylan became an influential musical and cultural force in the United States in both the folk and rock scene to many giving music its conscience. He was a performer and songwriter who kept reinventing himself and wrote clever and humorous lyrics of injustices, war, civil rights, love, and more. This scrapbook is about his formative years and rise in the world from 1956 to 1966. He left his small town where he was self-taught, played the piano, and formed various teenaged bands to start college in 1959. At the University of Minnesota, he fell in love with Beat literature, Dinkytown “a bohemian enclave” of “jazz clubs and coffeehouses,” and Woody Guthrie’s biography, Bound for Glory (that became his bible). By 1961, he was in New York City where he met and played with his idol, Woody, and frequented Greenwich Village and Washington Square Park soaking up the sounds, music, and atmosphere. He wrote what moved him, not to become a voice for his generation. He was constantly pushing and transforming himself, his music, and his lyrics despite the opposition. I loved that there were pullouts of admission tickets, record and book covers, programs, pamphlets, handwritten lyrics, promotional packages, newspaper articles, photographs, and musical programs and flyers. This book is a companion to Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan. I have not seen the movie but thoroughly enjoyed this scrapbook exploring Dylan’s life during this life-changing decade. 4.5 stars.

[Sam Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so since bob dylan lies all the time and Chronicles is awesome but yer like, "why do I care about the time you hung out with BOno all night?", why don't you read this fun, easy POP-UP book (no joke) about bob dylan. I got this snazzy little dude from the borders books in Redmond washington, apparently they made so many that at xmas they are only ten bucks new and what you get inside is like a Bobby D crackerjack box. Like, it's for kids, or the kid in you. It's got all the facts laid out like a scholastic book club number INCLUDING (get this) little newspaper clippings, pop up reproductions of B.D in store displays, flyers, lyrics, photos, etc. all tucked in or with a perfectly ripped piece of tape that's the same in all the books (I checked) so that every couple of pages you have a little something of Bob's to play with. If this had come out in 1967 the mystery woulda been blown, bob would have never got on that motorcycle and I would never have sorta been confused by Ronaldo and Claire.

[John Kaess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most unique book I own. The content, memorabilia (replicas), structure and story all come together into a true scrapbook telling Bob Dylan's story from 1956 to 1966 (and most of 1967). I LOVED this book. I bought it second hand from a used book store and it was complete with all the memorabilia and even the audio CD. If you can find this used and in good shape and you are a Dylan fan, don't think twice, just get it. I can't describe the content as well as this blurb from Amazon:

"The Bob Dylan Scrapbook is the highly collectable illustrated biography of Dylan's life during the 1950s and 60s. Created in association with Bob Dylan, the scrapbook is crammed with features including rare photographs, facsimiles of handwritten lyrics and rare memorabilia. The text includes interviews with Dylan and his friends and fellow musicians to form a uniquely personal view of the greatest singer songwriter of his generation. A special bonus audio CD contains sixty minutes of early interviews and a rare performance. "The Bob Dylan Scrapbook" is an altogether handsome slipcased hardback with over 100 photographs and illustrations, and is guaranteed to delight every Dylan fan."

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bob Dylan Scrapbook: 1956-1966 by Robert Santelli and Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster 2005) (782.42164) (3800).

This is an intriguing volume about America’s first rock and roll Nobel laureate. It focuses on the early formative years of Bob Dylan’s development as a performer and writer.

The Bob Dylan Scrapbook: 1956-1966 is crammed with copies of mementos from the first years of Dylan’s career. There are ticket stubs, newspaper excerpts, snapshots, and concert programs from the advent of Dylan’s musical career through his days as an acoustic folksinger and culminating with his “going electric” at the Newport Folk Festival. This volume’s accompanying text is quite understated and fits the format extremely well.

I’m proud that my library contains a used HB copy of this book which I purchased with its accompanying slipcase in like-new condition for $4.00 on 9/1/20 from McKay’s Books.

My rating: 7.25/10, finished 5/31/23 (3800).

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[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, fun overview of Bob Dylan's earliest years as a musician, singer, and songwriter. There is no fluff or filler here, and little speculation, or attempt to analyze his ofttimes inscrutable lyrics. The text is direct and to the point. Everything else is left to ones own imagination, just as Dylan would want it.
Being a fan of Dylan's early music this is great reading. I have no idea how much someone else would get out of this. As a scrapbook it contains lots of fun printed items like photos, newspaper articles, record company promotionals, handwritten lyrics, concert posters and tickets.

[Patricia F. Martino · Rating 4 out of 5]

a somewhat whitewashed and obviously Bob Dylan approved chronicle of his formative musical years. he interactive nature is really fun, but paints less of a nuanced picture than the movie with Timothy chalamene did

[Chris Meloche · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. It's gimmicky but, it's also pretty cool.

[Cojuja · Rating 5 out of 5]

That book is totally bad.

[Doris Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LIKE THIS BOOK.

[Tim Duff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is laid out like a scrapbook with replications of tickets and lyric sheets. A must for any Bob Dylan fan.

[Joshua Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½. A well-written account of Dylan’s career and music through the 1960s, presented in a really fun manner.

[Private · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sehr unterhaltsam und informativ bin begeistert.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best, most clear set of reasons and reflections I’ve ever read. Everything he writes is brilliant.

[Jack Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this in a charity shop today for £2. I read it in one sitting when I got home. Was very good

[Mark Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read that I knocked off in two days. Got this as a gift from my wife who is fully aware of my Dylan obsession. Robert Santelli writes well about the first, rocket-like, rise to Stardom covering up to 1966. Frankly, left me wanting more. Would have liked to have heard his take on the albums after Blonde on Blonde. The "scrapbook" is an interesting idea because you get a reproduction of ticket stubs, posters, leaflets and various ephemera from Bob's career. Contains a disc of Dylan's interviews which I have not listened to yet.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally got a copy of this -- what an amazing idea! You feel like you stumbled upon the personalized Dylan, that "I'm sure glad I went scavaging in the attic" feeling and found the proverbial baseball cards that were almost thrown out. This book makes you feel privileged, the lucky person who inherited the best of Dylan memorabilia!

[Brendan Reade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazingly thorough collection of song lyrics, photos, quips, anecdotes, iterviews, letters, and drawings by one of the worlds greatest artists. Once you start to thumb throuhg it, you will feel compelled to continue delving deeper through all the pull-outs and well crafted narrative. It's like a giant pop-up book of Dylanology.

[Skylar Burris · Rating 3 out of 5]

It lacks substance, but it's fun for the Dylan fan: a sort of Pat the Bunny or lift-the-flap book for adults. My eight-year-old also enjoys looking at it. Of course, she likes listening to Self Portrait as she falls asleep (she doesn't care what the critics say; it's her favorite album). The other day she asked me, "Mommy, did Bob Dylan give you all this stuff himself?"

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was published as a companion to the "No Direction Home" documentary (which I own) and it was perfect for that. I've never read a Dylan biography. I've only seen documentaries, but I learned a lot from this book. And it kept it all creative with plenty of photos and scraps of lyrics. Recommended for any Bob Dylan fan.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great concept book - it is like you created this scrapbook yourself. it contains reprints of concert tickets, photos, handwritten lyrics, pull-out posters and cds. It's like a pop-up book for Dylan fans :)

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of fun to look at and play with, and I'm glad it came with neat stickers, a sweet cd and a stand-up dylan cutout, but overall the text is a pretty straighforward life story of stuff i already knew. Great visually, though- well worth the $13 if only for the packaging.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't sleep one night, so I put on Highway 61 and read about the early life and influences of Bob Dylan. I love the interactiveness (is that a word?) of this book. Now if only the Audrey Hepburn Treasures book would go to bargain. I check weekly!

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers a brief little bio of Dylan with great reproductions of concert tickets, articles, photos with pullouts and the like. Not really literature but great visuals and thoroughly entertaining.

[Dominick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This tie-in with
Scorsese's No Direction Home is pretty superficial and insubstantial, saying nothing that any Dylan fan doesn't already know. It does include some interesting reproductions of artefacts such as original hand-written lyrics, though.

[Alex Seo]

Complete with handwritten Lyrics, Rare photographs and 45-minute Audio Cd.
Five Star!! Owesome!!

[D-train Longfellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top 10 greatest christmas gifts from my mother, right here!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this as a gift and it is endlessly fun. Reproductions of old tickets, flyers and other assorted paraphenalia are very cool.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FANTASTIC read for any Dylan fan. It truly is like a scrapbook; it's great fun to sort through this book and all of the unique extras on the legendary poet singer.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely produced although the library copy had lost the audio CD of Dylan interviews. Really like the early Bob Dylan, such an interesting story.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great packaging, and I got it for dirt cheap. Functionality and practicality -- a good mix.