Bob Dylan: Stories Behind the Songs 1962-1969

by Andy Gill

In this book, Andy Gill assess the circumstances behind Dylan’s most famous songs, tracing the artist’s progress from young tyro folkie to acclaimed protest singer, and through the subsequent changes which saw him invent folk-rock and transform rock’n’roll with symbolist poetry, before retreating into country-tinged conservatism just as his followers were engaged in the great psychedelic freak-show of the late 1960s

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 18, 2011

Reviews

[Ruth Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming little book, recounting the genius behind Dylan’s crucial 60s career that I have become so engrossed by recently. I suggest reading this alongside a listening of each one of his albums, it adds a rather compelling yet personal touch to each song Gill describes (indeed factual but also with sprinkles of his own contentious opinions of specific songs). I especially enjoyed Gills apparent distain for the 1969 country-rock album Nashville Skyline - some notable punches with “he could easily have knocked this one out the previous evening at Ramada Inn, and still had enough time left over to eat a hearty dinner, watch a four-hour movie, and sue for world peace”, and “what an earth had happened to Bob Dylan?” (Some claims, I must clarify, I do not agree with)

A watch of Donn Alan Pennebaker’s 1965 film Don’t Look Back is also crucial to accompany this, which captures impressively accurately Dylan at the height of his electric career, revealing Dylan during his 1965 England tour (between the releases of Bringing it All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited.) Man does Dylan come across in a strange (perhaps you could say moody?) way, but as Pennebaker confesses himself “With Dylan…. It’s clear that people see what they set out to see.” He’s a pretentious bastard to some, an absolute genius to myself. And considering the backlash he was facing following his appearance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, how else would you expect him to act? We’ve all heard Positively 4th Street.

My only criticism of this book is that there is no sequel. Gill himself recognises the genius of 1975’s Blood on the Tracks, along with other albums that followed the musical whiplash of Dylan’s 60s career (I’d give particular recognition to 1997’s Time Out Of Mind). I guess now I will be back to consulting Wikipedia and Genius Lyrics.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished Bob Dylan: Stories Behind the Songs 1962-1969 by Andy Gill and I'm a bit disappointed. I had expected a better analysis of the songs and stories behind them. I think he did a good job analyzing Bob Dylan's "going electric," largely abandoning acoustic protest music and his forecasting, with Basement Tapes, John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline the development of country-folk and country rock. The song-by -song analysis was sometimes shallow and sometimes offhand and whimsical.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s just ok.

No fancy analysis. Just a bit of situational history.