Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylan

by Douglas R. Gilbert, Dave Marsh

In August 1964, twenty-one-year-old photographer Douglas R. Gilbert, on assignment for Look magazine, photographed an up-and-coming folk singer named Bob Dylan. Just twenty-three years old, Dylan had already composed a striking body of work, including "Blowin' in the Wind," yet he himself was still relatively unknown. All that was about to change. For more than a week, Gilbert photographed a surprisingly open Bob Dylan, smiling and relaxed among friends like musician John Sebastian and poet Allen Ginsberg. To Gilbert's dismay, Look deemed Dylan's appearance "too scruffy" for a family magazine, and the images remained unpublished and unseen, until now. Featuring veteran music journalist Dave Marsh's insightful text, Forever Young unforgettably captures a pivotal time in Bob Dylan's extraordinary career--the time when he began transforming not just folk but all of popular music.

Genres: Music, Photography, Nonfiction, Biography

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Agwi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biopicture alias buku biografi dengan kekuatan fotografi ini mengandung konsp yang kuat. Dari tahun ke tahun, hari ke hari, event ke event, bahkan keseharian yang terkean direncanakan. Dari foto studio, foto koleksi pribadi dan foto dadakan (candid).


Foto-foto dijajar dalam sekuens semirip puisi. Syair-syair lagunya menyelip di sana sini, tapi tidak berlebihan. Ini buku fotografi, tapi sangat jauh dari kesan teknis. Sungguh indah.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very rare photos of possibly the greatest American poet of all time. Every true Bob Dylan fan should read and look for the photos inside this book.

[Dusty Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Dylan in pictures and stories of his first days as an artist in the 1960's

[CD · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another one of those 'snapshot' in time photographic works that I am finding myself reading and collecting more often of late.

Dylan has not yet emerged as the trickster, the enigma or any of his other persona's in this work. The face is more open and as is astutely pointed out, Dylan is not the center of attention.

The photographs include people who we rarely see at this level of intimacy. John Sebastian as the young man additionally make this worth a look.

Three people who have touchstone roles in Dylan's life are depicted in one or two photos that border on revelatory in relation to what we 'know' of them from later. The woman on the reverse cover of the album (yes a record!) is caught leaning against the refrigerator while Dylan and Allen Ginsberg joke around over the breakfast table and a box Quaker Puffed Rice Not something you see in the formal posed photos of just a year or so later from Dylan.

The photographs of the 'twins' Ginsberg and Orlovsky I have never seen done or presented as well even though these are very much candid shots.

Dave Marsh adds the comments and text to this work that lays the backdrop for what is to come. Particularly the Folk Police are given no quarter by this writer and chronicler of the emerging American Rock scene.

A more consistent format for presentation of the photographs and tighter editing and expansion of the text would push this to 5 stars easily. Must read for early Rock and Roll enthusiasts and students of popular culture photography.

Great simple candid photography that catches a moment in time as well as probably can be accomplished.

This is a 'goodread' if not perfect.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great pictures of Bob Dylan, as a younger man. Most of the photos were taken just a bit before he hit really big. You see a artist who is totally comfortable with himself. The text is well written but to me the photos make the book come alive

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intimate, everyday portraits of a talented young folk singer on the brink of becoming a legend.

[Ietrio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the pictures. I have ignored the quite boring text. Some editor thought there were not enough pictures or something.