Product Description

Robert Shelton wrote the rave review of Bob Dylan in The New York Times that is generally credited with being the piece that "discovered" him in 1961, just after Dylan arrived fresh from Minnesota to New York City as an aspiring folk musician. Twenty-five years later, Shelton, who had faithfully followed Dylan's career ever since, finally published this work. Now back in print, here is the story of Bob Dylan, man and musician, lover and explorer, loner and phenomenon. 28 photos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #354714 in Books
• Published on: 1997-08-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Amazon.com Review
Robert Shelton, a critic for the New York Times in 1961, caught an early Bob Dylan gig at Folk City in Greenwich Village and wrote an effusive review for the newspaper. The coverage in the Times was a huge boost to the career of the then-struggling folksinger, and Shelton and Dylan became friends, seeing each other frequently around the Village folk scene. When Shelton, in the 1980s, finally got around to finishing his full-length biography of Dylan, he could draw upon a wealth of insider stories from the early days. The book is naturally strongest when describing Dylan's early career, from his coffeehouse gigs as a Woody Guthrie disciple to the insanely high artistic peaks of the mid-'60s. A particularly engaging passage concerns a freeform interview Shelton conducted with Dylan as they flew high above the Midwest in early 1966; Shelton's memories of Dylan are essential reading for fans. Shelton saw much less of the notoriously private Dylan as the years passed, and the book loses momentum as he becomes less of an eyewitness and more of a distant observer, though Dylan's story is credibly told up through the mid-1980s. --Robert McNamara

From Publishers Weekly
Years in the making (some interviews conducted for it date back to the mid'60s), and much of it based on Shelton's personal experience, this hefty book supplants Anthony Scaduto's Bob Dylan as the definitive biography. Shelton was the popular-music columnist for the New York Times from 1958 to 1968, in which capacity he wrote the first attention-drawing reviews of Dylan's coffeehouse gigs in 1961; the position also brought him into close contact with many of the music-industry principals he writes about. A friend of Dylan's and a fan, Shelton succeeds in making this opaque and often irritating person comprehensible, even likable. Dylan has always shrouded himself in mysterioso antics, railed against inconstant friends and fallen into the trap of being one himself (notable instance: turning his back on Joan Baez) and delighted in giving out meaningless, perverse and nasty interviews. Shelton manages to locate the authentic Dylan: the pilgrim seeking enlightenment and salvation, the husband and father, the genius who wrote songs as beautiful as "Blowin' in the Wind," "Don't Think Twice" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," and as apocalyptic and prophetic as "Maggie's Farm," "Desolation Row" and "Hard Rain." The author incorporates a number of lines from Dylan's work into his text, which discusses the man's life and career under subject headings, a format that keeps him from following a strictly chronological order. The book is nevertheless comprehensive and clear. This is first-rate biography and a marvelous re-creation of the music scene of the '60s and later. The text is supplemented with brief analyses of every song, a song index, discography and bibliography, and 16 pages of black-and-white photos (not seen by PW. 50,000 first printing.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Dylan's music has been analyzed in numerous books, but until now there has been no attempt at a major biography. His chameleon-like personality, reclusiveness, and hostility toward investigation into his private life have made things difficult for would-be Boswells. He agreed to cooperate with Shelton, a former New York Times music writer and 25-year friend, but the reader pays a price. We learn much more about the music than the man. Three-fourths of the book covers the 1960s, Dylan's most creative period, and Shelton does a fine job capturing the turmoil and excitement of the time. Then he rushes through the next 15 years. There's almost nothing about Dylan's 12-year marriage; his touring schedule gets almost as much space as his religious conversion. The Dylan that emerges from this book is as baffling as ever. Disappointing, but the best life likely to be available for some time. Thom as Jewell, Wal tham P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Very Good Dylan Biography
This is the second best Dylan biography to date (the first being Clinton Heylin's Behind the Shades Revisited). Shelton is obviously a big Dylan fan (no surprise to those knowledgeable about Dylan), and he tends to cover over Dylan's warts. One nice feature is that Shelton includes thoughtful analyses of Dylan's early songs and albums at appropriate times in the narrative. Heavily weighted toward Dylan's early career but entertaining and very informative.

The best Dylan book ever writen
A master in the day, Bob Dylan's story of his early coffee shop day up untill about the mid-80's. Robert Shelton in 1961 wrote a article for Dylan that help his music take off.Dylan went from the Village folk scene to performing in front of large crowds of people. This book shows the transition from a coffee shop to the big stage. While telling you a blow for blow story of Dylan's life right up untill the mid-80's. The story starts out close to Dylan and over the span of the novel it come more of a distant observer. This book summerizes the whole time period and makes Dylan's personality better known. His songs have more impact now that you understand his motives. I recomend reading it.

Good Not Great...
Whether or not this is the BEST Dylan biography is hard to say, there are millions of them out there...certainly it has to be the best-researched, and one of the most heartfelt; Shelton gave Dylan his first great review, "discovered" him, in effect, and though he critically assesses Dylan's subsequent works there's never a doubt that he's Dylan's biggest fan. A midnight conversation on a private jet between Shelton and Dylan in the mid-60's is the best thing in the book, fascinating reading...but there is such a concept as too much of a good thing, and the minutae Shelton indulges in gets tiring. He apparently went to every concert and every party Dylan did, and his insistence on inserting himself into the scene makes me wonder about his objectivity. Maybe Shelton thought he was one of the new journalists. I don't know. But less Shelton would've been helpful. Also, Shelton insists on punctuating almost every paragraph with a hidden line from one of Dylan's songs; for awhile it's clever, but it gets old fast.
The book was out of print for a long time, and that's too bad. I hope it stays in print. It's incredibly packed with facts and interpretations and long quotes both from Dylan and those close to him. It's just TOO MUCH, that's all. But good. A worthy biography of the most potent force in popular music since Sinatra. How's that for a name out of left field?