( 5 reviews )
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Dec 31 2006
Heylin's study of Dylan's recording sessions starts in 1960 with the period immediately preceding his signing with Columbia and ends in 1993 with World Gone Wrong (clearly an update is needed). Each chapter, starting with a sessionography, is dedicated to one of Dylan's official studio releases. Four chapters cover sessions that did not lead to official releases and one chapter is dedicated to soundtrack and tribute recordings Dylan contributed to. An appendix listing bootlegs that might have been available at the time of the book's release closes the book. Heylin is wonderfully opinionated and uses each chapter to highlight the merits and flaws of the released and unreleased content of each album. To his credit, and unlike many who write about Dylan, Heylin is not afraid to separate the dross from the gold. He clearly has a problem with the way Dylan's art has been made available to his fans (the book is amusingly "NOT dedicated to Jeff Rosen," the man responsible for overseeing Columbia's vast archives of Dylan's work). Reading the book both provides a glimpse into what Dylan's official oeuvre might have been and serves as a guide for collectors of unofficial recordings in determining what is worth seeking out. You might not agree with all of Heylin's opinions, but if you're a Dylan fan, this is essential reading.
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( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 26 2003
Clinton Heylin, one of the leading writers on Bob Dylan (and author of, perhaps, the best biography on the man, Behind The Shades), deserves kudos for the exhausting amount of research he put into this book and the information he has presented. It is essential for obsessive Bob Dylan fans - is there any other kind? - who must have every little tidbit of information about the man and what he did in the studio. It is particulary interesting for collectors as it goes into detail about the many, many songs Dylan has recorded throughout the years and not released. It is a chronicle of absolutely everything that Dylan put to tape between the 1960 recordings made in the apartments of friends when he was still in college up to his Good As I Been To You album, as well as soundtracks and appearance on the albums of others, where relevant. Heylin includes not only a list of every song, but also the different takes, and shows what songs are circulating among collectors and which ones still have not seen the light of day. He also includes other relevant information such as what musicians played on the sessions, as well as several appendices such as a list of Dylan compositions, covers he has recorded, and even the session charts from the Desire sessions. The only thing that brings the book down is Heylin's own constant interjected commentary. It is unfortunate that seemingly every commentator on Dylan seems to see it as their duty to critize certain aspects of the man's work and say what he should have done differently - as if they had any right to question the genius of the greatest songwriter of the 20th century. Certainly, Heylin is entitled to his opinion, and never does he make the claim that this book is entirely objective, but, at times, it happens so often as to get in the way. Still, for the true Dylan fan, this book is still a must-have for the priceless information it gives. Casual fans need not bother.
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( 2 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 25 2001
If, like me, you want to know as much as you can about Dylan's recordings, you have to get a copy of this. But that means reading endless badly-written diatribes against Dylan and whomever else Heylin dislikes. Apparently, it's okay for Heylin to prefer the original "Blood on the Tracks" recordings, but for Greil Marcus to prefer the acoustic "Blind Willie McTell" is, to quote Heylin, "wrong."
