Community Chat

[Oznell]

Didn't even know he had written an autobiography-- stumbled on this book in an antique shop.

It's called "Chronicles",  published 2004.  It takes the familiar story of young Bobby Zimmerman, who leaves the Iron Range of Minnesota, and hits the New York folk music scene in the early 60's.

The book is quirky, like you'd expect, full of sharply observed details, and wonderful stories. Love the picture he gives of the vibrant Greenwich Village music club scene. 

Also love the up-close portraits he paints of the greats that he knew, Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Fred Neil, so many. 

I perked up when he said how nice Fred Neil was.  Neil was a club-scene fixture and massively talented cult singer-songwriter, wrote "Everybody's Talkin'",  "Green Rocky Road", "The Dolphins",  on and on.  But he sang like a dream too-

 

Dylan was such a crossover phenomenon.  At one point the redoubtable American poet Archibald MacLeish wanted him to collaborate on a play with him, and Dylan duly traveled up to his New England home for discussions-- ultimately deciding against it....

He reports everything in this understated way, all the incredible things that happened to him, and that he made happen.

Here he is at Newport-- note a seated Pete Seeger, listening on the right.  In the video I got this from, Seeger is tapping his foot enthusiastically to Bob's rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man"-- 

I love his droll humor, and slightly off-key perspective.  A lot of things he says are oblique, and you have to read between the lines.  The book isn't strictly chronological, either, and skips around from the beginning of his career, to later, to back again.

Quite the read, and a must for anyone interested in pop culture of the Sixties and beyond.  I'm up for Volume 2, if he ever writes it!

 

[on the bay]

Thanks so much @Oznell!

I didn't know he wrote an autobiography either and I've always been a fan. I have most of his records.

It sounds great to read!

and I just ordered it

[chessylady]

I bought this book when it first came out because I am a Bob Dylan fan from when he first arrived on the scene. The book title" Chronicles Volume 1" leads one to believe there will be more volumes but to my knowledge there has not been. He is a complicated brilliant man who is a complete unknown.

[We rescue cats]

He is such a unique, complicated and multifaceted individual. What an understatement "The Times They are A-Changin" was, and IS today.

[Oznell]

@on the bay ,  @chessylady ,  @We rescue cats --

I love hearing what others, like you who appreciate him, have to say! 

He's such an original, a troubadour/poet, one who made everyone take notice, and has a seemingly never-ending influence....   

[jannabelle1]

Interesting....I had no idea that he was from the Minnesota Iron Range - that's a real surprise to me.

[Oznell]

He has a fascinating background, @jannabelle1 .  His family was in Hibbing, and his grandmother in Duluth.  One side of his family had been Turkish Jews, and I think the other side were Eastern European Jews, immigrating to the area.

The mines in the iron range drew people from diverse areas, Finns, Croats, Welsh, Swedes, etc.   A distinct culture and even accent is associated with the Iron Range....

Hope I'm remembering right, but I think he said that his father and uncles had various stores-- hardware, furniture, etc.

Impressionable, he was acutely aware of his surroundings, the sounds of the trains that were always coming and going when he was a child ( I assume partly because of the mining that was constantly going on in the area.)

Great background for a precocious, literary, brilliant and questing young musician!

[Oznell]

[jannabelle1]

The Iron Range is really a unique place....I'm familiar with it. My dad liked to go through Duluth and the Range during summer vacations to see all the big ships transporting iron ore. Thanks for your background on Dylan's family, Oznell - that makes sense.

[spiderw]

I am not a Dylan fan but do respect his musical talent.  He certainly is a legend in the music world.  My sister lived at Woodstock in the late sixties, early seventies.  My niece was born in that area at Kingston, NY.  My sister would see members of the Band, Dylan's back up, John Sebastian, Van Morrison and wife and other singers who without fan fare walked through the town .  Dylan lived at Woodstock at the time but kept to himself.  I used to visit and loved being there, a lovely town and very nice people.  Dylan also lived at the Village in NY and we often were in that area as it was and still is one of our favorite places.  

Thanks for sharing the information about the book.  My sister and I have great memories of that time and the music , the places, she still is a devoted Dylan fan!