The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, 1956-1966
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Music
The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, 1956-1966 Details
Amazon.com Review Created as a companion piece to Martin Scorsese's PBS documentary No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, 1956-1966 is a visual and educational treat for old and new Dylanphiles alike. Written by Robert Santelli, the director of Seattle's Experience Music Project and curator of the museum's Bob Dylan's American Journey exhibit, the book is very well researched and presented in a scrapbook format filled with removable reproductions, including handwritten lyrics of "Gates of Eden," "Blowin' in the Wind," and "Chimes of Freedom," programs of Dylan's historical performances, various bits of memorabilia, and endless amount of photographs. The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, 1956-1966 will provide the new Dylan fan with loads of background information and anecdotes that were left out of Scorsese's film. Lifelong Dylanphiles will likely know Dylan's late 1950s to mid 1960s history already, and will be enchanted by the endless reproductions that are strategically placed throughout the book. If that wasn't enough, the book also includes a 45 minute CD of 18 interviews, ten of which appeared in the No Direction Home documentary. If you ever want to open someone up to the world of Bob Dylan there is no better place to point them to this incredible trifeca: No Direction Home: Bob Dylan on DVD, No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7) on CD, and this wonderful book. --Rob Bracco Read more From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. A companion piece to Martin Scorsese's PBS documentary No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, this book is a feast of information and reproductions of important documents pertaining to the musician's early career. The concise text by Robert Santelli of the Experience Music Project in Seattle focuses on the musician's formative years and explains how Dylan evolved from a derivative "junior Woody Guthrie" to a truly unique and compelling songwriter. Santelli knows when to step back and let Dylan speak for himself, especially when it comes to key moments, such as his prolific songwriting during the early sixties, an era that produced "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." "Those early songs were like almost magically written..." Dylan says. "There's a magic to that, and it's not a Siegfried and Roy kind of magic; it's a different kind of penetrating magic." But it's the inserts and reproductions that will garner the most oohs and ahs from fans. An engineering and design feat unto itself, the book is a trove of gatefold pages, pull-out reproductions of handwritten lyrics for songs like "Blowin in the Wind," an early press kit, newspaper clippings and even a promotional counter display for record stores. A CD with excerpts from Dylan's first radio interview and clips from the Scorsese documentary is also included. The result is an interactive book that is experienced rather than consumed, much like Dylan's music. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Read more See all Editorial Reviews
Reviews
This book is an amazing collection of all things Dylan during the period from 1956-1966. These are the years I am most interested in and the book didn't disappoint. There are copies of notes Dylan wrote on scraps of paper. There are copies of all sorts of things from those days that look like a person is handling and reading Dylan's actual things. The copies are that good. This is a really fun book and it isn't the kind of book you have to sit down and read cover to cover, though you will want to. This book can be opened to any page and be enjoyed! I love this book and it really does cause a person to feel like they are reading Dylan's own scrapbook!
