Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960-1994 [Paperback]

Clinton Heylin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1997

Clinton Heylin has devoted his career to Bob Dylan's work and presents here a comprehensive study of all of Dylan's recording sessions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"As informative a musical study of Dylan as we have."--David Hinckley, New York Daily News

 

"A must for rabid fans".--"Seattle Times"

About the Author

Clinton Heylin is the cofounder of Wanted Man, the British information office dedicated to studying Dylan's life and work. He is the author of "Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades,"" From the Velvets to the Voidoids,"" "and "Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions 1960-1964".

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (March 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312150679
• ISBN-13: 978-0312150679
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,306,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deceptive Title; Informative and Opinionated Text, February 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960-1994 (Paperback)

This is a must have for Dylan fans and collectors, but there are some drawbacks which potential buyers should be aware of.

First, the title is deceptive. Heylin and his publisher obviously chose it to dupe unsuspecting readers into thinking they are getting a detailed, day-by-day account of Dylan's work in the studio, along the lines of Mark Lewisohn's extraordinary BEATLES RECORDING SESSIONS (Hamlyn, 1988). This is not such a chronicle, as Heylin points out - at length - in his introduction (an introduction that web buyers cannot read; hence, this review). Heylin's self-serving swipes at Lewisohn in the introduction are also unfortunate, and is "Bob-made-better-records-in-six-days-than-the-Beatles-did-in-six-months" rant is simply misguided. Methinks Clinton is jealous because Lewisohn had unprecedented access to the EMI archive, while Sony's gatekeeper - Jeff Rosen - allowed a rival Dylanologist to document the bard's work. Heylin's childish un-dedication to Rosen is surely a first in the history of publishing, and tarnishes an otherwise exemplary book.

If you can get past the petty dedication and bitchy introduction, you will find RECORDING SESSIONS to be a mostly informative, highly opinionated look at Dylan's career in the studio. You will need Michael Krogsgaard's authorised (sorry Clinton!) accounts in fanzines THE TELEGRAPH and THE BRIDGE for the most accurate session information (e.g. musicians and take numbers), but you don't read Clinton Heylin for these dry facts anyway. You read him because he has many insightful, provocative things to say about Bob Dylan, especially with regard to the songs and takes which were left behind, and have only appeared since on bootlegs, or Sony's pseudo-bootlegs. Here, Heylin simply shines.

You may not agree with what he has to say, but you will be entertained by the way he says it. This work deserves a place in your collection, next to Paul Williams's PERFORMING ARTIST I & II.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clinton Heylin shares his opinions..., August 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960-1994 (Hardcover)

Well, I am intrigued by the review that posits Heylin as a charlatan posing as a pundit- a turn of phrase associated with The Marquess of Queensbury... I only wish the reviewer would provide some details.

Heylin from the outset makes it clear that he is not going to produce a Dylan equivilant to Mark Lewisohn's indispensible "The Beatles Recording Sessions"-(trashing that work is part of Heylin's explanation...). What Heylin does offer is some analysis (good)and a LOT of opinion (er, not so good...).

Heylin provides some good insight into Dylan's disdain for the recording process- but rather over extends this, creating a false opposition against those who spent time in the studio and were interested in the possibilities of production hence the Beatles (and nearly all of Dylan's peers) are summarily dismissed in the preface...

Overall though, it is entertaining. Some of his rants and his rather conversational style don't necessarily help his cause- b! ut it is thorough and has good information on what remains unreleased.

That said, one needs to procure the outtake material (on which he offers an excellent guide)to really get an understanding of what Heylin is trying to convey: that Dylan has frequently damaged his own output- parcelling out substandard tosh or damaged goods while locking away his best material in the vaults- witness nearly all of his 1980's output and his eleventh hour revision of "Blood on the Tracks".

Without anything else out there to rival it- it remains a must buy for a serious fan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For obsessive fans only, January 26, 2003

By 

Bill R. Moore (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960-1994 (Paperback)

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.