Customer Reviews

Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973 (Cappella Books)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Just received this today (from amazon.de) - and I'm sadly disappointed by the pretentious and rather sloppy research.

Nothing really new here - no really new insights, but mostly a repetition of material found elsewhere already and treated in a more reliable and considerably more scholarly way in books like Michael Gray's The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia or Oliver Trager's Keys to the Rain.

Add to this Heylin's rather condescending tone, everybody else's research (in his eyes) seems to be faulty and cannot be trusted - just savor this rather pompous statement:

"Needless to say, the Internet has also provided endless opportunities for the unpublishable, self-appointed "expert" to pontificate on the man and his art, but I have felt little inclination to fuel their self-importance, with a citation here." (p. 451)

As condescending (or outright arrogant) Heylin is in (several) statements like these throughout the book whenever other people's research/work is concerned, he obviously has no scruples whatsoever to exploit the websites of these "unpublishable" peons (in his eyes) rather extensively, presenting their findings in a way that suggests that these are his own without crediting his sources appropriately, thus rendering his book as academically rather useless, even bordering on plagiarism.

A particularly blatant example is to be found on p. 136. Heylin writes that "Judy Collins, in a 1996 email regarding the two songs, confirms that 'the Seven Curses are related to Anathea'" and extensively quotes from this email, creating the impression that he had been the recipient of it, whereas he "lifted" this email (without credit to his source and proper attribution) verbatim from [...] whose webmaster (and not Heylin) had received it from Judy Collins back in 1996.

It is this obvious lack of scholarly ethics (not crediting sources that one considers "below par" while at the same time using and exploiting them for one's own gain and "glory") which exposes Clinton Heylin as what he claims others to be: a basically "unpublishable" (his book is rather boring to boot), mostly self-appointed "expert".

Do yourselves a favor and do not fuel Heylin's self-importance by buying this hyped and pretentious product (except for a comparison to those by Michael Gray, Oliver Trager, or Derek Barker's Bob Dylan: The Songs He Didn't Write and Todd Harvey's The Formative Dylan -- all of those present an unbiased scholarly approach devoid of the obvious hybris found throughout Heylin's book, a clear distinction between these authors' own research with properly attributed and credited citations from sources and websites consulted and not merely "exploited" without proper credit as in Heylin's case).

To sum it up: Pretentious and hyped in advance but found to be scholarly totally unreliable (sources not credited properly in academic fashion). Sadly disappointing....

Clinton Heylin is notorious for editorializing in works that are supposed to be scholarly, as well as for spending a lot of time bad-mouthing everyone ELSE who writes about Dylan. Here, he's in rare form, lodging one complaint after another about Dylan critics (who are, in many cases, actually better writers AND better historians than he is). While there is some new information here that will make the book useful for Dylan fans, there is so much inaccuracy among the known facts that the new information has to be considered questionable (in particular, when he mentions whether a song was performed on the Neverending Tour, when it was first performed, or how often it was performed, the information given is often demonstratably false, despite the fact that the information is VERY easy to obtain). As usual, though, it's not the inaccuracy that makes this book hard to read, it's Heylin's usual sniveling, self-satisfied tone. The act of writing a book about someone else is, by nature, something of an unselfish act, but Heylin manages to look like an egomaniac in the process.

Dylan certainly wrote some of the most fascinating music of our time. But Heylin's treatise is so soaked in detail about the first performances and other technicalities that there appears to be little passion for the music itself. Other reviewers take Heylin to task for being factually incorrect; I do not know enough to judge that. I take him to task for making what should be a fascinating subject very dull and academic. After reading the book, I wondered, did Heylin actually like any of these 300 songs? If he did, I sure could not tell from this book.

I agree with part of the two previous reviewers' comments: Heylin is unnecessarily self-hyping, especially for a biographer. He inserted himself (and what appears to be a perpetual grumpy-older-guy persona) into his biography of Van Morrison ("Can You Feel The Silence?"), ruining what otherwise would have been an enjoyable read for me.

Similarly, he has so many axes to grind with other Dylan writers in his preamble to "Revolution In The Air," you feel he wants a fight with them more than to speak the truth about his subject -- which is Dylan, not those other writers.

Still... this book is so rich. First, it concentrates on the songs. Not "the legend." And it mostly leaves critical comments about specific songs behind, instead just detailing circumstances and background behind their writing. That levelheadedness is valuable in the hothouse bubble of Dylan criticism.

And this book just reminds you where the hothouse really was -- in Dylan's inspired brain. Especially in the 60s which is most of what this first volume covers. (A second volume is planned.) It focuses your attention on Dylan's amazing crawl from copying Woody Guthrie to... replacing him, if you will. An amazing journey.

And the journey is all about those songs. I found it a fascinating read and very hard to put down. I recommend the book highly, even with the caveats about Heylin's personality mentioned above.

I got to page 41 and had to put this book down. I find it hard to believe Clinton Heylin who wrote Behind The Shades actually wrote this. Page 28 he misquotes "Song To Woody." Page 35 he erroneously states that Dylan wrote three songs on Bob Dylan (the first album, and he never identifies the third song). On pages 40 & 41 he credits Dylan with writing "Just As Long As I'm In This World" including lyrics about fiery fingers and a fiery band straight from Reverend Gary Davis' "I Am The Light Of This World", a well known blues song. Heylin has lost all credibility by page 41 so why would I waste my time on the rest of the 482 pages. I am extremely disappointed!

Mr. Heylin's previous works on Dylan (three that I know of and own) are quite wonderful, despite what reviewers accurately point out as his arrogant, occasionally over-opinionated observations. This work is consistently informative, enlightening, and arguable. I like his use of language and the organization he's used here is especially conducive to examining BD's work as a songwriter. The factual lapses, which really aren't numerous, don't present an issue for readers. Heylin's knowledge and passion are unquestionable, as is his scholarly approach. The rather condescending comments he makes about other critics do not contribute in any positive way to Mr. Heylin's voice as a writer but they also don't seriously mar the the content of this study. He also has a habit of being rather nasty to musicians who Dylan himself holds highly and I do have a problem with that. I do wish that Mr. Heylin (and this goes for each book he's authored on Dylan) would curtail his comments a bit on The Grateful Dead, who he just doesn't get. (Even though almost no one holds the 1987 collaboration to any high estimation). Van Morrison, too. I also am puzzled at Mr. Heylin's negative feelings about Theme Time Radio. He doesn't really explain himself regarding that wonderful radio show. But these are minor quibbles in a work that is a brilliant critical canvas, covering the songs of the major artist of our time. I do look forward to Mr. Heylin's next volume, warts and all. It deserves five stars but I can understand readers who might be furious enough to give it two.

Clinton Heylin has written a lot of books on Dylan, his best-known of them being "Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades", and now comes this book, the first of a promised two, in which Heylin purports to collect and comment on every single song (excluding intrumentals) that Dylan has written, and in the chronological order that they were written.

"Revolution In the AIr: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973" (492 pages) starts off with several introductory chapters, about 30 pages in all, in which the author provides context of what he is trying to set out to do (and dishing a lot of other Dylan reviewers along the way). I picked up something that was never clear to me, whether Dylan writes the lyrics before the music, or the other way around (it's the latter, by the way). Then comes the song-by-song analysis, and I found it generally quite fascinating, to be honest. Just a few examples: writing about "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)": "It seems he had finally got around to reading Sartre and Kirkegaard, for here is the first evidence of an existential strain that suffused much of what he would write about in the coming year." Commenting on "Like a Rolling Stone": "[It] was his first song to condense the whole story of a Miss Lonely down to just four verses". (There is a lot more on who that Miss Lonely actually might be.) Commenting on "Forever Young", referring to this being a reply of sorts to Neil Young's hit at the time (Heart of Gold): "And yes, that is a pun in the title. Though it has passed most folks by, he was doing a Dylanesque Young, forever." Hilarious! On and on, and I found myself turning the pages.

I read some of the other reviews here, from several Bob Dylan fanatics/connaiseurs (which I am not, even though I am a pretty big Dylan enthousiast), in particular as to certain specific items that may or may not have been correct in a book. I have no idea if it is true or not, but in a 500 page book, it is bound to happen and it never bothered me as I was reading this. Myself, I'm looking forward to the next volume of this 2 book set, covering the post-1973 years. I've seen Dylan many times over the years, most recently last month on the Never Ending Tour, and I never fail to be fascinated by the man. Meanwhile, "Revolution In the Air" is enjoyable reading for most of us Dylan fans.

I had high hopes for this book, as I do most Dylan books. And Behind The Shades was a fresh addition to the Dylan biography canon when it first came out.

But Revolution in the Air is just awful. The research is nonexistant. The opinions are just BS. It's like the author is making it his duty to release a Dylan book by rote. Well, Mr. Heylin, a quarter does not equal a dollar, no matter what you're trying to pass off as gold. It's a fool's bowl of pyrite!

Know your song (subject) before you start singing!! (typing)...

I agree with the others here who have pointed out that this book is a disappointment.

The author's massive ego gets in the way. In addition, he manages to take an interesting topic and make it very boring.

Save your money.

Clinton Heylin, author of "Behind the Shades," is without a doubt

a kick-ass Dylan biographer; unyielding, tenacious and honest in the research

of his subject. That being said, "Revolution in the Air" reads like a never-ending

tome of album liner notes. I bought this book based on a music publication review

indicating it had scads of relevatory information; i.e., "Forever Young'' was a dig

at Neil Young for taking on Dylan's style on "Heart of Gold."

Besides that such inside-knowledge nuggets seem apocryphal in Heylin's

"Revolution," they seem far and few between. If you keep this book on your nightstand,

you'll be sure not to stay up all night _ it's just not that compelling. Then there is the

irritating aspect of subjecting yourself to Heylin's biases: he loathes the Grateful Dead;

obviously Dylan admired them and Garcia was a true friend. Furthermore, he

categorizes gems such as "You Angel You" off Planet Waves as "slog" intended to

fill out the album. Again, Heylin did a superb warts-and-all biography of Dylan, but

his assessments of Dylan's work are oft-dubious at best.

Then there is the matter of the time frame of "Revolution." Heylin chronicles

1957-1973. By now, that's like "ancient footprints on the Spanish Stairs." The period

has been hashed and re-hashed so often, "Revolution" leaves you longing for current

information. If you're a true Dylanphile, acquire this book to skim it; otherwise

don't bother.