Like A Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads (Hardcover)

by Greil Marcus (Author) "Everyone remembers where they were when they heard that Kennedy was shot..." (more)
Key Phrases: mystery tramps, bootleg series, black mama, Bob Dylan, New York, Jack Fate (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Marcus's engaging exegesis on the musical and cultural ramifications of Dylan's 1965 six-and-half-minute hit is not just a study of a popular song and a historic era, but an examination of the heroic status of the American visionary artist. Recorded when American popular music was "like a running election," Dylan's "music of transformations" induced a conflicted, confused America to look at its social disasters of racism, drug abuse and Vietnam, Marcus says, while simultaneously permitting it to strip away its illusions and hope for a better future. Ostensibly about a rich young socialite's fall from grace, the song's lyrics are open to many interpretations, which may have helped make it such a phenomenon. Marcus displays a comprehensive knowledge of American popular and political history, tracing the song's roots back to Robert Johnson and Hank Williams and spotting its influence on such disparate artists as Frank Zappa, the Village People and various contestants on American Idol. Part scholarly discourse and part beatnik rambling, the book is chockfull of lively metaphors and includes 20 pages of studio outtake banter. Marcus successfully convinces readers that (in the words of hit songwriter Gerry Goffin), "Dylan managed to do something that not one of us was able to do: put poetry in rock n' roll and just stand up there like a mensch and sing it."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* In Invisible Republic (1997), Marcus delved into the legendary series of "underground" recordings by Bob Dylan and the Band known as the Basement Tapes. Here he narrows focus to a single song of Dylan's, "Like a Rolling Stone," recorded four decades ago but every bit as potent and compelling today. Nearly everything about it was groundbreaking, from its six-minute length to its solidification of Dylan's controversial move from folk to rock, and nothing Dylan recorded before or since has had its musical impact. Marcus provides a detailed account of the recording session, of course, but goes far beyond the standard behind-the-music approach, placing the song in the context not just of Dylan's work but of American music overall, from the folk and blues that informed it to the music that followed it, by Dylan as well as others, including such obscure and bizarre covers of "Rolling Stone" as an Italian hip-hop treatment. Marcus' vast understanding of American culture and intimate knowledge of Dylan's career make this an eye-opening read, and if his sometimes hyperbolic approach will strike some as overselling the song's significance, how many other pop recordings could withstand such intense--and loving--scrutiny? Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 283 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586482548
• ISBN-13: 978-1586482541
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #640,999 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "no direction home," 40 years later, April 2, 2005

By	R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A whole book about one song? If there's a song that deserves it, it's Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," but this is Greil Marcus, and there's a lot of history, social context and cultural detritus here beyond the song, no surprise. The first section of the book is on the social context into which the song was launched, the middle section is about the making of the song itself, and the last section is about its reception and effects.

I found some of Marcus's cultural commentary compelling and some not so compelling -- the highlights for me are the less disputable "facts" about the great song itself, recorded on June 15, 1965 and released on July 24, 1965. It stormed the pop charts, unprecedented for a 6-minute song, and reached #2 in the USA. What was #1, you ask? It was the Beatles' "Help!" Al Kooper's story of how he ended up playing organ is quite amusing, and Dylan's recruitment and use of Michael Bloomfield in the session is fascinating. Also superb is Marcus's account of the ensuing tour of the new electric Dylan, with the booing in the U.S. and the large-scale disruption of the U.K. concerts, some of it quite purposefully organized by the old British Communist Party, as it turns out, which controlled a network of stodgy folk clubs. "Like a Rolling Stone" was the last song every night on that tour, a perfect howl of anger for Dylan to wreak vengeance on his recalcitrant fans. (See my 9/5/04 review of the LIVE 1966 disc, the official release of the famous "Royal Albert Hall" bootleg of the Manchester concert.)

Once you realize the scope of Marcus's musings, it becomes clear that this book could have been much longer. He never devotes any attention to the fact that the song was an existentialist anthem, for instance, which might have involved analysis of the existentialists and their influence on Dylan. He doesn't have much to say about the class resentment that drives much of the song's powerful angry energy, or the vast and growing inequality in the the U.S. that might make that resentment more and more relevant at 40 years on, as the old New Deal programs are under full-scale assault by the president and congress. Dylan himself said "I was hungry, and it was your world" ("Just Like a Woman"), he also said "Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough" ("Tangled Up In Blue"), both references to the fact that he, a middle class boy, had entered a higher status world, and experienced class resentment. Much could have been made of the social context of the Vietnam War, and Dylan's refusal to address it. The turn from the left-wing politics of his folk period (for civil rights, against war) to the apolitical, surrealist stance he took in 1964-5 is never seriously tackled. Some of Marcus's musings are quite idiosyncratic -- of all the music that has followed "Like a Rolling Stone" he chooses the Village People and the Pet Shop Boys for special treatment. I would have chosen at least a thousand others first, but there you go, it's a wide world for cultural influence, and there's 40 years to work with. He mentions, and includes the entire text of, a great old early '70s comedy skit that they used to play on WXRT in Chicago with Dylan pitching a K-Tel album of Golden Protest. An Italian rap group's version of The Song from MASKED AND ANONYMOUS is analyzed at some length.

I can now easily imagine books about Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" quite different from this one. But they haven't been written. I'll close with a quote from Dylan himself from 2004:

"It's like a ghost is writing a song like that. It gives you the song, and then it goes away, it goes away."

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The biography of a song..., June 26, 2005

By	ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Here lies a biography of a single song. Of course, not just any song, but the "how does it feeeeeel?" song that refuses to disappear since its release as a two-sided 45 in 1965. Has any other or, maybe a better question would be, can any other song receive the in-depth, subterranean, data mined, ultra-nuanced treatment that Greil Marcus gives to Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"?

That the song remains legendary no one probably doubts. That it stands as one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded may also not meet with much dissidence. But over two-hundred pages on a single song? The idea alone entices a read.

So what happens in this book? And why should anyone read it? First off, this book likely won't appeal to those who don't see a connection between popular music, popular culture, how it potentially affects our lives as consumers/listeners, and how a song can take on a life of its own (which explains the "biography" moniker - this book really tries to capture the life the song took on all by itself). Some of the claims this book makes seem a little far out. Did "Like A Rolling Stone" contain seeds for a "strange revolution"? Does the song have, for lack of a better term, a metaphysical category all of its own (as some of the descriptions and rhapsodies in this book suggest) that seems unreachable and ineffable? Those who like to put on music, dance to it, and not think about it will probably close this book quickly. In other words, it's a heady book for those who want to dig into the mystique of popular music and theorize about what makes it tick. Marcus descends to levels of granularity that don't seem possible when chatting about popular music. Some of the chapters read thickly, and, without a share of Marcus' knowledge, some of the references approach the incomprehensible.

Still, this rather short book bloats with interesting historical tidbits about Dylan, the song, the origins of the song, multifarious perspectives on the song, readings of the song's lyrics, the recording of the song, and some of its concert history. Some of these contain new information (songs in which "Rolling Stone" have appeared, the history of Highway 61 - the actual physical highway, the pop and culture scene of the early 1960s - for those of us who weren't there, at least). Others will seem very familiar to hard core Dylan fans (the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where the crowd booed Dylan, Al Kooper sneaking into the studio, the infamous "Judas!" remark). The book's epilogue contains almost a play-by-play of the recording session for the song. It reveals glimpses of how it almost got away from the group. But was take 4 an "accident" as Marcus claims?

A few things don't receive mention: Dylan included a strange and sloppy version of "Like A Rolling Stone" on the monolithic and bizarre "Self-Portrait". What was that all about? And what about Dylan's song "Highway 51 Blues" from his first album. What highway was that and can any connection be drawn from that song to the 1965 album? Also, Marcus quotes the line "Highway 61, go right past my baby's door" on page 167. This line appears in the song "Highway 51 Blues" but as "Highway 51, go right past my baby's door." Did he mix the two up or is there some assumed and implied historical knowledge in that passage?

It's hard to describe what this book offers. For one, it contains loads of philosophical speculation about the song. It also bequeaths a wealth of information on this single subject. So much so, that upon finishing it, the loads of information mingle in the brain with other facts and snippets of the song (try not singing "how does it feeeel" continuously). Is the song as significant as Marcus makes it out to be? The answer to and degree of that question depends on the person asking it. In the end, this book is not for everyone. It's a specialist's book. Those who find themselves wondering about how a song goes from studio to legend or how an artist deals or struggles with a song as it takes on legendary water will likely love every page. Those that want to dance or groove should close the book and turn on their stereos. Nonetheless, it may also shine a light on the phenomema of popular music and its mystical and capricious side. There's more to a great song than notes, after all.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marcus strikes again, May 29, 2005

By	Charles Sikkenga "ceguru" (Grand Haven, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Greil Marcus is back and returning to one of his favorite subjects, Bob Dylan.

This time he takes on "Like a Rolling Stone," which he apparently considers as Dylan's masterstroke and probably the greatest song in Rock and Roll history.

Those unitiated to Marcus' work are warned against expecting a straightforward narrative. This is NOT a book for those with a casual interest. Instead, Marcus, in keeping with his usual method, writes for PhD's who live in record stores, delivering a rambling metaphysical analysis of the song and its origins. In the process he makes connections between the song and all manner of cultural events throughout history, some obscure, some less so. Some of these connections make sense, others sound like b.s. and more yet are impenatrable to all but those with vast backlogs of arcane information. Still, that's part of the fun. For Marcus, pop music is more than music. Its some sort of key to the universe. For those who share his passion, his works are a whole lot of fun. For those who don't, its going to seem overcooked at best. Count me with the former.