Among those who write regularly about Dylan, Wilentz possesses the rare virtues of modesty, nuance, and lucidity, and for that he should be celebrated and treasured....Wilentz is very, very good on the actual music. In fact, the centerpiece of his book is a vivid look at the 'Blonde on Blonde' sessions, during which the musicians teased and groped their way toward the album's 'thin, wild mercury sound,' in Dylan's famous description.

Growing up in Greenwich Village in the 1960s, Sean Wilentz discovered the music of Bob Dylan as a young teenager. Almost half a century later, now a distinguished professor of American history, he revisits Dylan's work with the critical skills of a scholar and the passion of a fan. Drawing partly on his work as the current historian-in-residence on Dylan's official website, Sean Wilentz provides a unique blend of biography, memoir and anlysis in a book which, much like its subject, shifts gears and changes shape as the occasion demands. Beginning with Dylan's explosion onto the scene in 1961, this book charts his career and the evolution of his astonishing output and places it firmly within a vivid musical and cultural context. It examines the influence of the Popular Front ideology and of Beat aesthetics, as well as the debt and sometimes surprising connections to other composers and performers - as diverse as Aaron Copland and Blind Willie McTell. The result is a broad and brilliantly illuminating appreciation of Dylan as both performer and songwriter up to the present day. Sean Wilentz has had unprecedented access to studio tapes, recording notes and rare photographs - many of which are reproduced here. This remarkable material allows him to tell Dylan's story - and that of such masterpieces as "Blonde on Blonde" - with unrivalled authenticity and richness.

Introduction

PART I: BEFORE

1 Music for the Common Man:The Popular Front and Aaron Copland's America

2 Penetrating Aether: The Beat Generation and Mien Ginsberg's America

PART I1: EARLY

3 Darkness at the Break of Noon: The Concert at Philharmonic Hall, New York City, October 31, 1964

4 The Sound of 3:00 A.M.: The Making of Blonde on Blonde, New York City and Nashville,October 5, 1965-March 10 (?), 1966

PART III: LATER

5 Children of Paradise: The Rolling Thunder Revue,New Haven, Connecticut, November 13, 1975

6 Many Martyrs Fell: "Blind Willie McTell,"New York City, May 5, 1983

PART IV: INTERLUDE

7 All the Friends I Ever Had Are Gone:"Delia," Malibu, California, May 1993

8 Dylan and the Sacred Harp:"Lone Pilgrim," Malibu, California, May 1993

PART V: RECENT

9 The Modern Minstrel Returns: "Love and Theft,"September 11,2001, and the Newport Folk Festival,Newport, Rhode Island, August 3, 2002

10 Bob Dylan's Civil Wars: Masked andAnonymous,July 23, 2003, and Chronicles: Volume One, October 5, 2004

11 Dreams, Schemes, and Themes: Modern Times,

 August 29, 2006; Theme Time Radio Hour with

 Your Host Bob Dylan, May 3, 2006-April 15, 2009;

 The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare

 and Unreleased, 1989-2006, October 7, 2008; and

 Together Through Life, April 28, 2009

Coda: Do You Hear What I Hear? Christmas in the Heart, October 13, 2009

Afterword to the Anchor Edition

Acknowledgments

Selected Readings, Notes, and Discography

Illustration Credits

Index

Permissions Acknowledgments