This book has excellent arrangments for some of the most influential Dylan songs! It is a must for intermediate players. For once, you may actually need the cd (or tape) it can get challenging!

Olof Bjorner and I were separated by the Atlantic Ocean in the 1960's, but we had much in common. For example, we each discovered Bob Dylan's music in the 1960's, music which always seemed to reflect our lives. When we were outraged at injustice, we heard his voice; when we were confused or angry, we heard his voice; when we were in love, we heard his voice; when we were in the mood for a party, we heard his voice; when we feared the apocalypse, we heard his voice; and most of all when we wanted expression in music, we heard his voice. And we can change the past tense of the preceding sentence into present tense, for in fact we still hear his voice today.

The urgency of Dylan's influence makes his work a terrific subject for study, and this first volume of Olof's Files sets the standard for fans who want to know where and when Dylan was recorded, what he sang and said, and who was there. Those who have never sat down to study Dylan's performances may be stunned by the depth of available detail. Those who have studied Dylan will be very pleased by this in-depth reference work.

Open the book to any page, and see what you discover. (Page 240) Dylan performed 19 takes of She's your Lover Now (a fine song intended for Blonde on Blonde but never released until 1991's release of Dylan's THE BOOTLEG SERIES Volumes 1-3)on January 21, 1966, then dropped it summarily. (Page 58) Provides a chronicle of Dylan's show at Gerde's Flk City on April 16, 1962 - were you there?

You get the picture. This book is an extremely valuable resource for those who love Dylan's music and want to discover more about it.

Best of all, this is just the first Volume in a set that promises to become *the* reference book on Dylan.

It has a great soundtrack, too.

I've read most of the books about Dylan out there - this one's the best. Bowden argues that dylan's lyrics cannot be thoughtfully analyzed without also considering the music and the performance - thus the title, "Performed Literature". Bowden's writing is clear, forceful, and engaging. She uses many examples to back up her points. Bowden is an academic, so there is fair amount of jargon thrown in, and part of the book does drag a bit, but all in all, this book is a must read for the serious dylan fan. (by the way, this is not a biography, so don't expect anything of that nature)

I enjoyed reading this book. It really does great justice to Dylan and Dante. This book is a wonderfull read. It is really interesting and insightfull. I happen to know Jenny Ledeen and she is a true Dylan expert. I will be happy to get you a copy of her book, signed and everything. I will also talk with Jenny soon and get her to write a review for you. If you want this book email me I will send you a copy.

THIS BOOK IS AN EXCELLENT LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES OF DYLAN'S ROLLING THUNDER REVIEW WHICH MADE IT'S WAY THROUGH NEW ENGLAND BACK IN THE FALL OF '75. SAM SHEPARD HAS DONE A GREAT JOB OF CAPTURING THE FEEL AND CHARACTERS THAT SURROUNDED THIS HISTORIC TOUR. NOT TO BE MISSED BY ANY TRUE DYLAN FAN.

THIS BOOK IS AN EXCELLENT LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES OF DYLAN'S ROLLING THUNDER REVIEW WHICH MADE IT'S WAY THROUGH NEW ENGLAND BACK IN THE FALL OF '75. SAM SHEPARD HAS DONE A GREAT JOB OF CAPTURING THE FEEL AND CHARACTERS THAT SURROUNDED THIS HISTORIC TOUR. NOT TO BE MISSED BY ANY TRUE DYLAN FAN.

This is easily, the BEST Bob Dylan book ever written. "Voice Without Restraint" deals with Dylan's lyrics in an intelligent and unbiased manner. No matter what period Dylan you prefer, this book will give you new insight to your favorites songs. (The book also makes you re-evaluate great Dylan songs and/or lp's you may have wrongly dismissed the first time around.) A fascinating read for anyone who claims to "love his songs, hate his voice" and certainly essential for any Bob-head.

. . .start (of course) with the albums, of course, especially "Freewheelin'," "Highway 61 Revisited," "Blonde on Blonde," and "John Wesley Harding," "Basement Tapes," "Blood on the Tracks," "Bootleg Series Vol 4," and maybe "World Gone Wrong." Then check out "Don't Look Back" on DVD. Shelton's book has a lot of great information about Dylan, but it's not the best organized or most concise biography you'll ever come across (maybe it's the editor who worked on the book's fault [?]). It's also now a bit dated, published in 1986. Clinton Heylin's "Man Behind the Shades" (1991) and Howard Sounes' "Down the Highway" (2001) are both more up-to-date and easier reads. Greil Marcus' "Invisible Republic" (1997)does a better job of placing Dylan's music in a historical context. "No Direction Home" is a sprawling collection of interview excepts, biography, oral history, the author's personal recollections of Dylan, musicology, and literary criticism that never really connects the dots, but there is a lot of great information for the experienced or semi-experienced Dylan enthusiast to wade through

I really enjoyed this book. This is the first book I've read about Dylan so I can't say this is the best because I have nothing to compare it with but I found it very enjoyable and I liked the fact that the author is a friend and who acknowledges that so we know from what bias he is writing, a bias I rather enjoyed because there really is no objective way to look at Dylan- it's all subjective and this book is a great subjective overview. I also enjoyed how the author gave his commentary on Dylan's music and lyrics but left room for other interpretations- I think that's how Dylan wants his lyrics to be interpreted- leaving them open for each individual to have his own opinion. It's also cute how the author uses Dylan's lyrics to name his chapters and sections. I recommend this book to anyone who's a Dylan fan and/or interested in the folk/rock music period of the early 60's especially.

You must be interested in Dylan, as both a folk artist and a renegade, to take on this lengthy biography. If you are though, Shelton provides you with almost a Bible of Dylan from 1941 in Duluth, MN to 1985 in NYC - through all his different stages, his changing emotions, his passions - and of course his music. Getting into Dylan can be intense but he'll rumble your soul and twist your head a couple times so you get to see whats all around you. His influence on music and society is absolutely far-reaching. This book is excellent!!!

Bob Dylan seems to be one of those artists who are like a mirror. You see what reflection you wish to portray. Having read Jonathon Cotts Dylan,where Dylan is a great poet,Stephen Pickerings Dylan, where he is a wandering Hebrew prophet,I decided on this book. Well, the theology here is an odd mix of fundementalism and Hebrew-christian potpurri. Hey, you can take Dylan songs to justify union busting{union sundown],though I hardly think that is the intention. Ignoring the vast corpus of Dyans work to justify this is simply cheap.Dr. Fruchtenbaum may or may not be a good theologian. Howwever, this book is about HIM, not bob dylan. I was very,very disappointed at the questioanble theological viewpoint and the tedious pedantic postruing and lecturing. Thomas Merton near the end of his life was preparing a study of Bob Dylan. Now THAT would have been interesting and fruitful. This is not.

This book is unique, combining sound-bites from the lyrics of a legendary musician with a more detailed and systematic exposition by one of the most erudite theologians around. The brief but plentiful extracts from Bob Dylan display a consistent Christian faith, and it would be impossible to do him justice without understanding what drives him at the deepest level.

The more detailed writings of his fellow Hebrew Christian, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, serve as excellent commentaries, although they were written independently. The author has done a remarkable job in combining them in this way. Of course the systematic theologian has more words in the book, but it's unfair to deny that the book is about Dylan as well, since it's his insights that head each of the many topics studied.

It's sad that some people resent the fact that some stars have great faith. I've seen it in my country with the seething resentment of journalists in the secular Australian media when 19-year-old Aaron Baddeley received his Australian Golf Open trophy and publicly declared Jesus as saviour, and that his faith in Christ is crucial to his success.

Rich in history and doctrine, this book delineates, perhaps the "best of," both Dylan and Dr. Fruchtenbaum (both of whom I highly esteem). It could be considered a primer for Fruchtenbaum's work in understanding Hebrew Christianity. It should, as well, be considered a major work in showing how this faith pertains to many of Bob Dylan's mysterious lyrics. It will not only enlighten those who read it, but encourage them as well. Ronnie Keohane has put together a wonderful resource for understanding the Jewish basis of Christianity, how Israel and the Gentiles are co-heirs in Christ Jesus, and how Bob Dylan has poetically grafted his faith and music into one.

This excellent book documents every concert, recording session and personal appearance that Dylan has ever done. Includes T.V. and radio appearances as well as unrealesed recordings. The book is laid out by each year and tells what Dylan was doing on a particular day of that year. Incredible and exhaustive research which makes one believe that Dylans every move has been documented by someone and all that info has been gathered in this stupendous edition. Out of the many Dylan books I own , this is without a doubt the one I turn to the most. INVALUABLE.

Once, in the environs of Wheeler Hall in the mid 80s, I was talking to Robert Pinksy about this-and-that poetics, and I was ranting in hyperbolic style about Bob Dylan being a kind of Blake for our time, refiguring "Jesus the Imagination" in a time of imperial blight and so on. Pinsky looked at me wryly, a bit baffled, and said, "Dylan is somebody I never got into. I never really thought of him as a poet." I was amazed by this comment, and begin to wonder (as I often do) if I knew what poetry is anymore. But I never lost my amazement towards B Dylan, and his latest Nietzschean attack on his own deepest belief structures and pieties in "Time Out of Mind" and "Things Have Changed" from "Wonderboys" soundtrack only confirms the scope, depth, and generic visionary quality of his work. Happy Birthday Bob Dylan....

For any true fan, a "must have" reference. Day to day account of the life of the master poet/musician/performer.Get it, by all means get it!