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(More customer reviews)Clinton Heylin's revised edition of Behind the Shades is, at this point, the definitive Dylan biography, and is not likely to be surpassed anytime soon. In spite of it's comparative neglect in relation to Sounes' Down the Highway (published almost simultaneously, to coincide with Dylan's 60th birthday), Heylin's book is a more informative and rewarding book.
In tone, Heylin's writing is not as journalistic as Sounes', and more judgmental of Dylan as artist and musician. It draws heavily on interview material with associates and friends of Dylan's, and is significant in giving detailed attention to Dylan's career in the 80's and 90's, which is necessary for anyone seeking to understand Dylan's recent critical resurgence.
Based on his knowledge as the world's pre-eminent Dylan scholar, Heylin gives extensive commentary on Dylan's albums and their recording, a process he has given even greater attention to in his companion book Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions (1994). This is one of the major differences between Heylin's book and Sounes'. Sounes does not focus so much on Dylan as a musician or even Dylan as a lyricist. Sounes' biography is more, well, biographical, providing tons of anecdotal accounts of Dylan's life and travels, while missing the point - Dylan matters because of his music and his lyrics above all else. His life, so cloaked in mystery and seclusion, is a mystery, and will remain so. A recording artist is ultimately most communicative through their recordings - through what they are, what they're not, and how they are presented to the artist's audience. Sounes attempts to fill in the mystery of Dylan's life, which is ultimately an impossible task, at the expense of communicating any real understanding of his music.
Heylin's biography is also superior in that it draws on an extensive knowledge of Dylan's unreleased recordings. When dealing with a subject whose own officially released canon is so often poorly representative of his recording career, Heylin's knowledge is wide-ranging and intensely critical. An informed and considered discussion of Dylan's unreleased recordings, which are in many cases superior to those he has chosen to issue, is especially important when examining Dylan's 1980's output, a series of albums sometimes marred primarily by the choices of which songs and takes of songs to include on the released albums. Sounes barely acknowledges the existence of important unreleased recordings, and that diminishes the importance of his biography considerably.
Sounes' one trump over Heylin's biography is the much-publicized revelation of Dylan's second marriage. How important this biographical detail is to understanding or appreciating Dylan's music, however, is very debatable. If you are looking for an easily-readable, readily-digestable account of Dylan's life with little detailed discussion of his music, go for the Sounes bio. Otherwise, Heylin's Behind the Shades, especially in its new revised edition, is the real deal and is the preeminant Dylan bio. Highly recommended.
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