Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia Review

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(More customer reviews)Keys to the Rain is undoubtedly a valuable guide to Bob Dylan's recorded output. The book is well-researched and written in a straightforward, accessible style.
Unfortuntately, the book has numerous flaws that make it an often frustrating read. The factual errors include the following: the author states that The Basement Tapes' version of "Million Dollar Bash" is "notable for Dylan's use of the harmonica" when there is no harmonica on the track; the version of "Spanish Is the Loving Tongue" that appeared as the B-side single of "Watching the River Flow" is not the same version that was released on the Dylan lp; "Step It Up and Go" is from the album Good As I Been to You, not World Gone Wrong; and "Down Along the Cove" is erroneously listed as being included on The Band's re-release of Rock of Ages.
Numerous errors in dates dot the book. There is a wonderful photo of Dylan and two youngsters (page 602) that is dated 1966 but comes from much earlier (either 1962 or 1963).
There is one particularly egregious misquotation of Dylan's words, as the phrase "Truth is shadowy" in the World Gone Wrong liner notes becomes "Truth is a shadow" in the book, which changes the phrase's meaning.
Trager writes in the introduction that "unreleased outtakes" and "unreleased material from The Basement Tapes are not included." Yet he includes songs never released by Dylan but recorded and released by other artists (which the author should have explained in the too-brief introduction). There really is no reason for Trager not to have included these songs, since he includes all songs Dylan has played in concert (both original songs and cover versions), and he includes unnecessarily long biographies of the authors of said covers. So the reader gets pages and pages on songwriters such as Sammy Cahn, Merle Travis, Lefty Frizzell and Donnie Fritts (to name a few), but nothing on such great unreleased Dylan songs as "I'm Not There," All-American Boy," "Goodbye Holly" and "Yonder Comes Sin." The author says that "these omissions were made for reasons of space," but surely he could have cut back on his discussion of other artists in a Bob Dylan encyclopedia and made room for all of Dylan's original songs, officially released or not. Nor is there anything on great covers recorded by Dylan in the studio but not released (such as "Freedom for the Stallion"). Including these songs would then have truly earned the book the title of definitive.


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The most encyclopedic sourcebook on one of the 20th century's most important artists, Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia completely chronicles this music icon's recorded work. Discussions of all of his officially released albums and collaborative efforts, including year of release, record company, serial number information for all formats (LP, CD, and cassette), track list, musicians, and descriptive analysis of its place in Dylan's career are provided. In addition, it offers critical and historically detailed entries on each of the songs that Dylan has recorded or performed in more than four decades of touring, including composer information, and the album on which the song appeared. Completing this reference are detailed biographical sketches of more than 100 musicians, songwriters, and other individuals associated with Dylan, and a selected list of films in which he has been involved.

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