Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960-1994 Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a must have for Dylan fans and collectors, but there are some drawbacks which potential buyers should be aware of.
First, the title is deceptive. Heylin and his publisher obviously chose it to dupe unsuspecting readers into thinking they are getting a detailed, day-by-day account of Dylan's work in the studio, along the lines of Mark Lewisohn's extraordinary BEATLES RECORDING SESSIONS (Hamlyn, 1988). This is not such a chronicle, as Heylin points out - at length - in his introduction (an introduction that web buyers cannot read; hence, this review). Heylin's self-serving swipes at Lewisohn in the introduction are also unfortunate, and is "Bob-made-better-records-in-six-days-than-the-Beatles-did-in-six-months" rant is simply misguided. Methinks Clinton is jealous because Lewisohn had unprecedented access to the EMI archive, while Sony's gatekeeper - Jeff Rosen - allowed a rival Dylanologist to document the bard's work. Heylin's childish un-dedication to Rosen is surely a first in the history of publishing, and tarnishes an otherwise exemplary book.
If you can get past the petty dedication and bitchy introduction, you will find RECORDING SESSIONS to be a mostly informative, highly opinionated look at Dylan's career in the studio. You will need Michael Krogsgaard's authorised (sorry Clinton!) accounts in fanzines THE TELEGRAPH and THE BRIDGE for the most accurate session information (e.g. musicians and take numbers), but you don't read Clinton Heylin for these dry facts anyway. You read him because he has many insightful, provocative things to say about Bob Dylan, especially with regard to the songs and takes which were left behind, and have only appeared since on bootlegs, or Sony's pseudo-bootlegs. Here, Heylin simply shines.
You may not agree with what he has to say, but you will be entertained by the way he says it. This work deserves a place in your collection, next to Paul Williams's PERFORMING ARTIST I & II.

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Clinton Heylin has devoted his career to Bob Dylan's work and presents here a comprehensive study of all of Dylan's recording sessions.

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