The Dylan Chronicles: A Musical Legend

Bob Dylan is an artist who has transcended space and time and genre classification. His music, his persona, his whole act is completely inimitable. From his earliest days as a folk hipster to his style bending rock and roll, Dylan proved himself over and over that he is the consummate musician. There never was and there never will be another Dylan. The autobiographic, Chronicles, is Dylan's story in his own words. In it, he shows us that his music is not the only that is full of surprises and intrigue. Dylan's life is a veritable whirlwind in itself, and his story takes along for that ride.

New York Stories

Dylan tells a lot about his days in New York. It is here where he finds himself alone, living on his dreams and at the cultural, artistic and intellectual center of America. He ends up at places like the Cafe Wa and other clubs. There are intellectuals, poets, vagrants and performers just like him. There is revolution in the air and people are eager to express and exchange important ideas. Moreover people are looking for a chance, a direct shot at making it, a opportunity for change, a record deal. It's also in New York where Dylan gets his education in the libraries and coffee shops, gleaning off of their libraries and developing his own sense of morality and history. But he is here to make music, not to teach at the finer schools. Enter John Hammond.

Dylan's Shot

John Hammond was the AandR man at Atlantic records. It was Hammond who gave Dylan his first shot at recording, and it was a big risk. The music of the time was sanitized and white washed. It was made for mass consumption, and, according to Dylan, insulted the listening public, depriving it of the kind of music that Dylan would produce in the near future. Yet, the risk was still there.

Dylan was not a trained artist. He was not schooled in the popular music of his day, though he was very fond of the ballads of the past, especially the likes of the Clancy Brothers and Jimmy Rogers. It was this kind of music, rebellious and romantic, that Dylan was drawn to. And it was this spirit that he would never compromise, though his styles would change drastically.

John Hammond appreciates the honesty and discipline of Dylan's style. He understands that this a unique product, but Hammnond is a business man. If a risk like this happens to pay off, it will pay off big.

Freewheelin'

Dylan records the now famous Freewheelin, and is almost an overnight sensation. Moreover, his music draws the attention of the left. There are songs like 'Masters of War' and 'Percy's Song' that associate him with an anti-establishment bent. It was a tag that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Dylan also draws the attention of a very rabid folk scene and he becomes the unofficial spokesperson for this group as well. But Dylan would reveal that he had much more up his musical sleeve. But it was this monumental album that announced to the world that a genius was about, and this was the beginning of his career.

Woodstock

The Woodstock era had begun, and Dylan actually buys a house in the area. Ironically, he intentionally avoids all major festivals of his time like the plague, deciding to devote his time to raising a family instead. It was a bold move, but he found a new joy in his children, "birthday parties" and "baseball games". This was the stuff of life and especially Dylan's at the time. But it was not long before intrusion creeps up on the balladeer in the form of unwanted fans and adorers. He even goes to the length of buying two firearms to protect himself, but is warned by the local sheriffs that he is primarily liable, if a person gets injured on his property.

People literally start invading his home, eating his food, vagrants, scoundrels, activists making pilgrimages from around the country to meet their messiah. Dylan feels betrayed and sickened at the whole thing. It's a confirmation of what he knew all along, Dylan did not belong to the counter culture, and he never wanted to.

Transmission

There are many other stories and adventures in Chronicles, and none of them are short of fascinating. All of them form an impression in Dylan's mind, creating an image, a feeling, way of looking at things. It's the same way that Dylan would end up internalizing the books and the TS Eliot that he read, somehow spewing out the essence of the thing in his own art. This is what makes Dylan so great; this is why he is considered the artist that he is. And this is why Chronicles is such a fascinating read. We don't just get stories, we get an inside look at Dylan's own system of epistomology- the inner workings of the mind of musical genius.