Dylan

Dennis McDougal

Description

The ultimate biography of the musical icon.

A groundbreaking and vibrant look at the music hero to generations, DYLAN: The Biography digs deep into Bob Dylan lore—including subjects Dylan himself left out of Chronicles: Volume One.

DYLAN: The Biography focuses on why this beloved artist has touched so many souls—and on how both Dylan and his audience have changed along the way.

Bob Dylan is an international bestselling artist, a Pulitzer Prize–winning author, and an Oscar winner for "Things Have Changed." His career is stronger and more influential than ever. How did this happen, given the road to oblivion he seemed to choose more than two decades ago? What transformed a heroin addict into one of the most astonishing literary and musical icons in American history?

At 72 years of age, Dylan's final act of his career is more intriguing than ever—and classic biographies like Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades and even his own Chronicles: Volume One came too soon to cover this remarkable new chapter in Dylan's life.

Through extensive interviews and conversations with Dylan's friends, family, sidemen, and fans, Los Angeles Times journalist Dennis McDougal crafts an unprecedented understanding of Dylan and the intricate story behind the myths. Was his romantic life, especially with Sara Dylan, much more complicated than it appears? Was his motorcycle accident a cover for drug rehab? What really happened to Dylan when his career crumbled, and how did he find his way back? To what does he attribute his astonishing success? McDougal's meticulous research and comprehensive interviews offer a revealing new understanding of these long-standing questions—and of the current chapter Dylan continually writes in his life and career.

Preface

Part I -- Rebel Without Applause 1941-1966

Chapter 1: Hibbing 

Chapter 2: Minneapolis

Chapter 3: Greenwich

Chapter 4: Fourth Street

Chapter 5: On the Road
Chapter 6: Chelsea Hotel
 

Part II -- Goin' Up the Country 1966-1978

Chapter 7: Woodstock

Chapter 8: Return to Greenwich 

Chapter 9: California 

Chapter 10: On the Road Again

Chapter 11: Renaldo and Sara

 

Part III -- Get on Board, Lil’ Children 1978-1989
 

Chapter 12. Slow Train

Chapter 13. Soul Train

Chapter 14. Love Train

Chapter 15. Mystery Train

Chapter 16. Money Train

Part IV -- Sometimes a Man Must Be Alone 1989-Present
 

17. Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind

18. Unplugging

19. Not Dark Yet

20. Millennium 

21.N.E.T. Gains & Losses

 

 

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Musique
• Histoire de la musique
• Musique
• 20th-century music
• Dylan
• Music
• Bob Dylan

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 13 mai 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781630260675
• Langue: English

Extrait

PRAISE FOR DENNIS McDOUGAL
For Dylan
A gleefully acid-etched biography McDougal presents his caustic indictment with energy and panache. - Publishers Weekly
A sometimes-scholarly, sometimes-snarky life of the songwriting and singing legend . Richly detailed. - Kirkus Reviews
For Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times
Dennis McDougal is a rare Hollywood reporter: honest, fearless, nobody s fool. This is unvarnished Jack for Jack-lovers and Jack-skeptics but, also, for anyone interested in the state of American culture and celebrity. I always read Mr. McDougal for pointers. -Patrick McGilligan, author of Jack s Life and Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light
For Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty
A great freeway pileup-part biography, part dysfunctional family chronicle, and part institutional and urban history, with generous dollops of scandal and gossip. -Hendrick Hertzberg, The New Yorker
McDougal has managed to scale the high walls that have long protected the Chandler clan and returned with wicked tales told by angry ex-wives and jealous siblings. - The Washington Post
For The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood
Real glamour needs a dark side. That is part of the fascination of Dennis McDougal s wonderful book. - The Economist
Thoroughly reported and engrossing the most noteworthy trait of MCA was how it hid its power. - The New York Times Book Review
Over the years, I ve read hundreds of books on Hollywood and the movie business, and this one is right at the top. -Michael Blowen, The Boston Globe
DYLAN
Also by Dennis McDougal
Angel of Darkness
Fatal Subtraction: How Hollywood Really Does Business (with Pierce O Donnell)
In The Best of Families
Mother s Day
The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood
The Yosemite Murders
Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty
Blood Cold (with Mary Murphy)
Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times
The Candlestickmaker
DYLAN
THE BIOGRAPHY
DENNIS McDOUGAL
Turner Publishing Company/Wiley General Trade
424 Church Street Suite 2240 Nashville, Tennessee 37219
445 Park Avenue 9th Floor New York, New York 10022
www.turnerpublishing.com
BOB DYLAN: THE BIOGRAPHY
Copyright 2014 Dennis McDougal
All rights reserved. This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com
Cover design: Maxwell Roth
Cover photograph: Lisa Law
Book design: Lissa Auciello-Brogan
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McDougal, Dennis.
Bob Dylan : the biography / Dennis McDougal.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-63623-7
1. Dylan, Bob, 1941-2. Rock musicians--United States--Biography. I. Title.
ML420.D98M18 2014
782.42164092--dc23
[B]
2014008603
Printed in the United States of America
14 15 16 17 18 19 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Lola Irvin, who headed out for the West Coast almost 70 years ago and never looked back. It s all right, Ma. I m only writing.
CONTENTS
Preface
I Rebel Without Applause 1941-1966
1 Hibbing
2 Minneapolis
3 Greenwich
4 Fourth Street
5 On the Road
6 Chelsea Hotel
II Goin Up the Country 1966-1978
7 Woodstock
8 Return to Greenwich
9 California
10 On the Road Again
11 Renaldo and Sara
III Get on Board, Lil Children 1978-1989
12 Slow Train
13 Soul Train
14 Love Train
15 Mystery Train
16 Money Train
IV Sometimes a Man Must Be Alone 1989-Present
17 Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind
18 Unplugging
19 Not Dark Yet
20 Millennium
21 N.E.T. Gains Losses
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index
PREFACE
When the van rolled up to the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Strip to fetch Bob Dylan for his sold-out concert at the nearby Pantages Theater on the evening of May 14, 1992, the legendary singer-songwriter was already spaced out on tequila, and more.
He was on smack, declared one of his handlers that night. He was nodding off time and again.
By the time the driver had coaxed him into the van and ferried him to the Pantages, Dylan was slurring his words and had to be helped to an easy chair behind a curtained-off section at the loading dock out back of the theater, where he fell into a trance watching black-and-white TV reruns of Gilligan s Island until his stage call.
He made it by rote through his 90-minute set that night, leaning on his keyboard for support, seemingly oblivious to the chorus of boos as the audience reacted to the fact that his vocals were indecipherable and the arrangements loud but unrecognizable. When he d finished, Dylan left the stage without having said a single word to the audience. He walked directly out of the rear of the theater where, rather than wait for his driver to take him back to the Chateau Marmont, he climbed into the van, threw it into reverse, and nearly backed over one of his roadies.
It s hard to imagine that anyone in the Pantages audience left that night satisfied with what had occurred. The fact that any fan showed up in the first place was a testament to Dylan s distant past, not his recent achievements. It had been 30 years since Blowin in the Wind first thrust him into the public consciousness, 17 years since his album masterpiece Blood on the Tracks. Since then a string of 18 mostly forgettable albums had produced few hit singles.
Dylan had continued to tour, playing smaller venues and sometimes selling them out. But the faithful 1 who paid to see him frequently came away disappointed, saddened, and even unnerved to watch the great musical hero of their youth so reduced. What was the deal, they wondered. Was it age? Boredom? Did he just not care anymore?
Those who d grown up with him couldn t believe the dissipated wraith they d once known as vibrant and wise beyond his years.
I felt bad the last two times I saw him on TV, Hibbing High School classmate Dave Beckers said at the time. Whatever life he s lived, it looks like he s had it hard.
The people closest to Dylan knew what was wrong. Singer Judy Collins, a friend for more than 30 years, almost blurted out the secret to a TV camera crew that was interviewing her for a news magazine segment about Dylan turning 50 in May 1991. I m worried about Bobby; we all are, she said while the camera was turned off. The look of anguish on her face telegraphed that she was concerned he might die.
The public at large got a hint of the problem during the broadcast of the Grammy Awards earlier that year. Having failed to recognize Dylan with a single award for his astonishing output in the 1960s and most of the 1970s, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was doing a make-good by giving him a lifetime achievement award. Dylan not only showed up to accept, he also chose to perform his brilliant 1963 antiwar anthem Masters of War against the backdrop of the recently launched Gulf War in the Mideast. It was a moment tailor-made for career resurrection, but Dylan did not rise to the occasion. He looked puffy-faced, was twitchy, and sounded worse, rushing through a garbled rendition of the song without its passion or point.
A forgiving audience nonetheless gave him a standing ovation when he accepted his plaque from one of his biggest fans, Jack Nicholson. The indulgent crowd, which included his twice-widowed 76-year-old mother, Beatty Rutman, applauded until Dylan began to speak in a clear if jaded growl, Well, my daddy, he didn t leave me much. You know he was a very simple man, but what he did tell me was this, he did say, son, he said, you know it s possible to become so defiled in this world that your own father and mother will abandon you and if that happens, God will always believe in your ability to mend your ways.
As Dylan walked off stage without thanking a single soul, Nicholson watched with a slack-jawed what-the-fuck expression that indicated he wasn t sure whether Dylan s words were a put-on or a dead serious hallucination.
A year later, as he careened down Sunset Boulevard in a rented van on his way back to his hotel room following the Pantages show, Bob Dylan, the so-called voice of his generation, looked like he was over. Done. It was only a matter of time before he would literally be knocking on heaven s door.

Flash forward 20 years. On the heels of back-to-back-to-back critically acclaimed, bestselling, Grammy-winning albums, Bob Dylan s music routinely enters both the U.S. and U.K. charts at or near No 1. He hosted his own weekly satellite radio show, authored the bestselling 2004 memoir Chronicles, and won an Oscar for his hit song Things Have Changed, featured in director Curtis Hanson s Wonder Boys (2000). And he became a musical hero to a new generation, the so-called Millennials, all of them born after 1980.
As he approached his 72nd birthday, Dylan could not help but be alternately flattered and astonished by the huge age range represented by his audience.
The original 1960s counterculture hero, he d anticipated the Tweet generation by half a century, reducing cultural norms, politics, and mythology to phrases, epigrams, and memes. Like highly quotable haiku that short-circuited human discourse among texting Millennials and aging baby boomers alike, Dylan s poetry kept pace with the ever-shortening attention spans promoted by Facebook, Google, and Twitter. In his bestselling 2010 novel Freedom, Jonathan Franzen fittingly described Dy