Face To Face With Dylan

I just read Who Is That Man?: In Search of the Real Bob Dylan by David Denton.  It's probably the best thing I've ever read about the artist.  It's sort of a biography, but in discussing his life, Denton--a fine journalist who knows the history of rock backwards and forwards--is interested in the different faces Dylan has offered to the public.

As such, Denton concentrates on the 60s.  In fact, the book is two-thirds over before we hit 1970.  And that's as it should be.  The early years of Dylan's 50+ years in show biz are the most amazing, and artistically satisfying. It's where he transformed himself from a middle-class Jewish kid from Minnesota into a hobohemian starting out in Greenwich Village into the young man with the old voice and a record contract into the famed finger-pointing singer into the rock-and-roll star into the voice of a generation--and that just takes us up to the mid-60s.  What followed was a motorcycle accident that allowed Dylan to take himself out of the public eye for a couple years before reappearing with a more basic sound, soon followed by an immersion into country music and numerous other poses.  In fact, he continued to reinvent himself--if less successfully--throughout the 70s, but since the 80s hasn't always been able to manage it as his own legend got in the way.

Denton clearly loves Dylan, but he's not uncritical.  When Dylan fails, Denton is there to call him on it.  But even in Dylan's dross he sometimes finds something of worth.  Also, unlike many Dylanologists, Denton is easy to read and doesn't take things so seriously that he isn't willing to crack a few jokes.  He's also fairly cynical at points, willing to question just what Dylan thought he was doing. In general, Denton is able to conjure up the ferment of Dylan's glory years, with all the excitement, confusion and absurdity.  It made me want to pull out my old albums and see if they still sound the way I remember.