Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary

Genres

Biography Biography Memoir Bob Dylan Five Star Books Five Star Non Fiction History American It Wikipedia Music Poetry To Read

About this book

An in-depth portrait of one of the most influential figures in American popular music since Elvis Presley. Comprehensive in detail and provocative in its interpretive insight, Hard Rain examines Bob Dylan's relationship with his songs, his players, his critics, his audience, and ultimately himself.

Reader's Thoughts

Jon

For Dylan fans only, but a real deep dive for those who want to go there. Riley analyzes the music, the bands, the songs, the singing and of course the lyrics for Dylan's work -- including some live performances and bootlegs -- from the beginning up to the first volume of The Bootleg Series. He looks at attitudes towards women, the media, the fans, and concludes a lot of those breakup/relationshippy songs have at least two meanings, and one of them is always Dylan's attitude towards his fans. About right at 300 pages plus a discography, and the discography is a gem for those who want to obsess over recordings of Dylan's material by others.

Jonathan

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