Bob Dylan: American Troubadour (Tempo: A Rowman & Littlefield Music Series on Rock, Pop, and Culture)
In recent years there has been a plethora of books on the enigmatic Mr. Dylan, but this entry in Rowman & Littlefield’s Tempo music series on rock, pop, and culture is a bit different as it explores Dylan’s music through the lens of social and cultural history. In nine fascinating chapters, Brown, a freelance writer and editor, follows Dylan chronologically through his career, from young troubadour in Greenwich Village who unwittingly became the spokesman of a generation through his controversial electric transformation to the rural glory of the Basement Tapes to his richly creative Blood on the Tracks period to his born-again phase to his current renaissance as a rock elder and cultural force. Brown’s discussion of individual songs and albums is particularly insightful. This concise examination of the Dylan corpus is especially good for younger generations who may want to better understand how a musician in his early seventies can still be so compelling and relevant in twenty-first-century America. A useful Dylan and cultural-events time line and an annotated discography round out the volume. --June Sawyers