Books & Biographies

'You can't accurately measure Bob Dylan's importance in record sales, for according to the statistics The Carpenters and even Ozzy Osbourne have sold more albums. But you might calculate the man's contribution to our times by the amount of literature devoted to him' (Williamson 2006: 300).

Some titles of the many books about him:
The Bob Dylan Scrapbook 1956-66 ~ Robert Santelli. This was published the year after Chronicles and is a kind of companion to the book. 'Although collectors will cherish the previously unpublished photos, the real meat lies in the facsimile items of memorabilia tucked inside almost every page, from handwritten lyrics to ticket stubs and concert flyers via newspaper articles and even a cardboard cut-out of Bob from a 1965 promo campaign' (Williamson 2006: 301).
No Direction Home - The Life and Music of Bob Dylan ~ Robert Shelton. Shelton's New York Times reviews of Dylan's early music helped to launch his career, but this book took over twenty years to write because Dylan kept doing things that Shelton felt should be included.
ISIS - A Bob Dylan Anthology and Bob Dylan Anthology Volume Two - 20 Years of Isis ~ Derek Barker (ed). 'Two volumes of the best essays and interviews from the pages of Isis, the longest-running and best of the Dylan fanzines, purveyors of splendid erudition, insane obsession and searching insight since its inception in 1985' (Williamson 2006: 308).
Studio A - The Bob Dylan Reader ~ Benjamin Hedin (ed). And of course Chronicles Volume One ~ Bob Dylan.

There are many more biographies about Dylan than there are about James Brown, for example. Arguably, they are 'two of the most important figures of the 1960s in terms of their influence on subsequent musicians. Dylan, in creating the prototype of the "singer-songwriter", invites fans and biographers to hear his songs as directly related to his life, whereas Brown, in his creation of hyperkinetic dance music with minimal and impressionistic lyrics, encourages other forms of engagement' (Horner and Swiss 1999: 127).

Horner, B. & Swiss, T. (1999) Key Terms in Popular Music & Culture. USA: Blackwell Publishers Inc.
Williamson, N. (2006) The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan. London: Rough Guides Ltd.