Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina
by David Hajdu
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 320)
Read in June, 2008
man i know i probably over-rated this book, but it struck a real emotional chord with me. and i was grateful that someone came out and gave a human account of bob dylan without all this voice of a generation crap and over-analysis of all his songs. as a over-due recent inductee into the bob dylan institute of over-adoration i loved not having to sift through praise to see some kind of humanity. it just made me love him more, jackass and all. i'll never go back now. i think the only way to really...more
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Read in May, 2001
I picked this up during a time I was really into Farina and was wishing there was a good biography of him and the story behind BEEN DOWN SO LONG IT LOOKS LIKE UP TO ME. It's not many people, after all, who can claim to have gone to college with Thomas Pynchon and C. Michael Curtis and then become a near-brother-in-law to Dylan. The book is strong on the cafe culture of the late 50s and early 60s. Dylan fans will no doubt feel a bit defensive bc Mr. Zimmerman is treated more as a human than a dei...more
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Read in January, 2007
American folk in its both in its development and maturation held the same drama and pathos as any other American music that fused with social movement. The figures that Hajdu chose to focus on in his excellent book became very influential artists of the time, Dylan even attaining a cult-like status.
Like any biography of young people it is filled with betrayal, misunderstandings and bruised egos. As they are portrayed, Dylan and Farina were by far the larger and more fragile of the egos and t...more
Like any biography of young people it is filled with betrayal, misunderstandings and bruised egos. As they are portrayed, Dylan and Farina were by far the larger and more fragile of the egos and t...more
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Read in March, 2008
This book is a portrait of four interesting individuals from the 60's folk music scene: Joan Baez, Mimi Baez, Richard Farina, and Bob Dylan. The characters were not only connected through music and their careers, but their lives intertwined in more personal ways. Mimi and Richard married when Mimi was still a teenager. Dylan had a longtime crush on Mimi, but eventually picked up an affair with Joan when it was clear Mimi chose Richard over him. The four were close friends.
The book is as ...more
The book is as ...more
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Read in May, 2002
while much has been written about the king and queen of folk, there is remarkably less to be found about richard fariña & mimi baez. this book chronicles the early years of the scene, from the late 1950's through the mid-1960's. it is an interesting read, and was clearly researched quite thoroughly (hajdu even scored interviews with fariña's notoriously media-wary college roommate & famed novelist, thomas pynchon).
to me, the most fascinating parts of the book dealt with richard &...more
to me, the most fascinating parts of the book dealt with richard &...more
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Read in August, 2007
So I put off reading this for a while and am not really sure why.. I guess I didn't consider myself the biggest joan baez fan?
But whatever, this book is so much more than a biography on joan baez, it's about the start of the 60's folk movement, it's the coming of age story about 4 very influential, counterculture, beatific musicians.
And David Hajdu writes with eloquence and familiarity- this does not read as non-fiction.
Spoiler alert, it does not have a happy ending. One of these f...more
But whatever, this book is so much more than a biography on joan baez, it's about the start of the 60's folk movement, it's the coming of age story about 4 very influential, counterculture, beatific musicians.
And David Hajdu writes with eloquence and familiarity- this does not read as non-fiction.
Spoiler alert, it does not have a happy ending. One of these f...more
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1 comments
Read in August, 2006
It's funny how people of history hold this cemented place in your mind. Mainly because you don't know much about them. That was true for me when thinking about Joan Baez and Bob Dylan before I read this book. But now my vision of these famous songwriters is more clear and more enjoyable. In short I'll say that I like Joan much more, and Dylan much less. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's enjoyed a folk song, or any music that had political meaning. You learn a great deal about the ...more
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Read in June, 2004
recommends it for:
Ken, Jeremy
This book kicked off my biography phase of reading. The stories of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez-Farina, and Richard Farina are all so intertwined, they remind me of my friends. Helping each other, falling in and out of love, getting better at what they do. In the case of Bob Dylan, I think it's good to see how much he rose up in fame on Joan Baez's coattails. Helps keep all his music and hers and their lives in perspective. A very very good picture of the time that folk music was emergin...more
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Read in October, 2007
Great braided tale about a pair of sisters and a pair of rakes on the make. Literate and highly entertaining, Hajdu's evocative book sheds light on a great story in Americana. The amateur Dylanologist in me really loved this one. Like all the other luminaries written about here, Hajdu portrays Thomas Pynchon (The Great Recluse was a Cornell classmate of Farinia's and the best man at his wedding to Mimi Baez.) a flesh-and-blood man, rather than a myth, which is no small feat.
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Read in November, 2007
I read this book over Thanksgiving break when I should have been reading Nietzsche and writing papers. I just couldn't put it down! This is essentially a biography of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina, but it was very colorful and interesting. It inspired me to pick up my dulcimer, write a novel, and revisit the music of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, among other things. Bob Dylan was, apparently, an asshole, though. Not so much a fan of him anymore...
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Read in April, 2008
Bob Dylan fascinates me and getting to peek into his life (and into the lives of the Baezs/Farina) really contextualized this early period of the '60s and the influences these select grouping of people had on the history of Rock 'n' Roll.
Dylan is, first and foremost, a bit of an asshole. That rings loud and clear. However, he's a genius and you get that too. He stayed honest to himself and you can't fault him for that at all.
Highly recommend this read.
Dylan is, first and foremost, a bit of an asshole. That rings loud and clear. However, he's a genius and you get that too. He stayed honest to himself and you can't fault him for that at all.
Highly recommend this read.
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to alison by:
Sarah Doherty
Ahhh, this book made me want to be a folk singer...in the 1960's...or perhaps just date one. Either way it is one of the best nonfiction books I have read. It tells the stories of the popular Bob Dylan and Joan Baez (which I found fascinating) but also Joan's sister Mimi Baez Farina and her husband Richard who were also in the folk scene and although not as famous are equally captivating and intriguing to read about.
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A biography of the early Greenwich Village folk movement, focusing on Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, her sister Mimi, and Mimi's husband Richard Farina. It was interesting to learn about Joan Baez's early career when she was a bigger star than Bob Dylan. The reader also experiences Dylan before he becomes DYLAN. The combination of these four individuals and their tangled webs makes for good reading.
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Read in February, 2008
A great re-creation of the early New York/Cambridge folk scene. A group snapshot of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi and Richard Farina right at the moment they were young and hungry to re-invent themselves. I fell in love with the Baez sisters and would have gladly been one of the guys who hung around their house waiting on their folky hotness.
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Entertaining, engrossing account on the folk music scene in the 60s centering on the Baez sisters, Bob Dylan, and Richard Farina. The author is my former thesis advisor and is a brilliant man and wonderful writer. The prose is so lovely that you forget you're reading a historical account and feel like you're reading a good novel.
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Read in January, 2002
recommends it for:
hipsters
I liked this book actually--I am quite a whore for icons and the things that happen behind the scenes--and Bob Dylan is among the most interesting of all---this one is a little more serious than the others, but it did introduce me to the Farinas, and my collection of baby boomer stars grew by two.
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Read in May, 2006
Interesting story about the beginnings of the folk music era, and how these four goofy kids changed music history. The more I read about Dylan, the more I resolve to just listen to his music instead. Engaging story, well written and insightful.
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1 comments
A thoroughly good read. Although I was not there, I feel I know what it was like to be in Greenwich Village at this historic moment in time. The book is never dull and always charming. It made me yearn for a time machine.
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone into music
I'm in the midst of finishing this book, it's a great and entertaining look at four of the major players of the early Sixties time period when folk music went mainstream, and went on to influence pop and rock music.
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Read in January, 2004
recommended to Karam by:
Carrie
I read this at some point in Austin and it was interesting enough to make me listen to more Bob Dylan and watch Don't Look Back and try mostly unsuccessfully to learn more about the 60s.
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