Folk-Rock: The Bob Dylan Story

by Barbara Ribakove, Sy Ribakove

Genres: Music, Biography

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was, somewhat bizarrely, the first book written about Bob Dylan. It's interesting, both for the hackneyed biographical cliches it accepts at face value (Dylan running away from home, traveling with a carnival, etc) and for the early musical criticism (my favorite being that "Masters of War" is too steeped in WWI mentality and couldn't be relevant to the Cold War). All things considered, this is probably a better book than it should be... and it's an entertaining read to see a pre-Blonde on Blonde look at Dylan's life and career. Still, probably only of interest to hardcore Dylan fans, because the information is often false or half-accurate, and the criticism is very limited.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally dug out and read my copy of this, which I've had since I was a kid (my dad worked for Dell Publishing). This was the first book to appear (in 1966) on Bob, and fully buys into much of the autobiographical nonsense Dylan was serving up to silly interviewers at the time. It's a quick read, and a fun as a "period piece," but is really only of historical interest-- the opinions of the authors about some of the songs is, in retrospect (and probably at the time as well), laughable.

[Curtis Hu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another side of Bob Dylan at the peaks of his fame - the sheer amount of doubt and criticism is interesting considering his solidified legacy now. Mildly recommended for Dylanologists.