Bob Dylan's Hibbing

by Edlis Cafe

Take an adventure in Hibbing, MN at the time Bob Dylan lived there. Unseen photos and stories. A time before the concerts we’ve seen. A must read.

295 pages, Paperback

Published December 19, 2019

Reviews

[Tara-Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about the town of Hibbing and its most famous son. It is packed with historical information and compelling photographs throughout. 

The book has a wider range of scope, but is primarily focused on the years when Bob Dylan was growing up in the town, and the cultural/environmental influences that surrounded him. It is full of stories about, and interviews with, his family and friends from Hibbing, as well as anecdotes about the people and local history that have a specific connection to Bob Dylan. 

It is a large-format book, with clear text and a size that does the photographs credit. 

It is certainly compelling reading for those interested in the background of Bob Dylan, not focusing on lyrics and songs, but on the formative background that shaped his talent and personality. 

[Nancy Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really lighthearted and fun to read. Not ponderous like some other Dylan books. It has great early photos, detailed and well referenced text and it shows where Bob is coming from. Hibbing was not a nothing town and the northern midwest was not a boring place. The next time you hear a special Bob song or hear him in concert, you will recall something from this book.

[Ed Ricardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

No book captures Bob Dylan's origins in Hibbing better than this one. A collective of Dylanistas have compiled over the years a vast array of information and placed it in picture albums on the Internet. That information is far from secure there, though easy for you to see now. In time what will survive? The collective was urged to try a book, a book preserving the more important and essential information. The albums have much more than this almost 300 page lavishly illustrated book, but what is left out is more banter, trivia and friendly interchange between fans. Look at both the book and the Internet albums.

So if this is not history, is not academic lyric analysis, is not encyclopaedic life coverage, what is it? It is the myth, the ambiance, the roots, the architecture, the films and film theatres, the country fairs, circuses, wrestling matches and the mines that created the strange character with whom you share a room at a concert. Watch the concert and hear the echoes of what is revealed in this book. Gus Hall's hat. Curly's Good Old Guckenheimer rye whiskey. The Red Star Chorus girls. The flag in the Finnish Workers’ Hall. Reuben Maier. Bicycles ridden on a tightrope by bears. The Maki Trio Song & Dance Orchestra. John Palumbo. The Hibbing Drive-in Theater. Micka Electric. The Cry Room. Mesaba Cooperative Park & the FBI. The Art Detrick Music Camp for boys in Carlsbad California. The Healy Theatre fire. Sam Perella's pizzas! An untold story? A nonsense? Or an insight into a Nobel Prize winner?

Lavishly illustrated, referenced in detail, with a fine bibliography. For less than the price of a Bob Dylan concert ticket.

You know you need it. Every collection does.

[Fred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag of content, unsurprising as the book is a collection of different posts/essays/writings from the Edlis Cafe. Highlight for me was the interview with Dylan's parents; Abram and Beatty Zimmerman. Recommended for those interested in Dylan and who want to take a deeper dive into his roots.