"Chronicles Volume One" by Bob Dylan
A Review: Part One
A Review: Part One
Last
weekend, Bob Dylan performed at the Stockholm Waterfront in Sweden and accepted
his 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature in a private ceremony with members of the
Swedish Academy (Bob
Dylan Receives His Nobel Prize). The news was especially timely since I wrote about Dylan's performance last summer at the Berkeley Greek Theater (The
Sounds of Summer: The Dylan Concert) and was finishing the review of his 2004 memoir, Chronicles
Volume One.
Before I began reading, I had plenty of questions about the Nobel Laureate. Where did this enigmatic guy come from? How did he evolve into such a singular personality who refrains from speaking to the audience? And what inspired him to write some of the most profound songs of his era, spanning decades of a never-ending career?
From page one, Dylan shares amazing, almost unbelievable, details about his life, including the home and childhood he left behind in Minnesota when he moved to New York City, the people and places he encountered in the Big Apple, his compelling artistic process, and the challenges that threw him off course. While the book is hard to put down, there are gaping omissions, too. Like how he met his wife, who's mentioned several times (not by name), his use of drugs, the conversion to Christianity, and the stories behind some of the most famous songs and albums he wrote.
Known for his privacy and independent style, Dylan gives very few interviews and has never followed a traditional path. Volume One is no exception. It jumps around a good deal from place to place and also in time. In the end, it left me wanting more, so I'm hoping for Volume Two, which may be in the works, according to online sources. Dylan turns seventy-six in May, with plenty of material to fill another 293 paperback pages. If it's as entertaining as the first installment, it will be a blazing success.
Told in five chapters, we first meet the fledgling performer in an office at Columbia Records in New York City, playing songs for the guy who will launch his career. He returns to this same scene in chapter five:
"The moon was rising behind the Chrysler Building, it was late in the day, street lighting coming on, the low rumble of heavy cars inching along in the narrow streets below -- sleet tapping against the office window. Lou Levy was starting and stopping his big tape machine -- diamond ring gleaming off his pinky finger -- cigar smoke hanging in the blue air...Besides Lou's metal desk, there were a couple of wood chairs and I sat forward in one of them strumming songs off the guitar."
A few scenes later, the label's public relations staffer asks Dylan about his family and how he got to New York. Dylan feeds him a wild story, which makes for great fiction, but caused me to wonder how much fiction would be in the memoir. Based on reviews I read, critics mostly agree this is a heartfelt and honest account of Dylan's journey, and if he takes some liberties to embellish the details, he does it brilliantly.
What hit me first, like a familiar Dylan song, is the voice. From the beginning, it's confident, bold, unapologetic, and compelling. So compelling that I didn't stop to highlight the nuggets. The pages flew by too fast.
Minnesota Upbringing
The legend we know as Bob Dylan was called Bobby Zimmerman in Hibbing, Minnesota. He grew up in a traditional Jewish family and home with devoted parents and a large extended family. This is not the saga of someone who rejects his family to find himself and seek his fortune. This kid had a great life and a strong sense of himself -- where he came from and where he was headed -- at a young age. Bobby played ice hockey, saw the circus when it came to town, heard John Kennedy give a speech, formed his own bands in high school, and experienced puppy love, too.
Dylan writes about Minnesota and his childhood with poignancy and pride. The family took weekend trips to visit Dad's friends and relatives in Duluth. His maternal grandmother was someone he always trusted: "She was filled with nobility and goodness, told me once that happiness isn't on the road to anything. That happiness is the road. Had also instructed me to be kind because everyone you'll ever meet is fighting a hard battle."
His father wanted Bobby to be an engineer, not an artist, because one teacher said he had an artistic temperament. As an adult with three children of his own, Dylan returned from his father's funeral to express regrets. He says his dad was "probably worth a hundred of me, but he didn't understand me...there was a lot that I wanted to share, to tell him...now I was in a position to do a lot of things for him." Sadly, it was too late.
The young Dylan struggled at school and the older Dylan recalls he was obsessed with the military as a kid, even thought about going to West Point, but that lost out to music. He had his own rock 'n' roll band, but somewhere along the way, tapped into what would become a lifelong passion for folk songs, his holy grail.
After graduation, he lived in Minneapolis and performed gigs at local coffeehouses. He talks about that period in his life as well as the music scene that dominated in a recent interview posted on his website -- Dylan Q&A March 2017. Another performer introduced Dylan to a collection of Woody Guthrie records ("This Land Is Your Land") that changed his life. "I put one on the turntable and when the needle dropped, I was stunned...The songs themselves...had the infinite sweep of humanity in them."
The influence of Guthrie's music on Dylan can't be overstated. "His music ruled my universe." Like so much that charted his course, Dylan felt the impact immediately. When he learned Guthrie was in a hospital in New Jersey he declared himself WoodyGuthrie's disciple. He imagined Guthrie speaking to him: "'I'll be going away, but I'm leaving this job in your hands. I know I can count on you.'" Further evidence of Guthrie's influence was reported last year when news media ran stories announcing Bob Dylan's Secret Archive would be housed in Tulsa, Oklahoma next to that of Woody Guthrie's.
Dylan studied other artists, like Jack Elliott, who had an enormous influence on him, as well. Dylan called Elliott the "King of Folksingers" and Joan Baez, who was his age, the "Queen." He said the sight of her on TV made him high. "A voice that drove out bad spirits...she had the fire and I felt I had that same kind of fire."
Throughout the memoir, Dylan showers performers he likes with compliments, especially those whose work influenced his development as a musician. While he maintains an ever-abiding faith in his destiny, it's balanced by an impressive ability to describe his strengths and weaknesses compared to other musicians. Dylan spent hours analyzing songs and musical styles to educate himself and understand how great artists created their unique material and delivery. He consumed literature with a similar appetite.
He felt a special kinship with people from Minnesota who achieved greatness. Roger Maris, the Yankees baseball player of the early '60's, captured Dylan's attention. He recalled Judy Garland, Charles Lindbergh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others who hailed from his home state to excel in their respective fields. He pointed out that Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, was also from Minnesota.
Before I began reading, I had plenty of questions about the Nobel Laureate. Where did this enigmatic guy come from? How did he evolve into such a singular personality who refrains from speaking to the audience? And what inspired him to write some of the most profound songs of his era, spanning decades of a never-ending career?
From page one, Dylan shares amazing, almost unbelievable, details about his life, including the home and childhood he left behind in Minnesota when he moved to New York City, the people and places he encountered in the Big Apple, his compelling artistic process, and the challenges that threw him off course. While the book is hard to put down, there are gaping omissions, too. Like how he met his wife, who's mentioned several times (not by name), his use of drugs, the conversion to Christianity, and the stories behind some of the most famous songs and albums he wrote. Known for his privacy and independent style, Dylan gives very few interviews and has never followed a traditional path. Volume One is no exception. It jumps around a good deal from place to place and also in time. In the end, it left me wanting more, so I'm hoping for Volume Two, which may be in the works, according to online sources. Dylan turns seventy-six in May, with plenty of material to fill another 293 paperback pages. If it's as entertaining as the first installment, it will be a blazing success.
Told in five chapters, we first meet the fledgling performer in an office at Columbia Records in New York City, playing songs for the guy who will launch his career. He returns to this same scene in chapter five:
"The moon was rising behind the Chrysler Building, it was late in the day, street lighting coming on, the low rumble of heavy cars inching along in the narrow streets below -- sleet tapping against the office window. Lou Levy was starting and stopping his big tape machine -- diamond ring gleaming off his pinky finger -- cigar smoke hanging in the blue air...Besides Lou's metal desk, there were a couple of wood chairs and I sat forward in one of them strumming songs off the guitar."
A few scenes later, the label's public relations staffer asks Dylan about his family and how he got to New York. Dylan feeds him a wild story, which makes for great fiction, but caused me to wonder how much fiction would be in the memoir. Based on reviews I read, critics mostly agree this is a heartfelt and honest account of Dylan's journey, and if he takes some liberties to embellish the details, he does it brilliantly.
What hit me first, like a familiar Dylan song, is the voice. From the beginning, it's confident, bold, unapologetic, and compelling. So compelling that I didn't stop to highlight the nuggets. The pages flew by too fast.
Minnesota Upbringing
The legend we know as Bob Dylan was called Bobby Zimmerman in Hibbing, Minnesota. He grew up in a traditional Jewish family and home with devoted parents and a large extended family. This is not the saga of someone who rejects his family to find himself and seek his fortune. This kid had a great life and a strong sense of himself -- where he came from and where he was headed -- at a young age. Bobby played ice hockey, saw the circus when it came to town, heard John Kennedy give a speech, formed his own bands in high school, and experienced puppy love, too.
Dylan writes about Minnesota and his childhood with poignancy and pride. The family took weekend trips to visit Dad's friends and relatives in Duluth. His maternal grandmother was someone he always trusted: "She was filled with nobility and goodness, told me once that happiness isn't on the road to anything. That happiness is the road. Had also instructed me to be kind because everyone you'll ever meet is fighting a hard battle."
His father wanted Bobby to be an engineer, not an artist, because one teacher said he had an artistic temperament. As an adult with three children of his own, Dylan returned from his father's funeral to express regrets. He says his dad was "probably worth a hundred of me, but he didn't understand me...there was a lot that I wanted to share, to tell him...now I was in a position to do a lot of things for him." Sadly, it was too late.
The young Dylan struggled at school and the older Dylan recalls he was obsessed with the military as a kid, even thought about going to West Point, but that lost out to music. He had his own rock 'n' roll band, but somewhere along the way, tapped into what would become a lifelong passion for folk songs, his holy grail.
After graduation, he lived in Minneapolis and performed gigs at local coffeehouses. He talks about that period in his life as well as the music scene that dominated in a recent interview posted on his website -- Dylan Q&A March 2017. Another performer introduced Dylan to a collection of Woody Guthrie records ("This Land Is Your Land") that changed his life. "I put one on the turntable and when the needle dropped, I was stunned...The songs themselves...had the infinite sweep of humanity in them."
The influence of Guthrie's music on Dylan can't be overstated. "His music ruled my universe." Like so much that charted his course, Dylan felt the impact immediately. When he learned Guthrie was in a hospital in New Jersey he declared himself WoodyGuthrie's disciple. He imagined Guthrie speaking to him: "'I'll be going away, but I'm leaving this job in your hands. I know I can count on you.'" Further evidence of Guthrie's influence was reported last year when news media ran stories announcing Bob Dylan's Secret Archive would be housed in Tulsa, Oklahoma next to that of Woody Guthrie's.
Dylan studied other artists, like Jack Elliott, who had an enormous influence on him, as well. Dylan called Elliott the "King of Folksingers" and Joan Baez, who was his age, the "Queen." He said the sight of her on TV made him high. "A voice that drove out bad spirits...she had the fire and I felt I had that same kind of fire."
Throughout the memoir, Dylan showers performers he likes with compliments, especially those whose work influenced his development as a musician. While he maintains an ever-abiding faith in his destiny, it's balanced by an impressive ability to describe his strengths and weaknesses compared to other musicians. Dylan spent hours analyzing songs and musical styles to educate himself and understand how great artists created their unique material and delivery. He consumed literature with a similar appetite.
He felt a special kinship with people from Minnesota who achieved greatness. Roger Maris, the Yankees baseball player of the early '60's, captured Dylan's attention. He recalled Judy Garland, Charles Lindbergh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others who hailed from his home state to excel in their respective fields. He pointed out that Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, was also from Minnesota.
To be continued...
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