Rating: 
Summary: For obsessive fans only
Review: Clinton Heylin, one of the leading writers on Bob Dylan (and author of, perhaps, the best biography on the man, Behind The Shades), deserves kudos for the exhausting amount of research he put into this book and the information he has presented. It is essential for obsessive Bob Dylan fans - is there any other kind? - who must have every little tidbit of information about the man and what he did in the studio. It is particulary interesting for collectors as it goes into detail about the many, many songs Dylan has recorded throughout the years and not released. It is a chronicle of absolutely everything that Dylan put to tape between the 1960 recordings made in the apartments of friends when he was still in college up to his Good As I Been To You album, as well as soundtracks and appearance on the albums of others, where relevant. Heylin includes not only a list of every song, but also the different takes, and shows what songs are circulating among collectors and which ones still have not seen the light of day. He also includes other relevant information such as what musicians played on the sessions, as well as several appendices such as a list of Dylan compositions, covers he has recorded, and even the session charts from the Desire sessions. The only thing that brings the book down is Heylin's own constant interjected commentary. It is unfortunate that seemingly every commentator on Dylan seems to see it as their duty to critize certain aspects of the man's work and say what he should have done differently - as if they had any right to question the genius of the greatest songwriter of the 20th century. Certainly, Heylin is entitled to his opinion, and never does he make the claim that this book is entirely objective, but, at times, it happens so often as to get in the way. Still, for the true Dylan fan, this book is still a must-have for the priceless information it gives. Casual fans need not bother.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and Useful
Review: Dylan fans love to read about the recording sessions; especially the songs left off the original albums, and this book gives the relevant and fascinating information wanted...a well written book by an unashamed fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Dylan Good, Heylin Bad
Review: I must give it to Mr Heylin. He appears to have a wealth of knowledge concerning Bob Dylan. In this book he lays out that knowledge in a straight-forward, understandable way. Had he stopped there this would be a great book filled with insight. As it is, the book is worthy of 3 stars only because the topic is good.I found it tiresome to have to slough through Mr Heylin's personal comments (often in parenthesis) that gave no value to the book. In fact, I found these comments so regular to be distracting to the subject. I found myself frustrated by Mr Heylin's constant interjection of himself into the book. Often, they transformed a behind the scenes look at the recording life of Bob Dylan into a discussion of what Bob Dylan should have done to create a better work. Certainly, Mr Heylin's opinion can be well thought out. Certainly, he has a right to his opinion. I was just disappointed that he constantly hid his opinion among good discussions relating to the recording life and style of one of music's most influence songwriters. (Not to mention, Mr Heylin's constant use of bazaar names for "Mr. D".)
Rating:
Summary: Dylan Good, Heylin Bad
Review: I must give it to Mr Heylin. He appears to have a wealth of knowledge concerning Bob Dylan. In this book he lays out that knowledge in a straight-forward, understandable way. Had he stopped there this would be a great book filled with insight. As it is, the book is worthy of 3 stars only because the topic is good. I found it tiresome to have to slough through Mr Heylin's personal comments (often in parenthesis) that gave no value to the book. In fact, I found these comments so regular to be distracting to the subject. I found myself frustrated by Mr Heylin's constant interjection of himself into the book. Often, they transformed a behind the scenes look at the recording life of Bob Dylan into a discussion of what Bob Dylan should have done to create a better work. Certainly, Mr Heylin's opinion can be well thought out. Certainly, he has a right to his opinion. I was just disappointed that he constantly hid his opinion among good discussions relating to the recording life and style of one of music's most influence songwriters. (Not to mention, Mr Heylin's constant use of bazaar names for "Mr. D".)
Rating:
Summary: Although....
Review: I really can't understand what all of you are talking about. I liked the introduction. Just what the hell did the Beatles do w/all of that time in Abbey Road ? God knows they sure didn't record any of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Information, Badly Written
Review: If, like me, you want to know as much as you can about Dylan's recordings, you have to get a copy of this. But that means reading endless badly-written diatribes against Dylan and whomever else Heylin dislikes. Apparently, it's okay for Heylin to prefer the original "Blood on the Tracks" recordings, but for Greil Marcus to prefer the acoustic "Blind Willie McTell" is, to quote Heylin, "wrong."
Rating:
Summary: Deceptive title - great book.
Review: OK, so it's not the comprehensive account of all of Bob's studio work that Lewisohn's Beatles book is, and maybe Heylin should have called it BOB DYLAN: THE OUT-TAKES 1960-1994, but this is a bible of information about Bob's album sessions. Would BLOOD ON THE TRACKS or INFIDELS have been better LPs if Dylan hadn't such an appetite for re-editing and revisionism? How and why did THE BASEMENT TAPES and THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOLS 1-3 fail to live up to their potential? It's questions like these that Heylin tackles with great insight and authority. He also provides a good bootleg discography, although this is by now somewhat out of date. Time for a new edition, Clinton!
Rating: 
Summary: Misinformation masquerades as fact.
Review: The Recording Sessions is a poorly written diatribe against
everything and everyone the author happened not to like at
the time he wrote it. Often the details are wrong. Lacks credibility. Book reveals its author as a charlatan posing as a
pundit.
Rating:
Summary: good as he's been to you
Review: The recording sessions is undoubtedly an interesting book, but it doesn't really reach its potential. The high water mark for this type of book is "the Beatles Recording Sessions" which came out in the late eighties, I believe. And it's incredibly thourough, informative and filled with never-before-seen photos of the Fab Four doing their thing. The Dylan book seems lazy by comparison; it only has photos from one recording session in his entire career and doesn't go into enough detail about the sessions, especially when you consider his vast amount of unreleased material. Had Dylan been given the treatment that the Beatles received, we'd have quite a book here. Still, what's there is interesting, so if you're a Dylan fan I'd say pick it up if you can find it at a good price.
Rating:
Summary: good as he's been to you
Review: The recording sessions is undoubtedly an interesting book, but it doesn't really reach its potential. The high water mark for this type of book is "the Beatles Recording Sessions" which came out in the late eighties, I believe. And it's incredibly thourough, informative and filled with never-before-seen photos of the Fab Four doing their thing. The Dylan book seems lazy by comparison; it only has photos from one recording session in his entire career and doesn't go into enough detail about the sessions, especially when you consider his vast amount of unreleased material. Had Dylan been given the treatment that the Beatles received, we'd have quite a book here. Still, what's there is interesting, so if you're a Dylan fan I'd say pick it up if you can find it at a good price.
|
