Rating: 
Summary: Dylan Self-Sabotage?
Review: This is a good overview of Dylan session work from the beginning to the late 90s. It is comprehensive in terms of track listings but the overriding theme is that the author feels that Dylan was not the best judge of his own work and that Dylan re-worked his music too much prior to release. I've heard some of the music on Bootleg Sessions and Biograph that should have been on Blood On The Tracks, Infidels, or Freewheelin'. Most of these would have been worthy of release on those albums but I feel that the artist has the perogative to choose whatever he wants to release. As a discography, this is one of the best. As for the opinions, well, I guess that there is a tendency to want what you cannot have.
Rating:
Summary: Deceptive Title; Informative and Opinionated Text
Review: This is a must have for Dylan fans and collectors, but there are some drawbacks which potential buyers should be aware of.First, the title is deceptive. Heylin and his publisher obviously chose it to dupe unsuspecting readers into thinking they are getting a detailed, day-by-day account of Dylan's work in the studio, along the lines of Mark Lewisohn's extraordinary BEATLES RECORDING SESSIONS (Hamlyn, 1988). This is not such a chronicle, as Heylin points out - at length - in his introduction (an introduction that web buyers cannot read; hence, this review). Heylin's self-serving swipes at Lewisohn in the introduction are also unfortunate, and is "Bob-made-better-records-in-six-days-than-the-Beatles-did-in-six-months" rant is simply misguided. Methinks Clinton is jealous because Lewisohn had unprecedented access to the EMI archive, while Sony's gatekeeper - Jeff Rosen - allowed a rival Dylanologist to document the bard's work. Heylin's childish un-dedication to Rosen is surely a first in the history of publishing, and tarnishes an otherwise exemplary book. If you can get past the petty dedication and bitchy introduction, you will find RECORDING SESSIONS to be a mostly informative, highly opinionated look at Dylan's career in the studio. You will need Michael Krogsgaard's authorised (sorry Clinton!) accounts in fanzines THE TELEGRAPH and THE BRIDGE for the most accurate session information (e.g. musicians and take numbers), but you don't read Clinton Heylin for these dry facts anyway. You read him because he has many insightful, provocative things to say about Bob Dylan, especially with regard to the songs and takes which were left behind, and have only appeared since on bootlegs, or Sony's pseudo-bootlegs. Here, Heylin simply shines. You may not agree with what he has to say, but you will be entertained by the way he says it. This work deserves a place in your collection, next to Paul Williams's PERFORMING ARTIST I & II.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: Thr Recording Sessions is a great piece of work, very detailed & with some real insight. Dylan's many states of mind are captured along with the anti-methodology he employs in the studio. Dylan is easily America's most important artist of the 2nd half of the 20th century & this is one of the best 3 or 4 books on him...
Rating: 
Summary: Clinton Heylin shares his opinions...
Review: Well, I am intrigued by the review that posits Heylin as a charlatan posing as a pundit- a turn of phrase associated with The Marquess of Queensbury... I only wish the reviewer would provide some details. Heylin from the outset makes it clear that he is not going to produce a Dylan equivilant to Mark Lewisohn's indispensible "The Beatles Recording Sessions"-(trashing that work is part of Heylin's explanation...). What Heylin does offer is some analysis (good)and a LOT of opinion (er, not so good...). Heylin provides some good insight into Dylan's disdain for the recording process- but rather over extends this, creating a false opposition against those who spent time in the studio and were interested in the possibilities of production hence the Beatles (and nearly all of Dylan's peers) are summarily dismissed in the preface... Overall though, it is entertaining. Some of his rants and his rather conversational style don't necessarily help his cause- b! ut it is thorough and has good information on what remains unreleased. That said, one needs to procure the outtake material (on which he offers an excellent guide)to really get an understanding of what Heylin is trying to convey: that Dylan has frequently damaged his own output- parcelling out substandard tosh or damaged goods while locking away his best material in the vaults- witness nearly all of his 1980's output and his eleventh hour revision of "Blood on the Tracks". Without anything else out there to rival it- it remains a must buy for a serious fan.
| 
