New: rare 1966 limited edition photographs

Serious Dylan fans will be familiar with the photographs of the leading Dylan chroniclers – Elliott Landy, Daniel Kramer and half a dozen more.

But new names keep appearing on the radar – photographers whose work is little known outside collector circles.

One such is Charles Gatewood, whose photographs, shot in Stockholm in 1966, are about to published in limited edition book format. (They’re also available as single images.)

The press release follows.


Gerry Smith


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MEDIA INFORMATION
For immediate release

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
- Deluxe Artist’s Book Available Sept 1 2009 –
- Limited to 61 Signed and Numbered Copies -

Each 11 x 14-inch handmade book contains quality reproductions of rare Dylan photos, shot in Stockholm, Sweden on April 29, 1966 by renowned photographer Charles Gatewood. Most of these extraordinary photographs have never been seen or published until now. This edition is designed and published by Dana Dana Dana Limited Editions.

“I was 23 years old, and had been photographing for two years. It was my first published photograph,” recalls Gatewood, referring to his now-iconic image ‘Bob Dylan With Cigarette,’ which was taken on April 29,1966. “Dylan was in his prime. He’d just released Blonde on Blonde and his song Like a Rolling Stone was a huge hit. The picture became a best-selling poster.”

Only 61 copies of A Complete Unknown (plus 5 artist proofs) will be printed. This exciting signed and numbered Bob Dylan collectible--showing Dylan at the peak of his musical career--will sell out quickly.

For complete information and to view a maquette of the book, please visit:

http://danadanadana.com/gatewood/

as well as

http://acompleteunknown.com


The book will be available starting September 1, 2009.

New Illustrated Biography: fine book, misleading title

Thanks to Phil Stokes’ timely tip, I duly picked up a copy of Bob Dylan: The Illustrated Biography, for £4.99, at a local branch of The Works.

It’s a fine album of Dylan photographs from across the ages, with brief textual commentary. In fact, it’s the finest career-spanning Bob photo album available: if you only need one book of Zimpics, this is the one to go for.

The title, Bob Dylan – The Illustrated Biography, is an own goal by publisher Transatlantic Press, though. The subtitle – A Unique Collection of 200 Classic, Rare and Unseen Photographs – is more accurate, even if the “Rare and Unseen” proportions are small.

A must-buy? Certainly. Especially at £4.99.


Gerry Smith

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
New Illustrated Biography @ £4.99!

Thanks to Phil Stokes:

"Just bought this said hardback book, from The Works, in Sutton Coldfield (near Brum) for... £4.99! They have the same titles available for the Stones and Led Zep as well @ £4.99."

(The Works is an extensive chain of discount bookshops. To locate your local branch, check out:

www.theworks.co.uk

Gerry Smith, Ed)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

New this week - Bob Dylan: The Illustrated Biography

New this Thursday, another book for the groaning Zim shelves - Bob Dylan: The Illustrated Biography.

Regular readers will know that I’m an addicted buyer of Dylan books - and I’ll be buying this one and scrutinising with interest. But I have to wonder whether the world needs yet another Dylan biography. The main appeal of this bio is its “dazzling array of never-been-seen images”.

Best price I’ve seen (£11.89, saving £5+ on cover price, is at Amazon.co.uk)

Author Chris Rushby is “marketing director for a major UK book wholesaler”, so you can expect the book to get an extraordinary PR/promo push.



Gerry Smith

New this week - Bob Dylan: The Illustrated Biography

New this Thursday, another book for the groaning Zim shelves - Bob Dylan: The Illustrated Biography.

Regular readers will know that I’m an addicted buyer of Dylan books - and I’ll be buying this one and scrutinising with interest. But I have to wonder whether the world needs yet another Dylan biography. The main appeal of this bio is its “dazzling array of never-been-seen images”.

Best price I’ve seen (£11.89, saving £5+ on cover price, is at Amazon.co.uk)

Author Chris Rushby is “marketing director for a major UK book wholesaler”, so you can expect the book to get an extraordinary PR/promo push.



Gerry Smith

Mainstream Dylan

It never ceases to amaze me how, in the last decade, the Dylan brand has been transformed into a mainstream commodity.

This week’s evidence, from the two leading local supermarket chains:

* Tesco has the new starter compilation CD, Bob Dylan: The Collection on its value racks, at £3!

* Sainsbury’s is stocking the paperback edition of Dylan On Dylan, the latest book of interviews, edited by Jonathan Cott, on its high volume sales racks – at a giveaway £4.99.

For those of us who grew up regarding Dylan as a cult figure, this mass market visibility – and the positioning of Dylan product as impulse buys alongside the BOGOF foodstuffs and discounted cases of beer – is little short of amazing.

And not a little challenging.



Gerry Smith

Ovid – better than Viagra

Thanks to Renata Schultz:

“If you’ve a Dylan fan in your life whose enthusiasm for the pleasures of the night are, er, waning, I strongly recommend that you buy him a copy of Ovid’s Erotic Poems, The Art Of Love.

“If he resists reading highbrow classics, just remind him that Dylan himself is a follower of Ovid. I bought Erotic Poems for the overtired Dylan fan in my life and I’ve had a smile on my face ever since…Ovid - better than Viagra!”


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dylan and Ovid

Thanks to Anne Ritchie:

“Forgive me if this is common knowledge among Dylan Daily readers, but in delving into Zim’s debt to Classical culture, I’ve just come across another striking example which I haven’t seen noted anywhere else.

“In Erotic Poems, The Art Of Love Book 1, line 346, Ovid uses the phrase ”Draw a blank…”.

“Dylan’s exhibition of paintings, developed from his 1990s book of drawings, was, of course, entitled Drawn Blank.

“Seems to me Bobby has been a closet Latin scholar for some years.”

Dylan songs withdrawn from Spotify

Thanks to Jason C:

“Are any other readers annoyed that Dylan’s tunes have been pulled from the great new streaming service, Spotify?”

(I’m not! In fact, I’m surprised that ANY rights owners allow Spotify to stream their music: I can’t think of a surer way of losing sales. Only last week, I was going to replace old vinyl with a CD comp of Dory Previn material but, after listening a few times on Spotify, decided not to bother. Gerry Smith, Editor)

Rome interview, late 2001

Thanks to Anne Ritchie:

“Can anyone here direct me to a full transcript of Dylan’s Rome interview, held in late 2001 to promote “Love And Theft”?

“I’ve seen the extracts published in The Times Magazine, La Repubblica and Dagens Nyheter, but none of these has the full transcript of the long interview with a collection of journalists I heard on CD some years ago. They’re all tantalisingly informative, though.

“A link to a full transcript (in English) would be appreciated.”

Dylan and Ovid

Thanks to Anne Ritchie:

“Forgive me if this is common knowledge among Dylan Daily readers, but in delving into Zim’s debt to Classical culture, I’ve just come across another striking example which I haven’t seen noted anywhere else.

“In Erotic Poems, The Art Of Love Book 1, line 346, Ovid uses the phrase ”Draw a blank…”.

“Dylan’s exhibition of paintings, developed from his 1990s book of drawings, was, of course, entitled Drawn Blank.

“Seems to me Bobby has been a closet Latin scholar for some years.”

Elliott Landy’s Woodstock photographs

Though the current Woodstock 40th anniversary “celebrations” (aka commercial exploitation) leave me cold, the new edition of Elliott Landy’s book, Woodstock Vision, looks like a must-have.

It’s a feast of 300 of Landy’s wonderful photographs. The famous Dylan shot – hat, guitar, vintage car – dominates the cover.

It’s not obvious how many Dylan pics are in the book, but the Landy website has 50 Dylan thumbnails, many of which were new to me:

http://landyvision.com



Thanks to Jim Linderman whose blog alerted me to the new Landy book:

http://dulltooldimbulb.blogspot.com



Gerry Smith

Dylan “too selfish”, according to female singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter Dory Previn regards Bob Dylan as selfish. In an interview with Jonathan Wingate published in Record Collector (Jan 2008?*), she tells of a gig she performed where Dylan asked to meet her backstage:

“Yes that was the worst… you can’t have a chat with him because he’s too selfish, so he won’t give you anything…“

Dory Previn was a cult favourite in the early 1970s. Her bleak confessional lyrics documented her mental health problems, marital breakdown, and a world going wrong.

In my list of favourite women rockpop artists from the 1970s, I’d place her second only to Joni Mitchell, and well ahead of every other female writer/performer.

(* The interview, pulled out the monthly mag Record Collector, looks as if it promoted the Jan 2008 release of The Art Of Dory Previn, a must-have compilation CD summarising the gifted singer-songwriter’s legacy.)



Gerry Smith

Dylan, Virgil, Ovid et al

Thanks to Anne Ritchie:

“I’ve been following your unique recent coverage of new Dylan Studies books - I’m particularly interested in Dylan’s debt to Classical writers, especially Ovid.

“I can recommend to readers of The Dylan Daily with similar interests a series of articles available free on the web site of an academic journal, Oral Tradition.

“Oral Tradition Volume 22 no 1 2007 was a special Dylan issue. Among a lot of very meaty articles, there’s one by Harvard Prof Richard F Thomas, The Streets Of Rome – The Classical Dylan (pp30-56), examining Dylan’s references to Ovid, Virgil, Homer et al in depth.”

http://journal.oraltradition.org

Another new compilation CD - Bob Dylan: The Collection

Though it’s not aimed at readers of specialist web sites such as this one, Bob Dylan: The Collection - yet another new official compilation CD – demonstrates that Sony are keenly developing the Dylan market among younger listeners.

The new CD was on sale last night in my local supermarket on the bargain “CDs from £3” racks – suggesting it’s targeted at older cheapskates as well as new converts.

But can you represent Dylan’s vast songbook in just 12 tracks? Well, Sony/Camden have had a fair crack, resisting the temptation to treat Dylan as a 1960s museum piece by including songs from four decades – but note, there’s nothing from the
1980s:

Blowin' In The Wind
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Mr. Tambourine Man
Like A Rolling Stone
Positively 4th Street
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Lay, Lady, Lay
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Tangled Up In Blue
Hurricane
Not Dark Yet
Things Have Changed



Gerry Smith