Studio A chronicles the creator some of the most indelible popular music of our time, a restless and protean figure whose career has been the subject of repeated transformations, declines, and comebacks. From early singles such as "Blowin' in the Wind" to recent albums like Love and Theft, Bob Dylan has proven himself to be the greatest lyricist of modern songwriters and the "poet laureate" of the 1960s. Authors in Studio A examine how Dylan's albums and live concerts have secured his place in the traditions of folk, rock, and blues.
Excerpt
Phil Ochs, in his Broadside interview, called Dylan "LSD on stage." This may or may not be true. I wouldn't know. But I do know it is a powerful experience in more than musical terms to dig his concerts. The audience's relationship to the singer is possibly the most direct and powerful I have ever witnessed. He moves them in a deep and sometimes disturbing way and the occasional bad sound doesn't interfere; enough comes through emotionally.
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Despite everything that has been written about Dylan, not a great deal is known about him for certain. Heylin's chronology of Dylan's life, for example, is an archly self-canceling document, in that every piece of information points to a larger lack of information. Here are three consecutive entries for the year 1974:
Late April. Dylan attends a concert by Buffy St. Marie at the Bottom Line in New York. He is so impressed he returns the following two nights, and tells her he'd like to record her composition, "Until It's Time for You to Go."
May 6. Dylan runs into Phil Ochs in front of the Chelsea Hotel and they decide to go for a drink together.
May 7. Dylan visits Ochs at his apartment and agrees to perform at the "Friends of Chile" benefit.
What happened during the rest of the first week of May? Where was he going when he ran into Phil Ochs? Dylan's life story sometimes feels as if it has been pieced together from centuries-old manuscripts that were charred in a monastery fire.