RICHARD JOBES, of Netherton, has written extensively for the music press on Bob Dylan. Here he takes a look at the much hyped Dylan autobiography, published this week
IN September 2001, as rumours began to circulate that Bob Dylan was working on his autobiography, he would rhetorically demand of an interviewer: "My story on myself would have to be more interesting than anybody else looking at it from outside. Right?"
This being Dylan, the answer to such a question is anything but straightforward.
Those that scour the pages of Chronicles: Volume 1, published this week, for the definitive word on one of popular music's most acclaimed careers will be left thoroughly disappointed.
Those landmark moments around which all previous biographies are based - the divorces, the bike crash, the conversions - go largely ignored.
His shift from acoustic folk music to the wild and noticeably electric splendour of such songs as Like A Rolling Stone - one of his most controversial transformations - is teasingly dealt with.
Sitting in the kitchen of a New York folk club in the early-Sixties, innocently sipping cola, he listens transfixed to a song by the quintessential rock 'n' roll legend, Ricky Nelson.
"Ricky," he writes, "would even get booed while onstage for changing what was perceived as his musical direction. It turned out we did have a lot in common."
He skirtingly refers to the topic on a number of occasions, but never expanding upon it in a way that will satisfy those looking for an easy explanation. He simply adds: "I knew what I was doing, though, and wasn't going to take a step back or retreat for anybody."
There is no attempt to offer a comprehensive look at his life, as large swathes go unaccounted for.
One of the principle motivations behind the book appears to be his desire to finally rid himself of the moniker of "Voice of a Generation", something that clearly makes him bristle.
"All I'd ever done was sing songs that were dead straight and expressed powerful new realities," he states. "I had little in common with and knew even less about a generation that I was supposed to be the voice of ... I was more a cowpuncher than a Pied Piper."
Preconceived notions are toyed with. Those who have spent a disproportionate amount of time wondering just why he changed his name from Robert Zimmerman to Bob Dylan are met with a broad grin. "As for Bobby Zimmerman, I'm going to give this to you straight and you can check it out," he vows. Well, only if you promise, Bob.
"One of the early presidents of the San Bernardino Angels was Bobby Zimmerman, and he was killed in 1964 on the Bass Lake run. The muffler fell of his bike, he made a U-turn to retrieve it in front of the pack and was instantly killed. That person is gone. That was the end of it."
For the life in me I can only imagine it is a joke, but you can never tell.
Yet, while much of this might appear reticent, perhaps even belligerent, what remains the book's most striking quality is its honesty.
This is largely a tour through areas of his life that have remained virtually unknown, and it is possible to believe that he ignores more familiar subject matter simply because he feels it is already public property.
In all previous biographies Dylan has hovered ever-so slightly out of reach, yet here he very much takes centre stage. Much of the text is surprisingly detailed - certain smells, sounds, what people were wearing - that bring these events vividly to life.
What Chronicles: Volume 1 proves to be is an engaging, contradictory, humorous and deeply human take on what remains one of the greatest bodies of work in popular culture. In the end, what more could anyone have hoped for?
Bob Dylan Chronicles: Volume 1 is published by Simon & Schuster priced £16.99. They will also be publishing the latest edition of Lyrics 1962 - 2001.
