First part of this review -> The DYLANOLOGISTS – a kind of review (part 1)

This was the layout for the review:

Click on the mind-maps to make them larger (easier to read)

I finished with “The Collectors” in part 1, now next up is:

5. The Tapers

 

Well, many of us have a lot to thank “The Tapers” for, they’ve “given” us much invaluable art.

I myself could never have attend a Dylan concert spending most of my attention on “taping” rather than the performance.

 

6. The Religious & The Saved

Lucas Stensland finds much healing in Dylan’s songs (don’t we all). He’s not religious (“I Haven’t got a spiritual bone in my body”), but says: “I wish I could turn to God like he did”.

 7. The “Front row’ers”

 

I found this great story about Lambchop on expectingrain.com written by Matthew Zuckerman:

He usually sits in the middle of the front row, using any means he can to get the ticket. A few years ago, Sony reserved the first few rows for “entertainment” purposes and Lambchop was in danger of not getting his usual seat. However, frantic phoning around got him the names of some of the ticket holders and he managed to exchange tickets. Therefore, we had Lambchop sitting amidst a few rows of Sony executives and guests. The lights go down and everybody rises to applaude as Dylan takes the stage. Everyone, that is, except the Sony execs….. Lambchop’s unforgettable bellowing: “Stand up! Stand up! You stand up in church; you stand up for Bob!“

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8. The Lyrics dissecters

I’m with Jonathan Lethem on this subject & I highly recommend watching Kirby Ferguson TED talk: Embrace The Remix, as well as his Four-part video series “Everything is a Remix“.

At the same time I’m thankful & fascinated by especially Scott Warmuth’s work – check out his blog: Goon Talk.

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All the different types of Dylanologists share a love for Dylan’s art. Most of the people in Kinney’s book comes off as nice people with a deep passion.

Skills are cheap, passion is priceless
~Gary Vaynerchuk

So is a passion for Dylan’s art “worse” than other passions ? Off course not.

Another quote springs to mind:

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
~Albert Einstein

Summary

This ends my journey through the main topic of this wonderful book.

I’ve elaborated quite a bit along the way, the mind-maps contains a lot of stuff not included in the book.

This is a book you need to read, but not only you reading this. You should recommend it to your friends as well, even friends not interested in Bob Dylan. They will probably understand us “Dylan-nuts” a bit better and have more than a few laughs along to way.

Thanks to David Kinney for his great project & to Dana Trocker at Simon & Schuster for allowing me an “advance copy” of the book.

…and btw.. sorry for the typos.

-Egil

Buy this GREAT book @ amazon: