Bob Dylan Complete Discography

by Brian Hinton

Book Overview

This book is a must have for anyone interested in Bob Dylan's music. It covers 43 officially released albums with extensive commentary on each track. Included are details of label, credits, year of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789314940
• ISBN13: 9780789314949
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Universe Publishing(NY)
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.7" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

The Big Little Book of Bob

This book is small in physical size (slightly larger than a compact disc) but enormous in scope, for content on the recorded output of Bob Dylan. This thick volume (464 pages) covers all of Bob's official recorded works from 1962 through to 2006. A section on Bob's recorded contributions to other artists records is useful, as a (small) section devoted to selected bootlegs. But, the official recordings are the spotlight of this book. From the debut album: "Bob Dylan" through to "No Direction Home - Bootleg Series Vol. 7" with commentary covering each individual tracks of each record. Color reproductions of all the cover art is included, as are credits & comments on every recording included within. This book, is a pleasure and a great reference point for all music, Dylan. As, you may not agree with every comment found herein, (my favorite Dylan songs may not be your favorite Dylan songs) this thick little book doesn't leave out hardly anything, and is as useful as it is entertaining. You could spend a lot more money for a book of this sort (my copy was $3.99, brand new from a bookseller) but, it is up to you as the consumer. This is a great little book, and a handy reference source that I use a lot. Four Stars !!!

Completeness is a Virtue

Notable for its completeness, but sometimes awkward for its Britisih slant in describing disc contents and album covers.

Pleasant, comprehensive book is likely to satisfy most readers

Brian Hinton's discography of Bob Dylan is a first-rate book. Although it is small in size, the book is lengthy, totaling more than 460 pages. Most of it is dedicated to covering Dylan's official releases through the "No Direction Home" soundtrack and Gaslight CDs (in other words, it excludes "Modern Times"). Hinton includes a copy of the cover of each album; production information (recording dates, musicians, length of recording); an overview of the album, including its context in terms of the ups and downs of Dylan's career; a song-by-song review; and brief notes on outtakes. The album overviews and, especially, the song reviews are the items that readers will find compelling. Of course the elite sector of Dylan fanatics who know a billion and one facts about the singer/songwriter/musician may quibble that the book does not contain enough details, or they may disagree with certain interpretations. For most of us, however, Hinton presents a nice balance of information so that newcomers to Dylan as well as long-time fans will be entertained, rather than overwhelmed. The latter part of the book contains a listing of albums where Dylan contributed, as well as a list of singles. It also features information on some of Dylan's better known bootleg albums. I initially thought the price ($24.95 list) might be a bit steep for a book that contained information that I was largely familiar with. However, the production values are quite good, and, again, Hinton has done a great job of assembling information and providing enough fresh insights to satisfy most old-timers, as well as furnishing a nice package to introduce newcomers to Bob Dylan's prolific and impressive output of recordings.