Bob Dylans contribution to popular music is immeasurable. Venerated as rocks one true genius, Dylan is considered responsible for introducing a new range of topics and new lyrical complexity into popular music. Without Bob Dylan, rock critic Dave Marsh once claimed, there would be no popular music as we understand it today.

As such an exalted figure, Dylan has been the subject of countless books and intricate scholarship considering various dimensions of both the man and his music. This book places new emphasis on Dylan as a rock star. Whatever else Dylan is, he is a star iconic, charismatic, legendary, enigmatic. No one else in popular music has maintained such star status for so long a period of time.

Showing how theories of stardom can help us understand both Bob Dylan and the history of rock music, Lee Marshall provides new insight into how Dylans songs acquire meaning and affects his relationship with his fans, his critics and the recording industry. Marshall discusses Dylans emergence as a star in the folk revival (the spokesman for a generation) and the formative role that Dylan plays in creating a new type of music rock and a new type of star. Bringing the book right up to date, he also sheds new light on how Dylans later career has been shaped by his earlier star image and how Dylan repeatedly tried to throw off the limitations and responsibilities of his stardom.

The book concludes by considering the revival of Dylan over the past ten years and how Dylans stardom has developed in a way that contains, but is not overshadowed by, his achievements in the 1960s.

Lee Marshall is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Bristol.

Acknowledgements xi

The theoretical bit

Why looking at stardom is important for understanding Dylan. Different approaches to stardom, and the most important bits of the theories. How we hear songs. Whether words or voice are most important. How stardom affects the meaning of songs.

1 Introduction 1

2 Stardom, Authorship and the Meaning of Songs 14

Dylans sixties stardom

Dylans emergence in the folk revival and the contradictions of being a folk star. His move into rock, political individualism and the tensions between culture and commerce. Dylans withdrawal from the scene in the late sixties. His attempts to reclaim his stardom and their effect on the rest of his career.

Snapshot: The man of the people 49

3 Folk Stardom: Star as Ordinary, Star as Special 52

Snapshot: The chameleon poet 85

4 Rock Stardom: Reconciling Culture and Commerce 88

Snapshot: The retiring father 115

5 Beyond Stardom: Rock History and Canonisation 118

Dylans later stardom

Changing social values and Dylans problems in the 1980s. Dylans attempt to reconstruct the relationship with his audience. An overview of the Never Ending Tour and its key features. Debates about Dylans later work. Time Out Of Mind and the changes in Dylans stardom since 1997.
Snapshot: The rock legend 149

6 Declining Stardom: Nostalgia and the Death of Rock 152

Snapshot: The wandering minstrel 183

7 Redefining Stardom: The Never Ending Tour 186

Snapshot: The soul of previous times 229

8 Never Ending Stardom: Dylan after Time Out Of Mind 232

Notes 277

Bibliography 287

List of Interviews 295

Copyright Acknowledgements 299

Index 304