In 1962 John Kennedy was President, I was transitioning from 6th to 7th grade, and a 20-year-old Bob Dylan was releasing his first LP to zero critical acclaim. A year later, however, now prolifically writing his own material, he released The Freewheelin’ album, recognized by both the Library of Congress and Rolling Stone magazine for its historic, musical, and cultural importance. With songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”, and “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”, Dylan was on his way to the worldwide mythical status he has achieved over the past 6+ decades. DOWN THE ROAD WITH DYLAN – LIVING WITH THE SONGS is my 2nd, and newly released, book, and it tries to make sense of how Dylan’s greatest creations helped change music, the general society and culture, and, indeed, my own life. I invite you to read it and let me know what you think; DOWN THE ROAD WITH DYLAN can be found at BookBaby Book Shop, a popular online book store.
Category: Dylan
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Jeffrey Weber, a Grammy winning producer who has worked with such artists as Jackson Browne, Nancy Wilson, Luther Vandross, and Rita Coolidge, wrote about my new book, DOWN THE ROAD WITH DYLAN – LIVING WITH THE SONGS, “Steve Williams’ latest is an extremely well researched and heartfelt dive into the music, the times and the lyrical genius of Bob Dylan. Williams examines one hundred Dylan songs through the prism of his own life’s experiences. I learned a few things. I felt a few things, too. For any true fan of music this is an indispensable companion to living a life of substance.” DOWN THE ROAD WITH DYLAN is available (in paperback of eBook formats) online only at BookBaby Book Shop.
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In my newest book, Down the Road with DYLAN – Living with the Songs, I write, ““Bob Dylan has been a deeply intimate part of my life for over 60 years. John Kennedy was still president when I heard my first Dylan song. I’ve spent countless hours listening to his records; I’ve attended numerous concerts, at both ends of the country; and I’ve sung his songs on the beaches, parks, and street corners of Southern California, in assorted wine bars, clubs, private homes, and at youth gatherings in both the United States and Mexico; in church, and with students in the classroom.
In this book, we’ll look at 100 carefully chosen Bob Dylan songs through three distinct lenses— through the lens of music criticism; through the lens of recent American history; and through the lens of personal memoir. It is my sincere wish that there is an educational element embedded herein, but, above all, this book is a heartfelt labor of love, a way for me to express both my understanding of and deep appreciation for the art of Bob Dylan and how it has moved and shaped me and, indeed, all of us, for over six decades. Bob Dylan’s profound creations have been intimately interwoven with the various strands of my personal life and with the life of the wider world we’ve all shared these past decades. My hope is that I have succeeded in capturing something of the timeless, ineffable, beating heart reality hinted at in the songs of Bob Dylan, by looking at 100 of them anew through these three lovingly polished, personal lenses.”
Down the Road with DYLAN is now available exclusively online at BookBaby Book Shop. I’d be thrilled and honored if you read it, and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Thanks, Steve
