Expecting Rain

I'll oblige, as always

It's wrong to suggest that Jesus was deified by zealous followers after He died. Jesus words in John's Gospel repeatedly show Jesus own claims to Divine Nature. The prime example that comes to mind is where He says "Before Abraham was born I AM".

If Jesus isn't God, how could He have appeared in Bob's Tucson hotel room in 1978? Unless you propose that was a figment of Bob Dylan's imagination. Since He spoke to Bob, we should accept the truth of all this. Unless we prefer to conclude that Bob was simply conversing with himself.

I’ll get the kindle version when it’s released on Tuesday, not sure why it hasn’t been already. It should be a good read.

Read it many years ago. It's very expensive online, having been out of print for awhile. Where did you find a copy?

It’s part of his book, Watching the River Flow, which I picked up in a used book store for a few bucks. It’s a collection of a bunch of his writings/essays from the gospel era through about 1995. Includes a nice write-up on the Supper Club shows. You can usually pick it up used through amazon for 5-10 dollars paperback.

Perhaps it was someone, but not actually Jesus?

Perhaps Bob was actually visited by W.E.B. Du Bois, and he mistakenly thought it was Jesus? I mean, it happens.

I don't think Bob's crazy. Nor do I think he wears a blindfold while entertaining strangers in his hotel room. Someone doing a good impression of Jesus just to confuse Bob? Really?

A brief review I posted on Amazon. Opinions are my own, of course.

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As noted by most of the other reviewers, The Kindle edition weirdly is formatted so that page turns are from right to left, rather than the English-standard left to right, lending to confusion if the reader forgets which way s/he is reading. If you find that so off-putting that you feel you can't read the book, then don't buy it until the formatting is corrected, or go get the print edition. Personally, I found it annoying, but not so much that I couldn't read the book, or decided it was necessary to write an outraged review. In any case, an actual review of the book is below.

Solid recounting of Bob Dylan's gospel recording sessions, albums and associated tours, and of primary interest to those wanting to learn more about that period stretching roughly from 1979-81.

Heylin has an engaging writing style, a bit marred by a tendency for the cute turn of phrase and the occasional lapse into Dylan super-fan minutia.

Do we learn anything new about Bob Dylan, his so-called conversion, or why, after 2 1/2 years, he more or less abandoned the religious songs and on-stage evangelism he had promoted so vehemently? Maybe a little. From the perspective of an outside observer, relying mainly on the public record, Heylin paints a portrait of an artist as a confused and whimsical man, apparently becoming involved with the Vineyard Christian Fellowship Church thanks to a romantic relationship, and dropping the relationship with the church when the more personal relationship cooled. Interestingly, Heylin points out that many of Dylan's songs, and more pointedly, his bizarre "gospel raps" to the audience during the gospel era, borrow equally from Hal Lindsey's potboiler "The Late, Great Planet Earth" and the Bible.

Bottom line: if you like reading about Bob Dylan, you'll likely enjoy the book.

Boy, they really fukced up the kindle version apparently.

I'll get my copy on wednesday and looking forward to it. Only read Behind the Shades by Heylin before but unlike the majority here I loved it. With Heylin being a gospel fan I'm sure it'll be superb.
I know it might sound a little shallow, but I'm hoping Heylins dug up some dirt on Bob or at least gleaned into his personal life at the time, and not just a list of dates and events (like whatshisface-Williams (may he rest in peace)).

I'm really looking forward to the new book. Clinton Heylin and Paul Williams both had a huge influence on the course of my life. I read Behind the Shades in 1991 and the first two volumes of Performing Artist is 1992. Without that, I probably never would have started trading live shows or collecting bootlegs. Fun times.

Really enjoying the book. The lead up to Musical Retrospective Tour / and then SOL period is particularly interesting.
It is simply amazing to imagine the album SOL could have been.
It's quite an achievement to make such an average album when he was holding musical gold in his hands ...

Caribbean Wind
Yonder Comes Sin
Making a Liar
Aint Gonna Go to Hell
Cover Down
Lets Keep It Between Us
Angelina
Need A Woman
Groom
You Changed My Life

not to mention the better songs that he did actually put on the album.

Shot Of Love
Property Of Jesus
Every Grain Of Sand
Dead Man

Wow. Just wow.
As soon as I finish this book, I know Im going to go back and start it again.

It's difficult to say which of SoL and Infidels could have been more improved by the material left off ! On the other hand, maybe the worst problem of all was with Saved. Holding that back for six months and replacing the weaker songs with, for example, Trouble in Mind, Yonder Comes Sin and Caribbean Wind in autumn 1980 would have made for a much stronger album. The best chance for CW would have been to bottom it then and it would have made a great album closer in the spirit of moving on.

But this is all second guessing history and 20/20 hindsight.

Does this new book take us significantly forward from the relevant chapters of the 2011 version of Behind the Shades?

I'm 170 pages in..very little in that regard. But I'm enjoying it. The only thing that really starts to wear are the extensiiiiiive quotes from Bob's on-stage raps.

I just bought this book for 15 Euro and also the book Judas from Heylin.

Pm me when they fix the kindle.

Or just bang out Saved at the same time, but in the live format that was (apparently) originally envisaged.
It would have been trashed by the critics anyhow, but it would have been a better album!

Has anyone else noticed that some places (like Amazon Canada) show a slightly different (and much uglier) cover than the cover seen on Heylin's website and elsewhere? It has the same image of Dylan but is mostly gray and black instead of white with a little red? I am wary of ordering it from Amazon in case that really is the cover for some countries.

As far as I know that is the hard cover. The hard cover is grey, and came out at the same time as the paperback. I prefer the paperback as well. Actually, the book cover is a lot better than the BS13 cover.

Ah. I think you are right. Both the US and Canada sites have the ugly one as HC and the whiter one as the PB. Great - ordering now!

At some point I'm going to get round to making my own alternate Shot of Love. It's great having all these studio quality outtakes.

Does anyone know why that picture of Dylan was chosen for the cover of the book? What was the thought process? It's from Hard Rain in 1976 right? It's a great picture and a great cover, but it doesn't make much sense.

Heylin talks about that in the recent Isis. Something about him seeing it used on a Christian publication in early 80's (who took it from the NBC Hard Rain) and then finding out it had been used on a bible in 1980 ... and that he thinks it looks like jesus.

I'll be publishing a studio Shot of Love - Expanded Edition DIY Playlist on my site shortly, along with Shot of Love - Live as a second disc bonus. Given how much excellent content just got dropped on us, it's hard not to!

Excellent news! Thank you.

This is well worth a listen -
http://www.edwardsglossoproad.uk/bob-dylans-gospel-years-with-clinton-heylin/
podcast of talk on 14th November. He plays a (missing) 1979 San Diego rap amongst other things.