
Down the Highway
The Life of Bob Dylan
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Narrated by:
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Peter Markinker
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By:
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Howard Sounes
About this listen
Hailed as "Music Book of the Year" by Uncut magazine on publication, and a finalist for theRalph J. Gleason Music Book Award, Down the Highway is an essential biography for Bob Dylan fans and all music enthusiasts, delivering the full, fascinating story of the life and work of this great artist.
Author Howard Sounes interviewed more than 250 key people in Dylan’s circle, and gained access to previously unseen documents, to create a fresh and compelling book that takes the reader on a journey from Dylan’s childhood in a Minnesota mining town, through his rise to fame in the 1960s, to his current status as the senior figure in popular music.
Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of extraordinary personalities, including the American poet Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life) and the singer-songwriters Paul McCartney (Fab) and Lou Reed (Notes from the Velvet Underground).
©2011 Howard Sounes (P)2014 Audible StudiosListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
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In 1975 as Bob Dylan emerged from eight years of seclusion, he dreamed of putting together a traveling music show that would trek across the country like a psychedelic carnival. The dream became reality, and On the Road with Bob Dylan is the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at what happened when Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Revue took to the streets of America. With the intimate detail of a diary, Larry "Ratso" Sloman’s mesmerizing description of the legendary tour both transports listeners to a celebrated period in rock history and provides them with a vivid snapshot of Dylan during this extraordinary time.
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How to Love this Love-It or Hate-It Book
- By Dubi on 06-06-14
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Dylan Goes Electric!
- Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties
- By: Elijah Wald
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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On the evening of July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan took the stage at Newport Folk Festival, backed by an electric band, and roared into his new rock hit, "Like a Rolling Stone". The audience of committed folk purists and political activists who had hailed him as their acoustic prophet reacted with a mix of shock, booing, and scattered cheers. It was the shot heard round the world - Dylan's declaration of musical independence, the end of the folk revival, and the birth of rock as the voice of a generation - and one of the defining moments in 20th-century music.
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Great book/Awful narration
- By DB on 01-04-25
By: Elijah Wald
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The Philosophy of Modern Song
- By: Bob Dylan
- Narrated by: Bob Dylan, Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan’s unique prose. And while ostensibly about music, they are really meditations on the human condition.
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Needs chapter headings
- By kaon on 12-22-22
By: Bob Dylan
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Bob Dylan
- Jewish Roots, American Soil
- By: Harry Freedman
- Narrated by: Todd Almond
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Bob Dylan arrived in New York one winter morning in 1961. His music and spirit would go on to capture the hearts and minds of a generation, but what no one knew then was that, like so many before him, Dylan was concealing his Jewish origins. For Harry Freedman, Dylan’s roots are the key to grasping how this complete unknown burst onto the scene and reinvented not only himself, but popular music. The instinct for escape and reinvention has defined Dylan’s long career.
By: Harry Freedman
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Chronicles Volume 1
- By: Bob Dylan, Kathrin Passig, Gerhard Henschel
- Narrated by: Wolfgang Niedecken
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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"Wenn du so ein Buch schreibst, musst du die Wahrheit sagen." (Bob Dylan) Diesem Motto hat sich Dylan in seinen Chronicles verschrieben und erzählt selbst von seinen Anfängen in der Country-Szene in den 1960er Jahren. Der Musiker beschreibt mit Herzblut und Leidenschaft wie er um seine künstlerische Identität kämpfen und seine Familie vor der Öffentlichkeit schützen musste. In atemberaubenden Worten erklärt der Künstler seinen Wechsel von Folk zu Rock und was es heißt die großen Bühnen der Welt zu touren.
By: Bob Dylan, and others
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The World of Bob Dylan
- By: Sean Latham
- Narrated by: Kerry Shale, John Chancer, Barbara Barnes, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Bob Dylan is a singular figure defined by a lifetime of creative invention that has helped transform music, literature, pop culture, and even politics. This book provides a lively, accessible look at his art and music as seen by leading rock and pop critics and music scholars. The chapters are carefully integrated so that listeners can take quick dives into specific topics ranging from the Blues to religious faith, civil rights, and American literature.
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The Wirld of bob dylan
- By Lucy J. jANUSZ on 07-28-22
By: Sean Latham
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That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound
- Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde
- By: Daryl Sanders
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound is the definitive treatment of Bob Dylan's magnum opus, Blonde on Blonde, not only providing the most extensive account of the sessions that produced the trailblazing album but also setting the record straight on much of the misinformation that has surrounded the story of how the masterpiece came to be made. Including many new details and eyewitness accounts, as well as keen insight into the Nashville cats who helped Dylan reach rare artistic heights, it explores the lasting impact of rock's first double album.
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Some good moments overall
- By Bozobob on 03-28-19
By: Daryl Sanders
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Small Town Talk
- Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock
- By: Barney Hoskyns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When musicians in the New York folk scene of the 1960s grew tired of city life, they decided to "get it together in the country". They headed for Woodstock - not to the site of the infamous music festival of 1969 but to the Catskills, to Bearsville, to Woodstock proper. Counterculture revolutionaries like Janis Joplin, Richie Havens, and Paul Butterfield got "back to the land", turning the once sleepy hollow into a funky Shangri-La.
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Captured the era - too many mistakes
- By Frank Canino on 04-17-16
By: Barney Hoskyns
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Positively 4th Street
- By: David Hajdu
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Positively 4th Street is a mesmerizing account of how four young people (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina) gave rise to a modern-day bohemia and created the enduring sound and style of the 1960s.
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Lousy reader ruins otherwise interesting history
- By Barbara on 10-20-04
By: David Hajdu
What listeners say about Down the Highway
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- Thomas P. O'Connor
- 09-05-22
Good - but ends at 2009
Excellent biography- as far as it went. I was a bit disappointed Audible didn’t have the 2021 edition. Narrator wasn’t a good choice, but the content held me to the end.
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- MrSoul
- 08-06-17
Oh Mercy!
Impressive story and detail. I especially appreciated the history of his trails and trials in the 1980s. I would have appreciated a little more detail on my favorite album, Oh Mercy. Highly recommended and one I will probably visit again as I head on down my highway of life.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Electric E / Erez Kats
- 09-30-23
Very Interesting account
This tells you absolutely everything you could ever want to know about Bob Dylan's life, an although it does get a bit repetitive hearing about his many women, and lawsuits, it's still very interesting to hear about his many shenanigans and escapades! Very entertaining read! :-)
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- Dawanna Lopez
- 12-17-24
thorough
this is a great book. maybe the most in depth of his life as any I've read so far!
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- Tom Millan
- 06-22-20
A detailed and interesting story of Bob Dylan
I’m a fan of Dylan for over 50 years. His recordings have impacted music more than any artist other than the Beatles, who he was a major influence. Many things about Dylan are revealed for the first time. Insights into his music and his musician friends and fellow performers explain Dylan in a way that made me feel I was in the room with Dylan during his most creative times. Dylan’s quirkinesses and genius are all included in this most interesting book. I also like the narrator as the English accent made for a more objective viewpoint.
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2 people found this helpful
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- waelse1
- 03-06-16
Terrific thorough biography
Had read it years ago and has been updated through 2012 or so. Thorough, well-researched and even-handed, it does a good job telling the remarkable story of Dylan's life. The reader is very good as well. Excellent book well told.
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- Pat Smith
- 01-04-25
Very good book, but…
I have lost track of how many times a narrator has been dinged for mispronouncing names or places. This narrator is a good reader but so many mispronounced names… it did get a bit annoying but the book s very good
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- Richard
- 04-20-22
Long but interesting
Odd to have chosen a narrator with an English accent, which seemed incongruous with the story, and particularly ineffective when he attempted other voices. But Dylan is an interesting story, even if this volume referenced too many names and details because he could rather than because they were interesting to the reader (rather ponderous). Glad it’s finished but glad I read it
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- John M.
- 07-11-16
The fascinating story of a real life troubadour
A fascinating tale of one of America's great musicians. This in-depth study of a rare breed, a real troubadour who has traversed the country and the world time and time again and will do so until he dies with a guitar in his hands enthralled me from beginning to end. Not only was Dylan the musician singer and songwriter given a detailed study, but also light was cast into the dark recesses of the very private life of a very public figure. Bob Dylan the musician we have known through his music. Bob Zimmerman the man is also revealed here. Wonderfully written in concise detail and beautifully read.
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9 people found this helpful
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- RLWarner
- 01-20-21
Do it again man.....I was asleep.
To read this story once and expect to know Bob Dylan will be a mistake.
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