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22/05/2006

Clinton Heylin on The Basement Tapes

Checking out the recording history of I Shall Be Released – I wrongly think of it as a Pat Garrett track – I re-read the chapter in Clinton Heylin’s penetrating study, Dylan: Behind Closed Doors – The Recording Sessions 1960-1994 (Penguin, 1996).

Heylin’s minutely detailed, blow-by-blow account of the basement material ranks amongst his best writing. Some fans bristle at his style, both here and in his other books. I occasionally wince at his settling of personal scores and his tendency to solipsis, but Heylin’s Behind Closed Doors remains one of the cornerstones of any decent Dylan library, unlikely to be bettered.

I’d cherish an updated edition.



Gerry Smith

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