Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary (Vintage Books)

An in-depth look at over thirty years of Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan's recordings including analysis of "The Times They Are A-Changing," "Like a Rolling Stone," and "Tangled Up in Blue."

Examinging over thirty years of Dylan's recordings, films, and live concerts to deliver fresh, and sometimes heretical, judgements of his work, Tim Riley persuasively demonstrates that Bob Dylan is the most important American rock 'n' roller since Elvis. He charts the mercurial shifts of the Dylan persona, from acoustic to electric, and assesses the singer's debt to earlier muscians aw well as his influence on such performers as the Byrds, Bruce Springsteen, and Elvis Costello.

Includes a new epilogue that examines Dylan's 30th anniversary celebration and his 1998 Grammy Award comeback.