Minstrel Boy: The Go‑To Map of Dylan’s Transformations, 1967–1990
Minstrel Boy confirms Chris Gregory as the indispensable guide to Dylan’s post‑accident era. Volume Two of his reverse‑chronology Picasso of Song trilogy (out 8 October 2025) surveys 1967–1990 with authority and clarity that early notices have already praised.
The middle stretch is where Gregory excels: a 200,000‑word, song‑by‑song analysis—released tracks, outtakes, variants, and notable covers—set against the period’s three clear pivots: Retreat (The Basement Tapes, John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline), Return (the mid‑’70s resurgence, including a meticulous Blood on the Tracks section), and Rebirth (the gospel turn and aftermath). He threads Dylan’s literary lineages (Blake, Whitman, the Symbolists, the Beats) through the musical foundations (folk, blues, country, gospel, rock and roll), and punctuates the text with incisive accounts of live performances. As reviews of his earlier work and his podcast have noted, Gregory combines scholarly depth with genuine accessibility.
In sum, this is the standard reference for Dylan’s “years of struggle”—the kind of definitive, all‑roads‑lead‑here volume Bowie fans look for in their own canon. Pre‑order via the author’s site and Amazon UK; a US listing will follow.