BOB DYLAN & THE POETRY OF THE BLUES
An Evening With Writer Michael Gray
MUSIC RECITAL HALL MRH 2.608 (175 people)
University of Texas at Austin
SEPTEMBER 7th at 8PM Doors open at 7:30 Limited Seating
venue maps: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/mrh.html
and
http://www.utpac.org/venue/directions.php.
CO-SPONSORED BY: Center for American Music, Dickson Centennial Professorship, English Department, Harry Ransom Center
Call 512 471-7764 for more information.
This is more a one-man show than a talk. The author of "The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia" and "Song & Dance Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan" - definitive studies of Dylan's 45-year body of work and more - uses a surprising selection of great records and rare video footage to show how hugely Dylan has been inspired by the blues and how much of its poetry has been smuggled inside his own, highly influential writing.
British Poet Laureate Andrew Motion named "Song & Dance Man III" as one of the best three books of 2000, it is the classic work in its field and has earned truly exceptional reviews.
Called 'magnificent' (Record Collector), 'overwhelming' (The Times), 'endlessly illuminating' (Rolling Stone) and 'essential' (Folk Roots), it gained 5-star reviews in Q and Uncut. Greil Marcus admired 'Gray's reach, tone and acuity' and called the book's research 'amazing', while Christopher Ricks called the book 'wonderfully comic and serious and sharp' and 'monumentally illuminating'.
Over 100 of its 900 pages made up a mind-blowing chapter on Dylan's extraordinary, resourceful use of blues lyric poetry, particularly from the 1920s and 1930s.
"The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia", published only in June 2006, has earned comparisons to David Thomson's classic "Biographical Dictionary of Cinema" (in Village Voice and the London Evening Standard), and called "amazingly well-researched and surprisingly readable" (Library Journal); Publishers Weekly said "Michael GrayŠ outdistances them all "; Time says the book gives "all you need to know and more"; the What's On In London verdict is "Utterly brilliant... Its breadth of scope is extraordinary... Strikingly intelligent, poetic, subtly humorous and buzzing with an awareness of the richness of life, [Gray is] the perfect match for his subject." The Dylan Daily website declares it "destined to be the most important Bob Dylan book, bar none."
His books may be immense but there's nothing dry about Michael's talks. Aside from being a key speaker at academic conferences in Liverpool, Frankfurt and Minneapolis, he has been a sell-out on American college campuses and in the UK & Ireland at festivals, arts theatres and arts centres. Michael Gray's events are always lively & spontaneous, witty and acute, using unpredictable slices of loud music to offer a thoroughly entertaining, fresh account of Dylan's achievement and a thrilling exposition of a form of poetry that remains much ignored and under-rated.
This will be Michael Gray's first performance in Texas.
What the British and Irish press says about his performances:
"Michael Gray is a witty, effusive, self-deprecating speaker. A wonderful eye-opener of an evening."
"Michael Gray, the world's foremost Bob Dylanologist, is telling people how it really is... Entertaining with wit and insight, Gray is clearly enjoying himself."
"A tremendously enjoyable evening."
"Clever, funny and fresh."
"A stimulating insight into rock music's premier singer-songwriter."
"A wonderful evening packed with information, insight and humour. More of these please!"
"Michael Gray is a masterful speaker."
