內容簡介
Bob Dylan and his artistic accomplishments have been explored, examined, and dissected year in and year out for decades, and through almost every lens. Yet rarely has anyone delved extensively into Dylan's Jewish heritage and the influence of Judaism in his work. In Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet, Seth Rogovoy, an award-winning critic and expert on Jewish music, rectifies that oversight, presenting a fascinating new look at one of the most celebrated musicians of all time. Rogovoy unearths the various strands of Judaism that appear throughout Bob Dylan's songs, revealing the ways in which Dylan walks in the footsteps of the Jewish Prophets. Rogovoy explains the profound depth of Jewish content — drawn from the Bible, the Talmud, and the Kabbalah — at the heart of Dylan's music, and demonstrates how his songs can only be fully appreciated in light of Dylan's relationship to Judaism and the Jewish themes that inform them. From his childhood growing up the son of Abe and Beatty Zimmerman, who were at the center of the small Jewish community in his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, to his frequent visits to Israel and involvement with the Orthodox Jewish outreach movement Chabad, Judaism has permeated Dylan's everyday life and work. Early songs like "Blowin' in the Wind" derive central imagery from passages in the books of Ezekiel and Isaiah; mid-career numbers like "Forever Young" are infused with themes from the Bible, Jewish liturgy, and Kabbalah; while late-period efforts have revealed a mind shaped by Jewish concepts of Creation and redemption. In this context, even Dylan's so-called born-again period is seen as a logical, almost inevitable development in his growth as a man and artist wrestling with the burden and inheritance of the Jewish prophetic tradition. Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet is a fresh and illuminating look at one of America's most renowned — and one of its most enigmatic — talents.
作者簡介
Seth Rogovoy is an award-winning music critic, radio commentator, musician, and author of The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover’s Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music (Algonquin Books, 2000).
His writing has appeared in Newsday, Haaretz, the Boston Phoenix, Hadassah Magazine, the Forward, and on the web at the Rogovoy Report (www.rogovoy.com). He lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where he is editor-in-chief of Berkshire Living magazine. His grandparents were from Russia, and he has blue eyes.
精彩書評
"Of all the influences resulting in the genius of Bob Dylan’s music, far too little attention has been paid to Dylan’s Jewish heritage. Seth Rogovoy corrects that deficiency by deftly weaving together his love of Dylanology with his love of Judaism." — Ed Siegel, contributor to WBUR-FM and the Boston Globe op-ed page"Seth Rogovoy proves that he is not only a master of Dylan’s music and life journey, but most significantly, of the whole idea of prophecy.
Rogovoy’s Dylan stays true to his core vision through an era that would have tested Isaiah. In the clarity of his own vision, Rogovoy’s Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet stands with Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed, and Greil Marcus’ The Shape of Things to Come. Few books make that distinguished cut. This one does. It is required reading for those who seek to understand not only Dylan, but the meaning of their own life. This is serious stuff. It’s also a pleasure to read. Each page is a ride with music all its own." — Rabbi Alan Berg“Even after almost fifty years, the language of Bob Dylan’s songs remains full of uncharted territory. Seth Rogovoy is uniquely qualified to examine the connections between Dylan’s songwriting and the Jewish liturgy, and Prophet, Mystic, Poet helps fill in one more piece of an endless and endlessly fascinating puzzle.” — Alan Light, former senior writer at Rolling Stone and frequent contributor to The New York Times"A book to add to the shelf of your Bob Dylan library -- Seth Rogovoy offers a unique perspective that examines Bob Dylan within the spectrum of Jewish religious history, but is never scholarly or pedantic. It's an entertaining read, with fresh anecdotes (at least to me they were!).
Mr. Rogovoy culls images from religious texts and matches them with Bob Dylan's lyrics; he also points out when the lyrics preceded the events that they would seem to be about, suggesting that Bob Dylan is in fact a prophet, included in the lineage of Jewish Prophets. I enjoyed this book very much and found it thought-provoking." -- Suzanne Vega"A bold attempt to explain why Dylan so often sounds like my zeyde." -- Michael Wex, author of Born to Kvetch and How to Be a Mentsh (and Not a Shmuck)
前言/序言
藍調的挽歌與不朽的低語:一部關於美國音樂史與文化變遷的史詩 本書並非聚焦於任何一位特定的音樂傢或單一的藝術流派,而是深入剖析瞭二十世紀中葉至二十一世紀初,美國社會文化光譜如何通過音樂的演變而摺射、重塑和最終定型的宏大敘事。這是一部關於聲音、權力、身份認同以及時代精神流動的編年史。 我們將從戰後美國經濟繁榮的錶象之下湧動的暗流開始。二戰結束後的“黃金時代”,錶麵上是郊區化、電視普及與消費主義的勝利,但底層的張力——種族隔離的殘酷現實、冷戰帶來的核恐懼以及日益增長的世代鴻溝——正在醞釀一場文化上的大爆炸。本書將詳盡考察早期的藍調復興運動,特彆是芝加哥電聲藍調(Chicago Electric Blues)如何從密西西比三角洲的泥土中崛起,成為城市青年反抗精神的原始脈衝。我們不僅關注像Muddy Waters或Howlin' Wolf這樣的標誌性人物,更深入挖掘那些被主流曆史遺忘的、在昏暗酒吧裏用吉他與口琴敲擊齣社會現實的樂手群像。 隨後,敘事綫索將自然地轉嚮“民謠復興”(Folk Revival)的興起。這不是簡單的懷舊,而是一場知識分子與社會活動傢對“真實性”和“本土性”的激烈追尋。我們考察瞭格林威治村(Greenwich Village)作為思想熔爐的生態係統,分析瞭早期抗議歌麯的結構和功能。在這一部分,重點將放在音樂如何被用作工具,而非單純的娛樂載體。從勞工運動的贊歌到爭取民權運動的集會聖歌,音樂成為瞭跨越階層和地域的無聲政治宣言。我們將對比美國東海岸知識分子對“傳統”的浪漫化構建,與南方非裔美國人社區中音樂的生存功能之間的微妙差異。 本書的中間部分,是對“聲音的革命”——搖滾樂爆炸性成型的細緻解剖。這不僅是一場關於音量和節奏的改變,更是一場對既有道德規範的顛覆。我們探討瞭早期搖滾樂的種族融閤本質,分析瞭貓王(Elvis Presley)的形象是如何在白人中産階級傢庭中引發的恐慌,以及這種恐慌背後隱藏的對性解放和種族界限模糊化的恐懼。緊接著,我們將視角轉嚮英國入侵(British Invasion)的影響,這不是一次單嚮的文化輸齣,而是一場復雜的文化迴流與再加工。分析披頭士(The Beatles)和滾石樂隊(The Rolling Stones)如何吸收瞭美國藍調的精髓,並將其以一種更具商業化和結構化的形式返銷給美國聽眾,最終改變瞭流行音樂的製作標準和創作視野。 在探討六十年代末“迷幻時代”時,我們聚焦於聲音技術與意識形態的交織。從費城到舊金山,閤成器、失真效果器以及錄音室技術的進步,如何使得音樂不再僅僅是現場錶演的記錄,而成為瞭一個可塑的、獨立於現實的空間。本書將探討“音樂節”作為一種臨時烏托邦的社會學意義,分析這些盛大集會如何成為一代人尋找共同身份和反主流文化的載體,即便這些烏托邦的構建常常是短暫且充滿矛盾的。 進入七十年代,隨著社會理想的褪色和音樂産業的成熟,風格開始碎片化。我們詳細分析瞭“創作歌手”(Singer-Songwriter)的興起,探討瞭這種個人化、內省式的敘事如何迴應瞭越南戰爭後的普遍虛無感和個人主義的迴歸。同時,本書沒有迴避對朋剋(Punk)運動的審視——這種對復雜音樂結構和商業主義的激烈反動,如何通過其極簡主義和DIY精神,短暫地重申瞭音樂的原始力量和可及性。 最後,本書將目光投嚮八十年代MTV時代的到來,分析視覺媒介如何開始主導音樂體驗,以及電子樂和嘻哈(Hip-Hop)文化的崛起如何標誌著美國文化重心嚮城市邊緣地帶的轉移。嘻哈不僅僅是一種音樂風格,它是一種信息傳遞係統、一種對城市景觀和體製壓迫的即時評論。我們審視瞭從街頭塗鴉到錄音室製作,這一文化如何係統性地挑戰瞭長期以來由白人主導的音樂産業結構。 通過對這些流派、人物和技術的交叉分析,本書旨在揭示一個核心主題:美國音樂史並非是綫性進步的記錄,而是一係列永恒的對話——關於自由與控製、過去與未來、主流與邊緣——這些對話通過吉他、鼓點和歌詞,持續不斷地在空氣中迴響,定義著一代又一代人的集體記憶與文化身份。這是一部關於聲音如何構建和解構美國的深度考察報告。