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The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

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Author:
Marcus, Greil
Published:
Picador 2011
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Description

Previously published as Invisible Republic and already considered a classic of modern American cultural criticism, this is an updated edition of Greil Marcus's acclaimed book on the secret music made by Bob Dylan and the Band in 1967, which introduced a phrase that has become part of the culture: "the old, weird America."
Marcus's widely acclaimed book is about the secret music (the so-called "Basement Tapes") made by Bob Dylan and the Band while in seclusion in Woodstock, New York, in 1967 a folksy yet funky, furious yet hilarious music that remains as seductive and baffling today as it was more than half a century ago.
As Mark Sinker observed in The Wire: "Marcus's contention is that there can be found in American folk a community as deep, as electric, as perverse, and as conflicted as all America, and that the songs Dylan recorded out of the public eye, in a basement in Woodstock, are where that community as a whole gets to speak." But the country mapped out in this book, as Bruce Shapiro wrote in The Nation, "is not Woody Guthrie's land for made for you and me . . . It's what Marcus calls 'the old, weird America.'" This odd terrain, this strange yet familiar backdrop to our common cultural history—which Luc Sante (in New York magazine) termed the "playground of God, Satan, tricksters, Puritans, confidence men, illuminati, braggarts, preachers, anonymous poets of all stripes"—is the territory that Marcus has discovered in Dylan's most mysterious music. And his analysis of that territory "reads like a thriller" (Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly) and exhibits "a mad, sparkling brilliance" (David Remnick, The New Yorker) throughout.
This special edition includes a new introduction, an updated discography, and never-before-seen photographs of the legendary recording sessions.
"This book is terminal, goes deeply into the subconscious and plows through that period of time like a rake. Greil Marcus has done it again." — Bob Dylan

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Subjects
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Music
Sociology
Nonfiction
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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
04/26/2011
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781429961585
ASIN:
B004L2LG2Y
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APA Citation (style guide)

Greil Marcus. (2011). The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes. Picador.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Greil Marcus. 2011. The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes. Picador.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Greil Marcus, The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes. Picador, 2011.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Greil Marcus. The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes. Picador, 2011.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Date Updated:
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Previously published as Invisible Republic and already considered a classic of modern American cultural criticism, this is an updated edition of Greil Marcus's acclaimed book on the secret music made by Bob Dylan and the Band in 1967, which introduced a phrase that has become part of the culture: "the old, weird America."
Marcus's widely acclaimed book is about the secret music (the so-called "Basement Tapes") made by Bob Dylan and the Band while in seclusion in Woodstock, New York, in 1967 a folksy yet funky, furious yet hilarious music that remains as seductive and baffling today as it was more than half a century ago.
As Mark Sinker observed in The Wire: "Marcus's contention is that there can be found in American folk a community as deep, as electric, as perverse, and as conflicted as all America, and that the songs Dylan recorded out of the public eye, in a basement in Woodstock, are where that community as a whole gets to speak." But the country mapped out in this book, as Bruce Shapiro wrote in The Nation, "is not Woody Guthrie's land for made for you and me . . . It's what Marcus calls 'the old, weird America.'" This odd terrain, this strange yet familiar backdrop to our common cultural history—which Luc Sante (in New York magazine) termed the "playground of God, Satan, tricksters, Puritans, confidence men, illuminati, braggarts, preachers, anonymous poets of all stripes"—is the territory that Marcus has discovered in Dylan's most mysterious music. And his analysis of that territory "reads like a thriller" (Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly) and exhibits "a mad, sparkling brilliance" (David Remnick, The New Yorker) throughout.
This special edition includes a new introduction, an updated discography, and never-before-seen photographs of the legendary recording sessions.
"This book is terminal, goes deeply into the subconscious and plows through that period of time like a rake. Greil Marcus has done it again." — Bob Dylan

reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Bob Dylan
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        "This book is terminal, goes deeply into the subconscious and plows through that period of time like a rake. Greil Marcus has done it again."

      • premium: False
      • source: Robert Polito, The New York Times Book Review
      • content: "It is the speculative intelligence with which Marcus chases the specters and wraiths of this country's musical past that emerges as the exhilarating feat of [The Old, Weird America] . . . No previous writer has so transportingly or authoritatively revealed Mr. Dylan against receding vistas of American music and culture."
      • premium: False
      • source: Stephanie Zachareck, Newsday
      • content: "The year's best work of criticism, hands down . . . Marcus draws bold freehand loops around Dylan's music, loops so wide and loose that they take in not just the breadth of American folk music, but huge chunks of American history as well. This is the best kind of history book, one that acknowledges that mythology is sometimes the truest kind of fact."
      • premium: False
      • source: Charles Taylor, Salon
      • content: "Marcus has always been set on discovering how much a performer can bring to bear on his or her material, and how much a critic can bring to bear on those performances . . . He offers his readers a breathtaking sense of freedom."
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Marcus's widely acclaimed book is about the secret music (the so-called "Basement Tapes") made by Bob Dylan and the Band while in seclusion in Woodstock, New York, in 1967 a folksy yet funky, furious yet hilarious music that remains as seductive and baffling today as it was more than half a century ago.
As Mark Sinker observed in The Wire: "Marcus's contention is that there can be found in American folk a community as deep, as electric, as perverse, and as conflicted as all America, and that the songs Dylan recorded out of the public eye, in a basement in Woodstock, are where that community as a whole gets to speak." But the country mapped out in...

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