Bob Dylan’s Christmas Album: What Good Is It? (Part 4)

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

The fourth and final installment of my series of posts about Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart can now be read in its entirety on the Jewish Book Council’s author blog. In this final post, I summarize my thoughts on the meaning of the recording and my feelings about its musical value.

The Meaning of Bob Dylan’s Christmas Album: The Music (Part 3)

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Almost lost in all the commotion surrounding Bob Dylan’s new Christmas album, Christmas In the Heart — his first charity album, as the proceeds from all sales are being donated to hunger charities, according to his website — is a fair consideration of the music itself: where it sits in the context of Dylan’s overall output, and how it relates to the decades-old genre of Christmas recordings by popular music artists.

Read more of the third in my four-part series about Bob Dylan’s Christmas album on the Jewish Book Council Blog here.

Bob Dylan’s Christmas Album: The Jewish Contribution to the ‘Holiday’ Genre (Part 2)

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

The second post of my four-part series examining Bob Dylan’s Xmas album, Christmas in the Heart, in the context of his work as well as in the greater contest of American pop music history, is now available here.

After reading it, be sure to view the brand-new video for the album’s single, “Must Be Santa,” to see what Xmas eve is like at Bob Dylan’s place.

Bob Dylan’s Christmas Album Reviewed

Monday, November 16th, 2009

This week I’m honored to have been invited to be the guest author on the Jewish Book Council Blog. I’ve put together a four-part series on Christmas in the Heart, Bob Dylan’s curious new album of holiday favorites. In the postings, I discuss the tradition of pop-music holiday albums; the significant contributions of Jewish-American artists to this genre;  and examine Dylan’s album for how it fits in context with his own work, what it means (if anything) about where Dylan’s head is at these days; and, finally, I tell you what I really think of it. Please take a look.