They’re not likely to be there for long, but if you visit the British amazon.com page for Bob Dylan’s upcoming charity Xmas album, Christmas in the Heart, here, you can stream excerpts of songs from the entire album.
Initial response has been mixed. While some were hoping for rollicking renditions of classic holiday tunes, the evidence from the tracks, which are full of female guest vocals, makes it sound more like outtakes from Self Portrait.
Scribner Books announced today that it is moving up the official publication date of BOB DYLAN: Prophet, Mystic, Poet, to November 24, 2009.
This means that stores that have ordered the books should have them in stock by Nov. 24.
It also means that in some cases, the book may be available for purchase earlier in November — perhaps as early as the second week of the month.
The previous official publication date had been December 8.
Columbia Records reports that a new exhibition of Bob Dylan’s artworks — including thirty new large-size oil on acrylic paintings — will be exhibited at the National Gallery of Denmark in autumn 2010.
In a statement released today,it was announced that a major exhibition of Bob Dylan’s paintings will open at the National Gallery of Denmark (Statens Museum for Kunst) in the autumn of 2010, according to the museum’s Director, Karsten Ohrt.
The official text of the statement continues:
The exhibition will feature nearly 100 works, including the world premiere of 30 large-format acrylic paintings from the artist’s forthcoming Brazil Series, as well as many original paintings from the internationally acclaimed The Drawn Blank Series.
According to Ohrt, “Bob Dylan’s artworks are informed by the same constant compulsion to renew that characterizes his music. He doesn’t seem satisfied with settling on one form of expression once he has perfected it, but is constantly experimenting and trying out new artistic techniques and styles.”
While Bob Dylan has been a committed visual artist for more than four decades, The Drawn Blank Series casts a vibrant new light on the singular creativity of one of the world’s most important and influential cultural figures. As Marisha Pessl wrote in the New York Times last year, “In Bob Dylan’s extraordinary collection of paintings, we are given insight into the expressive, unvarnished way this artist approaches the world and reminded he is that rare person who can move effortlessly between music, word, ink and paint….Yet again and again, he reflects life back to us with a truth and simplicity that defy words.”
Chief Curator at the National Gallery of Denmark Kasper Monrad, who is organizing the exhibition, says “Bob Dylan’s visual artistic practice has only been discussed by art historians to a limited extent, so critical examination and interpretation are called for. Several of Dylan’s images reveal an affinity for some of the modernist masters, not least Henri Matisse’s works from the 1920s – a link that is particularly interesting, given the unique collection of Matisse’s earlier works that belong to the National Gallery of Denmark. The choice of motifs, the unusual expressivity and the existential tenor in Bob Dylan’s works are testament to an imagery that is unmistakably his own.”
In connection with the exhibition, National Gallery of Denmark will be publishing an accompanying catalogue featuring contributions by prominent Danish and international art historians.
The announcement of this new exhibition coincides with Dylan reaching remarkable new heights in his cultural impact and popularity. His latest, critically acclaimed album, Together Through Life, debuted at number one in numerous countries and was accompanied by sell out concert tours around the world. The artist recently announced a forthcoming holiday album, Christmas In The Heart, from which all of the artist’s royalties will be donated to hunger relief organizations in perpetuity.
The owner of the website RightWingBob.com says that while he has some reservations about some of the things I was quoted saying in the interview with the Western Mass. Jewish Ledger, he “definitely agrees” with much of what I had to say, and he is looking forward to reading the book.
I am, of course, looking forward to hearing what he has to say about what I have written.
BOB DYLAN: Prophet, Mystic, Poet is the first full-length work examining the life and work of Bob Dylan from a Jewish perspective. The book places Dylan in the context of the Jewish prophetic tradition while exploring the many Biblical, prophetic, and mystical themes and allusions strewn throughout his songs from the very beginning of his career through his latest albums.
Seth Rogovoy is an award-winning music critic and author of The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover’s Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music (Algonquin Books, 2000).
Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet will be published by Scribner Books on December 8, 2009. Advance orders may now be placed at any local independent bookseller or with any of the major online book retailers.
Here are some links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Dylan-Prophet-Mystic-Poet/dp/1416559159/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2
Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Bob-Dylan/Seth-Rogovoy/e/9781416559153/?itm=1&usri=1
Borders: http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=1416559159
Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781416559153
Powell’s Books: http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781416559153-0
Simon & Schuster: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Bob-Dylan/Seth-Rogovoy/9781416559153
