Definitive Bob Dylan Songbook (Music Sales America) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)At first glance this book is fantastic. Any casual Dylan fan will be blown away at the sheer volume of songs covered in this collection, no doubt many of which they have never heard of, while the Dylan fanatics will find several features lacking but still sufficient. In order to adaquately review this book claiming to be 'Definitive' it must be seen critiqued from multiple sides.

1. So firstly, for the casual Dylan fan. It seems obvious enough to me that a casual fan would not necessarily be looking for a 'Definitive' songbook, but you are pretty much guaranteed to find the songs you seek in here. It really is one of the more definitive songbooks for Dylan, boasting some 330 songs.

However, if you have much experience at all playing guitar or keys or whatever, this book is surprisingly mediocre. The transcriptions of these songs come with simple notation, and extremely basic chord charts (as well as full lyrics for each song). Many of the transcriptions are downright wrong, and sound nothing like any studio or live recordings I have heard. Some songs that come to mind are "It's all over now, Baby Blue" "Ballad of a Thin Man" and many others.

The downside for guitar players is that everything has been shifted to standard E tuning. This means that there are no songs transcribed with open tunings (as he did for "Oxford Town" and half of Blood on the Tracks). But most disturbingly is the total lack of capo transcriptions. Not one song has been transcribed for capo. Dylan was surely one of the most notorious capo users of pop music, and yet this has been bypassed. This obviously will dramatically alter the tone, especially on songs like "Mr. Tambourine Man" which sounds far too bass heavy in this transcription.

The other issue for the more experienced musicians is the lack of lead and/or solo transcriptions. There is no TAB whatsoever, and perhaps this is the reason for the exception of solos, but it would have been fantastic to have some of the guitar or organ solos from some of his Highway 61 days. I suppose though if you were a truly experienced musician you wouldn't have much use for this book anyway.

In any case, if these seem like nitpicky comments to you, there is little else that comes to mind under the casual fan category. Although there are several glaring errors in transcription, I would say most songs are more or less accurate, and the errors are something a decent guitar player could fix himself by simply writing the corrections in the more than ample margins.

2. Now then, onto the really interesting and nitpicky things. The capo issue and chord charts are worth raising again. The chords are very basic and sometimes seem entirely wrong, but still, this isn't the first songbook I have found that problem in. If you want to get the right sound across though, stay away from this book. Since Dylan used Drop C and D so frequently for some of his older acoustic songs, this book is entirely inadequate.

Next on the list, I'm not sure exaclty how many songs are missing from Dylan's catalogue, but off the top of my head I can remember there being at least a few I wanted to see in those pages. One for instance would be "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down." There are several arrangements on traditional songs that are included, but I don't recall any covers in there. Furthermore, only a handful of his live songs are listed (well known songs like "Mama you been on my mind" are certainly in there though).

The songs are only transcribed for one instrument, or melody, so it is hardly definitive in that regard. This could be a very good thing, in that it is not just for guitarists or keyboardists. It does leave things a bit lacking though depending on which instrument you actually are playing (especially if its harmonica - whatever you do, don't buy solely for that).

Perhaps the most understandable omission from this songbook are the radical changes these songs have undergone from their original conception. For instance, take the studio recordings of "One Too Many Mornings" or "A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall." Then compare them with the versions for the Royal Albert Hall and Rolling Thunder Revue. It is quite a transformation, and also quite a shame not to have multiple versions in this book (as they are so totally different), but I suppose this truly is nitpicking.

All in all, if it is for an inexperienced musician, or a casual fan, I could give this a recomendation. But for the elitists, the perfectionists, and the true afficionados, this book is Positively 4th Street. Don't be afraid to send this one to Desolation Row.

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Product Description:
The complete songbook from the greatest singer/songwriter of all time! Now in 7x10 format. The small format edition is the ultimate Dylan songbook and features over 329 tunes, including all of his greatest hits as well as his lesser-known work.
With melody line, chord symbols and full lyrics. Songs include Blowin' in the Wind, Forever Young, Just Like a Woman, Mr. Tambourine Man, She Belongs to Me, Tangled Up in Blue, The Times They Are Changin', Visions of Johanna and hundreds more.

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