Bob Dylan

* Acknowledgements * Note on references * The theoretical bit: Why looking at stardom is important for understanding Dylan; Different approaches to stardom, and the most important bits of the theories; How we hear songs; Whether words or voice are most important; How stardom affects the meaning of songs. * Chapter 1: Introduction * Chapter 2: Stardom, Authorship and the Meaning of Songs * Authorship and song meaning * How we hear music: recordings, words and voice * Voice, character and personality * Stardom, personality and the 'illusion of intimacy' * Stardom, the voice and the meaning of songs * Dylan's sixties stardom: Dylan's emergence in the folk revival and the contradictions of being a 'folk star'; His move into rock, political individualism and the tensions between culture and commerce; Dylan's withdrawal from the scene in the late sixties; His attempts to reclaim his stardom and their effect on the rest of his career. * Career Snapshot * Chapter 3: Folk Stardom: Star as Ordinary, Star as Special * Folk music and the folk revival * Dylan and the folk revival * The baby-boomers, folk music and individualism * Stardom, folk music and mass culture * Career Snapshot * Chapter 4: Rock Stardom: Reconciling Culture and Commerce * Dylan, rock and transition * The art ideology: self and transcendence * The folk ideology: the rock community and the politics of the self * Bob Dylan, the ultimate rock star * Career Snapshot * Chapter 5: Beyond Stardom: Rock History and Canonisation * Keeping silent * Saying nothing * After the crash: Dylan's post-60s stardom * Dylan's later stardom: Changing social values and Dylan's problems in the 1980s; Dylan's attempt to reconstruct the relationship with his audience; An overview of the Never Ending Tour and its key features; Debates about Dylan's later work; Time Out Of Mind and the changes in Dylan's stardom since 1997. * Career Snapshot * Chapter 6: Declining Stardom: Nostalgia and the 'Death of Rock' * Rock, postmodernism and authority * Industry restructuring and the 'living legend' * * Career Snapshot * Chapter 7: Redefining Stardom: the Never Ending Tour * 'Recording consciousness' and live performance * Reshaping Dylan's audience * Performance and the question of text * High and low cultural value * The NET and Dylan's star image * Career Snapshot * Chapter 8: Never-Ending Stardom: Dylan after Time Out Of Mind * 'Sittin' on my watch': The musical experience of time * Dylan and musical tradition * Stardom, timelessness and immortality * Bibliography * List of Interviews * Copyright Acknowledgements