Chronicles: Volume One

Chronicles: Volume One (2004), a memoir written by legendary American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, consists of five chapters describing different periods of Dylan’s life and career. The text purposefully passes over the biggest highlights of his career and instead focuses most heavily on the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York City between 1961 and 1962, where Dylan played clubs and met fellow musicians before his first record was released. He also dedicates a chapter to the album New Morning (1970) and one to the process of writing and recording Oh Mercy (1989). Rather than follow a traditional chronological trajectory, Chronicles explores the impact of societal expectations on artists, the evolution of American music and culture, and artistic legacy and transmission. 

This guide uses the 2004 Simon & Schuster Kindle edition of the text.

Summary

In the first two parts of the text, “Markin’ Up the Score” and “The Lost Land,” Dylan recounts his arrival in New York City in the winter of 1961. As a young man obsessed with folk music, he came to the city searching for his idol, the singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie. Dylan quickly made friends in Greenwich Village, a bohemian neighborhood of Manhattan. He crashed on couches, floors, and spare beds as he found gigs first at Cafe Wha? and later at more prestigious folk clubs like the Gaslight. Dylan also connected with other key players in the folk scene, like Dave Van Ronk and Mike Seeger. Dylan felt his consciousness “beginning to […] change and stretch” (73) in New York. He explored history, literature, and music, combining it all to develop an identity for his own folk songs. Dylan also frequently took the bus to New Jersey to visit Woody Guthrie, who was hospitalized there.

Dylan was quickly discovered by John Hammond, a talent scout for Columbia Records, and signed to the label, even though folk music was far from mainstream.

Part 3, “New Morning,” takes place in the late 1960s, after Dylan’s folk records propelled him to stardom, with critics labeling him “the mouthpiece, spokesman, or even conscience of a generation” (115). Dylan resented this responsibility. He didn’t feel any affinity to his generation and felt his lyrics had been overly read into. He was pursued everywhere he went by fans and activists and could find no peace. Dylan was now married and the father of five children; he worried for his family’s safety and wanted to spend time with his children, not leading protests. He set about trying to banish his public image as a revolutionary leader, recording a country-western album that sounded “bridled and housebroken” (122) in the hope that critics would dismiss him and the public would forget about him.

During this period, Dylan was also invited to compose music for a play by Tony Award winner and Poet Laureate of America, Archibald MacLeish. Dylan met with MacLeish several times and worked on some music, but eventually decided that the play didn’t coincide with his artistic aspirations. Instead, these compositions became the first songs Dylan worked on for the album New Morning, which was his “first of many” comebacks (144).

In Part 4, “Oh Mercy,” Dylan describes touring with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. He felt “whitewashed and wasted out professionally” (147) and was struggling to connect with his body of work in live shows. He repeatedly played the same songs, even as the band urged him to expand his repertoire, and he intended to retire once the tour ended. During a break, Dylan was scheduled to play some shows with The Grateful Dead, but he became nervous during rehearsals when he realized that the band wanted him to play some of his “seldom seen” songs. He no longer knew how to “get this stuff off emotionally” (149), and he made an excuse to leave the rehearsal. He wandered into a jazz club where an old singer was performing with the heartfelt emotion that Dylan suddenly remembered how to capture. He returned to the rehearsal and played different songs every night for the remainder of the tour.

By the end of the tour, Dylan felt like a “new performer” (153) and decided against retiring. However, an accident that damaged his hand forced him to postpone any future touring. Instead, Dylan began writing again, quickly producing around 20 new pieces that would become the album Oh Mercy. 

Bono of the band U2 put Dylan in touch with producer Daniel Lanois; together, they set up a recording studio in New Orleans. However, the process proved more difficult than anticipated. The songs weren’t working and they were becoming increasingly frustrated with one another. Eventually, Dylan realized that Lanois was pushing him to create a new kind of record, but Dylan didn’t want to express himself “in any kind of new way” (202). Nevertheless, Dylan completed the project with respect for Lanois and contentment with the album.

The final part of the memoir, “River of Ice,” describes Dylan’s early encounters with folk music. Dylan grew up in the small town of Duluth, Minnesota. After high school, he took off for the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and quickly became involved in the folk music scene there. He bought an acoustic guitar and learned songs from records and fellow musicians. Encountering Woody Guthrie’s work was a revelation and Dylan committed to becoming “Guthrie’s greatest disciple” (246), playing only Guthrie songs even when accused of imitating Jack Elliott, a well-known folk singer who did the same. 

Soon, Dylan set off for New York City, where he played alongside musicians like Len Chandler, Hal Waters, Paul Clayton, and Dave Van Ronk. Dylan was especially inspired by Van Ronk, who appeared like “a timeworn monument” (261). There, Dylan fell in love with Suze, who expanded his exposure to the world of art and theatre. He had an important songwriting revelation after seeing a musical production of Bertolt Brecht songs that Suze was working on. Initially, Dylan had little interest in songwriting; he felt artists like Woody Guthrie had already written “the greatest songs,” so Dylan felt no need “to reweave the world” (270). However, his exposure to these new influences helped Dylan imagine what kind of songs he might write—a new direction that led to his major record deal with Columbia Records, leaving the insular Eden of the Greenwich Village folk scene behind, knowing that the world was “not run by God, but it wasn’t run by the devil either” (293).