Just published:
Like A Rolling Stone b/w Gates Of Eden – Bob Dylan kicks open the door
By Jochen Markhorst
Five years ago, I wanted to write an article on “Desolation Row” for Untold Dylan. After 1,500 words, I had still not got past the title, and began to suspect I would need more than one article.
It ended up being a book (Desolation Row – Bob Dylan’s poetic letter from 1965, published in March 2020). Meaning, I could throw out the ambition of someday writing the definitive Highway 61 Revisited book: such a book would become utterly unwieldy, running as it would to over 800 pages. At least.
So a new plan emerged: do it in parts.
Volume 2 became Tombstone Blues b/w Jet Pilot – Dylan’s lookin’ for the fuse (2021), and now, coincidentally given the recent success of the film A Complete Unknown, volume 3 in the “Highway 61 series” is coming out: Like A Rolling Stone b/w Gates Of Eden – Bob Dylan kicks open the door.
“Gates Of Eden” was, of course, on Bringing It All Back Home, but it happened to be the B-side of the single “that kicked open the door to your mind” (Springsteen), the single which I suppose did transform most of us. And I like the idea of honouring that earthquake with a book that has the same tracklist.
Even more coincidental is the conjunction of the publication date with the death of the enchanting, unforgettable Marianne Faithfull – the first chapter (and more) happens to be dedicated to her, to her significance in the creation of “Like A Rolling Stone”. A significance that has strangely always been somewhat underplayed. Strange, because surely Marianne’s presence in and around the genesis and in the song itself is not that very cryptic or hidden….
I will try and squeeze the rest of Highway 61 Revisited into one, concluding Volume 4. A challenge.
Jochen is a regular reviewer of Dylan’s work on Untold. His books, in English, Dutch and German, are available via Amazon both in paperback and on Kindle. The new book is called Like A Rolling Stone b/w Gates Of Eden – Bob Dylan kicks open the door.
You can purchase the books through these links.
English paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DV5GQ7Y2
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DV4XKPDQ
Dutch paperback: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DV5K7PN3
Kindle: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DV51X86V
German paperback:https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DVPX1HT2
Kindle https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DVM9DMQ4
Publisher’s footnote: We don’t normally do much in the way of advertising within the articles of Untold Dylan, but for Jochen I will always make an exception. Without his articles, this site would not be a fraction of what it has become, and our readership would be much, much, smaller.
Jochen wrote to me asking if he could publicise his books as above, and my view immediately was that it was the very least I could do. I do hope you find the way to buying one of the versions noted above, read it and then give it pride of place on your bookshelf.
One tip, however: when you have bought it and read it, don’t lend it to a friend. The chances are, you’ll never get it back.