Bob Dylan: The American Troubadour

One of the most important figures in modern American music and perhaps the most influential singer/songwriter of his generation, Bob Dylan has been relatively inaccessible for the past 30 years, making a detailed summary of his life and career thus far no easy task. Still, this entry from A&E's Biography series does a more than creditable job, especially with Dylan's early years in Hibbing, Minnesota, the center of what was known as the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. Viewers are given an informative run-down of Dylan's move to New York City, undertaken when he learned that his musical idol, Woody Guthrie, was hospitalized in New Jersey, and useful commentary from Dylan's peers, as well as the music editor of Rolling Stone magazine, providing a constructive context from which to trace Dylan's rise from the folk clubs of Greenwich Village to his Columbia record deal, his business association with the dubious Albert Grossman, and his inevitable crossover to rock. Maintaining a reasonable balance between the early Dylan and his life and work since 1980, this appealing video biography is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (P. Van Vleck)