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Hello and welcome to the Boston Harold Video Podcast. My guests today are two of the most respected scholars of the music and art of Bob Dylan, Michael Gray and Ray Padgett.
This cross-generational joint interview covers not only their work as authors, but we discuss such subjects as typewriters, critical theories, the Bob Dylan Center, Shadow Kingdom, Budokan, the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour … and dogs.
Michael Gray is a pioneer in the studies of Bob Dylan. In the early 1970s, he published Song and Dance Man, the first serious collection in book form of an exploration of what makes Dylan an important artist, one worthy of academic consideration. The book has been updated twice since then, in the early 1980s and late 1990s. That most recent version, which clocked in at over 900 pages and has been out of print for quite some time, was recently reissued by FM Press in three more manageable volumes Vol. 1 Language and Tradition, Vol. 2 - Yonder Comes Sin, and Vol. 3 - World Gone Right. He’s also written books about Frank Zappa, Blind Willie McTell, and Elvis Presley, as well as other Dylan-centric collections - The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, and the anthology, Outtakes on Bob Dylan - Selected Writings 1971-2021.
Ray Padgett is the author of the essential book, Pledging My Time - Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members, published this year. This collection is the outgrowth of his Substack newsletter, Flagging Down the Double E’s about Dylan’s concerts. The book features dozens of interviews with people who have interacted with Dylan, many never before published, ranging from one-off collaborations to long term members of his various touring bands.