Welcome one last time, friends.
Since the conclusion of this project some weeks ago, I wanted to provide some brief acknowledgments and recommendations for further listening and reading.
With regard to the former, I would like to first thank the tapers who have made this website possible. Many names have been lost to time, but some contributors to the taping community stand out. In no particular order, I thank Soomlos, Hide, Bach, Spot, Zimmy21, Les Kokay, LTD, and Hurricane62. Surely there are many others I am forgetting at this moment; feel free to note them in the comments below.
Perhaps as important as the tapers are the community's contributors who make the recordings available either in their pure form or as part of compilations. These include ExpectingRain's Lilraven, Nellie, StHelens, Daveskey, Smoke, 10haaf, Lee67, Ditch, and NotDarkYet. Though I am proud of the Thousand Highways Collection, these folks are the foundations on which it was based, and without whom it could not stand.
As for recommendations, I urge interested listeners to seek out the following books:
Paul Williams - Performing Artist, Volume One (1960 - 1973)
Paul Williams - Performing Artist, Volume Two (1974 - 1986)
Paul Williams - Performing Artist, Volume Three (1986 - 1990)
Andrew Muir - One More Night: Bob Dylan's Never-Ending Tour (1988 - 2011)
Clinton Heylin - Revolution In The Air, The Songs Of Bob Dylan (1956 - 1973)
Clinton Heylin - Still On The Road, The Songs Of Bob Dylan (1974 - 2006)
Derek Barker - The Songs He Didn't Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence
Paul Williams' series is really the finest work around on Bob Dylan's performing career from 1960 to 1990, and Andrew Muir's One More Night is a worthy successor, picking up where Williams' work concluded. Clinton Heylin is often considered a divisive author, but his exhaustive look at Dylan's writing and recording career is unparalleled; each song written gets an entry. Derek Barker's book is the definitive look at this artist's work covering other musicians' material. None of these are particularly biographical in scope, but if you, like me, are interested in Dylan's music more than his personal life, you'll find that these are the only books you'd ever need on his work. It's worth noting that these links are to amazon.com, since that is the most reliably stable website for linking, but try to seek these out at local bookstores if you have the opportunity.
Finally, I would like to thank the listeners and the musicians. Without the listeners, this would be a largely unrewarding endeavor. Without the artists, we would live in a poorer culture. We should all be grateful that we live in a time when this kind of art can be performed, recorded, preserved, and enjoyed by generations to come.
Thank you,
CS
