Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald (Dey Street/ HarperCollins, July 2015)

LISTED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES‘ TOP TEN OF 2015 LIST

WINNER OF THE 2016 ASCAP VIRGIL THOMSON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING MUSIC CRITICISM

WINNER OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY’S 2016 MUSIC IN AMERICAN CULTURE AWARD

In Dylan Goes Electric!, Elijah Wald explores the cultural, political and historical context of this seminal event that embodies the transformative decade that was the sixties. Wald delves deep into the folk revival, the rise of rock, and the tensions between traditional and groundbreaking music to provide new insights into Dylan’s artistic evolution, his special affinity to blues, his complex relationship to the folk establishment and his sometime mentor Pete Seeger, and the ways he reshaped popular music forever. Breaking new ground on a story we think we know, Dylan Goes Electric! is a thoughtful, sharp appraisal of the controversial event at Newport and a nuanced, provocative, analysis of why it matters.

“A great work of scholarship, brimming with insight – among the best music books I have ever read.” —John Harris, The Guardian

“Devastatingly smart analysis . . . Wald is a remarkably sharp and graceful writer, capable of drawing extraordinary connections between artists, genres, and cultural moments. There’s simply no one better when it comes to unpacking not just the mechanics of American music, but the mythology of American music.” — Amanda Petrusich, author of Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78rpm Records