The Rolling Thunder Logbook

by Sam Shepard

"In the Autumn of 1975 when America was 'festering with Bicentennial madness', Bob Dylan and his Rolling Thunder Revue - a rag-tag variety show, something akin to a travelling gypsy circus - toured 22 cities across the Northeast US. In amongst the motley crew of musicians and performers was playwright Sam Shepard who was hired to write a Fellini-esque movie that would come out of the tour. Throughout the many moods and moments of his travels with Dylan and his troupe, Shepard also kept an impressionistic 'logbook' of life on the road that would quickly become a classic for Dylan Fans.

To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of that legendary tour, this updated edition has been completely redesigned, and illuminated by forty candid photographs by official tour photographer Ken Regan, many never before published. The Rolling Thunder Logbook captures the camaraderie, isolation, head games and pill-popping mayhem of the tour, providing a window into Dylan's singular talent, enigmatic charisma, and vision of America."

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Cultural, Reference, Travel

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Sam Shepard was an American artist who worked as an award-winning playwright, writer and actor. His many written works are known for being frank and often absurd, as well as for having an authentic sense of the style and sensibility of the gritty modern American west. He was an actor of the stage and motion pictures; a director of stage and film; author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs; and a musician.

Reviews

[M. Sarki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only Sam shepard could have written this logbook covering his experience traveling with the film crew of The Rolling Thunder Revue. I had no idea this book was even out there and as good as it was. For any Bob Dylan fans, artists, creative persons, and just about anybody looking for a very good time. Precious cargo here. And not to be missed. The photographs also add so much to this fine text.

[Javier Gil Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Rolling Thunder’ o con Bob Dylan, icono de la cultura norteamericana explicado por Sam Shepard’.

Pensaba que me iba a gustar mucho más este libro, pensaba, aun así ha merecido la pena el viaje. Soy fan de Bob Dylan, me gusta mucho su música y su estilo; hace tiempo vi el documental de Martin Scorsese a propósito de la gira ‘Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese’ producido por Netflix y aunque desconocía la literatura de Sam Shepard, sí tenía constancia de su calidad como guionista y dramaturgo, fundamentalmente a través de su trabajo en el film ‘París, Texas’, donde una melancolía y sentido poético de la vida se hacía muy palpable a lo largo del metraje. De esa gira y del material que Shepard iba componiendo salió en 1978, recordemos que la gira fue entre 1975 y 1976, el documental-experimental ‘Renaldo and Clara’ en el que Bob Dylan interpretaba al personaje de Renaldo y Ronnie Hawkins a Bob Dylan. Y la edición un año antes, 1977, de este libro.

A través de la prosa distintiva de Shepard, el lector es transportado al corazón de la gira, donde las personalidades artísticas colisionan y se entrelazan en un torbellino de música, poesía y espontaneidad. Desde encuentros inesperados hasta actuaciones eléctricas, el relato nos proporciona una crónica detallada de los altibajos emocionales y artísticos que definieron ese período. El libro incluye anécdotas, observaciones y reflexiones sobre los diversos personajes que formaron parte de la gira, así como sobre las ciudades visitadas y los momentos destacados del espectáculo. Shepard no solo captura la esencia del tumultuoso viaje musical, sino que también brinda una visión introspectiva de la creatividad y la camaradería que caracterizaron esos momentos.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the mid-1970s, playwright Sam Shephard took an unsuccessful turn at the New Journalism as a way of salvaging some professional benefit from an aimless rock and roll adventure. Bob Dylan was embarking on his famed Rolling Thunder Revue tour with a rotating cast of characters and some constants. Along for all or part of the ride were his wife, his former lover Joan Baez, Allen Ginsburg, Roger McGuinn, Joni Mitchell, Muhammad Ali—the tour also was related to efforts to free Hurricane Carter, Ramblin Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, Mick Ronson, and assorted other musicians, hangers-on, and gypsies. They also were filming throughout the tour, primarily of the northeast, with the intent of making a movie for which Shephard was to do some writing. However, the filming that took place was largely spontaneous bits of improvised scenes and Shephard was hardly needed for it. So he observed, wrote short vignettes of things that struck his interest, and saw great live music. The book is more interesting as an artifact than anything insightful to either Dylan’s or Shephard’s career. Nicely illustrated. The book, published in 1977, two years after the tour, says the film was never made but I think it became “Reynaldo and Clara.”

[pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acompañar a Dylan en una de sus más famosas giras permitió que Shepard recopilara -desde adentro- la extrañeza de Bob y otros artistas que lo acompañaron en la gira (Báez, Ramblin' Jack, Allen Ginsberg, Muhammad Alí) y captar el caótico movimiento 'on the road' del tour.
No es un libro para todos, es desordenado, fragmentado, no pretende más que describir el misterioso Rolling Thunder, y lo logra perfectamente, pero para quienes no están interesados en Dylan o su escena, puede resultar poco interesante.
Y si lo leen, escuchen primero Blood on the Tracks, y Desire.

[G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, now that's writing.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most entertaining and moving books about art, celebrity, and America I have ever read. Shepard is a master and Bob Dylan is a miracle.

[Michael Emmerich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good rollicking read ... trip down memory lane. I am a die hard Dylan fan, and love his music, lyrics, writings and ramblings, so this was in a sense an essential read. The photographs and anecdotes from tour members was great ... If you not an ageing gray haired Dylan fan you might not appreciate it as much :) ...

[False · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a load of juvenile claptrap. A Bob Dylan tour throughout New England in the mostly self-indulgent '70's with lots of liquor, cocaine and willing women. Joni Mitchell is along, but the photographs of her make her look like an anchorite studying a corrupt monastery. You can just see her at nights scribbling away like mad. This was my generation....and how young men treated young women. The music? They all revolved around one godlike orb and he had since left the earth to sit on Olympus. Who dare to challenge, to ask directly, to gaze upon. The whole thing made me sick.

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

No, wait! THIS is the best rock book ever! A unique view of His Bobness with a real scrawled-on-backs-of-hotel-stationery feel. Captures dingy bellbottom early-70s vibe just as one imagines it.

[Kimmo Sinivuori · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven book by Shepard that has it's moments. When it shines, it shines bright.

[Alejandro Ortega · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rolling Thunder. Con Bob Dylan en la carretera (Anagrama, 2018) de Sam Shepard es la crónica de ese otoño de 1975 cuando Dylan y su Rolling Thunder Revue recorrieron 22 ciudades del noreste de Estados Unidos para dar una serie de conciertos en lugares pequeños, algunos improvisados, para protestar en contra del racismo hacia el boxeador negro Huracán Carter en su detención y encarcelamiento. Acompañado por Joni Mitchell, Allen Ginsberg, Mick Ronson, Joan Baez, y Muhammad Ali, entre otros, Dylan tocó ante el público más diverso en el que dejó entrever que lo que tiene de misterioso lo tiene de talentoso y que su sola presencia hacía que la piel se erizara y la mente se cimbrara. La poesía la hizo canción y la vida en la carretera se convirtió en poesía durante ese otoño, en el que Sam Shepard estuvo también porque fue invitado para que rodara una película que nunca llegó a materializarse, pero que decidió conservar en la memoria a manera de crónica, que es grande no por sus dotes narrativos, sino porque transmite la admiración y el ambiente que provoca Dylan con su sola presencia haciendo de este documento pues, algo invaualble, y más cuando en esta edición aparecen fotografías inéditas de Ken Regan, quien captó imágenes históricas como la de Dylan y Ginsberg cantando en la tumba de Kerouac o como la de Joan Baez y Dylan vestidos iguales para confundir al público en una de esas prácticas que tanto le gustan al hoy premio Nobel. Dylan es un espejismo que él mismo creó y en la crónica de Shepard nos convencemos más de eso.
Clasificación: Obligatorio para todo fan.

[Hex75 · Rating 5 out of 5]

metti uno dei migliori autori teatrali della sua generazione al seguito di una delle più incredibili tournée di sempre, e non potrà che uscirne un capolavoro. dylan ai tempi della rolling thunder revue era all'apice del suo essere una rockstar, e la sua reazione fu appunto fare un tour circense, stracolmo di ospiti musicali (la baez, la mitchell, mick ronson della band di bowie, roger mcguire dei byrds, ecc...) e non (allen ginzberg!), e pure di amici e gente a caso, e per di più facendolo girare solo in periferia, quasi a scoprire l'america più marginale. non pago, dylan voleva che fosse girato nel corso del tour "rinaldo e clara", film caotico e logorroico che resta ancor oggi il limite massimo di sopportazione di ogni fan del menestrello di duluth. shepard racconta tutto questo, mostrandone le follie e le meraviglie, fino ad un finale clamoroso con l'irruzione di dylan nel suo mondo culturale. a tutto ciò vanno aggiunte delle foto semplicemente splendide, una veste grafica curiosa ed una postfazione della traduttrice sara antonelli davvero ben fatta: insomma, un libro che è un obbligo per chiunque ami dylan, senza se e senza ma

[Brandon Montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

A journal detailing the first leg of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour/medicine show/carnival. Sheppard was brought in to make a film out of the tour, but everyone on the film crew quickly realized it would be impossible to create a watchable film out of the footage they were shooting, and there wasn't any way to remedy that. The result is the still (mostly) unreleased 4 hour film Ronaldo & Clara.

Fans of either Sheppard's or Dylan's work will find little insight into either here, but it's a very enjoyable, and sometimes funny, read detailing, among other things:

*Mick Ronson interacting with old New Englanders.

*Allen Ginsberg reading poems to a room full of old women while they recoil in horror and play Mahjong.

*Escaping security, police, and Rolling Stone reporters.

*Baez and Dylan drunkenly bickering.

*Woody Guthrie's son, an eighty year old Gypsy and Joan Baez in a brief series of surreal situations.

*The chaos that engulfs a Pong machine.

*T-Bone Burnett, who now "only thinks about shooting [himself] ten times a day now."

[Ciaran Puente · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. It’s not everyday that the avg. Dylan fan gets to see behind the mask. This book does portray an honest portrait of Bob Dylan and the 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour, but it comes with a cost. It’s not that Sam Shepard does not care or isn’t paying attention, it’s that it’s written a little too freely. The same reason that it is alluring is the same that it becomes that much harder to synthesize into a book. Sam’s proximity to the action effects his writing and structuring of the book itself. It’s an organized page turner no doubt, but Shepard comes off as a little too far gone most chapters. The highlight for me was the last chapter that showcases an apparently wasted Bob Dylan attending a NYC play that the author was involved in. The chapter reads like a dramatic movie script showing Dylan at maybe his worst in terms of his public behavior and reactions to his current environment.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing - but of course, it’s Sam Shepard. He was hired to go along on the 1975 Rolling Thunder Review tour and write dialogue for the film Dylan wanted to make. As quickly becomes clear, the film shoot devolves into chaos and this book is Shephard’s logbook of his experience. Interesting to read this book after Larry Sloman’s book about the same tour. Sloman’s book is far longer and has some interesting interviews, but he is such an unappealing person and so on the fringes that reading the book was torture. This book is much shorter, more like a series of vignettes, but captures more of the feeling of traveling for hundreds of miles on a strange road trip with no clear sense of what you’re supposed to be doing there.

The one thing you don’t get from either book is a lot of insight into Dylan himself. He stays mostly outside the fray, as always, the mysterious minstrel.

The movie ultimately was released as “Renaldo and Clara”. It didn’t do well.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially notes and jottings - some extended - made by Sam Shepard about the Rolling Thunder tour of New England culminating in a big night (for Ruben Carter) in New York.

Enough to tell you that it was a significant event; that there were some inspirational people along on that ride and that there were some hangers on they could probably have managed without.

You get the highs and lows. The times of euphoria, the times of discovery, the times of companionship and camaraderie. And the stultifying boredom and claustrophobia.

Shepard may just be note taking but you are being guided by an exceptional writer who wants to be there just as much as you do. Sometimes oh yes! sometimes not at all.

Stunning photographs.

(A good deal more enjoyable than sitting through Renaldo and Clara!)

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, Sam Shepard’s lyrical narrative is a real treat and the atmospheric pictures add to the reader’s journey. Secondly, given the nature of the content, Dylan’s tour of New England in the 1970’s, coupled with a truck load of drugs and alcohol, the result is really, very surreal with some truly weird episodes, such as Plymouth Rock. Mentions of the poet Ginsberg added even more ‘strangeness’. Some bits are just plain ridiculous. The overall feeling of this book is a sense of self-indulgence, of the tour itself and the writing. I didn’t know much about Dylan before reading this and now I feel like I know even less. He remains an enigma. Importantly, this is a piece of history and a significant inclusion into the music archives.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

No one is going to mistake this for one of Shepard's better pieces of writing, but it captures a distinct moment in time-- the good, the bad, the juvenile. The best moments capture the spontaneity of the moment and the creative energy that the tour inspired. At its worst, the logbook riffs on a series of cliches disowning mainstream America as plastic and idealizing Dylan and his fellow artists. Other than Joan Baez, most of the women strike one as background actors. The book isn't for everyone. Only someone truly fascinated with the Rolling Thunder tour or a true Shepard afficionado should indulge in the logbook. Though, the photographs that line the book are fairly phenomenal and at times outshine the somewhat predictable writing.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam Shepard + The Rolling Thunder Revue should equal pretty solid rock journalism, right? Well, it did about 50% of the time. Shepard may be a Hollywood legend, but some of his writing did not suit the objective here. The legend of the Rolling Thunder Revue should have been an easy homerun to chronicle. Shepard includes too much hipster narrative (much of it through a self-reflective lense) and only really captures the vibe of Dylan and the musicians that performed with him inconsistently. I suppose, considering this originally came out in 1977, this fit the times, but I was left wanting more straight up, tangible rock and roll tales.

[Joe Fahey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, short read which I took my time with, just to enjoy it after finishing the much longer account of the Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1975 as told by Larry “Ratso” Sloman. Sloman’s book is very detailed and filled with accounts of the entire tour, his mistreatment by the entourage and by Rolling Stone magazine. Shepard’s Book is much more poetic with freeform thoughts as they hit, as well as some interesting photographs. Reading these 2 books together like this has completely rejuvenated my interest in this era of Dylan’s career.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating overview of Dylan's chaotic Rolling Thunder Revue that resonates with the occasional poetic asides much the same way Shepard's "Motel Chronicles" will do later on (which follows the production of Paris, Texas).

This concludes with Shepard watching Dylan watch the premiere of "Geography of a Horse Dreamer," which results in a truly nightmarish but weirdly apropos finale.

Did I cheat a little bit to mark off the 52 books I was trying to read this year? Yes, absolutely. But it's my goal, and there are more than a few extremely long books in there, so I feel like things end up evening out to a decent average page count even so.

[Mario Pigrim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me acerqué a este libro gracias al documental de Scorsese; el sentimiento de caos también se percibe a lo largo de este libro de crónicas. Tantas personas que a lo largo de esta gira solo estaban presentes para representar el personaje que ellos mismos habían decidido interpretar. Detrás de todos ellos la enorme figura de Dylan, los mejores fragmentos son cuando aparece. No creo si sea un libro para todos los gustos pero como seguidor de la carrera de Dylan, el personaje, fue un veloz viaje por las carreteras norteamericanas de 1975.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read This a long time ago and re read severally episodically , When I was stage manager for the college show of Sam Shepard's "Seduced" I used to sit in the bio box and read it in a rambling vox over the PA whilst the crew and actors worked through warm ups or gliches in scenes or just waited on a tantrum to dissipate or whilst folk were painting the set black, hanging lamps etc it helped us all , Thanks Mr Shepard

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea this even existed, but I was really pleased to come across this when I found it at my local library. Essentially this is what it says on the cover - a road diary of sorts with random thoughts from Shepard while he was on tour with Dylan during the infamous Rolling Thunder Revue. It really gives an interesting insight to the tour and works as a great supplement to the recent Netflix documentary and box set covering the tour.

[Alejandro Catalán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leí la edición en español de Anagrama y me gustó mucho. Shepard estuvo en el pie del cañón durante la Rolling Thunder, una serie de conciertos de Bob Dylan con Roger McGuinn, Joan Baez, Mick Ronson o Bob Neuwirth, narrando todo tipo de conversaciones con Allen Ginsberg, los músicos, escenas de la película que iban a grabar... Shepard capta la febril y circense experiencia con agilidad.

[Spencer O'Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect way to write about a tour. Feels like the pocketbook of a degenerate troubadour fell out of a carriage in a gypsy carnival circus and was picked up, formatted and published years later. Dylan and co. captured in real time.

Turned to stone like the gaze of Medusas (Shepard) eyes. Left there to be critiqued or congratulated.

[Andrew Doerfler]

The Mama section and the ending are the best parts. Fun cast of characters, not a bad ride all in all. Would have traded most of the musing about who Dylan is, what he represents and what Rolling Thunder is supposed to be for more straightforward description of the shows, which probably would have done a better job of answering those questions for readers anyway.

[Mark Goddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am left to wonder if Shepard listened to Dylan's advice and read Conrad? As Conrad wrote "We live as we dream - alone." Unfortunately for Shepard that sums up his frustrated experience from the edge of the Rolling Thunder Review.

[Bob Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written impressionistic account of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder tour of 1975-6. Probably only of interest to Dylan fanatics or to those particularly interested in the tour.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great companion piece to Renaldo and Clara. Makes clear what was going on behind the scenes.