Happy Birthday, Bob

What better way to celebrate Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday than to go back and read three of Paul Nelson's writings about his old pal's work? Simply click on the title beneath each album cover to access the reviews.

Nashville Skyline, 1969

"That smiling face on the cover tells all—and isn't it wonderful?"

The Basement Tapes, 1975
Paul's review basically served as a rough draft for his classic 

6,400-word essay "Bob Dylan," which appears in 
Everything Is an Afterthought.

Shot of Love, 1981

"To know him is to love him, as they say, 
and it's pretty difficult to do either these days."

Cap off your Bob Dylan-Paul Nelson  experience with this great little ditty that Loudon Wainwright III performed on NPR twenty years ago today—on the occasion of Dylan's fiftieth birthday.

"Talking New Bob Dylan"