By Jim Bennett A Bob Dylan song does not exist solely as a lyric, a studio recording, or any single performance. It exists as a *cumulative artistic field* whose identity develops through the historical relations among its successive versions. Most performance variation is merely interpretative: a stable work receives different realisations. Dylan’s practice often exceeds […]

JimBennett Abstract Bob Dylan’s songs have rarely remained stable in performance. Across decades he has altered lyrics, melodies, rhythms, arrangements, vocal phrasing and dramatic personae. Existing scholarship has established the importance of performance to Dylan’s art, challenging approaches that treat the printed lyric or original studio recording as definitive. This article develops that argument by […]