He seemed especially uncomfortable being interviewed-often turning his rare visits with the press into elaborate put-ons where he resorted to double talk or invented bizarre biographical disguises that shielded his middle-class Minnesota roots. While mass acceptance clearly interested him, Dylan resisted the demands of stardom. Some people accused him of cold calculation others described him as an eccentric genius. In some ways, indeed, Dylan’s psychological profile was becoming as fascinating as much of his music. To Shelton, the young Dylan was an “introvert who set his high school on its ear with wild rock ‘n’ roll the homebody turned motorcycle cowboy the courteous youngster who was as truculent as he could be the anti-sentimentalist (who) fell in and out of love the son of the middle class (who) spent most of his time with poor folk the white boy (who) studied black jargon.”ĭylan was no less a puzzle during his 20s when the pop world-responding to such anthems as the prayerlike “Blowin’ in the Wind” and the raucous, unrelenting “Like a Rolling Stone”-almost seemed to revolve around him. Shelton, who enjoyed Dylan’s trust, became so fascinated with this young singer/songwriter that he went to Dylan’s home town of Hibbing, Minn., to explore the artist’s roots.Ĭonversations with Dylan’s parents and high school chums suggested a restless spirit, someone battling to free himself from his environment. Shelton was in an ideal position to see Dylan’s emergence, both the bold artistic leaps and the tension that frequently accompanied those advances-as Dylan battled against cries of betrayal from folk purists when he rejected the notion that “protest” was the only legitimate theme and when he adopted a hard-biting, electric rock style. Where Presley defined the rebellion and celebration of rock for a teen-age audience in the ‘50s, Dylan brought an intelligence and range to the music in the ‘60s that enabled rock to appeal to an older audience-one that was seeking ways to express its outrage over social issues, ranging from segregation to nuclear arms. Dylan, just 20, was still playing clubs around the Village, honing the folk-edged, socially conscious style that would soon establish him as second only to Elvis Presley as the most important figure ever in rock ‘n’ roll.

Twenty-five years ago this week, critic Robert Shelton, in a widely quoted New York Times review, called Bob Dylan a bright new voice in folk music.

No Direction Home by Robert Shelton