The Mighty Quinn: The Cultural Relevance of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes:
an annotated Table of Contents
Author's note
I. Bob Dylan
This section begins with Dylan's emergence through Robert Shelton's
1962 review in the N. Y. Times. Between March 1965 and December 1967,
Dylan released four albums. The progression from the first song on the
first of those albums to the last song on the last - from
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" to "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" - is
examined, with particular note to the last two albums, Blonde On
Blonde and John Wesley Harding. The basement tapes come between them,
and are placed in their proper place in this progression, despite the
fact that they were not officially released for eight years.
The basement tapes began as a collaboration between a major force in
American music and his backing band. Soon after their completion, it
became apparent that in fact two major forces in American music were
involved. Dylan and The Band reunited the year before the official
release of the basement tapes for the biggest rock music tour up until
that time. The subsequent history of Dylan's career - and of rock
music - conclude the section.
II Kurt Godel
Godel's biography opens this section. Then follows a history of
mathematics, with sharp focus on the "undermining event" of the
discovery of non-Euclidean geometry. Efforts to restore the
foundations of mathematics resulted in David Hilbert's challenge of
1900. Godel enters this story at this point, truly undermining the
claims of fundamentalists. This section ends with a consideration of
the effects of Godel's Incompleteness Theorem on philosophy - the
difference between a "theory" and a "theorem".
III Otto Rank
Rank's biography and work. The center of the book is in this section -
how Dylan's basement tapes are prefigured by Rank's Art And Artist.
IV The Cultural Relevance of The Mighty Quinn
The preceding two sections have focused on the second version of the
two parallel themes which this book presents: the pessimism of the
intellect and optimism of the will. Godel's work has supported the
former, Rank's the latter. In this section, attention is refocused on
the version of the theme found in the first section: purposefulness
and a freedom from purpose. The overarching theme of this book is
human freedom. The Rank section deals at length with the renunciation
of artistic ideology, enacted by Dylan in the basement tapes
(producing what Greil Marcus, in his book Invisible Republic, terms a
"one-of-a-kind democratic artist"). The renunciation of artistic
ideology is fueled by the acceptance of uncertainty, which strengthens
anew the cause of human freedom.
Note on Sources
Index
Illustrations, left to right: A
record of the voting at the Second Constitutional convention, Otto
Rank and Kurt Godel
