New book looks at history, legacy of Bob Dylan's 'Blonde on Blonde'

Juli Thanki | The Tennessean

Fifty-two years after its release, Bob Dylan's trailblazing album "Blonde on Blonde" is still captivating listeners.

Nashville-based music journalist Daryl Sanders explores the 1966 double LP, which was the first album Dylan recorded in Music City, and its legacy in his forthcoming book, "That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville and the Making of 'Blonde on Blonde.' "

The extensively researched book draws on interviews with several session musicians, including Charlie McCoy and Al Kooper, producer Bob Johnston (who passed away in 2015), and musicians who were influenced by the record, like Robyn Hitchcock and Jason Ringenberg.

With "Blonde on Blonde," Dylan, who was only 25 when the record came out, was striving for a sound he heard in his head and later described as "that thin, that wild mercury sound — metallic and bright gold."

Nashville's studio musicians helped him try to capture it. After "Blonde on Blonde" was released, other pop and rock artists who were inspired by the record, came to town to work with them.

"Despite being only in their twenties, they were highly versatile, world-class studio musicians with thousands of recording sessions under their belts," Sanders writes. "They were ready and able to take Dylan wherever he wanted to go. And wherever he wanted to go, no rock artist had ever gone before."

"That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound" will be published by Chicago Review Press on Oct. 2.