Chris Gregory’s Minstrel Boy is Volume Two of his Picasso of Song trilogy, a reverse‑chronology project that follows Determined to Stand (post‑1990) and precedes a forthcoming volume on the early years. Publishing October 8, 2025, it covers 1967–1990—what Gregory terms Dylan’s “years of struggle”—and treats them as a sequence of artistic shifts rather than an interlude.
The book is organized into three sections: Retreat (1967–1973), Return (1974–1978), and Rebirth (1979–1990). Across roughly 200,000 words, Gregory proceeds song by song, incorporating released and unreleased material, variant versions, and accounts of live performance. He situates lyrics within their musical settings and draws on literary and cultural frames ranging from Blake and the Symbolists to gospel, folk, blues, country, and rock and roll. Ambiguity is treated as integral to Dylan’s writing, and the analyses allow for multiple readings while remaining grounded in the recordings and their contexts.
Minstrel Boy extends the approach that reviewers of Determined to Stand highlighted for its combination of depth and accessibility. That balance is consistent with Gregory’s broader work—his website From the Pen of Chris Gregory (over 100,000 visits) and the podcast Bob Dylan: A Headful of Ideas (nearly 80 episodes, 10,000+ downloads). The trilogy positions itself as a comprehensive study; this volume’s coverage of The Basement Tapes, Blood on the Tracks, the 1978 tour, the conversion records, and the early NET years supports that claim.
The scope may be demanding for casual readers, and the reverse ordering can be initially counterintuitive. As a reference and listening guide to Dylan’s 1967–1990 output, however, it is systematic and usable. Pre‑orders are available via the author’s site and Amazon UK, with Amazon US to follow.