Bob Dylan The Philosophy of Modern Song

Part One: A Story About the Cover

I started to write about the book, but I’m so fascinated by the cover that the review went sideways. Look for words about the words tomorrow or Sunday. WR

Photo © by Bruce Perry, The Sydney Morning Herald, Fairfax Media via Getty Images

The cover photo is three personages representing Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as they appeared in human form in Australia in 1957 on what is known as a "rock and roll" tour. But who's who? I'm guessing Little Richard (left) is the Father. Eddie Cochran, on the right, is the Holy Ghost, having left his corporeal body in a car crash while riding in a taxi from Bristol, England, to London in 1960.

It is the same accident that crippled Gene Vincent, pretty much putting putting a be-bop-a-lula end to his career, though he remained a hero to British "rockers," in the famous early-1960s mods v. rockers rivalry. This matter was wending its way through the British courts until resolved by featured actor Ringo Starr in the 1964 Beatles musical comedy A Har…