Michael Gray (author)

Michael Gray (b. Bromborough, Wirral, 25 August 1946) is a British author who has written extensively about popular music.

Gray grew up on Merseyside, attended Birkenhead School, and read History and English Literature at the University of York. Gray subsequently lived and worked in North Devon, Birmingham, West Malvern, London and North Yorkshire. He is married to the food writer Sarah Beattie. In 2008, they moved to South-West France.

Gray is regarded as a leading authority on the work of Bob Dylan. In 1972, Gray published the first critical study of Dylan's work, Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan; this work was greatly expanded into Song & Dance Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan (1999, 2000). In 2006, Gray published the Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, which received favourable reviews from the music press and newspapers.^[1]

In 2007, Gray published Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes - In Search of Blind Willie McTell, both a travelogue and a detailed biography of the influential blues singer Blind Willie McTell.^[2] This work was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Biography in 2008.^[3]

Gray was the Mary Amelia Cummins Harvey Visiting Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge, in 2005.^[4] He established a Bob Dylan blog in 2006 and created his official website in 2011.

Principal works

• Mother!: The Frank Zappa Story (1985, 1992, 1994, 2007, also published in Italy 1986 and Germany 1994)
• The Elvis Atlas: A Journey Through Elvis Presley's America (1996) - co-author
• All Across The Telegraph: A Bob Dylan Handbook (1987, 1988) - co-editor
• Song & Dance Man: The Art Of Bob Dylan (1972, 1973)
• The Art Of Bob Dylan: Song & Dance Man (1981, 1982)
• Song & Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan. Continuum. 1999, 2000. ISBN 0-8264-5150-0 
• The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Continuum International. 2006, revised & expanded 2008. ISBN 0-8264-6933-7 
• Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes: In Search Of Blind Willie McTell (UK hardback Bloomsbury, July 2007, UK paperback October 2008, US hardback Chicago Review Press, September 2009 ISBN 978-1-55652-975-7)

References

1. ^ Marquesee, Mike (August 19, 2006). "Pop 1960-62: not all hopeless". Guardian Unlimited. http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/artsandentertainment/story/0,,1853221,00.html. Retrieved 2000-08-02. 
2. ^ Williams, Wyatt (October 1, 2009). "Retracing Blind Willie's blues". Atlanta Creative Loafing. http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/retracing_blind_willie_s_blues/Content?oid=1095308. Retrieved November 1, 2011. 
3. ^ Allen, Katie (August 26, 2008). "Belben and Hill win James Tait Black prizes". thebookseller.com. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/belben-and-hill-win-james-tait-black-prizes.html. Retrieved November 1, 2011. 
4. ^ "Girton College Annual Review, 2007–2008". girton.cam.ac.uk. September 30, 2008. http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/media/files/2008_for_web.pdf. Retrieved November 1, 2011. 

External links

• Michael Gray official website
• Gray's Bob Dylan blog
• John May interviews Michael Gray

Persondata
Name	Gray, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25-08-1946
Place of birth	Bromborough, Wirral
Date of death
Place of death