Bob+Dylan

Bob Dylan was a famous musician during the later half of the 20th century, most notably during the 60’s. He was born in Minnesota and traveled to New York where he later started his career. He is still alive today, and has written hundreds of songs.

Table of Contents


 * First Years
 * New Yorkand the Protest Years
 * Moving to Rock and Roll
 * The Motorcycle Accident to Present

**First Years:**

Robert Allen Zimmerman was born on May 24th, 1941 in Duluth Minnesota, six months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At the age of 6 his family moved to Hibbing,Minnesota do to his father Abraham’s loss of job and polio. It is there in the house of 2425 on Seventh Avenue that young Robert Zimmerman grew up. As a teen, he was not out of the ordinary. He was bar mitzvahed in May 1954, and took his Orthodox Jewish religion serious for some years.

At an early age Robert sang in front of his family and learned rudimentary piano, and eventually stumbled upon a cheap guitar. He was in several short lived rock bands in high school including The Jokers, The Shadow Blasters, The Golden Chords, and The Satin Tones. He also had one of his first serious relationships with Echo Helstrom. After High School in 1959, Robert went to the University of Minnesota and became emerged in the Dinkytown music scene. It is here where he first heard the music of his biggest influence for folk music, Woody Guthrie. At this time, Robert Zimmerman also started to go by the name Bob Dylan.

**New York** **and the Protest Years**

Dylan moved to New York in 1961 to pursue his musical career and also meet his musical idol Woody Guthrie (who was hospitalized due to Huntingtons disease) He played shows around Greenwich Village and in October of 1961 signed with John Hammond, a producer for Columbia Records. In 1962 he produced his first album named //Bob Dylan,// legally changed his name, signed a management contract with Allen Grossman and went on his first visit to England. There he performed //Blowing in the Wind// the song that soon would become one of his most famous hits. In 1963 he sang with Joan Baez at the March on Washington. It is around this time that Dylan started to sing more politically involved songs that addressed civil rights and other issues such as //Only a Pawn in Their Game// and //The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.//

**Moving to Rock and Roll**

In 1965, Bob Dylan turned away more from his traditional acoustic instruments by using electric instruments to give songs such as //Subterranean Homesick Blues// and //Like A Rolling Stone// a completely different sound and feel on his album //Bringing It All Back Home.// Fans that were used to his straight folk sound felt betrayed by this move. People thought he had sold out to what was popular at the time, and Dylan was booed on stage for numerous shows. After the releases of both //Blonde on Blonde// and //Highway 61 Revisited// Dylan went on tour for the next several years. In November of 1965, Bob also secretly married former model Sarah Lownds.

**The Motorcycle Accident to More Recent:**

In 1966, after newly returning from a tour, Dylan was injured in a motorcycle accident. Though it is unclear as to what his exact injuries were, Dylan didn't go on tour for another 8 years. As the 1970's began Dylan began recording several more albums, but never received the same amount of success as before. In 1974 he went back to touring with The Band. In the later 1970's Dylan became a born again Christian and made several albums of gospel and faith related songs. He toured with the Greatful Dead and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers along with rapping with Kurtis Blow in the later half of the 80's. In 1988 he started performing on the Never Ending Tour and hasn't ceased for the past 23 years. Today, he has created 32 albums varying in nature. He has kept performing, and still does today, most recently at the Grammies with Mumford and Sons. His latest album //Modern Times// was released in 2006 and just recently turned 70 on May 24th. Today, many teenagers do not know the significance or have even heard Bob Dylan’s name. Despite his lack of publicity recently, in the 20th century Bob Dylan made a huge impact in politics, culture, and the lives of the majority of America’s population, the baby boomers. Looking back, it is at first hard to see why he's so remarkable. Bob seems like any other folk artist with a coarse voice. In relation to the time period though, it was radical. His music sounded so different from the pop hits that were favorites in the late 50's and early 60's. Instead of cheesy love songs, he wrote about contemporary ideas in the traditional forms of classic folk music. In 1962, Bob Dylan started moving away from performing Woody Guthrie hits, to writing his own songs about issues, mostly civil rights//. The Death of Emmet Till// was his first protest song, narrating the story of Emmet Till, a man who was a victim of a race killing in Mississippi. In the next years Dylan produced countless more politically driven songs, such as //The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll//, and //Only a Pawn In Their Game//. Both tell the stories of black civilians being killed because of the color of their skin. In Hattie Carroll's case, she was hit over the head by William Zantzinger's cane when she didn't come with his beverage quickly. Along with the blow he told her "When I order a drink, I want it now, you black bitch." She later died of a brain hemorrhage. Stories like that were the ones that Dylan made sure were heard. He performed with Joan Baez at the civil-rights march in Washington, DC, just feet away from Martin Luther King after he exclaimed "I have a dream". He wrote //A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall// in response to the fear and pandemonium of the Cuban Missile crisis. //Let Me Die In My Footsteps// and //Masters of War// also spoke of the horrors of battle while //Talking John Birch Society Blues// made fun of the red scare and McCarthy's search for communists. These insightful lyrics touched young American's minds and altered their opinions of the world. The baby boomers of today that listened to his melodies during the 60’s can tell you their opinions of Bob Dylan, whether they liked him or not. He was the voice of a generation because he spoke publicly about things that many college protesters and activists were being arrested for. His ability of communicating his opinion left a lasting mark on Americans and their culture. The other interesting part of Bob Dylan’s career is for the most part, he didn’t participate in many publicity stunts. His fans came to him, but even if no one showed up, Dylan didn’t actually care. In 1966, when he was being booed every night by spectators for his new electric show, he kept on jamming while half the audience walked out. It is this kind of "I don't care, I'm doing it" attitude that made people love him, especially in the protest era.media type="youtube" key="_zY_cM0_6vA" width="425" height="350" align="right" Along with his image, his songs and lyrics have lifted him to fame. He was one of the first rock musicians to have his lyrics considered as serious literature. Along with this, he is the most quoted musician on record in court opinions. Judges have used quotes from songs such as //The Times They Are A Changin//, //Chimes of Freedom,//and //Hurricane.// One example is the quote "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows," from //Subterranean Homesick Blues//. The song Hurricane even was used as a case for proving the innocence of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, and his trial for a triple homicide. If that isn't enough, Dylan has been mentioned as an influence of people from Jimmy Carter to Václav Havel. Dylan's music wasn't all about the lyrics though. His change to using electric instruments in 1965 shook the music world. Many thought he had turned his back on the "pure" folk music or had sold out. This added to the ideals of rebellion at the time, along with other shocking acts. One fact that is surprising to those who do not know Dylan well is his objection to play at Woodstock, even though he literally lived just a couple minutes away. He refused to be the face of the Woodstock generation, and wanted nothing to do with it. As time went on, you could never really tell which way the wind blew with Dylan, whether it was going with the conservative culture of the 80s by becoming a born again Christian or performing a rap song with Kurtis Blow in 1986. Dylan constantly changed his decisions and image. He enlightened America's mind and slowly became a major icon and influence of other artists. One example from one of the most influential times during his career is when he created an early form of a music video. In //Subterranean Homesick Blues// he is video taped in different areas of New York dropping cards with the key lyrics from the song. This has been recreated many times by other artists and commercials. Songs like //Blowing In The Wind//, //Tambourine Man//, and many more were taken and redone by other artists back in the 60's also. Even today, a search on Youtube for Bob Dylan will result in thousands of covers. In conclusion, Bob Dylan will go down as a musical legend. He has received 11 Grammies, a spot in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and even a Pulitzer Prize. He always wrote about his opinions, and those words just happened to be exactly what thousands of Americans were thinking at the time. If somehow his name is forgotten by our younger generations, the messages that he performed will live on forever. Works Cited
 * //Analysis:media type="youtube" key="d_ujAXxNxU0" width="425" height="350" align="right"//**

"Bob Dylan in 1969: His First Rolling Stone Interview | Rolling Stone Music." //Rolling Stone | Music News, Reviews, Photos, Videos, Interviews and More//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2011. . "Court opinions most often quote Bob Dylan of all musicians | New Jersey Business Law Attorney Blog." //New Jersey// //Business Law Attorney Blog | Bergen County Business Formation Lawyer | New Jersey Business Law Blog//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2011. . "Home Page | Bob Dylan." //Home Page | Bob Dylan//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2011. [].

//Bob Dylan - No Direction Home//. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Bob Dylan, Martin Scorsese. Paramount, 2005. Film.

Williamson, Nigel. //The rough guide to Bob Dylan// .London: Rough Guides, 2004. Print.

album, the time Dylan's second, and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. "Bob Dylan | Biography." //Lyrics, Song Lyrics Â– LyricsFreak.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. .