Liz Burlington
March 24, 2003
Rohler-pop culture
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
has been hailed by Time magazine as one of the 100 most important Americans of
the 20th century. Folk-rock
singer songwriter, Bob Dylan not only revolutionized popular music by incorporating
poetry into his compositions; he also helped create a more inclusive and
progressive social consciousness in American culture. With his emphasis on personal narrative,
Dylan moved folk and rock in a more introspective direction, proving that the
two genres could take inspiration from each other. He popularized the idea of sensitive
songwriting, and with his unique voice and phrasing, he proved that you did not
have to be a great singer to be a powerful vocalist. He has created a name for himself, and with
help of others rallied a generation with protest songs like “Blowin’ in the
Wind.” His songs like “Rainy Day Women”
“All along the Watchtower” “Like a Rolling Stone” Knocking on Heaven’s Door”
and “Mr. Tambourine Man” have made him a rock success and been covered by
greats like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Rod Stewart, Dave Matthews, Eric Clapton,
Guns N Roses, and many others.
Dylan was
born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941.
In high school he played guitar and harmonica, playing in a teen bend
called the Golden Chords. In 59, he
attended the University of Minnesota, where he picked up the love of folk
music, playing at local coffee houses more than he went to classes. After one year, he dropped out and moved to
New York to pursue his dream of making it big. He sang under the name Bob
Dylan, the Dylan coming from poet Dylan Thomas.
His inspiration was music by the folk God, Woody Guthrie, whom he
befriended while in New York. In late
1961, after becoming a staple on the Greenwich Village coffee house scene, he
got his first record contract with Columbia.
His self
titled debut album contained mostly traditional folk tunes, however his albums
like Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and The Times they are A- Changin’,
contained war protest songs establishing him as a political activist. He had many other albums that showed a more
introspective side of Dylan, like Another Side of Bob. In 1965, Bringing it all Back became
his first platinum album, featuring a mix of acoustic and electric songs. After a U.K. tour recorded into a documentary
film entitled “Don’t Look Back” the folk fans were shocked to see him “plug in”
at the Newport Folk Festival and they accused him of selling out to rock.
With his
newfound popularity and controversy his 1965’s blues and rock oriented Highway
61 Revisited became his biggest album to date, reaching the Top 10 with the
hit single “Like a Rolling Stone.” His
next album, Blonde on Blonde, with two hits on the Top 10, he was now a
commercial as well as artistic success.
In July 1966, Dylan’s motorcycle wreck sidetracked his career for almost
two years. He and his back up group, the
Band, experimented with new sounds and lyrics that were never meant to be
released. Somebody got a hold of the
bootlegs songs and in 1975, The Basement Tapes were released.
After his
close encounter with death, a more spiritual side of Dylan was shown on his
1967 album John Wesley Harding.
This album and the next, Nashville Skyline, incorporated country
influences into it’s hit tracks. After having Top 10 singles on both of these
records, his next two albums were not well received, making his fans believe
that his time in the spotlight was over.
In the next
few years, he published a book titled, Tarantula, snag at the pioneer
benefit tour, Concert for Bangladesh, in which he and others won a Grammy for
Album of the Year. He also made his
acting debut in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, also recording songs for
the film’s soundtrack. With a new record
label and a number one album Planet Waves and a massive world tour,
Dylan had made a comeback.
With his
number one hit Blood on the Tracks, winning him a another Grammy for Artist of
the year in 1975, he not only made a comeback, he was a huge success the second
time around. He took part in the
“Rolling Thunder tour” with fellow artists, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Arlo
Guthrie, and Allen Ginsberg. Over the
next few years, numerous albums and hit songs were recorded and released, and
in 1978 Dylan announced his conversion from Judaism to Christianity, upsetting
many fans.
By 1982
Dylan re-embraced Judaism via the Lubavitch Chabad movement, publicly marking
his rebirth with a pilgrimage to Israel.
For much of the 1980’s he remained on the road performing with legends
such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Grateful Dead. In 1988, he joined the Traveling Wilburys, a
somewhat super group composed of himself, Petty, George Harrison, Roy Orbison,
and ex-ELO member Jeff Lynne. The group
recorded two albums. He also releases
numerous compilations and boxed sets of outtakes, rarities and live
material.
By 1990 Dylan continued to tour
regularly, and painted on his spare time.
His 1992 releases Good as I’ve Been to You and World Gone
Wrong returned him to hardcore folk music also winning him another
Grammy. His 1997 album Time Out of Mind
won him Grammy Awards in Best Contemporary Folk Album, Album of the year, and
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance categories.
In 2000,
Dylan’s song “Things have Changed” was recorded to the soundtrack to the film
Wonder Boys, which got him a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Original
Song.
Bob Dylan’s
influences can be seen everywhere in music.
He performs about 100 shows a year, and as many pop stars come and go,
he has remained in the spotlight for over forty years. He continues to fascinate, confound and
delight audiences and has a fan base that spans the generations. His intensity and complexity has created a sub-genre
known as Dylanology.
Sources: www.rollingstone.com
“Tangled
up in Bob” by Mark Jacobson
“Rocking My Life Away” by Anthony DeCurtis