Bob Dylan

**Bob Dylan** (born **Robert Allen Zimmerman** on May 24, 1941) is a singer-songwriter, poet, and artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and was a major inspiration to John Lennon of The Beatles and many others. His work from the 1960s, such as 1963's "Blowin' in the Wind" and 1965's "Like a Rolling Stone" are considered his best works and some of the greatest songs of all time. His 1975 album *Blood on the Tracks* is considered one of, if not the best albums ever. His work is oft covered, like Jimi Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower" in 1968, Guns 'n' Roses' cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" in 1991, and Garth Brooks' cover of "Make You Feel My Love" in 1998.

## Early years

Robert Allen Zimmerman was born on May 24, 1941 in St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota. Zimmerman was raised in Hibbing, Minnesota. Dylan's paternal grandparents, Anna Kirghiz and Zigman Zimmerman emigrated from The Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) to the United States following anti-Semitic progroms in 1905. Dylan's maternal grandparents were Lithuanian Jews who emigrated to the States in 1902. Dylan's parents were Abram "Abe" Zimmerman and Beatrice "Beatty" Zimmerman.

Dylan's family lived in Duluth until 1947, when he was 6, where they moved to his mother's hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota when his father contracted polio. His maternal uncles owned a furniture store and Hibbing is where Dylan would remain for his childhood. Dylan states that when he was 10 years old, he found a record player with a 78rpm record already in it, and an acoustic guitar in his attic. Dylan also practiced on his father's baby grand piano that was in their living room. Dylan listened to pop music on the radio at this time.

In the early 1950s, Dylan discovered blues and country music like Hank Williams and Howlin' Wolf. He got these channels from Shreveport, Louisiana by listening late at night to get the clean signals. In 1954, Dylan had discovered doo-wop and rock 'n' roll on the radio stations. In Summer 1954, Dylan was sent to a Jewish summer camp to meet Jewish girls and friends. At this camp, Dylan met Larry Kegan and Howard Rutman, and formed his first group with them called The Jokers.

The Jokers would perform together until 1958, recording a personal 78rpm record in December 1956. Dylan also was friends with John Bucklen, who owned recording material, and they recorded The John Bucklen Tape together in 1958. Dylan would join a new group called The Golden Chords in 1958, and performed at school dances and the like. At this time, Bucklen, Dylan, and his first serious girlfriend Echo Helstrom would spend a lot of time listening to music together, and this is how Dylan discovered a lot of new music.

At his high school graduation, The Golden Chords were so loud the principal cut the mic and drew the curtain halfway through the performance. Dylan's high school ambition was to "join 'Little Richard'." Also in 1959, Dylan played piano for Bobby Vee and clapped on two tour dates. Vee was known for his statewide hit "Suzie Baby". He performed under the alias **Elston Gunnn**. Dylan quickly enrolled in the University of Minnesota and moved to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul).

## Folksinger

While in the Twin Cities, Dylan quickly joined the counterculture and learned about folk music. He apparently rejected the Jewish fraternities as he didn't want his personality to be "Jew". Dylan stated he left rock 'n' roll to become a folksinger because, according to Dylan, "[Folk] was a more serious kind of thing." He became involved with the Dinkytown circuit, trading his electric guitar for an acoustic one. He renamed himself to Bob Dillon during this time, but switched it to Bob Dylan after learning about the poet Dylan Thomas and feeling the alternate spelling fit better.

It was also during this period Dylan discovered Woody Guthrie, his musical idol and mentor. He was sitting in the school library when a friend let Dylan borrow Guthrie's book *Bound for Glory*, and this changed everything about Dylan. Instead of a rough rock 'n' roll singer, he was now a folk artist like Guthrie. Dylan would steal Guthrie records from his friends in Dinkytown and learned how to play most of his songs. He also started writing songs with talkin' blues elements and "folk language". He had written songs before, but not in the vein of Guthrie, his new hero.

By the end of his first school year, in May 1960 Dylan dropped out of college to travel to New York and become a better songwriter. Dylan resided in East Orange, New Jersey on and off before going to visit Guthrie in New York. Due to a mistake, he met the Guthrie family (including Arlo) on accident before correctly going to visit Guthrie in Greystone Park Hospital. While visiting Guthrie, Dylan met fellow Guthrie disciple Ramblin' Jack Elliott.

Dylan moved to Greenwich Village in Manhattan in February 1961. He met a lot of folk artists an longtime friends including Dave Van Ronk, Odetta, and The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In April, Dylan played 2 shows supporting John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City, earning him praise for his performances of traditional folk songs and Guthrie songs. This praise from magazines and other artists let him be noticed by record labels. Dylan was hired as a harmonica session musician over the early 1960s, starting with Carolyn Hester's third album. This harmonica work got producer John Hammond to notice Dylan. Hammond loved Dylan's folk work, so he gave him a contract on Columbia Records.

The first album, *Bob Dylan*, wasn't a huge success – it sold about 5,000 records, but that was enough to break even and get a second album. Dylan was referred to as "Hammond's Folly" and was told to give up his contract. However, Hammond and country singer Johnny Cash defended Dylan, allowing him to record a second album. Throughout 1962, Dylan recorded enough songs to fit 2 whole albums and also did some more session work. He did albums as a harmonica player with Victoria Spivey and Big Joe Williams on *Three Kings and The Queen*, piano on *The Blues Project*, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott's album *Jack Elliott*.

In August 1962, Dylan legally changed his name to "Bob Dylan", and he signed a management contract with Albert Grossman. Grossman would stop managing Dylan in 1970, and was known for his loyalty and protection of his artists. Dylan traveled to the United Kingdom in December 1962. He was invited to star in the BBC drama *Madhouse on Castle Street*, which flopped and was destroyed in 1968. Dylan did star in the production on January 13, 1963, however. The production led to the first ever public performance of Dylan's new song "Blowin' in the Wind", which was on his upcoming second album.

*The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan* was released on May 27, 1963 to critical acclaim. By the release of this album, he was growing an audience in New York and started writing protest songs (that appear on the album) that were influenced by Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Most songs on the album were written while Dylan was in Britain, as most of them take melodies and progressions from British folk songs. "Blowin' in the Wind" was a major hit – not for Dylan, but for everybody that covered it. The Peter, Paul, and Mary version is the most famous of the covers.