Bob Dylan Newsletter
Sign-up to receive daily news on Bob Dylan by email.
Bob Dylan Filmography
Source:
Theiapolis
Bob Dylan Resources
Table of Content
Bob Dylan: Beginnings
Dylan was born
Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, to a Jewish family from Hibbing. He spent much of his youth listening to the radio, at first the powerful blues and country music stations beamed all the way from New Orleans, and later early rock and roll. He formed his first band, The Golden Chords, while still at high school. Around this time, Zimmerman chose the pseudonym Elston Gunn for himself, playing a few concerts as Bobby Vee's pianist under this name. An able but by no means brilliant student, he started university studies in 1959 in Minneapolis, during which time he was actively involved in the local Dinkytown folk music circuit. During his Dinkytown days Zimmerman began introducing himself as Bob Dylan. It has been suggested this choice was a tribute to the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Dylan has often denied this, claiming in 1965 that he took the name from an uncle named Dillon. He added "I've read some of Dylan Thomas' stuff, and it's not the same as mine." In his 2004 biography, "Chronicles Vol.1", however, Dylan admits that Dylan Thomas was relevant to his choice of alias (although he still acknowledges no influence or tribute, saying only that "Dylan" sounds like "Allen," his middle name and original choice for a surname de plume). He quit formal studies in early 1961, eventually drifting to New York City to perform and to visit his ailing idol Woody Guthrie. Playing in small clubs for next to no pay, he soon gained some recognition after a review in the New York Times (September 29, 1961) by critic Robert Shelton, which led to John Hammond, a legendary music talent scout, signing him to Columbia Records.
At the time his voice, musicianship and songwriting were still raw. His performances, like his first Columbia album (1962's Bob Dylan
), consisted of traditional folk, blues and gospel material interspersed with a few of his own songs. 1962 also saw Dylan recording some songs for Broadside (a folk music magazine that occasionally released recordings), under the pseudonym Blind Boy Grunt. By the time of his next record, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963), he had begun to make his name as both a singer and composer, specialising in protest songs, initially in the style of Guthrie and soon practically developing his own genre. His songs of the time are typified by "Blowin' in the Wind", its melody partially derived from slave song "No More Auction Block", coupled with lyrics questioning the social and political status quo. With hindsight, the lyrics to some of these songs appear unsophisticated ("How many times must the cannonballs fly before they are forever banned"), but when compared to the largely anemic popular culture of the 1950s they were a breath of fresh air, and the songs caught the zeitgeist of the 1960s. "Blowin' In The Wind" itself was widely recorded and was an international hit for Peter, Paul and Mary, setting an enduring precedent for other artists to cover Dylan's songs. Somewhat overlooked among the protest songs on
Freewheelin', however, was a mixture of finely crafted bittersweet love songs ("Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", "Girl From the North Country") and jokey, frequently surreal talking blues ("Talking World War III Blues", "I Shall Be Free"). This eclecticism would continue to inform his material for much of his career.
While a fine interpreter of songs, Dylan was not widely considered a beautiful singer, and many of his songs first reached the public through versions by other artists.
Joan Baez, a friend and sometime lover, took it upon herself to record a great deal of his early material, as did many others including The Byrds,
Sonny and Cher, The Hollies, Manfred Mann and Herman's Hermits. So ubiquitous were these covers by the mid-1960s that CBS started to promote him with the tag: "Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan". Whoever sang his songs, they were immediately recognizable as his and a good part of his fame rested not only on his lyrical excellence but on the underlying attitude -- a sort of po' boy adrift in the wide world posture that gradually changed to hipster arbiter of all things cool and uncool.
-
Protest and another side >>
Table of Content
Latest Film News
Latest news on Bob Dylan
LiteratureWhy I love Wilco, part umptybillion
Fleet Foxes and Wilco covered Bob Dylan's "I Shall be Released" at a recent live show, and they're giving it away online if you promise to vote. Wilcoworld (via James Home on Twitter; photo of guitar rack on-stage at Wilco's set during Outside Lands via Crowdfire; image by John Battelle)....
Published: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:47:21 GMT - Source: Boingboing.Net - Read the articleEuropeSuze Rotolo on her book about Bob Dylan
Suze Rotolo, Bob Dylan's early muse and his companion on 'The Freewheelin Bob Dylan' cover, has written her story
Published: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:15:23 GMT - Source: Guardian.Co.Uk - Read the articleInternetMore eye candy for iGoogle
In case you're looking for some more personality to add to your iGoogle page, we've just launched a fresh collection of iGoogle artist themes -- an ongoing project we launched in April for which we invited world-class artists to design dynamic themes for your iGoogle homepage.The new collection features designs from 28 leading artists from the worlds of fashion and music. This group is amazing, spanning a wide range of styles and genres: Radiohead and Gnarls Barkley used radiant colors; Gucci, Burberry, and Vera Wang illustrated beautiful patterns; and Bob Dylan and Celine Dion created an iconic look (of course). So depending on what you're interested in, there's lots of great art to choose from to suit your personality, taste or mood.Why did we focus on musicians and fashion designers this round? It's often the clothes we wear and the music we listen to that help express our personality and style. And when we first unveiled iGoogle artist themes, we heard that many of you wanted even more themes in these areas. We hope this new collection gives you more choices so that your iGoogle page reflects your personal style.So check out the new collection of themes and pick one that appeals to you. Changing it up is easy and requires only a few clicks. If you have a hard time selecting just one, add the sampler theme, which displays a different artist every day.Stay tuned as we continue to collaborate with more artists from around the world.Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience and Michaela Prescott, Product Marketing Manager
Published: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:21:48 GMT - Source: Googleblog.Blogspot.Com - Read the article
Sign-up to receive daily news on Bob Dylan by email. See Also:
