Bob Dylan began his life on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. His name was originally Robert Allen Zimmerman, which he changed to Bob Dylan during his college years. He grew up in a small Jewish community spending time listening to the radio and exploring music. He listened to blues and country and eventually began listening to early forms of rock and roll. Dylan enrolled in the University of Minnesota in 1959 where he became deeply enthralled in folk music. He explained his love for folk music in the book Bob Dylan: Chronicles, “The thing about rock n' roll is that for me anyway it wasn't enough ... There were great catch-phrases and driving pulse rhythms ... but the songs weren't serious or didn't reflect life in a realistic way. I knew that when I got into folk music, it was more of a serious type of thing. The songs are filled with more despair, more sadness, more triumph, more faith in the supernatural, much deeper feelings.” (Dylan, 23) During his first year in college, Dylan quit school but remained active in the Minneapolis folk scene. In January 1961, he moved to New York City, hoping to perform there and visit his musical idol Woody Guthrie.
When he got to New York, he made an immediate impact on the scene. He performed many small gigs, particularly in and around Greenwich Village. John Hammond noticed his talents and signed him to a record deal with Colombia Records in October 1961. He came out with a couple of early albums with mixed success. Many people loved his rough voice but just as many people were not too comfortable with it. In May 1963, Dylan’s political profile was raised when he walked out of The Ed Sullivan Show. During rehearsals, Dylan had been informed by CBS Television's "head of program practices" that the song he was planning to perform, "Talkin' John Birch Society Blues", was potentially was not ok for the show and instead of complying with the censorship, Dylan refused to appear on the show. (http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1963/may_12_1963_126773.html) By this time, Dylan was already big into the Civil Rights Movement. He sang and spoke with Joan Baez, another big civil rights leader during this time, at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Dylan's third album, The Times They Are a-Changin', reflected a more politicized Dylan. When the album came out, Dylan immediately found himself crowned as the “the voice of a generation”. The songs often had a subject matter of more real life stories that dealt with the issues happening at that time period. For example, "Only A Pawn In Their Game" addressed the murder of civil rights worker Medgar Evers, "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" dealt with the death of black hotel barmaid Hattie Carroll, murdered by a white man named William Zantzinger. The Times They Are a-Changin' has been considered by many to be the most politically charged album of all time. (http://www.culturevulture.net/theater/timestheyarea-changing.htm)
Dylan became very unpredictable due to the protest movements. This was publicly displayed when, accepting the "Tom Paine Award" from the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a drunken, rambling Dylan questioned the role of the committee, insulted its members as old and balding, and claimed to see something of himself in Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. He eventually became fed up with the pressure and publicity that comes with being the voice of a generation. In mid-1964, he explained to critic Nat Hentoff, “Me, I don’t want to write for people anymore - you know, be a spokesman. From now on, I want to write from inside me …I’m not part of no movement… I just can’t make it with any organization…” (http://www.redpepper.org.uk/The-Politics-of-Bob-Dylan) That quote specifically shows the beginning of a very rapid change of style for Dylan. He changed himself from a folk singer to more of a rock and roll figure with folk elements in the mid-60’s. This change upset many of his diehard fans who felt that he “sold out” to be more of a commercial success. However, this couldn’t be a more false assumption because Dylan never cared what people thought of him, he was writing how he felt. Dylan would go on to become an irresistible public figure for the rest of his life, sold millions of award winning records and create some of the greatest songs of all time. But Dylan will go down as one of the most influential and remarkable figures of the Civil Rights Movement and his impact even in his younger years simply cannot be overlooked. He may not be your conventional hero, but to many people from the 60’s to today, Dylan made a significant difference in people’s lives.
Works Cited
Dylan, Bob. Chronicles: Volume One. New York City: Simon and Schuster, 1971. Print.
Dylan, Bob. The Definitive Bob Dylan Songbook. New York City: Amsco Publications, 2001. Print.
Heylin, Clinton. Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2009. Print.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "Bob Dylan." Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 2007. Rock Hall of Fame. 10 May 2009
Ruehl, Kim. "Bob Dylan." about.com. 2009. 10 May 2009
Vera, Nella. "The Times They Are A-Changing ." culturevulture. 10 May 2009
Outline
Thesis: Dylan may not be a “dictionary definition” hero, but he did change people’s lives dramatically throughout the Vietnam War and for many years after that by spreading his message to all of America and the world.
I.) Introduction
II.) Early Life
a) Minnesota life
b) Early Music
c) College
d) Move to NYC
III.) Life in NYC
a) Columbia Records
b) Ed Sullivan Show
c) Early records
d) Protest Songs
e) The Times They Are a-changin’
IV.) Change
a) Tom Paine Award controversy
b) Move away from classic folk
c) Rest of life
