One of the most influential singer/songwriters of all time is Bob Dylan. Born Robert Allen Zimmerman, he lived in Minnesota until the end of his freshman year when he dropped out and moved to New York. For his new life, he needed a new name, so he chose Bob Dylan. He had been involved in music his whole life and one of his ambitions was “to join Little Richard.”
His major influence was a folk artist named Woodie Guthrie and when Dylan moved to New York he would visit the sick Guthrie in the hospital. Dylan began to play small gigs in clubs and bars when John Hammond heard his music and signed him to Columbia Records. His first album was not very successful and only contained two original songs.
His second album, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” was full of pretest songs and finger pointing songs. The most popular song off of this album is “Blowin’ in the Wind.” This song became the anthem for the 1960s civil rights movement with lyrics like, “How many times must a man look up, before he can see the sky? Yes, n how many ears must one man have, before he can hear people cry? Yes, n how many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind.”
Throughout his career Dylan would continue to write protest songs and he would become the spokesperson for a generation. Many artists were and are influenced by Dylan and different artists are still covering many of his songs. In order to further his artistic approach to music, Dylan went electric in 1965. Many of his fans felt alienated and refused to listen to him.
Bob Dylan still remains one of the most important artists in Rock and Roll history.
