HMR Project: History of Music & Modern Recording

Bob Dylan

Born in Duluth, Minnesota, on 24 May 1941, folk singer, Bob Dylan was the major transitional figure between old folk music and new folk, the latter to merge with rock. He was a high school student in a band called the Golden Chords in 1958 when he thought to change his name from Robert Allen Zimmerman to Bob Dillon. He later changed it to Dylan in 1961 upon having read a book by Dylan Thomas, though due to no affinity with such [Wikipedia]. Dylan's group played tunes by such as Little Richard and Elvis Presley. Dylan was in college in 1961 when it occurred to go visit Woody Guthrie in New York City. So he dropped out of school (freshman year) and did. Then he started playing clubs in Greenwich Village and released his first record album in 1962: 'Bob Dylan'. That now famous record sold only 5,000 copies at the time, barely breaking even. That was recorded on 20/22 November of 1961. Titles following below look at some of his activities in 1962:

'Bob Dylan' Debut album by Bob Dylan Recorded Nov 1961 Issued 19 March 1962 by Columbia

'Roll On, John' Dylan w Cynthia Gooding Jan 1962 NYC

'Baby Please Don't Go' Dylan w Cynthia Gooding 11 March 1962

Composition: Big Joe Williams

'Only a Hobo' Radio performance Unknown venue Unknown date sometime 1962

Composition: From 'Only a Miner Killed" by John Wallace Crawford 1879

'You're Beautiful' Unidentified demo Unknown location Unknown date sometime 1962

Composition: Bo Carter 1928

The majority of Dylan's albums, forty some studio and live, went gold in America. Twelve alone went Platinum in the US from his second, 'Freewheelin' Bob Dylan', in '63 to 'Modern Times' in 2006. Several of his compilations have also gone Platinum. Dylan first toured the United Kingdom in '62, where he made his first television appearance in 1963 for the BBC. Dylan was involved in the civil rights movement of the sixties. In 1963 he refused an appearance on the 'Ed Sullivan Show' because they censored his wish to play 'Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues'. He first performed with protestor, Joan Baez, in '63 at the Monterey Folk Festival ('With God on Our Side'). Dylan jumped aboard the #9 spot on the UK singles chart in 1963 for 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' (issued on the album, 'Bringing It All Back Home').

'Talkin' John Birch Society Blues' Composed by Dylan for 'Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' issued 27 May 1963

Pulled from the bootleg 'G. W. W. John Birch Society Blues" issued in 1970

'Blowin' in the Wind' Television performance Unknown venue Unknown date sometime 1963

Composed by Dylan for his second album 'Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' issued 27 May 1963

It was 1965 when Dylan went electric with half of the LP, 'Bringing It All Back Home'. He encountered a little protest from folk purists displeased by Dylan's step away from traditional acoustic folk at the Newport Folk Festival that year, going electric there with the backing of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. This is the event that marks the division from Old Folk to New Folk:

'Like a Rolling Stone' Dylan live w Al Kooper and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Newport Folk Festival 25 July 1965 Composition: Dylan

With this concert Dylan goes electric and creates the New Folk era.

In 1967 Dylan issued the album, 'John Wesley Harding' with his band consisting of Charlie McCoy on bass guitar, Kenneth Buttrey at drums and Pete Drake on pedal steel guitar:

'All Along the Watchtower' From 'John Wesley Harding' Drake out Issued 27 Dec 1967

All compositions on this album by Dylan

Two days of recording with Johnny Cash in February 1969 resulted in the album, 'Nashville Skyline'. His August performance at the Isle if Wight in 1969 was recorded and issued that year on 'Isle of Wight Festival 1969'.

'Quinn the Eskimo' Composition: Dylan From 'Isle of Wight Festival 1969'

In 1971 Dylan performed at the Madison Square Garden Concert for Bangladesh with George Harrison and Indian sitar player, Ravi Shankar. Dylan toured with The Band in early '74, resulting in the Platinum album, 'Before the Flood', issued on Asylum. He was a guest on their '78 release of the film, 'The Last Waltz'. Psychologist and theatre director, Jacques Levy, composed all but a couple of the songs on 'Desire' issued in January 1976. Among concerts of this period was that with the Rolling Thunder Revue at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, CO, in May of 1976:

Live performance w the Rolling Thunder Revue on 23 May 1976 in Fort Collins CO

Dylan's announced conversion to Christianity in 1979 created something of a stir. Yet, unlike Cat Stevens' announced devotion to Islam two years earlier, what little negative consequence Dylan suffered was short-lived, even upon releasing three albums concerning such: 'Slow Train Coming' in 1979, 'Saved' in 1980 and 'Shot of Love' in August 1981. Concerts below are from 1981:

Earl's Court in London 30 June 1981

'Like a Rolling Stone' at the Freileichttheater in Bad Segeberg, Germany, 15 July 1981

Composition: Dylan

Houston 12 Nov 1981

Come 1988 Dylan formed The Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty:

'Handle With Care' by the Traveling Wilburys

Opening track to side 1 of 'Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1' Issued 25 Oct 1988

Composition: George Harrison / Roy Orbison / Bob Dylan

'End of the Line' by the Traveling Wilburys

Closing track to side 2 of 'Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1' Issued 25 Oct 1988

Composition: Harrison / Lynne / Orbison / Petty

In 1998 Dylan garnered the Album of the Year Grammy Award for 'Time Out of Mind', his 30th studio album released in 1997:

'Love Sick' from 'Time Out of Mind' 1997

All compositions on this album by Dylan

Dylan's first record release in the new millennium was in 2001: 'Love and Theft'. His latest issues per this writing were 'Shadows in the Night' ('15), 'Fallen Angels' ('16) and 'Triplicate' ('17).

'I Could Have Told You' from 'Triplicate' 2017

Composition: Carl Sigman / Jimmy Van Heusen

'Stardust' from 'Triplicate' 2017

Composition: Hoagy Carmichael / Mitchell Parish

Dylan has remained active performing an average of 100 tour dates a year for the last two decades. His packed career includes six books of drawings and paintings. He was the recipient of a Pulitzer Special Award in 2008, then forced to eat among the plumpest of maraschino cherries when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in October of 2016. Unfortunately that prize was worth only about $900,000, pressing Dylan to launch Heaven's Gate Whiskey in April of 2018, the bottle designed by himself after one of his steel sculptures.

Being largely known for his songwriting, it's no surprise that Dylan composed the greater portion of his recordings, to list but a few not mentioned: 'Song to Woody' ('62), 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall' ('63), 'Masters of War' ('63), 'My Back Pages' ('64) 'Maggie's Farm' ('65), 'Watching the River Flow' ('71), 'George Jackson' ('71), 'Forever Young' ('74), 'Seven Days' ('91)', et al. He co-wrote such as 'I'd Have You Anytime' and 'If Not for You' with George Harrison in 1970.

Dylan's most popular songs during the sixties are gleaned by going to the charts: His first to breach the Top Ten in the US was 'Like a Rolling Stone' in 1965 at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100. 'Positively Fourth Street' placed at #7 the same year. 'Rainy Day Women ♯12 & 35' reached #2 in 1966. 'Lay Lady Lay' saw #2 in 1969, that on Dylan's album with Johnny Cash, 'Nashville Skyline'.

Sources & References:

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Musician Guide

VF History

Wikipedia

Albums (represented above):

Bob Dylan (issued 19 March 1962)

Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (issued 27 May 1963)

G. W. W. John Birch Society Blues (1970):

Bob's Boots

Discogs

John Wesley Harding (issued 27 Dec 1967)