School of Rock
Random article All articles A–Z
2 languages

Bob Dylan

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Bob Dylan was born in 1941 as Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, and grew up in the mining town of Hibbing. In 1961 he moved to New York, where in the cafés of Greenwich Village he became part of the folk revival. He showed that a pop song could be about more than falling in love. In 2016 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature, 'for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition'.

Music and breakthrough

His debut album Bob Dylan (1962) consisted mainly of old folk songs, such as House of the Rising Sun in the arrangement of Dave Van Ronk. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) contained songs of his own such as Blowin' in the Wind and A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall. He then chose electric guitars. Bringing It All Back Home (1965) was his first album with an electric band, and at the Newport Folk Festival of July 1965 his electric set was both cheered and booed. Like a Rolling Stone, over six minutes long, reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 that year. In 1966 followed the double album Blonde on Blonde, recorded in Nashville.

Influence

Dylan's influence ran in two directions. The Byrds turned his Mr. Tambourine Man into an electric number 1 hit, and with that folk rock got a face. The Beatles met him in August 1964 in New York, and their lyrics became more personal afterwards. In the Netherlands, Boudewijn de Groot and Lennaert Nijgh sang protest songs in the same spirit, and Nijgh translated The Times They Are A-Changin'. In 1988 Bruce Springsteen played Dylan's Chimes of Freedom in East Berlin.

Listening

Listening tip. Like a Rolling Stone opens with a single hard crack on the snare drum. Then listen to the Hammond organ: Al Kooper was a guest at the recording and was not really supposed to play. Dylan had the organ turned up louder in the mix, and between the lines it plays an answer of its own to the vocals.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (en): Bob Dylan
  2. Wikipedia (en): The House of the Rising Sun
  3. Wikipedia (en): The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
  4. Wikipedia (en): Like a Rolling Stone
  5. faroutmagazine.co.uk
  6. Wikipedia (en): Welterusten mijnheer de president
  7. Wikipedia (en): Lennaert Nijgh
  8. Wikipedia (en): Bruce Springsteen concert in East Berlin
Categories: ArtistsFolk revivalFolk rockKleinkunst