Most can say without hesitation that Bob Dylan wore the pop music crown during the 1960s, and his influence on American music has been surpassed by few. Dylan reinvented the Folk genre by personalizing Folk songs, reconnecting rock and country, and...
[more]Most can say without hesitation that Bob Dylan wore the pop music crown during the 1960s, and his influence on American music has been surpassed by few. Dylan reinvented the Folk genre by personalizing Folk songs, reconnecting rock and country, and contributing a vocal sound that influenced artists of all genres. During the three semesters he spent at the University of Minnesota, he abandoned his birth name Robert Zimmerman and performed as Bob Dylan (taken from Dylan Thomas) at local cafes. In 1961, he moved to New York to meet his hero Woody Guthrie who had been hospitalized for many months. Later that year he opened for John Lee Hooker and was signed soon after with Columbia. The album, "Bob Dylan," contained only two originals, "Talking New York" and "Song to Woody." Dylan gained instant popularity in the Greenwich Village music scene. He was respected for his privacy, humor, and new vocal sound -- an improvisational nasal drawl.
The next album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," was released in 1963. Protest songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" impressed then-megastar Joan Baez, and she invited Dylan to tour with her; just one year later, Dylan performed over 200 concerts. "Another Side of Bob Dylan" shocked fans who expected more protest and war songs. The album was intensely personal with free-associative qualities. "Bringing It All Back Home" received an unprecedented amount of attraction, as fans and critics engaged in a steady dialogue analyzing, deciphering, and debating the lyrics. Dylan heightened the curiosity by giving cryptic, playful interviews and press conferences. By the end of 1966, more than 150 artists had recorded his songs. In 1968, Dylan recorded "John Wesley Harding," a quiet album that ignored the psychedelic trend popularized by the Beatles. Under the suggestion of George Harrison he wrote his first protest song since the mid-1960s, "George Jackson."
"Slow Train Coming," Dylan's first album following his conversion to Christianity, earned him his first Grammy. "Oh Mercy" was Dylan's best-received album of the 1980s, surprising fans with a vital energy and fresh sound unexpected from the burnt-out artist. In 1991 Dylan received a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys.
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