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{{Short description|American singer-songwriter (born 1941)}} | |||
] | |||
{{About|the musician|his debut album|Bob Dylan (album){{!}}''Bob Dylan'' (album)}} | |||
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{{Infobox person | |||
| name = Bob Dylan | |||
| image = DylanYoungKilkenny140719v2 (50 of 52) (52246124397) (cropped).jpg | |||
| caption = Dylan in 2019 | |||
| alt = Bob Dylan standing on stage | |||
| birth_name = Robert Allen Zimmerman | |||
| other_names = {{Flatlist| | |||
* Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham (])<ref name =Sounes14/> | |||
* Elston Gunnn<!-- DO NOT CHANGE THE SPELLING OF Gunnn. Three "n"s is the correct spelling. --> | |||
* Blind Boy Grunt | |||
* Bob Landy | |||
* Robert Milkwood Thomas | |||
* Tedham Porterhouse | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* Jack Frost | |||
* Sergei Petrov | |||
* Zimmy | |||
}} | |||
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|5|24}} | |||
| birth_place = ], U.S.<!-- Per ], "the use or non-use of periods (full stops) should also be consistent with other country abbreviations in the same article (thus 'the US, UK, and USSR', not 'the U.S., UK, and USSR')." --> | |||
| years_active = 1957–present<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-dylan-mn0000066915/biography| title = Bob Dylan biography| author = Erlewine, Stephen Thomas| author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|date = December 12, 2019| access-date = January 6, 2020| website=] | |||
}}</ref> | |||
| occupation = {{Flatlist| | |||
* Singer-songwriter | |||
* painter | |||
* writer | |||
}} | |||
| spouse = {{Plainlist| | |||
* {{Marriage|]|November 22, 1965|June 29, 1977|reason=divorced}} | |||
* {{Marriage|]|June 4, 1986|October 1992|reason=divorced}} | |||
}} | |||
| children = 6, including ] and ] | |||
| awards = {{Plainlist| | |||
* ] | |||
* (for others, see ]) | |||
}} | |||
| signature = Bob Dylan signature.svg | |||
| signature_size = 90px | |||
| module = {{Infobox musical artist | |||
| embed = yes | |||
| discography = {{hlist|]|]|]}} | |||
| genre = {{Flatlist| | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ]}} | |||
| instruments = {{Flatlist| | |||
* Vocals | |||
* guitar | |||
* harmonica | |||
* keyboards | |||
}} | |||
| label = {{Flatlist| | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
}} | |||
| website = {{URL|bobdylan.com}} | |||
}} | |||
}} | |||
'''Bob<!-- See ] and ]. --> Dylan''' (legally '''Robert Dylan''';<ref>His legal name, Robert Dylan, is enumerated in the following sources: | |||
'''Bob Dylan''' (born '''Robert Allen Zimmerman''' ], ]) is widely regarded as one of America's greatest popular ]s. ], ], ], and ] are among the few songwriters similarly revered for their enduring contributions to the American oeuvre. | |||
*{{cite book|ref=none|last1=Dunn |first1=Tim |title=The Bob Dylan Copyright Files 1962–2007|date=2008|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=9781438915890|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CbJJLXdF0N4C&pg=PA267}} | |||
*{{cite book|ref=none|last1=Bell |first1=Ian |title=Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan |date=2013 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=9781480447509 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXR5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT324 |quote=Bob Dylan — as a matter of legal record, 'Robert Dylan' ...}} | |||
*{{cite book|ref=none|last1=Rowley |first1=Chris |title=Blood on the Tracks: The Story of Bob Dylan |date=1984 |publisher=Proteus Books |location=London |isbn=9780862761271 |page=136 |quote=The petition for divorce stated that the "respondent, Robert Dylan ... "}}</ref> born '''Robert Allen Zimmerman''', May 24, 1941) is an American ].<!--NOTE: The lead sentence should stick to what he is primarily known for. The infobox is there to include additional occupations.--> Considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time,<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 23, 2001|title=Dylan 'the greatest songwriter'|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1347071.stm|publisher=]|access-date=January 1, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/lists-100-greatest-songwriters/#bob-dylan| title=No. 1 Bob Dylan| date=April 10, 2020| access-date=January 29, 2021| magazine=]}}</ref><ref name="EncBr" /> Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60-year career. With an estimated figure of more than 125 million records sold he is one of the ].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/bob-dylan-sells-entire-catalog-recorded-music-sony-music-rcna13434| title = Bob Dylan sells his entire catalog of recorded music to Sony| author = Lenthang, Marlene| date = January 25, 2022| access-date = June 11, 2024| website = NBC News}}</ref> A ] figure, he started his career as a ] before transitioning with ] and ]. He is known for his lyrical innovations, technical experimentations and influence in the music industry. | |||
Dylan was born and raised in ]. He rose to prominence in the 1960s influenced by ], ], and ]. Following ] of traditional ] in 1962, he made his breakthrough with '']'' (1963). The album featured "]" and "]", which adapted the tunes and phrasing of older folk songs. His songs "]" (1963) and "]{{-"}} (1964) became anthems for the ] and ] movements. | |||
In 1965 and 1966, Dylan ] among folk purists when he adopted ] rock instrumentation, and in the space of 15 months recorded three of the most influential rock albums of the 1960s: '']'', '']'' (both 1965) and '']'' (1966). Dylan's move from acoustic folk and blues music to rock contributed to the development of ], as his musical and lyrical output grew in complexity. His six-minute single "]" (1965) expanded commercial and creative boundaries in popular music.<ref name=LARS>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/bob-dylan-like-a-rolling-stone-20110516| title=500 Greatest Songs Of All Time| date=April 7, 2011| access-date=January 6, 2020|magazine=]| archive-date=October 31, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031103816/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/bob-dylan-like-a-rolling-stone-2-54028/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last=Rogovoy|first=Seth| title=How Bob Dylan's greatest song changed music history — a deep-dive into an accidental masterpiece| url=https://forward.com/culture/475865/how-bob-dylans-greatest-song-changed-music-history-a-deep-dive-into-an/| date=September 27, 2021| access-date=September 30, 2021| url-status=live| archive-date=September 28, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928170718/https://forward.com/culture/475865/how-bob-dylans-greatest-song-changed-music-history-a-deep-dive-into-an/| quote=Bruce Springsteen, who was originally touted as a 'new Dylan' when he was signed to Columbia Records, Dylan's label, by the same label honcho, John Hammond, who signed Dylan, said this about 'Like a Rolling Stone':<br />'Dylan freed your mind and showed us that because the music was physical did not mean it was anti-intellect. He had the vision and talent to make a pop song so that it contained the whole world. He invented a new way a pop singer could sound, broke through the limitations of what a recording could achieve, and he changed the face of rock 'n' roll for ever and ever.'| publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
Much of his best-known work is from the ], when his musical shadow was so large that he became a documentarian and reluctant figurehead of American unrest. The ] had no more moving anthem than his song "]." Millions of young people embraced his song "]" during that era of extreme change. The radical insurgent group The ] named themselves after a lyric in Dylan's song "]" ("You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"). | |||
In July 1966, a motorcycle crash led Dylan to cease touring. During this period, he recorded ] with members of ] which produced the album '']'' (1975). He released ] albums '']'' (1967), '']'' (1969) and '']'' (1970). He gained acclaim for '']'' (1975), and ] (1997), the later of which earned him the ]. Dylan still releases music and has toured continuously since the late 1980s on what has become known as the ].<ref>Heylin, Clinton, 2011, ''Bob Dylan: Behind The Shades, The 20th Anniversary Edition'', pp. 646–652.</ref> Since 1994, Dylan has published ], and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. | |||
More broadly, Dylan is credited with expanding the vocabulary of popular music, moving it beyond traditional boy-and-girl themes into the heady realms of ]/social commentary, ], and a kind of ] ] ] that defies easy description. This allows for a rich ambiguity and plurality of meaning uncommon in song up until his appearance. This lyrical innovation has occurred within the context of Dylan's steadfast devotion to the richest traditions of American song, from ] and ]/] to ] and ], to Gaelic balladry, even ], ], and ]. | |||
Over his career he has received ] including an ], ten ]s and a ] as well as a nomination for ]. He was honored with the ] in 1997, ] in 2009, the ] in 2012. Dylan has been inducted into the ], ] and the ]. He has also been awarded with a ] in 2008, and ] in 2016.<ref name=NobelCite>{{cite web| title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016| url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2016/press.pdf| website=Nobelprize.org|date=October 13, 2016| access-date=January 6, 2020| archive-url=https://archive.today/20170920010410/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2016/press.pdf |archive-date=September 20, 2017| url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
==Beginnings== | |||
== Early life and education == | |||
Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in ] to a ] family from nearby ]. Despite the German-Jewish-sounding "Zimmerman", Dylan maintains his antecedents on both sides were Russian-Jewish. He spent much of his youth listening to the radio, at first the powerful ] and ] stations beamed all the way from ] and, later, early ]. He formed his first band, The Golden Chords, while still in high school. Around this time, Zimmerman chose the pseudonym Elston Gunn for himself, playing a few concerts as Bobby Vee's pianist under this name. | |||
] | |||
Bob Dylan was born '''Robert Allen Zimmerman''' ({{langx|he|שבתאי זיסל בן אברהם}} ''Shabtai Zisl ben Avraham'')<ref name =Sounes14>Sounes, p. 14, gives his Hebrew name as Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham</ref><ref>A ] news service gives the variant Zushe ben Avraham {{cite web | url = http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/573406/jewish/SingerSongwriter-Bob-Dylan-Joins-Yom-Kippur-Services-in-Atlanta.htm | title = Singer/Songwriter Bob Dylan Joins Yom Kippur Services in Atlanta | date = September 24, 2007 | access-date=January 6, 2020 | publisher=]| archive-date=July 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728005159/https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/573406/jewish/SingerSongwriter-Bob-Dylan-Joins-Yom-Kippur-Services-in-Atlanta.htm| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aish.com/ci/a/Bob-Dylans-Jewish-Odyssey.html|title=Bob Dylan's Jewish Odyssey|last=Preskovsky|first=Ilan|date=March 12, 2016|work=Aish.com|access-date=January 7, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728005156/https://www.aish.com/ci/a/Bob-Dylans-Jewish-Odyssey.html|url-status=live}}</ref> in St. Mary's Hospital on May 24, 1941, in ].<ref>Sounes, p. 14</ref> Dylan's paternal grandparents, Anna Kirghiz and Zigman Zimmerman, emigrated from ] in the ] (now ], Ukraine) to the United States, following the ].<ref name="Sounes-p12">Sounes, pp. 12–13.</ref> His maternal grandparents, Florence and Ben Stone, were ] who had arrived in the United States in 1902.<ref name="Sounes-p12"/> Dylan wrote that his paternal grandmother's family was originally from the ] district of ] in northeastern Turkey.<ref>Dylan, pp. 92–93.</ref> | |||
An able but by no means brilliant student, he started university studies in ] in ], during which time he was actively involved in the local ] ] circuit. During his Dinkytown days Zimmerman began introducing himself as Bob Dylan. It has been suggested this choice was a tribute to the Welsh poet ]. Dylan has often denied this, claiming in 1965 that he took the name from an uncle named Dillon. He added "I've read some of Dylan Thomas' stuff, and it's not the same as mine." In his 2004 biography, "Chronicles Vol.1", however, Dylan admits that Dylan Thomas was relevant to his choice of alias (although he still acknowledges no influence or tribute, saying only that "Dylan" sounds like "Allen," his middle name and original choice for a surname de plume). He quit formal studies in early ], eventually drifting to ] to perform and to visit his ailing idol ]. Playing in small clubs for next to no pay, he soon gained some recognition after a review in the ] (], ]) by critic ], which led to ], a legendary music talent scout, signing him to ]. | |||
Dylan's father Abram Zimmerman and his mother Beatrice "Beatty" Stone were part of a small, close-knit Jewish community.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://jewishjournal.com/news/nation/104267/|title=Bob Dylan: 'Prophet' and Medal of Freedom recipient|last=Gluck|first=Robert|date=May 21, 2012|work=]|access-date=May 20, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2016/04/13/arts-entertainment/bob-dylans-life-and-work-examined-in-new-exhibit|title=Bob Dylan's life and work examined in new exhibit|last=Kamin|first=Debra|date=April 13, 2016|website=]|access-date=May 20, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Haaretz">{{Cite news |last=Green |first=David B. |date=May 21, 2015 |title=This Day in Jewish History – 1954: Shabtai Zissel Is Bar Mitzvahed, and Turns Out to Be Bob Dylan |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-bob-dylan-is-bar-mitzvahed-1.5364764 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820064906/https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2015-05-21/ty-article/.premium/bob-dylan-is-bar-mitzvahed/0000017f-e7e3-da9b-a1ff-efef74240000 |archive-date=August 20, 2022 |access-date=May 16, 2020 |work=]}}</ref> They lived in Duluth until Dylan was six, when his father contracted ] and the family returned to his mother's hometown of ], where they lived for the rest of Dylan's childhood, and his father and paternal uncles ran a furniture and appliance store.<ref name=Haaretz/><ref name=Hibb>{{cite book| title=Bob Dylan's Hibbing| publisher=EDLIS Café Press| year=2019| location =Hibbing, Minnesota| isbn=9781091782891}}</ref> | |||
At the time his voice, musicianship and songwriting were still raw. His performances, like his first Columbia album (]'s '']''), consisted of traditional folk, blues and gospel material interspersed with two of his own songs. 1962 also saw Dylan recording some songs for ''Broadside'' (a folk music magazine that occasionally released recordings), under the pseudonym Blind Boy Grunt. By the time of his next record, '']'' (]), he had begun to make his name as both a singer and composer, specialising in ]s, initially in the style of Guthrie and soon practically developing his own genre. | |||
In the early 1950s Dylan listened to the ] radio show and heard the songs of ]. He later wrote: "The sound of his voice went through me like an electric rod."<ref name="chronicles95"/> Dylan was also impressed by the delivery of ]: "He was the first singer whose voice and style, I guess, I totally fell in love with… I loved his style, wanted to dress like him too."<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Christian|title=Bob Dylan In His Own Words|location=New York|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1993|page=7|isbn= 0711932190}}</ref> As a teenager, Dylan heard ] on radio stations broadcasting from ] and ].<ref name="Shelton-38">Shelton, pp. 38–39.</ref> | |||
His songs of the time are typified by "]", its melody partially derived from slave song "No More Auction Block", coupled with lyrics questioning the social and political status quo. With hindsight, the lyrics to some of these songs appear unsophisticated ("How many times must the cannonballs fly before they are forever banned"), but when compared to the largely anemic popular culture of the ] they were a breath of fresh air, and the songs caught the ] of the ]. "Blowin' In The Wind" itself was widely recorded, an international hit for ], setting an enduring precedent for other artists to cover Dylan's songs. Somewhat overlooked among the protest songs on ''Freewheelin','' however, was a mixture of finely crafted bittersweet love songs ("]", "]") and jokey, frequently surreal talking blues ("]", "I Shall Be Free"). The song "]" occupies a plane perhaps above even "Blowin' In The Wind", with its hard hitting imagery and almost God's-eye perspective. It represents a nearly alchemical moment in modern songwriting in which time-honored folk structures are reworked into a latter-day idiom encompassing world events (in this case reportedly the ]) and deep personal reflection (the citizen's life "flashing before his eyes" under the apprehension of apocalypse). | |||
Dylan formed several bands while attending ]. In the Golden Chords, he performed ] of songs by ]<ref name="GrayJapan">{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/05/22/life/one-of-a-kind-bob-dylan-at-70/|title=One of a kind: Bob Dylan at 70|first=Michael|last=Gray|date=May 22, 2011|work=]|access-date=December 30, 2011|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163355/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/05/22/life/one-of-a-kind-bob-dylan-at-70/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ].<ref>Heylin (1996), pp. 4–5.</ref> Their performance of ]' "]" at their high school talent show was so loud that the principal cut the microphone.<ref>Sounes, pp. 29–37.</ref> In 1959, Dylan's high school yearbook carried the caption "Robert Zimmerman: to join 'Little Richard{{' "}}.<ref name="GrayJapan"/><ref>LIFE Books, "Bob Dylan, Forever Young, 50 Years of Song", ''Time Home Entertainment'', Vol. 2, No 2, February 10, 2012, p. 15.</ref> That year, as Elston <!-- DO NOT CHANGE THE SPELLING OF Gunnn. Three "n"s is the correct spelling. -->Gunnn<!-- DO NOT CHANGE THE SPELLING OF Gunnn. Three "n"s is the correct spelling. -->, he performed two dates with ], playing piano and clapping.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/bobby-vee-wouldnt-change-a-thing-part-3| title=Bobby Vee wouldn't change a thing Part 3| newspaper=Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia| date=May 7, 2009| access-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref><ref>Sounes, pp. 41–42.</ref><ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 26–27.</ref> In September 1959, Dylan enrolled at the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scholarswalk.umn.edu/awards/national_intl/Nobel.html|title=University of Minnesota Scholars Walk: Nobel Prize|publisher=University of Minnesota|access-date=December 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908112503/http://www.scholarswalk.umn.edu/awards/national_intl/Nobel.html|archive-date=September 8, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Living at the Jewish-centric fraternity ] house, Dylan began to perform at the Ten O'Clock Scholar, a coffeehouse a few blocks from campus, and became involved in the ] ] circuit.<ref>Shelton, pp. 65–82.</ref><ref name="No Direction Home">This is related in ]'s documentary '']''. broadcast September 26, 2005, ] & ].</ref> His focus on rock and roll gave way to ], as he explained in a 1985 interview: | |||
While undeniably an interesting interpreter of songs, Dylan was not universally considered a traditionally fine singer, and many of his songs first reached the public through versions by other artists. ], a friend and sometime lover, took it upon herself to record a great deal of his early material, as did many others including ], ], ], ] and ]. So ubiquitous were these covers by the mid-1960s that ] started to promote him with the tag: "Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan". Whoever sang his songs, they were immediately recognizable as his and a good part of his fame rested not only on his lyrical excellence but on the underlying attitude -- a sort of po' boy adrift in the wide world posture that gradually changed to hipster arbiter of all things cool and uncool. | |||
{{blockquote|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.<ref name="Crowe-1985"/>}} | |||
==Protest and another side== | |||
During this period, he began to introduce himself as "Bob Dylan".<ref>Heylin (1996), p. 7.</ref> In his memoir, he wrote that he considered adopting the surname ''Dillon'' before unexpectedly seeing poems by ], and deciding upon the given name spelling.<ref>Dylan, pp. 78–79.</ref><ref group="a">According to Dylan biographer ], Dylan first confided his change of name to his high school girlfriend, Echo Helstrom, in 1958, telling her that he had found a "great name, Bob Dillon". Shelton surmises that Dillon had two sources: ] was the hero of the TV western '']''; Dillon was also the name of one of Hibbing's principal families. While Shelton was writing Dylan's biography in the 1960s, Dylan told him, "Straighten out in your book that I did not take my name from Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas's poetry is for people that aren't really satisfied in their bed, for people who dig masculine romance." At the University of Minnesota, Dylan told a few friends that Dillon was his mother's maiden name, which was untrue. He later told reporters that he had an uncle named Dillon. Shelton added that only when he reached New York in 1961 did he begin to spell his name "Dylan", by which time he was acquainted with the life and work of Dylan Thomas. Shelton (2011), pp. 44–45.</ref> In a 2004 interview, he said, "You're born, you know, the wrong names, wrong parents. I mean, that happens. You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free."<ref name="60minutes2005" /> | |||
By ], Dylan was becoming increasingly prominent in the ] movement, singing at rallies including the ] in which ] gave his "]" speech. Dylan's next album, ''],'' reflected a more sophisticated, politicised and cynical Dylan. The bleak material, concerned with such subjects as the murder of civil rights worker ] and the despair engendered by the breakdown of farming and mining communities ("Ballad of Hollis Brown", "North Country Blues"), was lightened by a single anti-love song, "Boots of Spanish Leather". "]", a highlight of the album, describes a young aristocrat's killing of a maid. Never explicitly mentioning race, the song leaves no doubt that the killer is white, the victim black. | |||
== Career == | |||
As mentioned above, the title song "The Times They Are A-Changin'" attained an anthemic status within this rising generation, with individual lines like "Come mothers and fathers/Throughout the land/And don't criticize/What you can't understand/Your sons and your daughters/Are beyond your command" becoming instant battle cries in the fateful months surrounding the violent demise of a hopeful young presidency and the nation's entrance into the psychological quagmire of the ]. | |||
=== 1960–1962: Relocation to New York and stardom === | |||
In May 1960, Dylan dropped out of college at the end of his first year. In January 1961, he traveled to New York City to perform and visit his musical idol ]<ref>Sounes, p. 72</ref> at ].<ref>Dylan, p. 98.</ref> Guthrie had been a revelation to Dylan and influenced his early performances. He wrote of Guthrie's impact: "The songs themselves had the infinite sweep of humanity in them... was the true voice of the American spirit. I said to myself I was going to be Guthrie's greatest disciple".<ref>Dylan, pp. 244–246.</ref> In addition to visiting Guthrie, Dylan befriended his protégé ].<ref>Dylan, pp. 250–252.</ref> | |||
From February 1961, Dylan played at clubs around ], befriending and picking up material from folk singers, including ], ], ], the ] and Irish musicians ].<ref>Shelton (2011), pp. 74–78.</ref> In September, '']'' critic ] boosted Dylan's career with a very enthusiastic review of his performance at ]: "Bob Dylan: A Distinctive Folk-Song Stylist".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bulik |first=Mark |date=September 2, 2015 |title=1961: Bob Dylan Takes the Stage |work=The New York Times| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/insider/1961-bob-dylan-takes-the-stage.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902180252/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/insider/1961-bob-dylan-takes-the-stage.html |archive-date=September 2, 2015| url-access=subscription |url-status=live| access-date=January 19, 2020}}</ref> That month, Dylan played harmonica on folk singer ]'s third album, bringing him to the attention of the album's producer ],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/carolyn-hester-mn0000149166/biography| title=Carolyn Hester biography| author=Unterberger, Richie| date=October 8, 2003| access-date=December 8, 2016| website=AllMusic}}</ref> who signed Dylan to ].<ref>Shelton (2011), ''No Direction Home'', p. 87</ref> Dylan's debut album, '']'', released March 19, 1962,<ref>{{cite news| last1=Vulliamy| first1=Ed| title=How Bob Dylan, music's great enigma first revealed his talent to the world 50 years ago| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/mar/18/bob-dylan-debut-1962-anniversary| access-date=March 19, 2020|work=The Guardian| date=March 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/19/showbiz/music/bob-dylan-album-50-rs|title=50 years ago today: Bob Dylan released his debut album|last=Greene|first=Andy|date=March 19, 2012|publisher=CNN|access-date=March 4, 2017}}</ref> consisted of traditional folk, blues and ] material with just two original compositions, "]" and "]". The album sold 5,000 copies in its first year, just breaking even.<ref name="Scaduto110">Scaduto, p. 110.</ref> | |||
By the end of the year, however, he started to feel both manipulated and constrained by the folk-protest movement. Accepting the "] Award" from the ] at a ceremony shortly after the assassination of ], a drunk and rambling Dylan questioned the role of the committee, insulted its many overweight and balding members and claimed he saw something of himself in ]. The messages, both from Dylan and those who booed him, were clear: Dylan and the civil rights movement were drifting apart. Some say this separation was not ideological, but rather an expression of Dylan's understandable reluctance to accept the title "Voice of His Generation". | |||
] and Dylan during the civil rights "]", August 28, 1963]] In August 1962, Dylan changed his name to Bob Dylan,<ref group="a">On August 9, 1962, he legally changed his name from Robert Allen Zimmerman to Robert Dylan in the ], Hibbing. His father, Abraham Zimmerman, was the witness at this legal event.({{harvnb|Heylin|2021|p=138}})</ref> and signed a management contract with ].<ref>Sounes, p. 116.</ref> Grossman remained Dylan's manager until 1970, and was known for his sometimes confrontational personality and protective loyalty.<ref>Gray (2006), pp. 283–284.</ref> Dylan said, "He was kind of like a ] figure ... you could smell him coming."<ref name="No Direction Home" /> Tension between Grossman and John Hammond led to the latter suggesting Dylan work with the jazz producer ], who produced several tracks for the second album without formal credit. Wilson produced the next three albums Dylan recorded.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 115–116.</ref><ref>Shelton (1986), p. 154.</ref> | |||
Perhaps inevitably, then, his next album — the accurately but prosaically titled '']'' (]) — had a lighter mood than its predecessor. The surreal Dylan re-emerged on "I Shall Be Free #10" and "Motorpsycho Nightmare" employing a sense of humor which would persist throughout his career. "Spanish Harlem Incident" and "To Ramona" were touching love songs, while "Ballad in Plain D" and "I Don't Believe You" mourned a breakup; perhaps Dylan's parting with long-time girlfriend ], who had been pictured with him on the famous album cover of ''Freewheelin'.'' Musically he had changed, too. ''Another Side'' is the first album on which Dylan's piano playing is featured (though only on one track, "Black Crow Blues"), with the beat and bass of his left hand presaging his return to ] the next year. Perhaps more important to his later development were two other tracks. "]" was the first Dylan song to pick up where "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" left off and, in a sense, go beyond it: lengthy and ], it retains an element of social commentary but with the topicality of his earlier work replaced by dense metaphorical landscape, a style later characterised by ] as "chains of flashing images". "]", in a similar style, is even more personal, a scathing attack on the dichotomous simplicity and arch seriousness of his own earlier work. By way of excuse, or even apology, he offers only that "I was so much older then / I'm younger than that now" and few have summed up the transition in his work from 1963 to 1965 better. | |||
Dylan made his first trip to the United Kingdom from December 1962 to January 1963.<ref name="Heylin-p35">Heylin (1996), pp. 35–39.</ref> He had been invited by television director ] to appear in '']'', which Saville was directing for ].<ref name="Flash-back">{{cite news|last=Llewellyn-Smith|first=Caspar|title=Flash-back|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/sep/18/popandrock.bobdylan|access-date=June 17, 2012|newspaper=The Observer|date=September 18, 2005|location=London}}</ref> At the end of the play, Dylan performed "]", one of its first public performances.<ref name="Flash-back"/> While in London, Dylan performed at London folk clubs, including ], ], and ].<ref name="Heylin-p35"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-day-bob-dylan-dropped-by-for-coffee_b_57f82803e4b0d786aa52b1d7|title=The day Bob Dylan dropped by for coffee|date=October 7, 2016|website=HuffPost}}</ref> He also learned material from UK performers, including ].<ref name="Flash-back"/> | |||
Throughout this time Dylan's artistic development moved so fast that he frequently left both critics and fans behind. His March ] album '']'' was a further stylistic leap. Influenced by ] (whose artistic development had already been enhanced by Dylan's influence), and the rock and roll of his youth, the first side contained his first original uptempo rock songs. The music, provided by a full electric band of mainly session musicians, was a definite departure. Lyrically, however, the songs were pure Dylan, exhibiting his dry wit and inhabited by a sequence of grotesque, metaphorical characters. The raucous first single, "]" owed much to ]'s "Too Much Monkey Business" and was provided with an early ] courtesy of ]'s ] presentation of Dylan's 1965 tour, '']''. Its opening lines were memorized by nearly the entire generation: | |||
By the release of Dylan's second album, '']'', in May 1963, he had begun to make his name as a singer-songwriter. Many songs on the album were labeled ]s, inspired partly by Guthrie and influenced by ]'s topical songs.<ref>Shelton, pp. 138–142.</ref> "]" was an account of ]'s ordeal as the first Black student to enroll at the ].<ref>Shelton, p. 156.</ref> The first song on the album, "Blowin' in the Wind", partly derived its melody from the traditional ] "No More Auction Block",<ref>The booklet by ] accompanying Dylan's '']'' (1991) says: "Dylan acknowledged the debt in 1978 to journalist Marc Rowland: ''Blowin' In The Wind' has always been a spiritual. I took it off a song called 'No More Auction Block'—that's a spiritual and 'Blowin' In The Wind follows the same feeling.{{' "}} pp. 6–8.''</ref> while its lyrics questioned the social and political status quo. The song was widely recorded by other artists and became a hit for ].<ref name="PPM">{{cite magazine|author=Eder, Bruce|title=Peter, Paul and Mary biography|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/331058/peter-paul-and-mary/biography|access-date=June 5, 2015|magazine=Billboard|archive-date=November 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101000237/http://www.billboard.com/artist/331058/peter-paul-and-mary/biography|url-status=dead}}</ref> "]" was based on the folk ballad "]". With its apocalyptic premonitions, the song gained resonance when the ] developed a few weeks after Dylan began performing it.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 101–103.</ref><ref group="a">In a May 1963 interview with ], Dylan broadened the meaning of the song, saying "the pellets of poison flooding the waters" refers to "the lies people are told on their radios and in their newspapers." Cott (2006), p. 8.</ref> Both songs marked a new direction in songwriting, blending a ], ] lyrical attack with traditional folk form.<ref>Ricks, pp. 329–344.</ref> | |||
:Johnny's in the basement | |||
:Mixin' up the medicine | |||
:I'm on the pavement | |||
:Thinkin' 'bout the government | |||
Dylan's topical songs led to his being viewed as more than just a songwriter. ] wrote of ''Freewheelin{{'}}'': <blockquote>These were the songs that established as the voice of his generation—someone who implicitly understood how concerned young Americans felt about ] and the growing ]: his mixture of moral authority and nonconformity was perhaps the most timely of his attributes.<ref>Maslin, Janet in Miller, Jim (ed.) (1981), ''The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll'', 1981, p. 220</ref><ref group="a">The title "Spokesman of a Generation" was viewed by Dylan with disgust in later years. He came to feel it was a label the media had pinned on him, and in his autobiography, '']'', Dylan wrote: "The press never let up. Once in a while I would have to rise up and offer myself for an interview so they wouldn't beat the door down. Later an article would hit the streets with the headline 'Spokesman Denies That He's A Spokesman.' I felt like a piece of meat that someone had thrown to the dogs." Dylan (2004), p.119</ref></blockquote> ''Freewheelin{{'}}'' also included love songs and surreal ]. Humor was an important part of Dylan's persona,<ref>Scaduto, p. 35.</ref> and the range of material on the album impressed listeners, including ]. ] said of the album: "We just played it, just wore it out. The content of the song lyrics and just the attitude—it was incredibly original and wonderful".<ref>''Mojo'' magazine, December 1993. p. 97</ref> | |||
as well as a line further along: | |||
The rough edge of Dylan's singing unsettled some but attracted others. Author ] wrote: "When we first heard this raw, very young, and seemingly untrained voice, frankly nasal, as if sandpaper could sing, the effect was dramatic and electrifying".<ref>Hedin, p. 259.</ref> Many early songs reached the public through more palatable versions by other performers, such as ], who became Dylan's advocate and lover.<ref>Sounes, pp. 136–138.</ref> Baez was influential in bringing Dylan to prominence by recording several of his early songs and inviting him on stage during her concerts.<ref>Joan Baez entry, Gray (2006), pp. 28–31.</ref> Others who had hits with Dylan's songs in the early 1960s included ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | |||
:Ah get born, keep warm | |||
:Short pants, romance, learn to dance | |||
:Get dressed, get blessed | |||
:Try to be a success | |||
:Please her, please him, buy gifts | |||
:Don't steal, don't lift | |||
:Twenty years of schoolin' | |||
:And they put you on the day shift | |||
"]", recorded during the ''Freewheelin''' sessions with a backing band, was released as Dylan's first single in December 1962, but then swiftly withdrawn. In contrast to the mostly solo acoustic performances on the album, the single showed a willingness to experiment with a ] sound. ] described it as "a fascinating look at a folk artist with his mind wandering towards Elvis Presley and ]".<ref>], 1985, Liner notes & text by ]. Musicians on "Mixed Up Confusion": George Barnes & ] (guitars); ] (piano); ] (bass); ] (drums)</ref> | |||
Side 2 of the album was a different matter, comprising lengthy acoustic songs whose undogmatic political, social and personal concerns are illuminated with the rich poetic imagery that would become another trademark. One of these songs, "]", had already been a hit for The Byrds, albeit in a truncated form, and would remain one of Dylan's most enduring compositions. | |||
=== 1963–1965: Protest music and ''Another Side'' === | |||
That summer, Bob Dylan stoked the drama of his legacy by performing his first electric set (since his high school days) with a pickup group drawn mostly from the ] at the ], remembered ever since as a watershed event. Dylan had appeared at Newport twice before in 1963 and 1964. Two wildly divergent accounts of the crowd's response in 1965, each equally plausible, exist to this day. The agreed-upon fact is that Dylan, met with a mix of cheering and booing, left the stage after only three songs. As one legend has it, the boos were from the outraged folk fans Dylan alienated with his electric guitars. According to this account, folk great ] grabbed an axe, threatening to cut the power during the performance. Seeger insists there was no axe— he had merely joked about cutting the lines, and that due to excessive volume, not the music itself. When interviewed for the ] '']'' series, Seeger stated he was irritated that the lyric to "]" (a song Seeger admired) was nearly incomprehensible due to the volume and musical arrangement. The other story says that the fans were upset by poor sound quality and a truncated set. Either way, Dylan re-emerged and sang a few solo acoustic numbers to everyone's satisfaction. But the import of the appearance at Newport worked its way into the awareness of this restless generation: thoughtful acoustic music was no longer enough even for tradition-aware singers like Dylan; times were spinning out of control and electricity was needed to express it. | |||
{{Listen|type=music | |||
|filename=Bob Dylan - The Times They Are a-Changin'.ogg | |||
|title = "The Times They Are a-Changin{{'"}} | |||
|description= Dylan said of "The Times They Are a-Changin{{'"}}: "This was definitely a song with a purpose. I wanted to write a big song, some kind of theme song, with short concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way. The civil rights movement and the folk music movement were pretty close and allied together at that time."<ref name="Crowe-1985"/>}} | |||
In May 1963, Dylan's political profile rose when he walked out of '']''. During rehearsals, Dylan had been told by CBS television's head of program practices that "]" was potentially ] to the ]. Rather than comply with censorship, Dylan refused to appear.<ref>Dylan had recorded "Talkin' John Birch Society Blues" for his ] album, but the song was replaced by later compositions, including "]". See Heylin (2000), pp. 114–115.</ref> | |||
Dylan and Baez were prominent in the civil rights movement, singing together at the ] on August 28, 1963. Dylan performed "]" and "]".<ref>Heylin (1996), p. 49.</ref> | |||
==Creative height, crash== | |||
Dylan's third album, '']'', reflected a more politicized Dylan.<ref>Gill, pp. 37–41.</ref> The songs often took as their subject matter contemporary stories, with "]" addressing the murder of civil rights worker ], and the ] "]" the death of Black hotel barmaid Hattie Carroll at the hands of young White socialite William Zantzinger.<ref>Ricks, pp. 221–233.</ref> "]" and "]" addressed despair engendered by the breakdown of farming and mining communities.<ref>Gill, Andy, 1999, ''Classic Bob Dylan: My Back Pages'', pp. 43-48.</ref> | |||
Ignoring the occasional negative criticism, Dylan's rapid output (some say fuelled by rapid ] intake) continued unabated through ] and ]. The single "]" was a US hit, cementing his reputation as a lyricist; at over six minutes, devoid of a bridge, "Like a Rolling Stone" also helped to expand the limits of hit radio. Its signature sound, with a full, jangling band and a simple organ riff, would characterise his next album release, '']'' (titled after the road that led from his native Minnesota to the musical hotbed of ]; and also referencing any number of ] songs; i.e. ]'s "61 Highway."). The songs were in the same vein as the advance single, more surreal litanies of the grotesque flavoured by Bloomfield's blues guitar, a tight rhythm section and Dylan's obvious enjoyment of the sessions. Electric amplification and the bluesrock backbeat ruled this album and all thought of Dylan remaining exclusively in the "new folk" category should have been abandoned. The closing song, "]", a lengthy apocalyptic vision, wore its poeticism and influences on its sleeve, self-consciously referring to both ] and ]. | |||
The final track on the album expressed Dylan's angry response to a hostile profile published in '']''.<ref name =Svedb>{{cite magazine| url = https://www.newsweek.com/bob-dylans-75th-birthday-revisit-our-infamous-1963-profile-462801| title = Revisit Our Infamous 1963 Profile of Bob Dylan| author = Svedberg, Andrea| date = October 13, 2016| access-date = October 18, 2024| magazine = Newsweek}}</ref> As biographer ] puts it, the profile wrote about "the way the Bar Mitzvah boy from Hibbing, Minnesota, had reinvented himself as the prince of protest", emphasising his birth name Robert Zimmerman, his attendance at the University of Minnesota and his close relationship with his parents whom he claimed to be estranged from.<ref name =Svedb/><ref>Heylin, 2009, ''Revolution In The Air, The Songs of Bob Dylan: Volume One'', pp. 170–172.</ref> The day after the article appeared, Dylan returned to the studio to record "]" which ends with his vow to "make my stand/ And remain as I am/ And bid farewell and not give a damn".<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/restless-farewell/| title = Restless Farewell| author = Dylan, Bob| access-date = October 18, 2024| website = bobdylan.com}}</ref> | |||
], ] and Dylan's own brand of surreal lyrics, '']'' is often considered to be one of the top 5 "Greatest albums of all time"]] | |||
By the end of 1963, Dylan felt manipulated and constrained by the folk and protest movements.<ref>Shelton, pp. 200–205.</ref> Accepting the "] Award" from the ] shortly after the ], an intoxicated Dylan questioned the role of the committee, characterized the members as old and balding, and claimed to see something of himself and of every man in Kennedy's assassin, ].<ref>Part of Dylan's speech went: "There's no black and white, left and right to me any more; there's only up and down and down is very close to the ground. And I'm trying to go up without thinking of anything trivial such as politics...I got to admit that the man who shot President Kennedy, Lee Oswald, I don't know exactly where --what he thought he was doing, but I got to admit honestly that I too – I saw some of myself in him. I don't think it would have gone – I don't think it could go that far. But I got to stand up and say I saw things that he felt, in me – not to go that far and shoot. (Boos and hisses) You can boo..."; see, Shelton, pp. 200–205.</ref> | |||
In support of the record, Dylan was booked for two US concerts, and set about assembling a band. Finding what he was looking for in ], formerly backing ] singer ], he persuaded the group to join him on tour. In August/September ] at Forest Hills Auditorium and the Hollywood Bowl the group were heckled by the audience who, Newport notwithstanding, still expected the acoustic troubadour of previous years. Undaunted, Dylan returned to the studio that October to begin work on his next album, the double '']''. | |||
], upstate New York, November 1963]] | |||
'']'', recorded in a single evening on June 9, 1964,<ref>Heylin (1996), p. 60.</ref> had a lighter mood. The humorous Dylan reemerged on "]" and "Motorpsycho Nightmare". "]" and "]" are passionate love songs, while "]" and "]" suggest the rock and roll soon to dominate Dylan's music. "]", on the surface a song about spurned love, has been described as a rejection of the role of political spokesman thrust upon him.<ref>Shelton, p. 222.</ref> His new direction was signaled by two lengthy songs: the ] "]", which sets ] against a metaphorical landscape in a style characterized by ] as "chains of flashing images,"<ref group="a">In an interview with Seth Goddard for ''Life'' (July 5, 2001) Ginsberg said Dylan's technique had been inspired by ]: "(Dylan) pulled '']'' from my hand and started reading it and I said, 'What do you know about that?' He said, 'Somebody handed it to me in '59 in St. Paul and it blew my mind.' So I said 'Why?' He said, 'It was the first poetry that spoke to me in my own language.' So those chains of flashing images you get in Dylan, like 'the motorcycle black Madonna two-wheeled gypsy queen and her silver studded phantom lover,' they're influenced by Kerouac's chains of flashing images and spontaneous writing, and that spreads out into the people". {{cite book|editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Schumacher|title=First Thought: Conversations with Allen Ginsberg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ch0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT322|date=2017|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-1-4529-4995-6|pages=322–}}</ref> and "]", which attacks the simplistic and arch seriousness of his own earlier topical songs and seems to predict the backlash he was about to encounter from his former champions.<ref>Shelton, pp. 219–222.</ref> | |||
In the latter half of 1964 and into 1965, Dylan moved from folk songwriter to ] pop-music star. His jeans and work shirts were replaced by a ] wardrobe, sunglasses day or night, and pointed "]s". A London reporter noted "Hair that would set the teeth of a comb on edge. A loud shirt that would dim the neon lights of ]. He looks like an undernourished ]."<ref>Shelton, pp. 267–271, 288–291.</ref> Dylan began to spar with interviewers. Asked about a movie he planned while on ]'s television show, he told Crane it would be a "cowboy horror movie." Asked if he played the cowboy, Dylan replied, "No, I play my mother."<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 178–181.</ref> | |||
Musicians in the studio, including Robbie Robertson from The Hawks (who would slowly metamorphose into ]), honed Dylan's sound. "That thin wild mercury sound," Dylan called it, obviating further description. The result was another classic record, often included in the top 5 on 'best albums of all time' lists. The record updated and, according to many, surpassed Dylan's earlier works with masterpieces "Visions of Johanna" and "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again." The earlier surrealism now seemed tempered with more humanity and the record more coherent than its predecessors, with knowing nods to The Beatles, amongst others. In his personal life, Dylan secretly married ] on ], ]. | |||
=== 1965–1969: Going electric and motorcycle accident === | |||
Touring to promote the record remained hectic, however, taking him to Europe and Australia through the spring of ], including a famously raucous confrontation with an audience at the Manchester ] in England. Immortalized erroneously as the "Royal Albert Hall" concert, the recording was officially released in 1998. Before the concert's last song, "Like a Rolling Stone," a folk fan angry that Dylan had adopted an electric sound instead of acoustic, loudly shouts "]!" from the restless audience, to which Dylan responds, "I don't believe you. You're a liar." Turning to his band, Dylan urges them to "play ]ing loud!" In fact, the audiences' negative reactions resulted in drummer ] temporarily quitting the band. | |||
{{Main|Electric Dylan controversy|Folk rock}} | |||
] documentary '']'' (1967) follows Dylan on his ]. An early music video for "]" was used as the film's opening segment.]] Dylan's late March 1965 album '']'' was another leap,<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 181–182.</ref> featuring his first recordings with electric instruments, under producer Tom Wilson's guidance.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-greatest-music-producer-youve-never-heard-of-is/|title=The Greatest Music Producer You've Never Heard of Is...|author=Michael Hall|magazine=Texas Monthly|date=January 6, 2014|access-date=May 17, 2019}}</ref> The first single, "]", owed much to ]'s "]";<ref>Heylin (2009), pp. 220–222.</ref> its free-association lyrics described as harking back to the energy of ] and as a forerunner of ] and ].<ref>Marqusee, p. 144.</ref> The song was provided with an early music video, which opened ]'s ] presentation of Dylan's 1965 British tour, '']''.<ref>Gill, pp. 68–69.</ref> Instead of miming, Dylan illustrated the lyrics by throwing cue cards containing key words on the ground. Pennebaker said the sequence was Dylan's idea, and it has been imitated in music videos and advertisements.<ref>Lee, p. 18.</ref> | |||
The second side of ''Bringing It All Back Home'' contained four long songs on which Dylan accompanied himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica.<ref name="Sounes-168">Sounes, pp. 168–169.</ref> "]" became one of his best-known songs when ] recorded an electric version that reached number one in the US and UK.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Warwick|first1=N.|last2=Brown|first2=T.|last3=Kutner|first3=J.|year=2004|title=The Complete Book of the British Charts|edition=Third|page=6|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-1-84449-058-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=J.|page=130|year=2008|title=Top Pop Singles 1955–2006|publisher=Record Research Inc|isbn=978-0-89820-172-7}}</ref> "]" and "]" were two of Dylan's most important compositions.<ref name="Sounes-168"/><ref>Shelton, pp. 276–277.</ref> | |||
Meanwhile, Dylan was being pressured to produce the book length poem ''Tarantula,'' and, by many accounts, had stepped up his drug and alcohol intake to dangerous levels. The pace of his private and professional life seemed unsustainable. On ] ], near his home in Woodstock, New York, the brakes of his Triumph 500 motorcycle locked, throwing him to the ground. The extent of his injuries was never fully disclosed and, whether through necessity or opportunism, Dylan used an extended convalescence to escape the pressures of stardom. | |||
In 1965, headlining the ], Dylan performed his first electric set since high school with a ] featuring ] on guitar and ] on organ.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 208–216.</ref> Dylan had appeared at Newport in 1963 and 1964, but in 1965 was met with cheering and booing and left the stage after three songs. One version has it that the boos were from folk fans whom Dylan had alienated by appearing, unexpectedly, with an electric guitar. ], who filmed the performance, said: "I absolutely think that they were booing Dylan going electric."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2007/10/exclusive_dylan_at_newport_who.html| title=Exclusive: Dylan at Newport—Who Booed?| work=]| date=October 25, 2007| access-date=September 7, 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412210946/http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2007/10/exclusive_dylan_at_newport_who.html| archive-date=April 12, 2009| df=mdy-all}}</ref> An alternative account claims audience members were upset by poor sound and a short set.<ref>{{cite news|page=3 |url=http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2010/04/al_kooper_talks.php?page=3 |title=Al Kooper talks Dylan, Conan, Hendrix, and lifetime in the music business |work=City Pages |publisher=Village Voice Media |date=April 28, 2010 |access-date=May 1, 2010 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429151407/http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2010/04/al_kooper_talks.php?page=3 |archive-date=April 29, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://buffaloreport.com/020826dylan.html|author=Jackson, Bruce|date=August 26, 2002|access-date=May 8, 2010|title=The myth of Newport '65: It wasn't Bob Dylan they were booing|publisher=Buffalo Report| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080223005652/http://buffaloreport.com/020826dylan.html| archive-date=February 23, 2008|url-status=unfit}}</ref> | |||
After convincing Levon Helm to rejoin them, The Band moved into a nearby big pink house. Once Dylan was well enough, he began editing footage into '']'', a rarely exhibited sequel to ''Don't Look Back''. More importantly, he began recording music with ] at his home and, legendarily, the basement of "Big Pink". The relaxed atmosphere yielded renditions of many of Dylan's favorite old-timey songs and some newly written pieces. These originals, at first compiled as demos for other artists to record, began to circulate on their own merits. Columbia released selections from them in 1975 as '']''. This unpressured, fertile interlude also generated The Band's first album, '']'', including three songs penned by Dylan. This sudden maturation by The Band led to their 1969 album '']'', also known as "The Brown Album". These two albums, along with Dylan's new songs, helped spur a sort of counter-revolution in Rock and Roll, away from super-amplified, quasi-mystical, painstakingly produced songs/albums and toward a subtler, roots-aware approach. A certain turning point was reached when ], lead guitarist and lyricist of British supergroup ], heard ''Music from Big Pink'', ''The Band'' and bootlegged ''Basement Tapes'' material, forthwith quit Cream and trained his talents on bluesy and backwoods approaches. The ultra-loud, spectacular arena-rock attack would reach a height in the mid-1970s with ] and ], but a more enduring electrified genre, led by Dylan, The Band, Clapton, ] and remnants of The Beatles, was midwifed in Big Pink. | |||
Dylan's performance provoked a hostile response from the folk music establishment.<ref>Shelton, pp. 305–314.</ref><ref>A year earlier, ], editor of '']'', had published an "Open Letter to Bob Dylan", criticizing Dylan's stepping away from political songwriting: "I saw at Newport how you had somehow lost contact with people. Some of the paraphernalia of fame were getting in your way." ''Sing Out!'', November 1964, quoted in Shelton, p. 313. This letter has been mistakenly described as a response to Dylan's 1965 Newport appearance.</ref> In the September issue of '']'', ] wrote: "Our traditional songs and ballads are the creations of extraordinarily talented artists working inside disciplines formulated over time ...'But what of Bobby Dylan?' scream the outraged teenagers ... Only a completely non-critical audience, nourished on the watery pap of pop music, could have fallen for such tenth-rate drivel".<ref>''Sing Out!'', September 1965, quoted in Shelton, p. 313.</ref> On July 29, four days after Newport, Dylan was back in the studio in New York, recording "]". The lyrics contained images of vengeance and paranoia,<ref>"You got a lotta nerve/To say you are my friend/When I was down/You just stood there grinning" Reproduced online: {{Cite web|title=Positively 4th Street | The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/positively-4th-street/|access-date=February 12, 2023|website=bobdylan.com}}</ref> and have been interpreted as Dylan's put-down of former friends from the folk community he had known in clubs along ].<ref>Sounes, p. 186.</ref> | |||
Unsurprisingly, Dylan's official output was to be strongly influenced by the relaxed lifestyle which led to ''The Basement Tapes''. His first release of songs recorded after the accident, '']'' (]), was a contemplative record, heavily influenced by the ], which included "]", later immortalised by ] in a version that Dylan himself has acknowledged as definitive. Dylan intended for the album's sparse arrangements to be filled in by later Band overdubs. Upon hearing it, The Band decided to let it stand. The sparse structure and instrumentation, coupled with lyrics which took the Judeo-Christian tradition seriously, marked a departure not only from Dylan's own work, but from the escalating psychedelic fervor of the 1960s musical culture. This departure was underscored by Dylan's conspicuous absence from the ] in 1969. | |||
''' ''Highway 61 Revisited'' and ''Blonde on Blonde'' ''' | |||
The second release after the motorcycle accident, '']'' (]), produced by ], was a mainstream country record featuring a mellow voiced, contented Dylan and a duet with ]. It also garnered Dylan new fans with the hit single "Lay Lady Lay". The same year, Dylan returned to live performance at the ] rock festival (having made a brief appearance at ]'s memorial concert in 1968). | |||
{{listen|type=music|filename=Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone.ogg|title="Like a Rolling Stone"|description=Dylan's 1965 hit single, which appeared on the album '']''. In 2004, it was chosen as the greatest song of all time by '']'' magazine.<ref name="RS500" />}} | |||
In July 1965, Dylan's six-minute single "]" peaked at number two in the US chart. In 2004 and in 2011, '']'' listed it as number one on "]".<ref name=LARS/><ref name="RS500">{{cite magazine| url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs| title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time| access-date=January 6, 2020| magazine=Rolling Stone| date=December 9, 2004| archive-date=October 25, 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025051406/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs| url-status=dead| format=To see 2004 publishing date, click "Like a Rolling Stone" and scroll to the bottom of the resulting page}}</ref> ] recalled first hearing the song: "that snare shot sounded like somebody'd kicked open the door to your mind."<ref name=":Sprinsgteen">{{cite web| title=Bruce Springsteen Inducts Bob Dylan| publisher=]| year=1988| url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bob-dylan}}</ref> The song opened Dylan's next album, '']'', named after the road that led from Dylan's Minnesota to the musical hotbed of ].<ref>Gill, pp. 87–88.</ref> The songs were in the same vein as the hit single, flavored by Mike Bloomfield's blues guitar and Al Kooper's organ riffs. "]", backed by acoustic guitar and understated bass,<ref>Polizzotti identifies ] on guitar and ] on bass as the musicians, see Polizzotti, ''Highway 61 Revisited'', p. 133</ref> offers the sole exception, with Dylan alluding to figures in Western culture in a song described by Andy Gill as "an 11-minute epic of entropy, which takes the form of a ] parade of grotesques and oddities featuring a huge cast of celebrated characters".<ref>Gill, p. 89.</ref> Poet ], who also reviewed jazz for '']'', wrote "I'm afraid I poached Bob Dylan's ''Highway 61 Revisited'' (CBS) out of curiosity and found myself well rewarded."<ref>Larkin, 1985, ''All What Jazz: A Record Diary'', p. 151.</ref> | |||
== More classic records, conversion == | |||
] | |||
In the early ] Dylan's output was of variable quality. "What is this shit?" asked Greil Marcus, '']'' magazine writer and Dylan loyalist, about ]'s '']''. This may have been the sort of reaction Dylan was after. He said, "We released the album to get people off my back so that they wouldn't like me anymore. I said, 'Fuck it, I wish these people would just forget about me. I wanna do something they can't possibly like.'" | |||
In support of the album, Dylan was booked for two US concerts with Al Kooper and ] from his studio crew and ] and ], former members of ]'s backing band ].<ref>Heylin (1996), pp. 80–81</ref> On August 28 at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, the group was heckled by an audience still annoyed by Dylan's electric sound. The band's reception on September 3 at the ] was more favorable.<ref>Sounes, pp. 189–190.</ref> | |||
From September 24, 1965, in Austin, Texas, Dylan toured the US and Canada for six months, backed by the five musicians from the Hawks who became known as ].<ref>Heylin (1996), pp. 82–94</ref> While Dylan and the Hawks met increasingly receptive audiences, their studio efforts foundered. Producer ] persuaded Dylan to record in ] in February 1966, and surrounded him with top-notch session men. At Dylan's insistence, Robertson and Kooper came from New York City to play on the sessions.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 238–243.</ref> The Nashville sessions produced the double album '']'' (1966), featuring what Dylan called "that thin wild mercury sound".<ref>"The closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind was on individual bands in the ''Blonde on Blonde'' album. It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up." Dylan Interview, ''Playboy'', March 1978; reprinted in Cott, ''Dylan on Dylan: The Essential Interviews'', p. 204.</ref> Kooper described it as "taking two cultures and smashing them together with a huge explosion": the musical worlds of Nashville and of the "quintessential New York hipster" Bob Dylan.<ref>Gill, p. 95.</ref> | |||
Dylan occasionally reached former heights on '']'' (1970) and the mostly-instrumental soundtrack album to ]'s film ''],'' which included "]", amongst his most-covered songs. Dylan also had a role in the film as Alias, an almost non-vocal member of Billy's gang. | |||
On November 22, 1965, Dylan quietly married 25-year-old former model ].<ref name="Sounes-p193">Sounes, p. 193.</ref> Some of Dylan's friends, including Ramblin' Jack Elliott, say that, immediately after the event, Dylan denied he was married.<ref name="Sounes-p193"/> Writer ] made the news public in the '']'' in February 1966 with the headline "Hush! Bob Dylan is wed".<ref>Shelton, p. 325.</ref> | |||
In ] Dylan left Columbia Records for ]'s newly formed Asylum records, for which he recorded '']'' (1974) with The Band. ''Planet Waves'' contained a striking contrast between some of his most sincere love songs and his most stinging "hate" songs. "Wedding Song", which states, "You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live / When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give" contrasts with "Dirge" which states, "I hate myself for loving you and the weakness that it showed / You were just a painted face on a trip down suicide road." Columbia's "revenge" release of studio outtakes and cover versions on '']'' (1973), robustly panned by critics and fans, did not stop him from returning to his old label the next year. | |||
Dylan toured Australia and Europe in April and May 1966. Each show was split in two. Dylan performed solo during the first half, accompanying himself on ] and harmonica. In the second, backed by the Hawks, he played electrically amplified music. This contrast provoked many fans, who jeered and ]ped.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 244–261.</ref> The tour culminated in a raucous confrontation between Dylan and his audience at the Manchester ] in England on May 17, 1966.<ref>{{cite magazine| url =https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/the-bootleg-series-vol-4-the-royal-albert-hall-concert-193009/ | title = The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert| date = October 6, 1998| access-date= January 25, 2020|magazine= Rolling Stone}}</ref> A recording of this concert was released in 1998: '']''. At the climax of the evening, a member of the audience, angered by Dylan's electric backing, shouted: "]!" to which Dylan responded, "I don't believe you ... You're a liar!" Dylan turned to his band and said, "Play it fucking loud!"<ref>Dylan's dialogue with the Manchester audience is recorded (with subtitles) in Martin Scorsese's documentary '']''</ref> | |||
Following a US tour with The Band, captured on the lucrative live record '']'' (]) (the tour had received more ticket requests than any prior tour by any artist), he re-entered the studio with a clutch of new songs. Coinciding with his recent estrangement from his wife, each song, from the slow ] "Meet Me in the Morning" to the lengthy, impassioned "Idiot Wind" offers insight into the darkest aspects of relationships. A plausible explanation for the album title decodes these emotional outpourings as the "blood" on the "tracks" of the vinyl disk. The resulting album, '']'' (]), was widely heralded as yet another creative peak. Populated by shadowy characters and shot through with tricks of time and nonchalant ], just beneath consciousness the singer (and the listener) seems to inhabit a consistent yet threatening world, most of all in the well-known "]". Another highly regarded song, "Up to Me" never made it onto the album but was included on '']'', a compilation including more than a few previously unreleased live performances and studio outtakes. At a time when many younger artists, all of whom were Dylan fans, including ] and ], were lumbered with the tag "the New Bob Dylan", it was evident that it was too early to count out the old Bob Dylan. | |||
During his 1966 tour, Dylan was described as exhausted and acting "as if on a death trip".<ref>Heylin (2011), p. 251.</ref> D. A. Pennebaker, the filmmaker accompanying the tour, described Dylan as "taking a lot of amphetamine and who-knows-what-else".<ref>Heylin (2011), p. 250.</ref> In a 1969 interview with ], Dylan said, "I was on the road for almost five years. It wore me down. I was on drugs, a lot of things ... just to keep going, you know?"<ref>''Rolling Stone'', November 29, 1969. Reprinted in Cott (ed.), ''Dylan on Dylan: The Essential Interviews'', p. 140.</ref> | |||
In ] Dylan wrote his first successful "protest" song in 10 years (an eponymous 1971 tribute to George Jackson sank almost unnoticed), championing the cause of boxer ] whom he believed had been wrongfully imprisoned for a triple homicide in Paterson, New Jersey (Carter was retried and reconvicted in the mid-1970s, then released in 1985 when that conviction was overturned). After visiting Carter in jail Dylan wrote "]", a retelling of Carter's version of the events. Despite its length, the song was released as a single and performed at every 1975 date of Dylan's next tour, the ]. The tour was something different: an open ended evening of entertainment featuring many performers picked up on the way, including ]; ]; ]; former ] frontman ]; ], a ] player Dylan discovered while she was walking down the street to a rehearsal, her violin case hanging on her back; beat poet ]; ]; and a reunion with ]. Running through the fall of 1975 and again through the spring of 1976 the tour also encompassed the release of the album '']'' (]), with many of Dylan's new songs featuring an almost ]-like narrative style, showing the influence of his new collaborator, playwright ]. Rolling Thunder, some highlights from which were released in 2002, also provided the backdrop to his three hour and fifty-five minute film '']'', a sprawling, improvised and frequently baffling narrative interspersed with footage of the tour. The movie attracted unpleasant reviews and was screened only in bohemian neighborhoods of large cities. | |||
On July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his motorcycle, a ], near his home in ]. Dylan said he broke several ] in his neck.<ref name="Sounes-217">Sounes, pp. 217–219.</ref> The circumstances of the accident are unclear since no ambulance was called to the scene and Dylan was not hospitalized.<ref name="Sounes-217" /><ref name="crash">{{cite web|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/email/articles/web/20060729-bob-dylan-motorcycle-woodstock-methamphetamine-robert-shelton-howard-sounes-ed-thaler.shtml |title=The Bob Dylan Motorcycle-Crash Mystery |author=Scherman, Tony |date=July 29, 2006 |access-date=June 18, 2014 |publisher=American Heritage |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106200746/http://www.americanheritage.com/email/articles/web/20060729-bob-dylan-motorcycle-woodstock-methamphetamine-robert-shelton-howard-sounes-ed-thaler.shtml |archive-date=November 6, 2006 }}</ref> Dylan's biographers have written that the crash offered him the chance to escape the pressures around him.<ref name="Sounes-217" /><ref name="shades268">Heylin (2000), p. 268.</ref> Dylan concurred: "I had been in a motorcycle accident and I'd been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race."<ref>Dylan, '']'' p. 114.</ref> He made very few public appearances, and did not tour again for almost eight years.<ref name="crash" /><ref>Heylin (1996), p. 143.</ref> | |||
His ] album '']'' was well reviewed and lyrically one of his most complex and absorbing, although it suffered from an unaccountably poor sound mix, submerging some gorgeous organ, saxophone and guitar work in the sonic equivalent of cotton wadding until its remastered CD release nearly a quarter century later. The song ''Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)'' contends for the title of Dylan's most inscrutable ever, employing an oddly logical illogic ("Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled / Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field / A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring / Said, 'Son, this ain't a dream no more, it's the real thing'"). Also in 1978 Dylan starred with The Band, ], ], ], ], and many others in Martin Scorsese's concert film '']'', a sort of cinematic swan-song for The Band, who reappeared later in several incarnations but never again generated a comparable level of interest. | |||
Once Dylan was well enough to resume creative work, he began to edit D. A. Pennebaker's film of his 1966 tour. A rough cut was shown to ABC Television, but they rejected it as incomprehensible to mainstream audiences.<ref>Sounes, p. 216.</ref> The film, titled '']'' on ] copies, has since been screened at a few film festivals.<ref>Lee, pp. 39–63.</ref> Secluded from public gaze, Dylan recorded ] during 1967 at his Woodstock home and in the basement of the Hawks' nearby house, "]".<ref>Sounes, pp. 222–225.</ref> These songs were initially offered as demos for other artists to record and were hits for ], the Byrds, and Manfred Mann. The public heard these recordings when '']'', the first "]", appeared in West Coast shops in July 1969, containing Dylan material recorded in Minneapolis in 1961 and seven Basement Tapes songs. This record gave birth to a minor industry in the illicit release of recordings by Dylan and other major rock artists.<ref>Heylin, 2011, ''Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition'', p. 280.</ref> Columbia released a Basement selection in 1975 as '']''. | |||
Dylan's work in the late 1970s and early ]s was dominated by his becoming, in 1978, a born-again ]. He released three albums of primarily religious songs; of these, some fans regard '']'' (]) as most worth attention. Because of their religious content, many listeners overlook the masterworks on these records, which received harsh critical receptions that may have contributed to Dylan's loss of interest in creating high-quality albums in the mid-Eighties. Ranking among his best work are the sincere "Precious Angel", the syncopated "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking" and the forboding title track "Slow Train Coming". Other songs of note from this period include "Solid Rock", "Saving Grace", "Pressing On" and "In the Garden" from ''Saved'' (]), plus "Every Grain of Sand" and the title song from ''Shot of Love'' (]), along with the ''Shot of Love'' outtakes "Caribbean Wind" and "Angelina." When touring to support the first two of these albums, Dylan refused to play secular music and delivered short sermons on stage, typified by: | |||
:''Years ago they used ..., said I was a prophet. I used to say, "No, I'm not a prophet," they say, "Yes, you are, you're a prophet." I said, "No, it's not me." They used to say, "You sure are a prophet." They used to convince me I was a prophet. Now I come out and say Jesus Christ is the answer. They say, 'Bob Dylan's no prophet.' They just can't handle it."'' | |||
In late 1967, Dylan returned to studio recording in Nashville,<ref name="BjornerJWH">{{cite web|title=Columbia Studio A, Nashville, Tennessee, John Wesley Harding sessions|url=http://www.bjorner.com/DSN01620%201967.htm#DSN01640|access-date=November 10, 2008|publisher=Bjorner's Still On the Road}}</ref> accompanied by ] on bass,<ref name="BjornerJWH" /> ] on drums<ref name="BjornerJWH" /> and ] on steel guitar.<ref name="BjornerJWH" /> The result was '']'', a record of short songs thematically drawing on the ] and ]. The sparse structure and instrumentation, with lyrics that took the ] tradition seriously, was a departure from Dylan's previous work.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 282–288.</ref> It included "]", famously covered by ].<ref name="Crowe-1985">], 1985, Liner notes & text by ].</ref><ref group="a">Later recorded by ], whose version Dylan acknowledged as definitive.</ref> ] died in October 1967, and Dylan made his first live appearance in twenty months at a memorial concert held at ] on January 20, 1968, where he was backed by the Band.<ref>Heylin (2011), p. 289.</ref> | |||
Dylan's current religious convictions are the subject of a running debate among Dylanphiles. News reports of his involvement in Chasidic Jewish fundraisers sway thinking one way, then he will sing a purely Christian song like "Saving Grace" in concert and set up a counter sway. | |||
{{Listen|type=music | |||
|filename=Lay Lady Lay.ogg | |||
|title = "Lay Lady Lay" | |||
|description= "]", on the country album '']'', has been one of Dylan's biggest hits, reaching No. 7 in the US.<ref>Shelton, p. 463.</ref>}} | |||
'']'' (1969), featured Nashville musicians, a mellow-voiced Dylan, a duet with ] and the single "]".<ref>Gill, p. 140.</ref> '']'' wrote, "Dylan is definitely doing something that can be called singing. Somehow he has managed to add an octave to his range."<ref>Shelton (2011), p. 273.</ref> During one recording session, Dylan and Cash recorded a series of duets, but only their version of "]" appeared on the album.<ref name =cashdylan>{{cite web| url = http://www.bjorner.com/DSN01679%201969.htm#DSN01690| title = 5th Nashville Skyline session, 18 February 1969| author = Bjorner, Olof| date = November 21, 2015| access-date=October 31, 2016| publisher = bjorner.com}}</ref><ref name =mornings>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s_KYywhd_8| title=Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan record 'One Too Many Mornings'| date=February 18, 1969| access-date=October 31, 2016| publisher=YouTube}}</ref> The album influenced the nascent genre of ].<ref name="EncBr" /> | |||
==Hard-working elder statesman== | |||
In 1969, Dylan was asked to write songs for ''Scratch'', ]'s musical adaptation of "]". MacLeish initially praised Dylan's contributions, writing to him "Those songs of yours have been haunting me—and exciting me," but creative differences led to Dylan leaving the project. Some of the songs were later recorded by Dylan in a revised form.<ref name =MacL>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/theater/bob-dylan-scratch-broadway-macleish.html|title=Bob Dylan's First Musical Had a Devil of a Time|author=Langer, Adam|date=November 3, 2020|access-date = February 15, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> In May 1969, Dylan appeared on the first episode of '']'' where he sang a duet with Cash on "Girl from the North Country" and played solos of "Living the Blues" and "]". Dylan traveled to England to top the bill at the ] on August 31, 1969, after rejecting overtures to appear at the ] closer to home.<ref>Sounes, pp. 248–253.</ref> | |||
===1980s=== | |||
===1970–1979: Return to touring and Christian music === | |||
Doldrums set in through much of the ], with his work varying from the well-regarded (]'s '']'') to the dreadful (]'s '']''). ''Infidels'' was more noteworthy for what it did not include than for what it did, as Dylan left off the album what many consider to be one of his greatest songs, "]", as well "Foot of Pride", "Someone's Got a Hold of My Heart" and "Lord Protect My Child", which were later released on the boxed set '']''. Many Dylan devotees consider an early version of the LP, prepared by producer/guitarist Mark Knopfler, to be superior to the final version both in performance and in song selection. The decade's later albums each contain gems, from ]'s '']'' ("When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky" and "Dark Eyes") to '']'' (]) (with the long, clever "Brownsville Girl") to even ''Down in the Groove'' (]) (containing the catchy "Silvio", with lyrics written by ] collaborator ]. Dylan made a number of music videos during this period, but few of these found much airtime on ], with the exception of "Political World," which made its way into the rotation for a few weeks. | |||
In the early 1970s, critics charged that Dylan's output was varied and unpredictable. ] asked "What is this shit?" upon first hearing '']'', released in June 1970.<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Marcus| first=Greil| title=Self Portrait| date=June 8, 1970| magazine=Rolling Stone| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/self-portrait-107056/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/may/15/bob-dylan-writings-marcus-review| title=Bob Dylan: Writings 1968–2010 by Greil Marcus| author=Ford, Mark| date=May 14, 2011| access-date=August 20, 2011| work=The Guardian| location=London}}</ref> It was a double LP including few original songs and was poorly received.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Bob+Dylan| title=Self Portrait| author=Christgau, Robert| access-date=May 2, 2010| website=robertchristgau.com}}</ref> In October 1970, Dylan released '']'', considered a return to form.<ref>Shelton, p. 482.</ref> The title track was from Dylan's ill-fated collaboration with MacLeish,<ref name =MacL/> and "Day of the Locusts" was his account of receiving an honorary degree from ] on June 9, 1970.<ref>Heylin, 2009, ''Revolution In The Air, The Songs of Bob Dylan: Volume One'', pp. 414–415.</ref> In November 1968, Dylan co-wrote "]" with George Harrison;<ref>Heylin (2009), pp. 391–392.</ref> Harrison recorded that song and Dylan's "]" for his album '']''. ] covered "If Not For You" on her ] and "]" was prominently featured in the film '']'' (1998). | |||
'']'', a freeform book of prose-poetry, had been written by Dylan during a creative burst in 1964–65.<ref>Heylin, 2011, ''Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition'', pp. 195–198.</ref> Dylan shelved his book for several years, apparently uncertain of its status,<ref>Heylin, 2011, ''Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition'', pp. 264–6.</ref> until he suddenly informed ] at the end of 1970 that the time had come to publish it.<ref>Heylin, 2011, ''Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition'', p. 325.</ref> The book attracted negative reviews but later critics have suggested its affinities with '']'' and '']''.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.bobdylan.com/books/tarantula/| title = Tarantula| author =Spitzer, Mark| date = November 27, 2013| access-date = March 12, 2024| website =bobdylan.com}}</ref> | |||
In 1985, Dylan married his longtime backup singer Carolyn Dennis (often professionally known as Carol Dennis). The couple divorced in the early 1990s. Their daughter, Desiree, was born early in 1986. Early in 1988 he took part in the ] album project, working with ], ], ], and his good friend ] on lighthearted, well-selling fare. Dylan added both Lucky and Boo Wilbury to his growing list of ]s. In 1987 he starred in ]'s movie '']'' in which he played a washed up, retired rock star turned chicken farmer whose teenage lover, played by ] '80s artist ], leaves him for a jaded English synth-pop sensation (whose hit song is "]"), played by ]. The film was a critical and commercial dud. When asked in a press conference if he had anything to do with writing this movie Dylan replied, attempting to stifle his laughter, "I couldn't have possibly written anything like that." | |||
Between March 16 and 19, 1971, Dylan recorded with ] at ], a small studio in Greenwich Village. These sessions resulted in "]" and a new recording of "]".<ref>Heylin (1996), p. 128.</ref> On November 4, 1971, Dylan recorded "]", which he released a week later. For many, the single was a surprising return to protest material, mourning the killing of ] ] in ].<ref>Gray (2006), pp. 342–343.</ref> Dylan's surprise appearance at Harrison's ] on August 1, 1971, attracted media coverage as his live appearances had become rare.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 328–331.</ref> | |||
Also in 1988, he was inducted into the ]. | |||
In 1972, Dylan joined ]'s film '']'', providing ] and playing "Alias", a member of Billy's gang.<ref>C. P. Lee wrote: "In Garrett's ghost-written memoir, '']'', published within a year of Billy's death, he wrote that 'Billy's partner doubtless had a name which was his legal property, but he was so given to changing it that it is impossible to fix on the right one. Billy always called him Alias.{{'"}} Lee, pp. 66–67.</ref> Despite the film's failure at the box office, "]" became one of Dylan's most covered songs.<ref>{{cite web|last=Björner|first=Olof|title=Dylan covers sorted by song name: k|url=http://www.bjorner.com/songsk.htm|website=bjorner.com|access-date=June 11, 2012}}</ref><ref>Artists to have covered the song include ], ] and ]. {{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11376880| title=Dylan's Legacy Keeps Growing, Cover By Cover| date=June 26, 2007 | access-date=October 1, 2008 | publisher=]}}</ref> That same year, Dylan protested the move to deport ] and ], who had been convicted for ] possession, by sending a letter to the US ] which read in part: "Hurray for John & Yoko. Let them stay and live here and breathe. The country's got plenty of room and space. Let John and Yoko stay!"<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031150444/http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/11/bob-dylan-let-john-and-yoko-stay.html |date=October 31, 2016 }}, November 18, 2010</ref> | |||
Dylan finished the decade with ]-produced '']'' (]). Lanois's influence is audible throughout ''Oh Mercy'', especially in the ambience provided by reverb-heavy guitar tracks. The track "Ring Them Bells" seems to call for Christians to maintain a visible presence in the world, perhaps adding fuel to the debate over Dylan's religious orientation. "Most of the Time", a ruminative lost love composition, was later prominently featured in the film '']'', while "What Was It You Wanted?" was a love song that doubled as a dry comment on the expectations of fans. The dense, production-heavy arrangements throughout the album count as yet another of Dylan's inspired departures. | |||
] commenced their 1974 tour in Chicago on January 3.<ref>Heylin (2011), p. 360</ref>]] | |||
===1990s and beyond=== | |||
Dylan's ] began with ''Under the Red Sky'' (]), an odd about-face from the serious ''Oh Mercy''. This album, dedicated to Gabby Goo Goo, puzzlingly included several apparently childish songs, including "Under the Red Sky" and "Wiggle Wiggle", all recorded straight-on without any of the studio wizardry of "Oh Mercy". The dedication can be explained as a nickname for Dylan's five-year-old daughter, but the story that the album's songs were written for her entertainment is plainly apocryphal. | |||
Dylan began 1973 by signing with a new label, ]'s ], when his contract with Columbia Records expired.<ref>Heylin (2011), pp. 352–354</ref> His next album, '']'', was recorded in the fall of 1973, using the Band as his backing group as they rehearsed for a major tour.<ref>Heylin (2011), pp. 354–360</ref> The album included two versions of ], which became one of his most popular songs.<ref name="Sounes-p273">Sounes, pp. 273–274.</ref> As one critic described it, the song projected "something hymnal and heartfelt that spoke of the father in Dylan",<ref>Heylin (2000), p. 354.</ref> and Dylan said "I wrote it thinking about one of my boys and not wanting to be too sentimental".<ref name="Crowe-1985"/> Columbia Records simultaneously released '']'', a collection of studio outtakes, widely interpreted as a churlish response to Dylan's signing with a rival record label.<ref>Heylin (2000), p. 358.</ref> | |||
The next few years saw Dylan returning to his folk roots with two albums covering old folk and blues numbers: '']'' (]) and '']'' (]), featuring nuanced interpretations and ragged but highly original acoustic guitar work, led by a powerful version of "Lone Pilgrim". His ] concert on '']'', and the album culled from it, marked Dylan's only newly-recorded output during the mid-1990s. Essentially a ] collection, it was notable for its inclusion of "John Brown," an unreleased 1963 song detailing the ravages of both war and ]. | |||
In January 1974, Dylan, backed by the Band, embarked on a ] of 40 concerts—his first tour for seven years. A live double album, '']'', was released on Asylum Records. Soon, according to ], Columbia Records sent word they "will spare nothing to bring Dylan back into the fold".<ref name="Shelton-378">Shelton, p. 378.</ref> Dylan had second thoughts about Asylum, unhappy that Geffen had sold only 600,000 copies of ''Planet Waves'' despite millions of unfulfilled ticket requests for the 1974 tour;<ref>Heylin (2011), p. 358</ref> he returned to Columbia Records, which reissued his two Asylum albums.<ref>Shelton (1986), p. 436</ref> | |||
With the quality of his output taking a turn for the better, and a stack of songs reportedly begun while snowed-in on his Minnesota ranch, Dylan returned to the recording studio with Lanois in January of ]. That spring, before the album's release, Dylan was hospitalized with a life-threatening heart infection, ], brought on by ] contracted by contact with desiccated airborne chicken dung (he is a recreational chicken farmer). To his doctors' surprise and his own he made a speedy recovery and left the hospital saying "I really thought I'd be seeing ] soon." He was back on the road by the summer. | |||
{{Listen|type=music | |||
September saw the release of the new Lanois-produced album, Dylan's first collection of original songs in seven years. '']'', with its bitter assessment of love and morbid ruminations, was highly acclaimed and achieved an unforeseen popularity among young listeners, particularly the song "Love Sick", later covered by ]. This collection of complex songs won him his first solo Album of the Year ] (he was one of numerous performers on ], the 1972 winner.) "Not Dark Yet", a slow brooding anthem, ranks near the top of many all-time Dylan best lists. The ballad "To Make You Feel My Love", covered by both Garth Brooks and Billy Joel, generated more royalties than any song he had written since the 1960s. Black humor is present throughout ''Time Out of Mind'', but comes out most on the 16 minute blues "Highlands", his longest track to date. | |||
|filename=Tangled Up In Blue.ogg | |||
|title = "Tangled Up in Blue" | |||
|description= Dylan said of the opening song from '']'': "I was trying to deal with the concept of time, and the way the characters change from the first person to the third person, and you're never sure if the first person is talking or the third person. But as you look at the whole thing it really doesn't matter."<ref name="Crowe-1985"/>}} | |||
After the tour, Dylan and his wife became estranged. He filled three small notebooks with songs about relationships and ruptures, and recorded the album '']'' in September 1974.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 368–383.</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.nodepression.com/bob-dylans-three-blood-on-the-tracks-notebooks-not-just-red/ | author=Daniel, Anne Margaret |title=Bob Dylan's Three "Blood on the Tracks" Notebooks: Not Just Red|date=January 1, 2019 | access-date=April 18, 2022| website=No Depression}}</ref> Dylan delayed the album's release and re-recorded half the songs at ] Studios in Minneapolis with production assistance from his brother, David Zimmerman.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 369–387.</ref> Released in early 1975, ''Blood on the Tracks'' received mixed reviews. In '']'', ] described the "accompaniments" as "often so trashy they sound like mere practice takes".<ref name="Heylin 383">Heylin (2000), p. 383.</ref> In ''Rolling Stone'', ] wrote that "the record has been made with typical shoddiness".<ref name="Heylin 383"/> Over the years critics came to see it as one of Dylan's masterpieces. In '']'', journalist Bill Wyman wrote: <blockquote>''Blood on the Tracks'' is his only flawless album and his best produced; the songs, each of them, are constructed in disciplined fashion. It is his kindest album and most dismayed, and seems in hindsight to have achieved a sublime balance between the logorrhea-plagued excesses of his mid-1960s output and the self-consciously simple compositions of his post-accident years.<ref>{{cite news| title=Bob Dylan | work=] | date=May 5, 2001 | url=http://www.salon.com/2001/05/22/dylan_3/ | access-date=September 7, 2008 }}</ref></blockquote> | |||
In ], his song "Things Have Changed", penned for the movie "]", won an ] in a motion picture. For reasons unannounced, the Oscar tours with him, presiding over shows perched atop his amplifier. | |||
] on the ] in 1975]] | |||
In the middle of 1975, Dylan championed boxer ], imprisoned for triple murder, with his ballad "]" making the case for Carter's innocence. Despite its length—over eight minutes—the song was released as a single, peaking at 33 on the US ], and performed at every 1975 date of Dylan's next tour, the ].<ref group="a">According to Shelton, Dylan named the tour Rolling Thunder and then "appeared pleased when someone told him to ], rolling thunder means speaking the truth." A ] ] named Rolling Thunder appeared on stage at Providence, RI, "stroking a feather in time to the music." Shelton (2011), p. 310.</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Log of every performance of "Hurricane"| publisher=Bjorner's Still on the Road| date=August 20, 2006| url=http://www.bjorner.com/sixh.htm| access-date=July 7, 2013}}</ref> Running through late 1975 and again through early 1976, the tour featured about one hundred performers and supporters from the Greenwich Village folk scene, among them Ramblin' Jack Elliott, ], ],<ref name=Kokay>{{cite web|author=Kokay, Les via Olof Björner|title=''Songs of the Underground: a collector's guide to the Rolling Thunder Revue 1975–1976''|year= 2000|url=http://www.bjorner.com/Underground.htm|access-date=February 18, 2007}}</ref><ref name=Sloman>{{cite book| author=Sloman, Larry|author-link=Larry Sloman|title=On The Road with Bob Dylan|publisher=Three Rivers Press|isbn=978-1-4000-4596-9|year=2002}}</ref> ], ], ], ], Joan Baez and ], whom Dylan discovered walking down the street, her violin case on her back.<ref>Gray (2006), p. 579.</ref> The tour encompassed the January 1976 release of the album '']''. Many of ''Desire'''s songs featuring a ]-like narrative style, influenced by Dylan's new collaborator, playwright ].<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 386–401.</ref><ref>Gray (2006), p. 408.</ref> The 1976 half of the tour was documented by a TV concert special, ''Hard Rain'', and the LP '']''. | |||
'']'', an album that explores divergent styles of American music and revisits Dylan's own creative roots, emerged as an uplifting piece of art amidst a great tragedy, having been released on ], ]. Lyrically adventurous and musically unprecedented in his long career, ''Love and Theft'', by many accounts, stands among the greatest of his work. Even those quite familiar with his earlier work may have trouble imagining Bob Dylan crooning, as he does on "Bye and Bye" and "Moonlight". Many believe the album's lyrical strengths are as pronounced as in his most famous earlier work: | |||
] Stadium, Rotterdam, June 23, 1978]] | |||
"Mississippi": | |||
The 1975 tour with the Revue provided the backdrop to Dylan's film '']'', a sprawling narrative mixed with concert footage and reminiscences. Actor and playwright ] accompanied the Revue and was to serve as screenwriter, but much of the film was improvised. Released in 1978, it received negative, sometimes scathing, reviews.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A03EFD71330E631A25755C2A9679C946990D6CF| title =''Renaldo and Clara'', Film by Bob Dylan: Rolling Thunder| first=Janet|last=Maslin|author-link=Janet Maslin| date = January 26, 1978| access-date=May 24, 2019| work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>Sounes, p. 313.</ref> Later in the year, a two-hour edit, dominated by the concert performances, was more widely released.<ref>Lee, pp. 115–116.</ref> In November 1976, Dylan appeared at the Band's farewell concert with ], ], ], ] and Joni Mitchell. ]'s 1978 film of the concert, '']'', included most of Dylan's set.<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Fear| first=David| date=November 25, 2020| title= Why The Band's 'The Last Waltz' Is The Greatest Concert Movie of All Time| magazine=Rolling Stone| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/why-the-bands-the-last-waltz-is-the-greatest-concert-movie-of-all-time-104637/}}</ref> | |||
:Some people will offer you their hand and some won't, | |||
] | |||
:Last night I knew you tonight I don't. | |||
In 1978, Dylan embarked on a ], performing 114 shows in Japan, the Far East, Europe and North America, to a total audience of two million. Dylan assembled an eight-piece band and three backing singers. Concerts in Tokyo in February and March were released as the live double album '']''.<ref name="Sounes314">Sounes, pp. 314–316.</ref> Reviews were mixed. ] awarded the album a C+ rating,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Bob+Dylan| title=Robert Christgau: Bob Dylan| author=Christgau, Robert| access-date=August 4, 2010| publisher=Robertchristgau.com}}</ref> while Janet Maslin defended it: "These latest live versions of his old songs have the effect of liberating Bob Dylan from the originals".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/at-budokan-19790712|title=Bob Dylan at Budokan|author=Maslin, Janet|author-link=Janet Maslin|date=July 12, 1979|access-date=August 4, 2010|magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> When Dylan brought the tour to the US in September 1978, the press described the look and sound as a "Las Vegas Tour".<ref>Heylin (2000), p. 483.</ref> The 1978 tour grossed more than $20 million, and Dylan told the ''Los Angeles Times'' that he had debts because "I had a couple of bad years. I put a lot of money into the movie, built a big house ... and it costs a lot to get divorced in California."<ref name="Sounes314"/> In April and May 1978, Dylan took the same band and vocalists into Rundown Studios in ], California, to record an album of new material, '']''.<ref>Heylin (2011), pp. 479–481.</ref> It was described by ] as "after ''Blood On The Tracks'', arguably Dylan's best record of the 1970s: a crucial album documenting a crucial period in Dylan's own life".<ref>Gray (2006), p. 643.</ref> However, it had poor sound and mixing (attributed to Dylan's studio practices), muddying the instrumental detail until a remastered CD release in 1999 restored some of the songs' strengths.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 480–481.</ref><ref>Barker (2019), ''Bob Dylan Anthology, Volume 3''. p. 357.</ref> | |||
:I need somethin' strong to distract my mind, | |||
:I'm gonna look at you till my eyes go blind... | |||
{{Listen|type=music | |||
:Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast, | |||
|filename=Gotta_Serve_Somebody.ogg | |||
:I'm drownin' in the poison, got no future got no past. | |||
|title = "Gotta Serve Somebody" | |||
:But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free, | |||
|description=Dylan took five months off at the beginning of 1979 to attend Bible school.<ref name="Crowe-1985"/> His subsequent album '']'' reached No. 3 on the US ] chart and included this ]-winning song.}} | |||
:I got nothin' but affection for all those who sailed with me... | |||
In the late 1970s, Dylan converted to ],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RS_RuJf4dUC&pg=PA324|pages=324–325|title=Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan|author=Howard Sounes|publisher=Random House|date= September 30, 2011|isbn=978-1-4464-6475-5}}</ref><ref name =Vineyard/> undertaking a three-month discipleship course run by the ].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dd5EmZDdScoC&pg=PA494|pages=494–496|title=Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition|author=Clinton Heylin|publisher=Faber & Faber|date= April 1, 2011|isbn=978-0-571-27241-9}}</ref><ref>Dylan Interview with Karen Hughes, ''The Dominion'', Wellington, New Zealand, May 21, 1980; reprinted in Cott (ed.), ''Dylan on Dylan: The Essential Interviews'', pp. 275–278</ref> He released three albums of contemporary ]. '']'' (1979) featured ] guitarist ] and was produced by veteran ] producer ]. Wexler said that Dylan had tried to evangelize him during the recording. He replied: "Bob, you're dealing with a 62-year-old Jewish atheist. Let's just make an album."<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 501–503.</ref> Dylan won the ] for the song "]". When touring in late 1979 and early 1980, Dylan would not play his older, secular works, and he delivered declarations of his faith from the stage, such as: | |||
"Moonlight": | |||
:The trailing moss and mystic glow, | |||
:Purple blossoms soft as snow, | |||
:The petals pink and white the wind has blown, | |||
:Won't you meet me out in the moonlight alone... | |||
{{blockquote|Years ago they ... said I was a prophet. I used to say, "No I'm not a prophet", they say "Yes you are, you're a prophet." I said, "No it's not me." They used to say "You sure are a prophet." They used to convince me I was a prophet. Now I come out and say Jesus Christ is the answer. They say, "Bob Dylan's no prophet." They just can't handle it.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bjorner.com/DSN05347%201980%20Second%20Gospel%20Tour.htm#DSN05410| title=Omaha, Nebraska, January 25, 1980| author=Björner| date=June 8, 2001| access-date=September 11, 2008| publisher=Bjorner's Still On The Road| author-link=Olof Björner}}</ref>}} | |||
Though Dylan produced the record himself under the pseudonym Jack Frost, the record's fresh sound is owed in part to the accompanists. ], bassist and bandleader, had played with Dylan for 12 years, longer than any other musician. Larry Campbell | |||
, one of the most accomplished American guitarists of the last two decades, played on the road with Dylan from 1997 through 2004. ] and ], both highly respected in Nashville and beyond, had also toured with Dylan for years. Keyboard player ], the only musician not part of Dylan's touring band, also played on ''Time Out of Mind'', earning Dylan's praise: "He can bring a song, certainly any one of mine, into the real world." | |||
Dylan's Christianity was unpopular with some fans and musicians.<ref>Sounes, pp. 334–336.</ref> John Lennon, shortly before ], recorded "Serve Yourself" in response to "Gotta Serve Somebody".<ref>{{Cite book|first=Robert|last=Rosen|title=Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon|year=2002|publisher=Quick American Archives|page=137|isbn=978-0-932551-51-1}}</ref> In 1981, ] wrote in ''The New York Times'' that "neither age (he's now 40) nor his much-publicized conversion to born-again Christianity has altered his essentially iconoclastic temperament".<ref>{{cite news|title=Rock: Dylan, in Jersey, Revises Old Standbys |work=The New York Times| first=Stephen | last=Holden |date=October 29, 1981 | page=C19|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/29/arts/rock-dylan-in-jersey-revises-old-standbys.html|access-date=May 12, 2010 }}</ref> | |||
2003 saw the release of the film '']'', largely a joint creative venture with television producer ], featuring one of the largest ever assemblages of top Hollywood stars in a single film. Dylan and Charles co-wrote the film under the pseudonyms Rene Fontaine and Sergei Petrov. As difficult to decipher as one of his songs, ''Masked & Anonymous'' was panned by most major critics and had a limited run in theaters. Some say this is not the movie's fault, as its ] is often mistaken for ponderous philosophy by critics unequipped to tell the difference. | |||
=== 1980–1989: Career fluctuations === | |||
===Recent live performances=== | |||
In late 1980, Dylan briefly played concerts billed as "A Musical Retrospective", restoring popular 1960s songs to the repertoire. His second Christian album, '']'' (1980), received mixed reviews, described by Michael Gray as "the nearest thing to a follow-up album Dylan has ever made, ''Slow Train Coming II'' and inferior".<ref>Gray (2000), p. 11.</ref> His third Christian album was '']'' (1981).<ref name="Thompson2000">{{cite book|author=John Joseph Thompson|title=Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll|url=https://archive.org/details/raisedbywolvesst0000thom|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55022-421-4|pages=–}}</ref> The album featured his first secular compositions in more than two years, mixed with Christian songs. The lyrics of ] recall ]'s "]".<ref>Gray (2006), pp. 215–221.</ref> ] wrote that "''Shot of Love'' may not be your favorite Bob Dylan record, but it might contain his best song: 'Every Grain of Sand'."<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Costello| first=Elvis| title=Elvis Costello's 500 Must-Have Albums, from Rap to Classical| magazine=Vanity Fair| url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2000/11/elvis-costello-500-favorite-albums}}</ref> | |||
] | |||
] | |||
Reception of Dylan's 1980s recordings varied. Gray criticized Dylan's 1980s albums for carelessness in the studio and for failing to release his best songs.<ref>Gray (2000), pp. 11–14.</ref> '']'' (1983) employed Knopfler again as lead guitarist and also as producer; the sessions resulted in several songs that Dylan left off the album. Best regarded of these were "]", which was both a tribute to the ] and an evocation of ],<ref>Gray (2006), pp. 56–59.</ref> "Foot of Pride" and "]". These three songs were later released on '']''.<ref>Sounes, pp. 354–356.</ref> | |||
Between July 1984 and March 1985, Dylan recorded '']''.<ref name=Sounes362>Sounes, p. 362.</ref> ], who had remixed hits for Bruce Springsteen and ], was asked to engineer and mix the album. Baker said he felt he was hired to make Dylan's album sound "a little bit more contemporary".<ref name=Sounes362/> In 1985 Dylan sang on ]'s famine relief single "]". He also joined ], providing vocals for their single "]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3023454/steven-van-zandt-tells-the-story-of-sun-city-and-fighting-apartheid-in-south-africa |title=Steven Van Zandt Tells The Story Of 'Sun City' And Fighting Apartheid In South Africa |work=Fast Company |date=December 13, 2013 |access-date=May 14, 2017}}</ref> On July 13, 1985, he appeared at the ] concert at ], Philadelphia. Backed by ] and ], he performed a ragged version of "Ballad of Hollis Brown", a tale of rural poverty, and then said to the worldwide audience: "I hope that some of the money ... maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe ... one or two million, maybe ... and use it to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks".<ref>Sounes, p. 367.</ref> His remarks were widely criticized as inappropriate, but inspired ] to organize a concert, ], to benefit debt-ridden American farmers.<ref>Sounes, pp. 365–367.</ref> | |||
Dylan has played over 100 dates a year for the entirety of the 1990s and the 2000s, a far heavier schedule than most performers who started out in the 1960s. The "Never Ending Tour" continues, anchored by long-time bassist Tony Garnier and filled out with talented musicians better known to their peers than to their audiences. To the dismay of some fans Dylan refuses to be a nostalgia act; his reworked arrangements, evolving bands and experimental vocal approaches keep the music unpredictable night after night. | |||
In October 1985, Dylan released ], a box set featuring 53 tracks, 18 of them previously unreleased. ] wrote: "Historically, ''Biograph'' is significant not for what it did for Dylan's career, but for establishing the box set, complete with hits and rarities, as a viable part of rock history."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/biograph-mw0000189728#:~:text=AllMusic%20Review&text=But%20Biograph%20is%20really%20remarkable,the%20more%20impressive%20in%20retrospect.| title=Biograph Review| author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas| access-date=February 28, 2024| website=allmusic.com}}</ref> ''Biograph'' also contained liner notes by ] in which Dylan discussed the origins of some of his songs.<ref>Bell, 2013, ''Time Out of Mind: The Lives of Bob Dylan''. p. 31.</ref> | |||
Dylan, once famous as a guitar player, has not been playing guitar in live performance since 2002 (with very rare exceptions). Instead he chooses to play on the keyboard, with the occasional harmonica solo. Various rumors have circulated as to why Dylan gave up his guitar, none terribly reliable. | |||
In April 1986, Dylan made a foray into ] when he added vocals to the opening verse of "Street Rock" on ]'s album '']''.<ref>Gray (2006), p. 63</ref> Dylan's next studio album, '']'' (1986), contained three covers (by ], ] and the gospel hymn "]"), plus three collaborations (with ], Sam Shepard and ]), and two solo compositions by Dylan. A reviewer wrote that "the record follows too many detours to be consistently compelling, and some of those detours wind down roads that are indisputably dead ends. By 1986, such uneven records weren't entirely unexpected by Dylan, but that didn't make them any less frustrating."<ref>{{cite web| url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r6448|pure_url=yes}}| title=Knocked Out Loaded| author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas| access-date=May 2, 2010| website=AllMusic}}</ref> It was the first Dylan album since his 1962 debut to fail to make the Top 50.<ref>Heylin (2000), p. 595.</ref> Some critics have called the song Dylan co-wrote with Shepard, "]", a masterpiece.<ref>Gray (2006), pp. 95–100.</ref> | |||
Dylan chooses songs from throughout his 40 year career, seldom playing the same set twice. While his chief place in posterity will be as the preeminent songwriter of latter 20th century America, his roles as recording artist and performer are cherished just as highly by his contemporaries. | |||
In 1986 and 1987, Dylan toured with ], sharing vocals with Petty on several songs each night. Dylan also toured with the ] in 1987, resulting in the live album '']'', which received negative reviews; Erlewine said it was "quite possibly the worst album by either Bob Dylan or the Grateful Dead".<ref>{{cite web| url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r54428|pure_url=yes}}| title=Dylan & The Dead| author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas| date=July 27, 1989| access-date=September 10, 2009| website=AllMusic}}</ref> Dylan initiated what came to be called the ] on June 7, 1988, performing with a back-up band featuring guitarist ]. Dylan would continue to tour with a small, changing band for the next 30 years.<ref>Heylin (1996), pp. 297–299.</ref> In 1987, Dylan starred in ]'s movie '']'', in which he played Billy Parker, a washed-up rock star turned chicken farmer whose teenage lover (]) leaves him for a jaded English synth-pop sensation (]).<ref>Sounes, pp. 376–383.</ref> Dylan also contributed two original songs to the soundtrack—"Night After Night", and "Had a Dream About You, Baby", as well as a cover of ]'s "The Usual". The film was a critical and commercial flop.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 599–604.</ref> | |||
==Fan base== | |||
Bob Dylan's large and vocal fan base write books, essays, ']s, etc. at a furious rate. They also maintain a massive Internet presence with daily Dylan news, another site which rigorously documents every song he has ever played in concert, and one where visitors bet on what songs he will play on upcoming tours. Within minutes of the end of concerts, setlists and reviews are posted by his loyal following. | |||
] | |||
The poet laureate of Britain, ], is a vocal supporter of Dylan's work, as are musicians ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. His songs have been covered by more artists than perhaps any other musician's. | |||
Dylan was inducted into the ] in January 1988. Bruce Springsteen, in his introduction, declared, "Bob freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body. He showed us that just because music was innately physical did not mean that it was anti-intellectual".<ref name=":Sprinsgteen"/> '']'' (1988) sold even more poorly than ''Knocked Out Loaded''.<ref name="Sounes 385">Sounes, p. 385.</ref> Gray wrote: "The very title undercuts any idea that inspired work may lie within. Here was a further devaluing of the notion of a new Bob Dylan album as something significant."<ref name="Gray 2000, p. 13">Gray (2000), p. 13.</ref> The critical and commercial disappointment of that album was swiftly followed by the success of the ], a ] Dylan co-founded with George Harrison, ], ] and Tom Petty. In late 1988, their '']'' reached number three on the US albums chart,<ref name="Sounes 385"/> featuring songs described as Dylan's most accessible compositions in years.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 627–628.</ref> Despite Orbison's death in December 1988, the remaining four recorded a second album in May 1990, '']''.<ref>Heylin (2000), pp. 638–640.</ref> | |||
==Chronicles Vol. 1== | |||
After a lengthy delay, October 2004 saw the publishing of Bob Dylan's autobiography, '']''. He once again confounded expectations. Dylan wrote three chapters about the year between his arrival in New York in 1961 and recording his first album, focusing on the brief period when he wasn't famous while virtually ignoring the mid-1960s when his fame was at its height. He also devoted chapters to two lesser-known albums, ''New Morning'' (1970) and '']'' (1989), which contained insights into his collaborations with the poet ] and producer ] respectively. In the ''New Morning'' chapter, Dylan expresses distaste for the label 'spokesman of a generation' and he evinces disgust with his more fanatical followers. | |||
Dylan finished the decade on a critical high note with '']'', produced by ]. Gray praised the album as "Attentively written, vocally distinctive, musically warm, and uncompromisingly professional, this cohesive whole is the nearest thing to a great Bob Dylan album in the 1980s."<ref name="Gray 2000, p. 13"/> "]", a lost-love composition, was prominently featured in the film ] (2000), while "]" has been interpreted both as a catechism and a wry comment on the expectations of critics and fans.<ref>Ricks, pp. 413–420.</ref> The religious imagery of ] struck some critics as a re-affirmation of faith.<ref>Scott Marshall wrote: "When Dylan sings that 'The sun is going down upon the sacred cow', it's safe to assume that the sacred cow here is the biblical metaphor for all false gods. For Dylan, the world will eventually know that there is only one God." Marshall, ''Restless Pilgrim'', p. 103.</ref> | |||
Another section features Dylan's account of a guitar strumming style in mathematical detail that he claimed was the key to his renaissance in the 1990s. Despite the opacity of some passages, there is an overall clarity in voice that is generally missing in Dylan's other prose writings, and a noticeable generosity towards friends and lovers of his early years. At the end of the book, Dylan describes with great passion the moment when he listened to the Brecht/Weill song ‘Pirate Jenny’, and the moment when he first heard ]’s recordings. In these passages, Dylan suggested the process which ignited his own song writing gift. | |||
===1990–1999: Return to Folk music and resurgence === | |||
Six weeks after its publication, ''Chronicles, Vol. 1'' was number 5 on the New York Times' Hardcover Non-Fiction best seller list and climbing. Simultaneously, Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com reported it as their number 2 best seller among all categories. ''Chronicles Vol. 1'' is the first of three planned volumes. | |||
Dylan's 1990s began with '']'' (1990), an about-face from the serious ''Oh Mercy''. It contained several apparently simple songs, including "Under the Red Sky" and "Wiggle Wiggle". The album was dedicated to "Gabby Goo Goo", a nickname for the daughter of Dylan and ], Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan, who was four.<ref>Gray (2006), p. 174.</ref> Musicians on the album included George Harrison, ], ], ], ], and ]. The record received negative reviews and sold poorly.<ref>Sounes, p. 391.</ref> In 1990 and 1991 Dylan was described by his biographers as drinking heavily, impairing his performances on stage.<ref>Heylin, 2000, ''Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited'', pp. 661–665.</ref><ref>Sounes, 2001, ''Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan'', pp. 396–398.</ref> In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Dylan dismissed allegations that drinking was interfering with his music: "That's completely inaccurate. I can drink or not drink. I don't know why people would associate drinking with ''anything'' I do, really".<ref>Cott (ed.), 2006, ''Dylan on Dylan: The Essential Interviews'', p. 421.</ref> | |||
Defilement and remorse were themes Dylan addressed when he received a ] from ] in February 1991.<ref name =Lifetime>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/bob-dylan-before-the-nobel-12-times-he-accepted-an-honor-w451097/the-grammy-lifetime-achievement-award-1991-w451107| title=Bob Dylan Before the Nobel: 12 Times He Publicly Accepted an Honor| author=Greene, Andy| date=November 18, 2016| access-date=August 25, 2017| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> The event coincided with the start of the ] and Dylan played "]"; ''Rolling Stone'' called his performance "almost unintelligible".<ref name=":R&REncylopedia"/> He made a short speech: "My daddy once said to me, he said, 'Son, it is possible for you to become so defiled in this world that your own mother and father will abandon you. If that happens, God will believe in your ability to mend your own ways{{'"}}.<ref name =Lifetime/><ref name="Heylin-664">Heylin (2000), pp. 664–665.</ref> This was a paraphrase of 19th-century Orthodox Rabbi ]'s commentary on Psalm 27.<ref>Bell, 2012, ''Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan.'', p. 101.</ref> On October 16, 1992, the thirtieth anniversary of Dylan's debut album was celebrated with a concert at ], christened "Bobfest" by Neil Young and featuring ], ], ], ], Dylan and others. It was recorded as the live album '']''.<ref name=":R&REncylopedia"/> | |||
==Discography/Film/Books (incomplete)== | |||
See ]. | |||
Over the next few years Dylan returned to his roots with two albums covering traditional folk and blues songs: '']'' (1992) and '']'' (1993), backed solely by his acoustic guitar.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/world-gone-wrong-mw0000103945| title=World Gone Wrong| author=Erlewine, Thomas| date=April 10, 2004| access-date=February 1, 2020| publisher=Allmusic.com}}</ref> Many critics and fans noted the quiet beauty of the song "Lone Pilgrim",<ref>Gray (2006), p. 423.</ref> written by a 19th-century teacher. In August 1994, he played at ]; ''Rolling Stone'' called his performance "triumphant".<ref name=":R&REncylopedia"/> In November, Dylan recorded two live shows for '']''. He said his wish to perform traditional songs was overruled by ] executives who insisted on hits.<ref>Sounes, pp. 408–409.</ref> The resulting album, '']'', included ], an unreleased 1962 song about how enthusiasm for war ends in mutilation and disillusionment.<ref>Heylin (2009), pp. 100–101.</ref> | |||
==Songs== | |||
].]] | |||
The most famous songs: | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "Gotta Serve Somebody" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "Forever Young" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "Masters of War" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "Love Sick" | |||
* "Ballad of a Thin Man" | |||
* "Highway 61 Revisited" | |||
* "]" | |||
* "]" | |||
With a collection of songs reportedly written while snowed in on his Minnesota ranch,<ref>Heylin (2000), p. 693.</ref> Dylan booked recording time with Daniel Lanois at Miami's ] in January 1997. The subsequent recording sessions were, by some accounts, fraught with musical tension.<ref>Heylin (2000), p. 697.</ref> Before the album's release Dylan was hospitalized with life-threatening ], brought on by ]. His scheduled European tour was canceled, but Dylan made a speedy recovery and left the hospital saying, "I really thought I'd be seeing Elvis soon".<ref>Sounes, p. 420.</ref> He was back on the road by mid-year, and performed before ] at the World Eucharistic Conference in ], Italy. The Pope treated the audience of 200,000 to a ] based on Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind".<ref>Sounes, p. 426.</ref> | |||
The best songs (according to perceived consensus of rec.music.dylan Usenet group, in order) | |||
In September, Dylan released the new Lanois-produced album, ]. With its bitter assessments of love and morbid ruminations, Dylan's first collection of original songs in seven years was highly acclaimed. ] called it "a thrilling return to form."<ref name=":Ross">{{cite magazine| last=Ross| first=Alex| title=The Wanderer| date=May 2, 1999| magazine=]| url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/05/10/the-wanderer}}</ref> "]" won Dylan another Grammy For Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, and the album won him his first ].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/40th-annual-grammy-awards-1997| title=1997 Grammy Winners| date=April 10, 2015| access-date=May 6, 2020| website=grammy.com}}</ref> The album's first single, "]", has been called one of Dylan's best songs<ref>{{cite news| last=Docx| first=Edward| title=Beyond Mr. Tambourine Man: 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know| work=The Guardian| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/22/beyond-mr-tambourine-man-80-bob-dylan-songs-everyone-should-know}}</ref> and "]" was covered by ], ], ] and others. Elvis Costello said "I think it might be the best record he's made."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Paul|last=Du Noyer|author-link=Paul Du Noyer|title=Cash for questions|magazine=] #137|date=February 1998|page=16}}</ref> | |||
* "]" (''Blood On The Tracks'', 1975) | |||
* "]" (''Highway 61 Revisited'', 1965) | |||
* "Desolation Row" (''Highway 61 Revisted'', 1965) | |||
* "]" (outtake, ''Infidels'', 1983, released on ''The Bootleg Series 1-3'', 1991) | |||
* "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'', 1963) | |||
* "Not Dark Yet" (''Time Out of Mind'', 1997) | |||
* "Visions of Johanna" (''Blonde On Blonde'', 1966) | |||
* "Every Grain of Sand" (''Shot of Love'', 1981) | |||
* "Señor" (''Street Legal'', 1978) | |||
===2000–2009: Oscar win, memoir, and ''Modern Times'' === | |||
''See also:'' ], ] | |||
{{Listen|type=music | |||
|filename=Things_Have_Changed.ogg | |||
|title = "Things Have Changed" | |||
|description= Dylan's ]-winning song was featured in the movie '']''. The line "sapphire-tinted skies" echoes the verse of ]<ref>{{Cite web|title=274. Written among the Euganean Hills, North Italy. P. B. Shelley. The Golden Treasury|url=https://www.bartleby.com/106/274.html|access-date=February 12, 2023|website=www.bartleby.com |quote=Column, tower, and dome, and spire,/Shine like obelisks of fire,/Pointing with inconstant motion/From the altar of dark ocean/To the sapphire-tinted skies;}}</ref> while "forty miles of bad road" echoes ]'s ].}} | |||
In 2001, Dylan won an ] for "]", written for the film '']''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1365675507836 |title=The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science – 2000 Awards |access-date=April 12, 2013 |publisher=awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407061952/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1365675507836 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 }}</ref> '']'' was released on September 11, 2001. Recorded with his touring band, Dylan produced the album under the alias Jack Frost.<ref>Gray (2006), pp. 556–557.</ref> Critics noted that Dylan was widening his musical palette to include ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/ew/article/0,,173933~4~~lovetheft,00.html |title=''Love and Theft'' |access-date=September 7, 2008 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=October 1, 2001 |archive-date=October 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012094004/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,173933~4~~lovetheft,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The album won the ].<ref>{{cite web| url =https://www.awardsandshows.com/features/best-contemporary-folk-album-255.html| title =Best Contemporary Folk Album | access-date = February 20, 2024| website = awardsandshows.com}}</ref> Controversy ensued when '']'' pointed out similarities between the album's lyrics and ]'s book '']''. Saga was not familiar with Dylan's work, but said he was flattered. Upon hearing the album, Saga said of Dylan: "His lines flow from one image to the next and don't always make sense. But they have a great atmosphere."<ref>This is a reprint of the article from ''The Wall Street Journal'' cited in next footnote.{{cite news|url=http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/plagiarbk010.htm |title=Did Bob Dylan Lift Lines From Dr Saga? |access-date=September 29, 2011 |publisher=California State University, Dear Habermas |date=July 8, 2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724053350/http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/plagiarbk010.htm |archive-date=July 24, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10576176194220600| title = Did Bob Dylan Lift Lines From Dr Saga?| access-date=September 29, 2011| work = ]| date = July 8, 2003}}</ref> | |||
==Known pseudonyms== | |||
*Elston Gunnn (the spelling an eccentricity of his adolescence) | |||
*Bob Dylan (now legal name) | |||
*Blind Boy Grunt | |||
*Bob Landy | |||
*Robert Milkwood Thomas | |||
*Lucky Wilbury | |||
*Boo Wilbury | |||
*Jack Frost | |||
*Sergei Petrov | |||
In 2003, Dylan revisited the evangelical songs from his Christian period and participated in the project '']''. That year, Dylan released '']'', which he co-wrote with director ] under the alias Sergei Petrov.<ref>Dylan co-wrote '']'' under the pseudonym Seregei Petrov, taken from an actor in the silent movie era; Larry Charles used the alias Rene Fontaine. Gray (2006), p. 453.</ref> Dylan starred as Jack Fate, alongside a cast that included ], ] and ]. The film polarized critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/masked-and-anonymous/critic-reviews/ |title=''Masked and Anonymous'' critic reviews |date=February 2, 2003 |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=Metacritic}}</ref> In ''The New York Times'', ] called it as an "incoherent mess";<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/24/movies/film-review-times-they-are-surreal-in-bob-dylan-tale.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501075649/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/24/movies/film-review-times-they-are-surreal-in-bob-dylan-tale.html |archive-date=May 1, 2013| url-access=subscription| url-status=live| title=Film Review; Times They Are Surreal In Bob Dylan Tale| author=Scott, A. O.| date=July 24, 2003| access-date=October 4, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> a few treated it as a serious work of art.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dylan in darkest America|author=Zacharek, Stephanie|work=Salon|date=July 24, 2003 |url=http://www.salon.com/2003/07/24/masked_anonymous/|access-date=November 19, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Masked">{{cite web |last=Motion |first=Andrew |title=''Masked and Anonymous'' |publisher=Sony Classics |url=http://www.sonyclassics.com/masked/andrew-motion-essay.html|access-date=September 7, 2008}}</ref> | |||
==Further reading== | |||
* Bob Dylan, ''Chronicles: Volume 1''. Simon and Schuster, October 5, 2004, hardcover, 208 pages. ISBN 0743228154 | |||
* Clinton Heylin, ''Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited''. Perennial Currents, 2003, 800 pages. ISBN 006052569X | |||
* David Hajdu, ''Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina'' Farrar Straus Giroux, 2001, 328 pages. ISBN 0374281998 | |||
* Mike Marqusee ''] : The Politics of Bob Dylan's Art'' The New Press, NY, 2003. 327 pages. ISBN 1-56584-825-X | |||
In 2004, Dylan published the first part of his memoir, '']''. Confounding expectations,<ref name="Maslin">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/05/books/05masl.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050406222705/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/05/books/05masl.html |archive-date=April 6, 2005 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=So You Thought You Knew Dylan? Hah! |access-date=September 7, 2008 |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=October 5, 2004 |work=The New York Times |page=2}}</ref> Dylan devoted three chapters to his first year in New York City in 1961–1962, virtually ignoring the mid-1960s when his fame was at its height, while devoting chapters to the albums ''New Morning'' (1970) and ''Oh Mercy'' (1989). The book reached number two on ''The New York Times''' Hardcover Non-Fiction bestseller list in December 2004 and was nominated for a ].<ref>Gray (2006), pp. 136–138.</ref> | |||
==See also== | |||
*] | |||
Critics noted that ''Chronicles'' contained many examples of pastiche and borrowing; sources included ]<ref>{{cite web| url = https://swarmuth.blogspot.com/2011/05/bob-dylan-and-matter-of-time.html| title = Bob Dylan and the Matter of TIME| author = Warmuth, Scott| date = May 16, 2011| access-date = October 14, 2024| website = swarmuth.blogspot.com}}</ref> and the novels of ].<ref>Heylin, Clinton, 2023, ''The Double Life of Bob Dylan: Volume 2: 1966–2021 Far Away From Myself'', p. 678.</ref> | |||
== External links == | |||
Biographer ] queried the veracity of Dylan's autobiography, noting "Not a single checkable story held water; not one anecdote couldn't be shot full of holes by any half-decent researcher."<ref>Heylin, Clinton, 2023, ''The Double Life of Bob Dylan: Volume 2: 1966–2021 Far Away From Myself'', p. 683.</ref> | |||
Martin Scorsese's Dylan documentary '']'' was broadcast on September 26–27, 2005, on ] in the UK and as part of '']'' on ] in the US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/bob-dylan-about-the-film/574/|title=''No Direction Home'': Bob Dylan, A Martin Scorsese Picture |publisher=PBS|access-date=February 12, 2024|date=June 29, 2006}}</ref> It covers the period from Dylan's arrival in New York in 1961 to his motorcycle crash in 1966, featuring interviews with ], ], Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, Pete Seeger, ] and Dylan himself. The film earned a ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/american-masters-no-direction-home-bob-dylan| title=American Masters, No Direction Home|access-date=October 1, 2014|publisher=peabodyawards.com}}</ref> and a ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/site_map|title=Past duPont Award Winners |year=2007 |access-date=September 7, 2008|publisher=The Journalism School, Columbia University|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201170953/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/site_map|archive-date=December 1, 2010 }}</ref> The ] featured unreleased songs from Dylan's early years.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=''The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7: No Direction Home – The Soundtrack''|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-bootleg-series-vol-7-no-direction-home-the-soundtrack-mw0000209827|access-date=March 28, 2015|website=AllMusic|date=February 7, 2015}}</ref> | |||
{{wikiquote}} | |||
{{commons|Bob Dylan}} | |||
Dylan's career as a radio presenter began on May 3, 2006, with his weekly program, '']'', on ]. He played songs with a common theme, such as "Weather", "Weddings", "Dance" and "Dreams".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006x4gt|title=Theme Time Radio Hour With Bob Dylan|date=November 30, 2009|access-date=February 6, 2011|publisher=BBC Radio 6 Music}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.notdarkyet.org/themetime.html |title=Theme Time Radio playlists |access-date=September 7, 2008 |publisher=Not Dark Yet}}</ref> Dylan's records ranged from ] to ], ] to ]. Dylan's show was praised for the breadth of his musical selections<ref>{{cite news|last=Teachout| first=Terry| title=Bob Dylan's Day Job: A '60s troubadour turns postmodern disc jockey| date=June 21–22, 2008| work=]| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121399471988092751}}</ref> and for his jokes, stories and eclectic references.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/dec/31/observerreview.radio |title=The Great Sound of Radio Bob |author=Sawyer, Miranda |access-date=September 7, 2008 |work=The Observer |location=UK |date=December 31, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/02/16/bob-dylan-spinnin-those-cool-records/ |title=Dylan Spinnin' Those Coool Records |access-date=February 18, 2007 |author=Watson, Tom |publisher=New Critics |date=February 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219045641/http://newcritics.com/blog1/2007/02/16/bob-dylan-spinnin-those-cool-records/ |archive-date=February 19, 2007}}</ref> In April 2009, Dylan broadcast the 100th show in his radio series; the theme was "Goodbye" and he signed off with Woody Guthrie's "]".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/bob-dylan-theme-time-radio-hour-time-article-1.363652 |title=Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour: His time might be up |author=Hinckley, David |date=April 19, 2009 |access-date=May 16, 2009 |work=Daily News|location=New York}}</ref> | |||
===Portals=== | |||
] | |||
* - official site, including lyrics | |||
* Longtime favorite fan site, updated daily. | |||
* Another classic fansite, with a comprehensive categorized link collection and up-to-date tour information. | |||
Dylan released ] in August 2006. Despite some coarsening of Dylan's voice (a critic for '']'' characterized his singing on the album as "a catarrhal death rattle"<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/aug/25/popandrock.shopping3 | author=Petridis, Alex| title=Bob Dylan's ''Modern Times''| access-date=September 5, 2006|work=The Guardian |location=UK | date=August 28, 2006 }}</ref>) most reviewers praised the album, and many described it as the final installment of a successful trilogy, encompassing ''Time Out of Mind'' and ''"Love and Theft"''.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/modern-times| title=Modern Times|access-date=September 7, 2008| website=Metacritic}}</ref> ''Modern Times'' entered the US charts at number one, making it Dylan's first album to reach that position since 1976's ''Desire''.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.nme.com/news/bob-dylan/24234| title=Dylan gets first US number one for 30 years| date=September 7, 2006 |work=NME |location=UK | access-date=September 11, 2008}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' published an article exploring similarities between some of Dylan's lyrics in ''Modern Times'' and the work of the ] poet ].<ref name="nytTimrod">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/arts/music/14dyla.html| last=Rich| first=Motoko| title=Who's This Guy Dylan Who's Borrowing Lines from Henry Timrod?| work=The New York Times| date=September 14, 2006| access-date=September 29, 2011}}</ref> ''Modern Times'' won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album and Dylan won ] for "Someday Baby".<ref>{{cite news| title=Complete list of 2006 Grammy winners| date=February 9, 2006| work=]}}</ref> ''Modern Times'' was named Album of the Year by ''Rolling Stone''<ref>{{cite web|title=Rolling Stone Albums of the Year 2006 |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rolling.htm#2006 |publisher=Rock List Music |access-date=May 17, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723004927/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rolling.htm |archive-date=July 23, 2010 }}</ref> and '']''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/uncut/news/9182 |title=''Modern Times'', Album of the Year, 2006 |work=Uncut |date=December 16, 2006 |access-date=September 11, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206200511/http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/uncut/news/9182 |archive-date=February 6, 2007 }}</ref> On the same day that ''Modern Times'' was released, the ] released '']'', a digital box set containing all of his albums (773 tracks), along with 42 rare and unreleased tracks.<ref>{{cite news| url = http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/holiday/2006-11-30-box-set-downloads_x.htm | title = Get The Box Set with 'One Push of a Button'| author=Gundersen, Edna| date = December 1, 2006| access-date=September 25, 2008| work=USA Today}}</ref> | |||
===Chords and Lyrics=== | |||
<!-- Please do not add plain lyrics sites here. Dylan's official site already contains lyrics. Please don't add new lyric site links unless you're linking to a site with information not already available here --> | |||
* Chords & Lyrics, and articles | |||
* Bob Dylan's musical roots and Influences | |||
* Includes lyrics to many songs and versions not found elsewhere. | |||
* | |||
* | |||
] | |||
===Concert recordings, outtakes, etc.=== | |||
* A huge compilation/index of information information on Dylan's "unofficial" recordings | |||
* | |||
* an exhaustive index of Dylan's recordings and performances | |||
* Bob Dylan DVD Recording Database | |||
* | |||
* | |||
On October 1, 2007, Columbia Records released the triple CD retrospective '']'', anthologizing his entire career under the ''Dylan 07'' logo.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dylan07.com/ |title=''Dylan 07'' |access-date=September 7, 2008 |publisher=Sony BMG Music Entertainment |date=August 1, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915080026/http://www.dylan07.com/ |archive-date=September 15, 2008 }}</ref> The sophistication of the ''Dylan 07'' marketing campaign was a reminder that Dylan's commercial profile had risen considerably since the 1990s. This became evident in 2004, when Dylan appeared in a TV advertisement for ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.slate.com/articles/business/ad_report_card/2004/04/tangled_up_in_boobs.html| title=What's Bob Dylan Doing In A Victoria's Secret Ad? | work=] | date=April 12, 2004| access-date=September 16, 2008}}</ref> In October 2007, he participated in a multi-media campaign for the 2008 ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.xmradio.com/dylan-cadillac/index.xmc | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080312084612/http://www.xmradio.com/dylan-cadillac/index.xmc | archive-date =March 12, 2008| title = Dylan, Cadillac| publisher=XM Radio| date = October 22, 2007| access-date=September 16, 2008}}</ref><ref>Dylan also devoted an hour of his ] to the theme of "the Cadillac". He first sang about the car in his 1963 nuclear war fantasy, "Talkin' World War III Blues", when he described it as a "good car to drive—after a war".</ref> In 2009 he gave the highest profile endorsement of his career to date, appearing with rapper ] in a ] ad that debuted during ]. The ad opened with Dylan singing the first verse of "Forever Young" followed by will.i.am doing a ] version of the song's third and final verse.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jan/30/bob-dylan-pepsi-advertisement-superbowl| title=Bob Dylan to appear with Will.I.Am in Pepsi advertisement| author=Michaels, Sean| date=January 30, 2009| access-date=May 2, 2010|work=The Guardian |location=UK }}</ref> | |||
===Reference works=== | |||
* Reference guide, yearly chronicles, sessionography, etc. | |||
* Same as above, but in book form. Main reference book for collectors | |||
* | |||
'']'' was released in October 2008, as both a two-CD set and a three-CD version with a 150-page hardcover book. The set contains live performances and outtakes from selected studio albums from ''Oh Mercy'' to ''Modern Times'', as well as soundtrack contributions and collaborations with ] and ].<ref>{{cite news| url = http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-07-28-dylan-telltale-signs_N.htm | title = Dylan Reveals Many Facets on 'Tell Tale Signs'| author=Gundersen, Edna| date = July 29, 2008 |work=USA Today }}</ref> The pricing of the album—the two-CD set went on sale for $18.99 and the three-CD version for $129.99—led to complaints about "rip-off packaging".<ref>{{cite news | url =http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article4859960.ece | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090504035249/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article4859960.ece | url-status =dead | archive-date =May 4, 2009 | title = Tell Tale Signs| author=Cairns, Dan | date = October 5, 2008| access-date=October 6, 2008| work=The Sunday Times | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://bobdylanencyclopedia.blogspot.com/2008/08/tell-tale-signs-pt-3-money-doesnt-talk.html |title=Tell Tale Signs Pt. 3, Money Doesn't Talk ... |first=Michael |last=Gray |author-link=Michael Gray (author) |website=Bob Dylan Encyclopedia |date=August 14, 2008 |access-date=May 29, 2023}}</ref> The release was widely acclaimed by critics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/tell-tale-signs-the-bootleg-series-vol-8| title = Reviews of ''Tell Tale Signs''|access-date=October 26, 2008|website=Metacritic}}</ref> The abundance of alternative takes and unreleased material suggested to one reviewer that this volume of old outtakes "feels like a new Bob Dylan record, not only for the astonishing freshness of the material, but also for the incredible sound quality and organic feeling of everything here".<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-bootleg-series-vol-8-tell-tale-signs-rare-and-unreleased-1989-2006-mw0000795498| title = ''The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs – Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006''| author = Jurek, Thom| date = October 29, 2008| access-date=July 12, 2013| website = AllMusic}}</ref> | |||
===Commentary=== | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
Dylan released '']'' on April 28, 2009. In a conversation with music journalist Bill Flanagan, Dylan explained it originated when French director ] asked him to supply a song for his movie '']''. He initially intended to record a single track, "Life Is Hard", but "the record sort of took its own direction".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bobdylan.com/conversation| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425235613/http://www.bobdylan.com/conversation| archive-date=April 25, 2011| title=Bob Dylan talks about the new album with Bill Flanagan| author=Flanagan, Bill| date=April 10, 2009| access-date=March 30, 2012| publisher=bobdylan.com}}</ref> Nine of the album's ten songs are credited as co-written by Dylan and ].<ref>{{cite web| url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1544965|pure_url=yes}}| title=Together Through Life| author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas| access-date=May 1, 2010| website=AllMusic}}</ref> The album received largely favorable reviews,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/together-through-life |title=Together Through Life|date=April 29, 2009|access-date=April 29, 2009|website=Metacritic}}</ref> although several critics described it as a minor addition to Dylan's canon.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-bob-dylan-together-through-life-columbia-1673287.html| title=Bob Dylan's Together Through Life| author=Gill, Andy| date=April 24, 2009| access-date=April 28, 2009| work=Salon | location=London}}</ref> In its first week of release, the album reached number one on the ] chart in the US, making Dylan, at 67 years of age, the oldest artist to ever debut at number one on that chart.<ref name="Caulfield, Keith">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/268711/bob-dylan-bows-atop-billboard-200| title=Bob Dylan Bows Atop Billboard 200| author=Caulfield, Keith| date=May 6, 2009| access-date=May 7, 2009|magazine=Billboard}}</ref> | |||
===Books=== | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
Dylan's '']'' was released in October 2009, comprising such ] as "]", "]" and "]".<ref>{{cite web| url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1656487|pure_url=yes}} | title=Christmas In The Heart| author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas| access-date=May 1, 2010| website=AllMusic}}</ref> ] wrote that Dylan was "revisiting yuletide styles popularized by ], ], and the ]".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2009-10-12-dylan-christmas-album_N.htm| title=Bob Dylan takes the Christmas spirit to 'Heart' | author=Gundersen, Edna| date=October 13, 2009| access-date=June 1, 2011| work=USA Today}}</ref> Dylan's royalties from the album were donated to the charities ] in the US, ] in the UK, and the ].<ref name="UK Fundraising">{{cite web| url=http://www.fundraising.co.uk/news/2009/12/14/cafamerica-distribute-royalities-bob-dylan039s-christmas-album-crisis| title=CAFAmerica to distribute royalities(sic) from Bob Dylan's Christmas album to Crisis| date=December 14, 2009| access-date=December 19, 2009| publisher=UK Fundraising}}</ref> The album received generally favorable reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/christmas-in-the-heart|title=Christmas In the Heart|date=October 16, 2009 |access-date=October 16, 2009|website=Metacritic}}</ref> In an interview published in '']'', Flanagan asked Dylan why he had performed the songs in a straightforward style, and he replied: "There wasn't any other way to play it. These songs are part of my life, just like folk songs. You have to play them straight too."<ref name="Dylan 2009 interview with Bill Flanagan">{{cite web| url=http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=30857&bPrint=1| title=Bob Dylan gives interview to The Big Issue| author=Flanagan, Bill | date=November 28, 2009| access-date=March 26, 2010| publisher=music-news.com}}</ref> | |||
===Misc.=== | |||
* Dylan's speech to the | |||
* Submit anything you see is missing. | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* , | |||
* Search Google archive of 1989-present (includes all HWY61-L posts) | |||
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===2010–2019: ''Tempest'' and continued recordings === | |||
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Volume 9 of Dylan's Bootleg Series, ], was issued in October 18, 2010. It comprised 47 ] of songs taped between 1962 and 1964 for Dylan's earliest music publishers: Leeds Music in 1962, and ] from 1962 to 1964. One reviewer described the set as "a hearty glimpse of young Bob Dylan changing the music business, and the world, one note at a time."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2010-12-31/bob-dylan-the-witmark-demos-1962-1964-the-bootleg-series-vol-9/| title = The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 (Columbia)| author = Caligiuri, Jim| date = December 31, 2010| access-date=July 12, 2013| publisher = austinchronicle.com}}</ref> On the critical aggregator ], the album has a score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.metacritic.com/music/the-witmark-demos-1962-1964/critic-reviews| title = The Witmark Demos, 1962–1964| access-date=October 29, 2010| website=Metacritic}}</ref> In the same week, ] released '']'', a box set that presented Dylan's eight earliest albums, from ''Bob Dylan'' (1962) to ''John Wesley Harding'' (1967), in their original mono mix in the CD format for the first time. The set was accompanied by a booklet featuring an essay by Greil Marcus.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bobdylan.com/us/music/original-mono-recordings| title=The Original Mono Recordings| date=October 19, 2010| access-date=June 11, 2012| publisher=bobdylan.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Egan|first=Sean|title=The Original Mono Recordings review|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/hpcg/|access-date=February 12, 2018|newspaper=BBC Music Review| location=London|date=November 25, 2010}}</ref> | |||
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On April 12, 2011, Legacy Recordings released '']'', taped at ] on May 10, 1963, two weeks before the release of ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan''. The tape was discovered in the archive of music writer ], and the recording carries liner notes by Michael Gray, who says it captures Dylan "from way back when Kennedy was President and the Beatles hadn't yet reached America. It reveals him not at any Big Moment but giving a performance like his folk club sets of the period ... This is the last live performance we have of Bob Dylan before he becomes a star."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bobdylan.com/us/news/bob-dylan-concert-brandeis-university-1963-now-available| title=''Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963'' Now Available| date=February 16, 2011| access-date=March 17, 2015| publisher=bobdylan.com}}</ref> | |||
] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] | |||
], after a performance celebrating music from the ] (February 9, 2010)]] | |||
On Dylan's 70th birthday, three universities organized symposia on his work: the ],<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.avl.uni-mainz.de/394.php| title=Bob Dylan und die Revolution der populären Musik| date=April 29, 2011| access-date=May 27, 2011| publisher=Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz| archive-date=April 1, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401105801/http://www.avl.uni-mainz.de/394.php| url-status=dead}}</ref> the ],<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.dylanvienna.at/dylan/Program.html| title=Refractions of Dylan – Cultural Appropriations of an American Icon| date=May 12, 2011| access-date=May 27, 2011| publisher=dylanvienna.at}}</ref> and the ]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://dylan-at-seventy.weebly.com/proceedings.html| title=The Seven Ages of Dylan| date=May 15, 2011| access-date=May 27, 2011| publisher=University of Bristol}}</ref> invited literary critics and cultural historians to give papers on aspects of Dylan's work. Other events, including tribute bands, discussions and simple singalongs, took place around the world, as reported in ''The Guardian'': "From Moscow to Madrid, Norway to Northampton and Malaysia to his home state of Minnesota, self-confessed 'Bobcats' will gather today to celebrate the 70th birthday of a giant of popular music."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/may/24/bob-dylan-70th-birthday/print| title=Bob Dylan at 70| author=Topping, Alexandra| date=May 24, 2011| access-date=May 27, 2011| work=The Guardian|location=London}}</ref> | |||
Dylan's 35th studio album, ], was released on September 11, 2012.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-xpm-2012-sep-10-la-et-ms-bob-dylan-tempest-voice-reviews-20120910-story.html| title='Tempest' and Bob Dylan's voice for the ages| author=Lewis, Randy| date=September 10, 2012| access-date=September 11, 2012| work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> The album features a tribute to John Lennon, "]", and ] is a 14-minute song about the ].<ref>{{cite news|last=Greene|first=Andy|title=First Details of Bob Dylan's Upcoming Album 'Tempest{{'-}}|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/first-details-of-bob-dylans-upcoming-album-tempest-20120717|access-date=July 18, 2012|newspaper=Rolling Stone|date=July 17, 2012}}</ref> In ''Rolling Stone'', Will Hermes gave ''Tempest'' five out of five stars, writing: "Lyrically, Dylan is at the top of his game, joking around, dropping wordplay and allegories that evade pat readings and quoting other folks' words like a freestyle rapper on fire".<ref name="tempestrollingstone">{{cite magazine|last=Hermes |first=Will |title=Tempest |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=August 30, 2012 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/tempest-20120830 |access-date=September 7, 2012}}</ref> | |||
Volume 10 of Dylan's Bootleg Series, '']'', was released in August 2013.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.expectingrain.com/abc/Another_Self_Portrait_Press_Release.pdf| title=Another Self Portrait Press Release| date=July 16, 2013| access-date=September 12, 2013| publisher=expectingrain.com}}</ref> The album contained 35 previously unreleased tracks, including alternative takes and demos from Dylan's 1969–1971 recording sessions during the making of the ''Self Portrait'' and ''New Morning'' albums. The box set also included a live recording of Dylan's performance with the Band at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969. Thom Jurek wrote, "For fans, this is more than a curiosity, it's an indispensable addition to the catalog."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/another-self-portrait-1969-1971-the-bootleg-series-vol-10-mr0003992579| title=Another Self Portrait (1969–1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10| author=Jurek, Thom| date=August 27, 2013| access-date=September 12, 2013| website=AllMusic}}</ref> Columbia Records released a boxed set containing all 35 Dylan studio albums, six albums of live recordings and a collection of non-album material (''Sidetracks'') as ], in November 2013.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-album-collection-vol-1-mw0002583484| title=Bob Dylan: The Complete Albums Collection, Vol. 1| author=Erlewine, Stephen| date=November 9, 2013| access-date=November 9, 2013| website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.nme.com/news/bob-dylan/72891| title=Bob Dylan to release huge, career-spanning box set| date=September 26, 2013| access-date=September 30, 2013| work=NME}}</ref> To publicize the box set, an innovative video of "Like a Rolling Stone" was released on Dylan's website. The interactive video, created by director ], allowed viewers to switch between 16 simulated TV channels, all featuring characters who are lip-synching the lyrics.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-goes-interactive-in-like-a-rolling-stone-clip-20131119| title=Bob Dylan Goes Interactive in 'Like a Rolling Stone' Clip| author=Greene, Andy| date=November 19, 2013| access-date=September 25, 2015|magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/inside-bob-dylans-brilliant-like-a-rolling-stone-video-20131120| title=Inside Bob Dylan's Brilliant 'Like a Rolling Stone' Video| author=Edwards, Gavin| date=November 20, 2013| access-date=November 21, 2013| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> | |||
Dylan appeared in a commercial for the ] car which aired during the ]. In it, he says that "Detroit made cars and cars made America... So let Germany brew your beer, let Switzerland make your watch, let Asia assemble your phone. ''We'' will build your car." Dylan's ad was criticized for its ] implications, and people wondered whether he had "]".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/02/04/dylan-the-times-have-changed/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222202953/http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/02/04/dylan-the-times-have-changed/| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 22, 2014| title=Dylan – The Times Have Changed| author=Gabler, Neal| date=February 4, 2013| access-date=February 6, 2014| work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://business.financialpost.com/2014/02/03/bob-dylan-chrysler-super-bowl-ad/| title=Bob Dylan's Chrysler Super Bowl 2014 ad stirs rockstar sellout debate| author=Clothier, Mark| newspaper=Financial Post| date=February 3, 2014| access-date=February 3, 2014| publisher=BloombergNews}}</ref> ''The Lyrics: Since 1962'' was published by ] in the fall of 2014. The book was edited by literary critic ], Julie Nemrow and Lisa Nemrow and offered variant versions of Dylan's songs, sourced from out-takes and live performances. A limited edition of 50 books, signed by Dylan, was priced at $5,000. "It's the biggest, most expensive book we've ever published, as far as I know", said Jonathan Karp, Simon & Schuster's president and publisher.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/the-most-of-bob-dylan/|title=The Most of Bob Dylan|author=Kozinn, Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=October 7, 2014|access-date=October 11, 2014|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.bu.edu/bostonia/winter-spring15/in-the-service-of-bob-dylans-genius/| title=In the Service of Bob Dylan's Genius| author=Seligson, Susan| access-date=February 28, 2015| publisher=Boston University}}</ref> A comprehensive edition of the Basement Tapes, songs recorded by Dylan and the Band in 1967, was released as '']'' in November 2014. The album included 138 tracks in a six-CD box; the 1975 album ''The Basement Tapes'' contained just 24 tracks from the material which Dylan and the Band had recorded at their homes in Woodstock, New York in 1967. Subsequently, ] had circulated on bootleg records. The sleeve notes are by author ].<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-complete-basement-tapes-bootlegs-released-november-20140826| title=Bob Dylan's Complete, Legendary 'Basement Tapes' Will Be Released| author=Greene, Andy| date=August 26, 2014| access-date=August 27, 2014| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/30/bob-dylan-basement-tapes-myth-reality-clinton-heylin| title=Bob Dylan's Back Pages: The Truth Behind the Basement Tapes| author=Heylin, Clinton| date=October 30, 2014| access-date=November 4, 2014| newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> ''The Basement Tapes Complete'' won the ].<ref>{{cite web| title=By way of Bob Dylan and The Band, Hudson Valley's Grammy glory grows| last=Barry| first=John W.| work=Poughkeepsie Journal| url=https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2016/02/15/hudson-valley-grammy-glory-basement-tapes-complete-bob-dylan-and-band-wins/80419784/}}</ref> The box set earned a score of 99 on Metacritic.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/the-basement-tapes-complete-the-bootleg-series-vol-11/bob-dylan/critic-reviews| title=The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11| access-date=July 9, 2020| publisher=metacritic.com}}</ref> | |||
In February 2015, Dylan released '']'', featuring ten songs written between 1923 and 1963,<ref name =secret>{{cite web| url=https://latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-dylan-sinatra-covers-20150123-story.html#page=1| title=The secret Sinatra past of Bob Dylan's new album| author=Turner, Gustavo| date = January 24, 2015| access-date=February 3, 2015| work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref name=ShadowsBauder>{{cite news| url=https://news.yahoo.com/music-review-bob-dylans-night-disc-140236549.html| title=Bob Dylan's late-night disc| author=Bauder, David| date=January 29, 2015| access-date=February 3, 2015| agency=Associated Press| url-status=dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150203104327/http://news.yahoo.com/music-review-bob-dylans-night-disc-140236549.html| archive-date=February 3, 2015| df=mdy-all}}</ref> which have been described as part of the ].<ref name=ShadowsPetridis>{{Cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/29/bob-dylan-shadows-in-the-night-review| title=''Shadows in the Night'' review – an unalloyed pleasure| author=Petridis, Alexis| date=January 29, 2015| access-date=February 3, 2015| newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> All of the songs had been recorded by ], but both critics and Dylan himself cautioned against seeing the record as a collection of "Sinatra covers".<ref name =secret/><ref name=ShadowsGq>{{cite web|url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2015-01/29/bob-dylan-shadows-in-the-night-review |title=Shadows in the Night review |author=Prince, Bill |date=February 1, 2015 |access-date=February 3, 2015 |work=GQ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202225121/http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2015-01/29/bob-dylan-shadows-in-the-night-review|archive-date=February 2, 2015}}</ref> Dylan explained: "I don't see myself as covering these songs in any way. They've been covered enough. Buried, as a matter a fact. What me and my band are basically doing is uncovering them. Lifting them out of the grave and bringing them into the light of day".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-frank-sinatra-new-album-20141209| title=Bob Dylan Will 'Uncover' Frank Sinatra Classics on New Album| author=Greene, Andy| date=December 9, 2014| access-date=December 10, 2014| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> Critics praised the restrained instrumental backings and the quality of Dylan's singing.<ref name =ShadowsPetridis/><ref name =ShadowsTelegraph>{{Cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/bob-dylan/11366536/Bob-Dylan-Shadows-in-The-Night-review-extraordinary.html| title=Bob Dylan, Shadows in The Night, review: 'extraordinary'| author=McCormick, Neil| date=January 23, 2015| access-date=February 3, 2015| work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> The album debuted at number one in the ] in its first week of release.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/bob-dylan-scores-eighth-uk-number-1-album-3472/| title=Bob Dylan scores eighth UK Number 1 album| date=February 8, 2015| access-date=February 9, 2015| publisher=Official Charts Company}}</ref> '']'', consisting of previously unreleased material from the three albums Dylan recorded between January 1965 and March 1966 (''Bringing It All Back Home'', ''Highway 61 Revisited'' and ''Blonde on Blonde'') was released in November 2015. The set was released in three formats: a 2-CD "Best Of" version, a 6-CD "Deluxe edition", and an 18-CD limited "Collector's Edition". On Dylan's website the "Collector's Edition" was described as containing "every single note recorded by Bob Dylan in the studio in 1965/1966".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-bob-dylans-massive-new-sixties-bootleg-series-trove-20150924| title=Inside Bob Dylan's Massive New Sixties Bootleg Series Trove| author=Greene, Andy| date=September 24, 2015| access-date=September 25, 2015| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://bobdylan.com/thecuttingedge_completetracklisting/| title=The Cutting Edge 1965 – 1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 Collector's Edition| date=September 24, 2015| access-date=November 24, 2015| publisher=bobdylan.com}}</ref> ''The Best of the Cutting Edge'' entered the '']'' Top Rock Albums chart at number one on November 18, based on its first-week sales.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6769255/bob-dylan-first-number-1-top-rock-albums | title=Bob Dylan Scores First No. 1 on Top Rock Albums From Long-Running 'Bootleg Series'| author=Rutherford, Kevin| date=November 18, 2015| access-date=November 19, 2015| magazine=Billboard}}</ref> | |||
Dylan released '']'', described as "a direct continuation of the work of 'uncovering' the Great Songbook that he began on ''Shadows In the Night''", in May.<ref name =Ward>{{Cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/bob-dylan-fallen-angels-review--inhabiting-classics-with-weather/| title=Bob Dylan, Fallen Angels, review – 'inhabiting classics with weathered ease'| author=Brown, Helen| date=May 13, 2016| access-date=May 20, 2016| work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> The album contained twelve songs by classic songwriters such as ], ] and ], eleven of which had been recorded by Sinatra.<ref name=Ward/> Jim Farber wrote in '']'': "Tellingly, delivers these songs of love lost and cherished not with a burning passion but with the wistfulness of experience. They're memory songs now, intoned with a present sense of commitment. Released just four days ahead of his 75th birthday, they couldn't be more age-appropriate".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://ew.com/article/2016/05/17/bob-dylan-fallen-angels-ew-review| title=Bob Dylan's "Fallen Angels": EW Review| author=Farber, Jim| date=May 17, 2016| access-date=May 20, 2016| magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}</ref> '']'', including every known recording of Dylan's 1966 concert tour, was released in November 2016.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-bob-dylan-1966-live-recordings-20160927-snap-story.html| title=All of Bob Dylan's 1966 live shows in 36-CD box set due Nov. 11| author=Lewis, Randy| date=September 27, 2016| access-date=September 28, 2016| work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> The recordings commence with the concert in White Plains New York on February 5, 1966, and end with the ] concert in London on May 27.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-1966-live-recordings-mw0002986802| title=The 1966 Live Recordings| author= Erlewine, Stephen Thomas| date=November 11, 2016| access-date=December 2, 2016| website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://bobdylan.com/news/bob-dylan-1966-live-recordings-released-november/| title="Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings" to be Released in November| date=September 27, 2016| access-date=September 28, 2016| publisher=bobdylan.com| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160930131450/http://bobdylan.com/news/bob-dylan-1966-live-recordings-released-november/| archive-date=September 30, 2016| url-status=dead| df = mdy-all}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' reported most of the concerts had "never been heard in any form", and described the set as "a monumental addition to the corpus".<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/arts/music/bob-dylan-1966-live-recordings-video.html| title=Dylan's 1966 Tapes Find a Direction Home| author=Sisario, Ben| date=November 10, 2016| access-date=November 11, 2016| newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> | |||
In March 2017, Dylan released a triple album of 30 more recordings of classic American songs, '']''. Dylan's 38th studio album was recorded in ] and features his touring band.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://bobdylan.com/news/bob-dylans-first-three-disc-album-triplicate-set-for-march-31-release/| title=Bob Dylan's First Three-Disc Album – Triplicate – Set For March 31 Release| date=January 31, 2017| access-date=January 31, 2017| publisher=bobdylan.com| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201013730/http://bobdylan.com/news/bob-dylans-first-three-disc-album-triplicate-set-for-march-31-release/| archive-date=February 1, 2017| url-status=dead| df = mdy-all}}</ref> Dylan posted a long interview on his website to promote the album, and was asked if this material was an exercise in nostalgia. <blockquote>Nostalgic? No I wouldn't say that. It's not taking a trip down memory lane or longing and yearning for the good old days or fond memories of what's no more. A song like ] is not a way back when song, it doesn't emulate the past, it's attainable and down to earth, it's in the here and now.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://bobdylan.com/news/qa-with-bill-flanagan/| title=Q & A with Bill Flanagan| author=Dylan, Flanagan| date=March 22, 2017| access-date=March 24, 2017| website=bobdylan.com}}</ref></blockquote> Critics praised the thoroughness of Dylan's exploration of the Great American Songbook, though, in the opinion of ''Uncut'', "For all its easy charms, ''Triplicate'' labours its point to the brink of overkill. After five albums' worth of croon toons, this feels like a fat full stop on a fascinating chapter."<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/triplicate/bob-dylan/critic-reviews| title=''Triplicate'' critic reviews| date=March 31, 2017| access-date=March 31, 2017| website=Metacritic}}</ref> | |||
The next volume of Dylan's Bootleg Series revisited his "Born Again" Christian period of 1979 to 1981, described by ''Rolling Stone'' as "an intense, wildly controversial time that produced three albums and some of the most confrontational concerts of his long career".<ref name =Trouble/> Reviewing the box set '']'', comprising 8 CDs and 1 DVD,<ref name =Trouble>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylans-new-bootleg-series-will-spotlight-gospel-period-w502023| title=Bob Dylan's New Bootleg Series Will Spotlight Gospel Period| author=Greene, Andy| date=September 20, 2017| access-date=September 20, 2017| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> ] wrote in ''The New York Times'': <blockquote>Decades later, what comes through these recordings above all is Mr. Dylan's unmistakable fervor, his sense of mission. The studio albums are subdued, even tentative, compared with what the songs became on the road. Mr. Dylan's voice is clear, cutting and ever improvisational; working the crowds, he was emphatic, committed, sometimes teasingly combative. And the band tears into the music.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/arts/music/bob-dylan-bootleg-series-trouble-no-more.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102124459/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/arts/music/bob-dylan-bootleg-series-trouble-no-more.html |archive-date=November 2, 2017 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Bob Dylan's Songs for the Soul, Revisited and Redeemed|author=Pareles, Jon|author-link=Jon Pareles|date=November 1, 2017|access-date=November 5, 2017|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref></blockquote> ''Trouble No More'' includes a DVD of a film directed by Jennifer Lebeau consisting of live footage of Dylan's gospel performances interspersed with sermons delivered by actor ]. | |||
In April 2018, Dylan made a contribution to the compilation EP '']'', a collection of reimagined wedding songs for the ] community.<ref name =MGMresorts>{{cite web| url=http://www.multivu.com/players/English/8295351-mgm-resorts-universal-love-lgbtq-wedding-songs/| title=Universal Love: Album of Reimagined Love Songs Features Artistic Vision of Bob Dylan, Kesha, Benjamin Gibbard, St. Vincent, Valerie June and Kele Okereke| date=April 5, 2018| access-date=May 2, 2018| publisher=MGM Resorts}}</ref> The album was funded by ] and the songs are intended to function as "wedding anthems for same-sex couples".<ref name=VarietyLGBT>{{cite magazine| url=https://variety.com/2018/music/news/bob-dylan-records-hes-funny-that-way-for-same-sex-lgbt-gay-themed-ep-1202744827/| title=Bob Dylan Records 'He's Funny That Way' for LGBT-Themed EP| author=Aswad, Jem| date=April 5, 2018| access-date=May 2, 2018| magazine=Variety}}</ref> Dylan recorded the 1929 song "]", changing the gender pronoun to "He's Funny That Way". The song was previously recorded by ] and Frank Sinatra.<ref name =VarietyLGBT/><ref name =NYTGay>{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/style/bob-dylan-sings-about-gay-love.html| title=Bob Dylan Sings About Gay Love| author=Farber, Jim| date=April 5, 2018| access-date=May 2, 2018| newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> That same month, ''The New York Times'' reported that Dylan was launching Heaven's Door, a range of three ]. The ''Times'' described the venture as "Mr. Dylan's entry into the booming celebrity-branded spirits market, the latest career twist for an artist who has spent five decades confounding expectations".<ref name=NYTwhiskey>{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/business/media/bob-dylan-heavens-door.html| title=Bob Dylan's Latest Gig: Making Whiskey| author=Sisario, Ben| date=April 28, 2018| access-date=May 2, 2018| newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Dylan has been involved in both the creation and the marketing of the range; on September 21, 2020, Dylan resurrected ''Theme Time Radio Hour'' with a two-hour special with the theme of "Whiskey".<ref name=whisk>{{cite web| url=https://www.annemargaretdaniel.com/blog/2020/9/21/5wjow3blp2wczqc0nqp7q2mzhtwf2g | title=Bob Dylan, Whisk(e)y, And A New "Theme Time Radio Hour"| author=Daniel, Anne Margaret| date=September 22, 2020| access-date=October 23, 2020| website=annmargaretdaniel.com}}</ref> On November 2, 2018, Dylan released '']'' as Volume 14 in the Bootleg Series. The set comprises all Dylan's recordings for ''Blood On the Tracks'' and was issued as a single CD and also as a six-CD Deluxe Edition.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-plots-massive-blood-on-the-tracks-reissue-for-latest-bootleg-series-725973/| title=Bob Dylan Plots Massive 'Blood On The Tracks' Reissue for Latest 'Bootleg Series'| author=Greene, Andy| date=September 20, 2018| access-date=September 20, 2018| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> | |||
In 2019, ] released '']'', billed as "Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Willman|first1=Chris|title=Bob Dylan, Martin Scorsese Reunite for ''Rolling Thunder'' Film, Coming to Netflix in 2019|url=https://variety.com/2019/music/news/bob-dylan-martin-scorsese-rolling-thunder-film-netflix-1203104499/|website=]|access-date=April 20, 2019|date=January 10, 2019}}</ref><ref name=Willman2019>{{cite web|last1=Willman|first1=Chris|title=Martin Scorsese's ''Rolling Thunder'' Bob Dylan Doc Hits Netflix June 12 (Exclusive)|url=https://news.yahoo.com/martin-scorsese-rolling-thunder-bob-160036502.html|work=]|via=news.yahoo.com|access-date=March 31, 2020|date=April 25, 2019}}</ref> The film received largely positive reviews but also aroused controversy because it mixed documentary footage filmed during the Rolling Thunder Revue in the fall of 1975 with fictitious characters and stories.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/2019/music/columns/why-did-martin-scorsese-prank-his-audience-in-rolling-thunder-revue-1203243856/| title=Why Did Martin Scorsese Prank His Audience in 'Rolling Thunder Revue'? Even He May Not Know| author=Gleiberman, Owen| date=June 15, 2019 | access-date=July 1, 2019|newspaper=Variety}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Powers| first=Ann| title=To Capture Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, Martin Scorsese Had To Get Weird| date=June 10, 2019| url=https://www.npr.org/2019/06/10/731305441/to-capture-bob-dylans-rolling-thunder-revue-martin-scorsese-had-to-get-weird| work=NPR}}</ref> Coinciding with the film release, the box set '']'', was released by Columbia Records. The set comprises five full Dylan performances from the tour and recently discovered tapes from Dylan's tour rehearsals.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-rolling-thunder-revue-box-set-track-list-829276/| title=Bob Dylan Details 14-Disc Rolling Thunder Revue Box Set| author=Blistein, Jon| date=April 30, 2019| access-date=May 1, 2019| publisher=rollingstone.com}}</ref> The box set received an aggregate score of 89 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/rolling-thunder-revue-the-1975-live-recordings-box-set/bob-dylan/critic-reviews| title=''Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings ''| date=June 7, 2019| access-date=June 8, 2019| publisher=metacritic.com}}</ref> The next installment of Dylan's Bootleg Series, '']'', was released on November 1. The set comprises outtakes from Dylan's albums ''John Wesley Harding'' and ''Nashville Skyline'', and songs that Dylan recorded with Johnny Cash in Nashville in 1969 and with ] in 1970.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/2019/music/album-reviews/bob-dylan-review-travelin-thru-johnny-cash-bootleg-series-1203389789/| title=Album Review: Bob Dylan's 'Travelin' Thru: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15, 1967–1969′| author=Morris, Chris| date = October 31, 2019| access-date=November 5, 2019|newspaper=Variety.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.bobdylan.com/news/bob-dylan-featuring-johnny-cash-travelin-thru-1967-1969-the-bootleg-series-vol-15-released-nov-1/| title=Bob Dylan (Featuring Johnny Cash) – Travelin' Thru, 1967 – 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 out on Nov. 1| date= September 20, 2019| access-date=September 20, 2019| publisher=bobdylan.com}}</ref> | |||
===2020–present === | |||
''' ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' ''' | |||
{{Main|Rough and Rowdy Ways}} | |||
On March 26, 2020, Dylan released "]", a seventeen-minute song revolving around the ], on his YouTube channel.<ref name="mmf">{{cite web| url=https://www.avclub.com/bob-dylan-just-surprise-released-a-17-minute-song-about-1842520308| title=Bob Dylan Just Surprise-Released a 17-Minute Song About JFK, America, and also Freddy Krueger| last=Hughes| first=William |date=March 27, 2020|access-date=March 27, 2020| publisher=]}}</ref> '']'' reported on April 8 that "Murder Most Foul" had topped the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales Chart, the first time that Dylan had scored a number one song on a pop chart under his own name.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://pitchfork.com/news/bob-dylans-murder-most-foul-is-his-first-no-1-song-on-any-billboard-chart/| title=Bob Dylan's "Murder Most Foul" Is His First No. 1 Song on Any Billboard Chart| author=Hussey, Allison| date=April 8, 2020| access-date=April 9, 2020|newspaper=Pitchfork.com}}</ref> Three weeks later, on April 17, 2020, Dylan released another new song, "]".<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgEP8teNXwY| title=Bob Dylan – I Contain Multitudes (Official Audio)| date=April 17, 2020| access-date=April 17, 2020| website=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-song-contain-multitudes-985674/|last=Hiatt|first=Brian|title=Hear Bob Dylan's Daring New Song, 'I Contain Multitudes'|date=April 17, 2020|magazine=]|access-date=April 17, 2020}}</ref> The title is from ]'s poem "]".<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.annemargaretdaniel.com/blog/2020/4/16/bob-dylan-drops-another-midnight-special| title=Bob Dylan Drops Another Midnight Special: The New Song "I Contain Multitudes"| author=Daniel, Anne Margaret| date=April 16, 2020| access-date=April 17, 2020| website=annemargaretdaniel.com}}</ref> On May 7, Dylan released a third single, "]", accompanied by the news that the three songs would all appear on a forthcoming double album. | |||
'']'', Dylan's 39th studio album and his first album of original material since 2012, was released on June 19 to favorable reviews.<ref name="metaR" /> ] wrote: "For all its bleakness, ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' might well be Bob Dylan's most consistently brilliant set of songs in years: the die-hards can spend months unravelling the knottier lyrics, but you don't need a PhD in Dylanology to appreciate its singular quality and power."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/13/bob-dylan-rough-and-rowdy-ways-review| title=Bob Dylan: Rough and Rowdy Ways review – a testament to his eternal greatness| author=Petridis, Alexis| date=June 13, 2020| access-date=June 19, 2020|work=The Guardian}}</ref> ] wrote: "While the world keeps trying to celebrate him as an institution, pin him down, cast him in the Nobel Prize canon, embalm his past, this drifter always keeps on making his next escape. On ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'', Dylan is exploring terrain nobody else has reached before—yet he just keeps pushing on into the future".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/bob-dylan-rough-rowdy-ways-1015086/| title=Bob Dylan Has Given Us One of His Most Timely Albums Ever With 'Rough and Rowdy Ways'| author=Sheffield, Rob| date=June 15, 2020| access-date=June 19, 2020|magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> The album earned a score of 95 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref name="metaR">{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/rough-and-rowdy-ways/bob-dylan/critic-reviews| title=Rough and Rowdy Ways, Critic reviews| date=June 19, 2020| access-date=June 19, 2020| website=metacritic.com}}</ref> In its first week of release ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' reached number one on the UK album chart, making Dylan "the oldest artist to score a No. 1 of new, original material".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9409789/bob-dylan-rough-rowdy-ways-tops-uk-chart| title=Bob Dylan Becomes Oldest Male Solo Artist To Score UK No. 1 Album| author=Sexton, Paul| date=June 26, 2020| access-date=June 27, 2020| magazine=Billboard}}</ref> | |||
In December 2020, it was announced that Dylan had sold his entire song catalog to ],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/bob-dylan-sells-entire-song-catalog-universal-media-group-n1250190|title=Bob Dylan sells entire song catalog to Universal Media Group|website=NBC News|date=December 7, 2020}}</ref> including both the income he receives as a songwriter and his control of their copyright. Universal, a division of the French media conglomerate ], will collect all future income from the songs.<ref name=nytprice>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/arts/music/bob-dylan-sells-publishing.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207120114/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/arts/music/bob-dylan-sells-publishing.html |archive-date=December 7, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Bob Dylan Sells His Songwriting Catalog in Blockbuster Deal|first=Ben|last=Sisario|date=December 7, 2020|work=]}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' stated Universal had purchased the copyright to over 600 songs and the price was "estimated at more than $300 million",<ref name="nytprice" /> although other reports suggested the figure was closer to $400 million.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/bob-dylan-hipgnosis-offer-1100912/| title=Bob Dylan Rejected a $400 Million Hipgnosis Offer Before Universal Music's Deal| author=Millman, Ethan| date=December 8, 2020| access-date=December 11, 2020| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> | |||
In February 2021, Columbia Records released ''1970'', a three-CD set of recordings from the ''Self Portrait'' and ''New Morning'' sessions, including the entirety of the session Dylan recorded with George Harrison on May 1, 1970.<ref name=1970Box>{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/1970-box-set/bob-dylan/critic-reviews| title=1970 critics reviews| date=March 1, 2021| access-date=March 1, 2021| publisher=]}}</ref><ref name=georg>{{cite web| url=http://www.bjorner.com/DSN01790%201970.htm#DSN01810| title=1 May 1970, 1st New Morning recording session, produced by Bob Johnston| author=Bjorner, Olof| date=February 3, 2021| access-date=March 1, 2021| website=Bjorner's Still On the Road}}</ref> Dylan's 80th birthday was commemorated by a virtual conference, Dylan@80, organized by the ] Institute for Bob Dylan Studies. The program featured seventeen sessions over three days delivered by over fifty international scholars, journalists and musicians.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://dylan.utulsa.edu/dylan-80-virtual-conference/| title=Dylan@80 Virtual Conference| date=April 24, 2021| access-date=May 22, 2021| website=utulsa.edu}}</ref> Several new biographies and studies of Dylan were published.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/28/and-the-brand-played-on-bob-dylan-at-80| title=And the brand played on: Bob Dylan at 80| author=Spencer, Neil| date=March 28, 2021| access-date=May 22, 2021| work=The Observer}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/05/24/bob-dylan-turns-80-as-fans-celebrate-with-events-throughout-the-world/| title=Bob Dylan turns 80 as fans celebrate with events throughout the world| date=May 24, 2021| access-date=May 25, 2021| work=Boston Herald}}</ref> | |||
In July 2021, livestream platform Veeps presented a 50-minute performance by Dylan, '']''.<ref name=warrior>{{cite news| url=https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-health-arts-and-entertainment-coronavirus-pandemic-8d2544563bbb9744cf07dd010401cc6b| title=Road warrior Bob Dylan returns to stage — at least on film| author=Bauder, David| date=July 19, 2021| access-date=July 19, 2021| publisher=Associated Press}}</ref> Filmed in black and white with a ] look,<ref name =lynch>{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/2021/music/news/bob-dylan-stream-review-shadow-kingdom-livestream-1235022627/| title=Bob Dylan Gets Smoke in His Eyes, but Not So Much in His Excellent Vocals, in Lynch-esque 'Shadow Kingdom': Stream Review| author=Willman, Chris| date=July 19, 2021| access-date=July 27, 2021| work=variety.com}}</ref> Dylan performed 13 songs in a club setting with an audience.<ref name=warrior/><ref name=joy>{{cite web| url=https://bestclassicbands.com/bob-dylan-2021-review-streamed-concert-shadow-kingdom-7-18-21/| title=Bob Dylan Streamed Concert: 'What a Joy'| author=Holdship, Bill| date=July 18, 2021| access-date=July 19, 2021| website=bestclassicbands.com}}</ref> The performance was favorably reviewed,<ref name=joy/><ref name=lynch/> and one critic suggested the backing band resembled the style of the musical '']''.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://thebluemoment.com/2021/07/18/dylan-in-the-shadows/| title=Dylan in the Shadows| author=Williams, Richard| date=July 18, 2021| access-date = July 19, 2021| website=thebluemoment.com}}</ref> The ] was released on 2 LP and CD formats in June 2023.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/shadow-kingdom/bob-dylan/critic-reviews| title=Shadow Kingdom by Bob Dylan, Critic Reviews| date=June 2, 2023| access-date=June 2, 2023| publisher=]}}</ref> In September, Dylan released '']'', issued in 2 LP, 2 CD and 5 CD formats. It comprised rehearsals, live recordings, out-takes and alternative takes from ''Shot of Love'', ''Infidels'' and ''Empire Burlesque''.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.hotpress.com/music/bob-dylan-in-a-new-york-state-of-mind-22870583| title=Bob Dylan: In A New York State of Mind| author=Daniel, Anne Margaret| date=September 10, 2021| access-date=September 17, 2021| work=Hot Press}}</ref> In '']'', ] wrote: "These bootleg sessions remind us that Dylan's worst period is still more interesting than most artists' purple patches".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/bob-dylan-springtime-new-york-review-good-times-almost-never/| title=Bob Dylan: Springtime in New York, review: good times (almost) never seemed so good| author=McCormick, Neil| date=September 16, 2021| access-date=September 17, 2021| work=Daily Telegraph}}</ref> ''Springtime in New York'' received an aggregate score of 85 on Metacritic.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/springtime-in-new-york-the-bootleg-series-vol-16-1980-1985/bob-dylan| title=Springtime in New York: critic reviews| date=September 17, 2021| access-date=September 17, 2021| website=Metacritic}}</ref> | |||
On July 7, 2022, ], London, auctioned a 2021 recording of Dylan singing "Blowin' in the Wind". The record was in an innovative "one of one" recording medium, branded as Ionic Original, which producer T Bone Burnett claimed "surpasses the sonic excellence and depth for which analogue sound is renowned, while at the same time boasting the durability of a digital recording."<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.christies.com/features/an-ionic-original-recording-of-blowin-in-the-wind-12353-3.aspx?sc_lang=en| title='The pinnacle of recorded sound': a unique 2021 recording of Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind' created using groundbreaking Ionic Original technology| date=June 20, 2022| access-date=August 1, 2022| website=Christie's}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://variety.com/2022/music/news/bob-dylan-t-bone-burnett-auction-ionic-original-disc-christies-interview-1235300576/| title=Why Did T Bone Burnett Record a Song With Bob Dylan That Only One Person Can Own? To Disrupt the Art Market| author=Willman, Chris| date=June 23, 2022| access-date=August 3, 2022| magazine=Variety}}</ref> The recording fetched GBP £1,482,000—equivalent to $1,769,508.<ref name=1.8>{{cite magazine| url=https://variety.com/2022/music/news/bob-dylan-auction-record-blowin-wind-sells-million-dollars-pounds-1235311170/| title=Newly Recorded Version of Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind' Sells for Nearly $1.8 Million at Auction| author=Willman, Chris| date=July 7, 2022| access-date=August 3, 2022| magazine=Variety}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-a-neofidelity-ionic-original-acetate-disc-of-6381194/?lid=1&from=relatedlot&intobjectid=6381194| title=A Neofidelity Ionic Original Acetate Disc Of A 2021 Recording Of 'Blowin' In The Wind' With Custom Walnut And White Oak Cabinet| date=July 7, 2022| access-date=August 30, 2022| website=christies.com}}</ref> In November, Dylan published '']'', a collection of 66 essays on songs by other artists. '']'' described it as "a rich, riffy, funny, and completely engaging book of essays".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/31/a-unified-field-theory-of-bob-dylan| title=A Unified Field Theory of Bob Dylan| author=Remnick, David| date=October 24, 2022| access-date=November 7, 2022| magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> Other reviewers praised the book's eclectic outlook,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/nov/01/the-philosophy-of-modern-song-by-bob-dylan-review| title=The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan review – an enlightening listen-along| author=O'Hagan, Sean| date=November 1, 2022| access-date=November 7, 2022|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> while some questioned its variations in style and dearth of female songwriters.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/07/books/bob-dylan-philosophy-of-modern-song.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Books| title=Bob Dylan Breaks Down 66 Classic Tunes in His New Book| author=Garner, Dwight| date=November 7, 2022| access-date=November 8, 2022| newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> | |||
In January 2023, Dylan released '']'' in multiple formats. The 5-CD version comprised a re-mix of the 1997 album "to sound more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room" without the effects and processing which producer Daniel Lanois applied later; 25 previously unreleased out-takes from the studio sessions; and a disc of live performances of each song on the album performed by Dylan and his band in concert.<ref name=TOOM>{{cite web| url=https://bestclassicbands.com/dylan-time-mind-bootleg-17-review-1-25-23/| title=Bob Dylan's Brilliant 'Time Out of Mind' Gets the Box Set Treatment: Review| author=Burger, Jeff| date=January 25, 2023| access-date=January 27, 2023| website=bestclassicbands.com}}</ref> On November 17, 2023, Dylan released '']'', containing the full recordings of the February 28 and March 1 Tokyo concerts from his 1978 Tour.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/the-complete-budokan-1978-live/bob-dylan|title=The Complete Budokan 1978 by Bob Dylan critic reviews |website=]|access-date=September 16, 2024}}</ref> | |||
Dylan contributed a cover version of ]'s song "]" to the soundtrack of the biographical film '']'', which was released on August 30, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-dont-fence-me-in-ronald-reagan-biopic-1235082418/| title=Bob Dylan to Cover 'Don't Fence Me In' for Ronald Reagan biopic| author = Kreps, Daniel| date = August 17, 2024| access-date = September 15, 2024 | website = rollingstone.com}}</ref> On September 20, 2024, Dylan released ''The 1974 Live Recordings'', a 27-disc CD boxset of recordings from the 1974 Bob Dylan & The Band tour, featuring 417 previously unreleased live tracks.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.metacritic.com/music/the-1974-live-recordings-box-set/bob-dylan| title = The 1974 Live Recordings critics' reviews| date = September 20, 2024| access-date = September 20, 2024| website = metacritic.com}}</ref> | |||
==Never Ending Tour== | |||
{{Main|Never Ending Tour}} | |||
] | |||
The Never Ending Tour commenced on June 7, 1988.<ref>Heylin (1996), p. 297.</ref> Dylan has played roughly 100 dates a year since, a heavier schedule than most performers who started in the 1960s.<ref>Muir, pp. 7–10.</ref> By April 2019, Dylan and his band had played more than 3,000 shows,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.bjorner.com/DSN39740%20-%202019%20Europe%20Spring%20Tour.htm#DSN39860| title = Björner's Still On The Road: Innsbruck, Austria, 19 April 2019| date = May 26, 2019| access-date=October 13, 2019| publisher=bjorner.com}}</ref> anchored by long-time bassist ].<ref name = Milwauk21>{{cite web| url = https://www.boblinks.com/110221s.html| title = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Set List| date = November 2, 2021| access-date = November 3, 2021| website = boblinks.com}}</ref> | |||
To the dismay of some of his audience,<ref>{{cite news|author=McCormick, Neil|date=June 19, 2011|title=Bob Dylan at Finsbury Park|publisher=Telegraph, UK|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/8585826/Bob-Dylan-at-Finsbury-Parks-Feis-Festival-review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/8585826/Bob-Dylan-at-Finsbury-Parks-Feis-Festival-review.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=June 20, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Dylan's performances are unpredictable as he often alters his arrangements and changes his vocal approach.<ref>{{cite web|author=Zollo, Paul|date=October 28, 2014|title=Concert Review: Bob Dylan Brings The Goods To Hollywood|url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2014/10/concert-review-bob-dylan-brings-goods-hollywood/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029131333/http://www.americansongwriter.com/2014/10/concert-review-bob-dylan-brings-goods-hollywood/|archive-date=October 29, 2014|access-date=October 29, 2014|publisher=americansongwriter.com}}</ref> These variable performances have divided critics. ] and Andy Gill argued that Dylan has found a successful way to present his rich legacy of material.<ref>{{cite news|author=Williams, Richard|date=October 22, 2015|title=Bob Dylan review – relaxed, mellifluous and wholly intelligible|work=The Guardian|location=UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/22/bob-dylan-review-royal-albert-hall-london|access-date=November 5, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Gill, Andy|date=April 27, 2009|title=Dylan's times ain't a-changin'|work=The Independent|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/bob-dylan-o2-arena-london-1674751.html|access-date=May 2, 2009}}</ref> Others have criticized his live performances for changing "the greatest lyrics ever written so that they are effectively unrecognisable", and giving so little to the audience that "it is difficult to understand what he is doing on stage at all".<ref>{{cite news|author=McCormick, Neil|date=April 27, 2009|title=Bob Dylan – live review|work=The Telegraph|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/bob-dylan/5229391/Bob-Dylan-The-Roundhouse.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/bob-dylan/5229391/Bob-Dylan-The-Roundhouse.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=May 2, 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
In September 2021, Dylan's touring company announced a series of tours which were billed as the "]". The Rough and Rowdy Ways World Tour replaced Dylan's varied set lists with a more stable repertory, performing nine of the ten songs on his ].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/stories/bob-dylan-live-in-austin-review/#| title =Bob Dylan Live In Austin Review: Latest chapter of The Never Ending Tour comes to a masterful close| author =Blackstock, Peter| date = April 6, 2024| access-date = April 8, 2024| website = mojo4music.com}}</ref> Nevertheless, the tour has been referred to by the media as an extension of his ongoing Never Ending Tour.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Levy|first=Piet|title=Bob Dylan is resuming his 'Never Ending Tour,' beginning with a show at Milwaukee's Riverside Theater|url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/09/27/bob-dylan-resuming-his-never-ending-tour-beginning-show-milwaukees-riverside-theater/5883872001/|access-date=January 3, 2022|website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
In the fall of 2024 Dylan embarked on a European tour, beginning in Prague, Czech Republic, on October 4 and ending in London on November 14.<ref name =RAH >{{cite web| url = https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/stories/bob-dylan-live-in-london-review/| title = Bob Dylan Live In London Review: The end of Rough And Rowdy Ways?| author = Mulvey, John| date = November 15, 2024| access-date = November 17, 2024| website = mojo4music.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bob-dylan-europe-uk-tour-2024/| title = Bob Dylan reveals European and UK tour dates| author = Rapp, Alison| date = July 15, 2024| access-date = October 3, 2024| website = ultimateclassicrock.com}}</ref> Alex Ross has summarised Dylan's touring career: "his shows cause his songs to mutate, so that no definitive or ideal version exists. Dylan's legacy will be the sum of thousands of performances, over many decades... Every night, whether he's in good or bad form, he says, in effect, 'Think again.'"<ref name=":Ross"/> | |||
==Personal life== | |||
===Romantic relationships=== | |||
====Echo Helstrom==== | |||
] was Dylan's high school girlfriend. The couple listened together to rhythm-and-blues on the radio, and her family exposed him to singers such as ] on ], and a plethora of folk music magazines, sheet music, and manuscripts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.startribune.com/the-original-girl-from-the-north-country-bob-dylan-s-high-school-sweetheart-has-died/470716473/ |title=The original 'Girl From the North Country,' Bob Dylan's high school sweetheart has died |author=Matt Steichen |date=January 25, 2018 |work= Star-Tribune |accessdate=October 21, 2021}}{{cite book |last=Dylan |first=Bob |title=Chronicles, Volume 1 |pages=59–60 |accessdate= |year=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=9780743228152}}{{cite web |url=https://uminnpressblog.com/2018/01/25/lookin-to-get-silly-in-hibbing-toby-thompson-on-echo-star-helstrom-the-girl-from-the-north-country/ |title=Lookin' to get silly in Hibbing: Toby Thompson on Echo Star Helstrom, the 'Girl from the North Country' |author=Toby Thompson |date=January 25, 2018 |work=University of Minnesota Press Blog |accessdate=October 20, 2021}}</ref> Helstrom is believed by some to be the inspiration for Dylan's song "]", though this is disputed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4391880-dylans-presumed-girl-north-country-has-died |title=Dylan's presumed 'Girl from the North Country' has died |author= |date=January 22, 2018 |work=Duluth News-Tribune |url-access=registration |accessdate=October 21, 2021}} {{cite web |url=http://english.la.psu.edu/faculty-staff/cwt1 |title=Penn State professor, biographer reflects on Dylan at 70 |author=Toby Thompson |date=May 20, 2011 |work=Penn State Live |accessdate=January 4, 2014}}(quoted in Thompson's Penn State faculty biography){{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/obituary-echo-helstrom-kqdmkgwxk |title=Echo Helstrom (obituary) |author=<!--staff--> |date=February 3, 2018 |work=The Times |accessdate=October 22, 2021 |quote= paid Helstrom an even greater compliment by making her the muse of his folk ballad ''Girl From the North Country''... |url-access=subscription}}{{cite web |url=https://www.startribune.com/the-original-girl-from-the-north-country-bob-dylan-s-high-school-sweetheart-has-died/470716473/ |title=The original 'Girl From the North Country,' Bob Dylan's high school sweetheart has died |author=Matt Steichen |date=January 25, 2018 |work= Star-Tribune |accessdate=October 21, 2021}}>{{cite web |url=https://www.record-bee.com/2018/01/25/dylans-girl-from-the-north-country-maybe-dies-in-california/ |title=Dylan's 'Girl from the North Country' (maybe) dies in California |author=Christa Lawler and Digital First Media |date=January 25, 2018 |work=Lake Country Record-Bee |accessdate=October 22, 2021}}{{cite book |last=Heylin |first=Clinton |title=Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957–1973 |year=2012 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1613743362 |pages=119–121}}</ref> | |||
====Suze Rotolo==== | |||
Dylan's first serious relationship was with artist ], a daughter of ] radicals. According to Dylan, "She was the most erotic thing I'd ever seen ... The air was suddenly filled with banana leaves. We started talking and my head started to spin".<ref>Dylan, ''Chronicles'', 2004, p. 265.</ref> Rotolo was photographed arm-in-arm with Dylan on the cover of his album ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan''. Critics have connected Rotolo to some of Dylan's early love songs, including "]". The relationship ended in 1964.<ref>Gray, ''The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia'', 2006, pp. 592–594.</ref> In 2008, Rotolo published a memoir about her life in Greenwich Village and relationship with Dylan in the 1960s, ''A Freewheelin' Time''.<ref>Suze Rotolo, A Freewheelin' Time, Aurum Press, 2008, {{ISBN|978-1-84513-392-4}}</ref> | |||
====Joan Baez==== | |||
When ] met Dylan in April 1961, she had already released her ] and was acclaimed as the "Queen of Folk".<ref>Hajdu, ''Positively 4th Street'', 2001, p. 76</ref> On hearing Dylan perform his song "]", Baez later said, "I never thought anything so powerful could come out of that little toad".<ref>{{Cite magazine| url = https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/09/04/bob-on-bob| title = Bob on Bob| author = Menand, Louis| date = September 4, 2006| access-date=December 20, 2016| magazine = The New Yorker}}</ref> In July 1963, Baez invited Dylan to join her on stage at the Newport Folk Festival, setting the scene for similar duets over the next two years.<ref name=GrayBaez>Gray, ''The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia'', 2006, pp. 28–31.</ref> By the time of Dylan's 1965 tour of the UK, their romantic relationship had begun to fizzle out, as captured in D. A. Pennebaker's documentary film '']''.<ref name=GrayBaez/> Baez later toured with Dylan as a performer on his Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975–76. Baez also starred as "The Woman In White" in the film ''Renaldo and Clara'' (1978), directed by Dylan.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/06/martin-scorsese-bob-dylan-documentary| title = Scorsese's New Dylan Documentary Is the Rebirth Myth America Need| author = Hogan, Mike| date = June 10, 2019| access-date = February 22, 2020|newspaper = ]}}</ref> Dylan and Baez toured together again in 1984 with ].<ref name=GrayBaez/> | |||
Baez recalled her relationship with Dylan in ]'s documentary film ''No Direction Home'' (2005). Baez wrote about Dylan in two autobiographies—admiringly in ''Daybreak'' (1968), and less admiringly in ''And A Voice to Sing With'' (1987). Her song "]" has been described as "an acute portrait" of Dylan.<ref name=GrayBaez/> | |||
====Sara Lownds==== | |||
Dylan married ], who had worked as a model and secretary at ], on November 22, 1965.<ref name =Gray198/> They had four children: ] (born January 6, 1966), Anna Lea (born July 11, 1967), Samuel Isaac Abram (born July 30, 1968), and ] (born December 9, 1969). Dylan also adopted Sara's daughter from a prior marriage, Maria Lownds (later Dylan, born October 21, 1961). Sara Dylan played the role of Clara in Dylan's film ''Renaldo and Clara'' (1978). Bob and Sara Dylan were divorced on June 29, 1977.<ref name =Gray198>Gray (2006), pp. 198–200.</ref> | |||
====Carolyn Dennis==== | |||
Dylan and his backing singer ] (often professionally known as Carol Dennis) have a daughter, Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan, born on January 31, 1986.<ref>Sounes, pp. 371–373.</ref> The couple were married on June 4, 1986, and divorced in October 1992. Their marriage and child remained a closely guarded secret until the publication of ]'s biography ''Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan'', in 2001.<ref>{{cite news|url = http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1273409.stm| title = Dylan's Secret Marriage Uncovered| access-date=September 7, 2008|work=BBC News | date = April 12, 2001}}</ref> | |||
===Home=== | |||
When not touring, Dylan is believed to live primarily in ], a promontory on the coast of ], though he owns property around the world.<ref>{{cite magazine| url = https://variety.com/2013/biz/features/bob-dylan-house-designer-1200406286/| title = Bob Dylan's Designer Brings It All Back Home| author = Chagollan, Steve| date = April 26, 2013| access-date = September 16, 2017| magazine = Variety.com}}</ref><ref name=Marty>{{cite book| last =Newman| first =Martin Alan| title =Bob Dylan's Malibu| publisher =EDLIS Café Press| year =2021| location =Hibbing, Minnesota| isbn =9781736972304}}</ref> | |||
===Religious beliefs=== | |||
Growing up in Hibbing, Minnesota, Dylan and his family were part of the area's small, close-knit Jewish community, and Dylan had his ] in May 1954.<ref>According to Robert Shelton, Dylan's teacher was "Rabbi Reuben Maier of the only synagogue on the ], Hibbing's Agudath Achim Synagogue". See Shelton, pp. 35–36.</ref><ref name="Haaretz" /> Around the time of his 30th birthday, in 1971, Dylan visited Israel, and also met Rabbi ], founder of the New York-based ].<ref>Heylin (2000), p. 328.</ref> | |||
In the late 1970s, Dylan converted to Christianity. In November 1978, guided by his friend Mary Alice Artes, Dylan made contact with the ].<ref name =Vineyard>{{cite web| url = http://blog.oup.com/2017/01/bob-dylan-christianity/| title = The year Bob Dylan was born again: a timeline| author = McCarron, Andrew | |||
| date = January 21, 2017| access-date=January 24, 2017| publisher = Oxford University Press | |||
}}</ref> Vineyard Pastor Kenn Gulliksen recalled: "Larry Myers and Paul Emond went over to Bob's house and ministered to him. He responded by saying yes, he did in fact want Christ in his life. And he prayed that day and received the Lord".<ref>Heylin (2000), ''Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited'', p. 494.</ref><ref>Gray, 2006, ''The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia'', pp. 76–80.</ref> From January to March 1979, Dylan attended Vineyard's Bible study classes in ].<ref name =Vineyard/><ref>Heylin, 1996, ''Bob Dylan: A Life In Stolen Moments'', p. 206.</ref> | |||
By 1984, Dylan was distancing himself from the "]" label. He told ] of ''Rolling Stone'': "I've never said I'm 'born again'. That's just a media term. I don't think I've been an agnostic. I've always thought there's a superior power, that this is not the real world and that there's a world to come."<ref>''Rolling Stone'', June 21, 1984, reprinted in Cott (ed.), ''Dylan on Dylan: The Essential Interviews'', p. 288.</ref> In 1997, he told ] of '']'': | |||
{{blockquote|Here's the thing with me and the religious thing. This is the flat-out truth: I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music. I don't find it anywhere else. Songs like "Let Me Rest on a Peaceful Mountain" or "]"—that's my religion. I don't adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I've learned more from the songs than I've learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/dylan-revisited-174056|title=Dylan Revisited|author=Gates, David| date=October 6, 1997|access-date=June 8, 2010|work=Newsweek}}</ref>}} | |||
Dylan has supported the ] movement,<ref>Fishkoff, p. 167.</ref> and has privately participated in Jewish religious events, including his sons' Bar Mitzvahs and services at ], a ] ]. In 1989 and 1991, he appeared on the Chabad ].<ref>Heylin (1996), pp. 317, 343.</ref> | |||
Dylan has continued to perform songs from his gospel albums in concert, occasionally covering traditional religious songs. He has made passing references to his religious faith, such as in a 2004 interview with '']'', when he told ], "the only person you have to think twice about lying to is either yourself or to God". He explained his constant touring schedule as part of a bargain he made a long time ago with the "chief commander—in this earth and in the world we can't see".<ref name="60minutes2005">{{cite news| url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-bob-dylan-rare-interview-2004/| title = Dylan Looks Back| author = Leung, Rebecca| date = June 12, 2005| access-date=February 25, 2009| work = CBS News}}</ref> | |||
Speaking to Jeff Slate of '']'' in December 2022, Dylan reaffirmed his religious outlook: "I read the scriptures a lot, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I believe in damnation and salvation as well as ]. The ], ], ], all of it."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.bobdylan.com/news/bob-dylan-interviewed-by-wall-street-journals-jeff-slate/| title = Bob Dylan Q&A about "The Philosophy of Modern Song"| author = Slate, Jeff| date = December 20, 2022| access-date = December 22, 2022 | |||
| website = bobdylan.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/bob-dylan-interview-11671471665?mod=life_work_featured_strip_pos1| title = Bob Dylan on Music's Golden Era vs Streaming: 'Everything's Too Easy'| author = Slate, Jeff| date = December 19, 2022| access-date = December 22, 2022|newspaper = The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> | |||
== Style and influences == | |||
Initially modeling his style on ]'s ],<ref name="chronicles243">Dylan, '']'' pp. 243–246.</ref> ]'s ]<ref name="chronicles281">Dylan, pp. 281–288.</ref> and what he called the "architectural forms" of ]'s ] songs,<ref name="chronicles95">Dylan, pp. 95–97.</ref> Dylan added increasingly sophisticated lyrical techniques to the folk music of the early 1960s, infusing it "with the intellectualism of classic literature and poetry".<ref name="EncBr" /> His lyrics incorporated political, social, and philosophical influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning ].<ref>"The Counterculture" by Michael J. Kramer in Latham, Sean (ed.), 2021, ''The World of Bob Dylan'', pp. 251–263.</ref> | |||
==Accolades and honors == | |||
{{Main|List of awards and nominations received by Bob Dylan}} | |||
] | |||
] announces the Nobel Prize in Literature 2016.]] | |||
Dylan has been inducted into the ], ] and ]. In 1997, US President ] presented Dylan with a ] Honor in the East Room of the ], saying: "He probably had more impact on people of my generation than any other creative artist. His voice and lyrics haven't always been easy on the ear, but throughout his career Bob Dylan has never aimed to please. He's disturbed the peace and discomforted the powerful".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://clinton4.nara.gov/textonly/WH/New/html/19971208-2814.html| title=Remarks by the President at Kennedy Center Honors Reception| access-date=September 7, 2008| publisher=Clinton White House| date=December 8, 1997| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425075802/http://clinton4.nara.gov/textonly/WH/New/html/19971208-2814.html|archive-date=April 25, 2015| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref> In May 2000, Dylan received the ] from Sweden's ].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mtv.com/news/620402/dylan-awarded-polar-music-prize/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005082344/http://www.mtv.com/news/620402/dylan-awarded-polar-music-prize/| url-status=dead| archive-date=October 5, 2016| title=Dylan awarded Polar Music Prize| date=December 1, 2000| access-date=October 3, 2016| publisher=MTV}}</ref> In June 2007, Dylan received the ] in the Arts category; the jury called him "a living myth in the history of popular music and a light for a generation that dreamed of changing the world."<ref name="EncBr" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Bob Dylan, Prince Of Asturias Award For The Arts 2007 |url=http://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2007-bob-dylan.html?texto=trayectoria&especifica=0|website=Fundación Princesa de Asturias|year=2016|access-date=October 18, 2016}}</ref> In 2008, the ] jury awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2008-Special-Awards-and-Citations| title=The 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winners Special Awards and Citations| date=November 10, 2008| access-date=May 13, 2014| publisher=pulitzer.org}}</ref> | |||
Dylan received the ] in May 2012.<ref name="Medal">{{cite web| url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/26/president-obama-names-presidential-medal-freedom-recipients| title=President Obama Names Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients| date=April 26, 2012| via=]| work=]| access-date=April 27, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-awarded-presidential-medal-of-freedom-20120529|title=Bob Dylan Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom|magazine=]|date=May 29, 2012|access-date=October 19, 2016}}</ref> President ], presenting Dylan with the award, said "There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music." Obama praised Dylan's voice for its "unique gravelly power that redefined not just what music sounded like but the message it carried and how it made people feel".<ref >{{cite news|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|title=Bob Dylan Among Recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/bob-dylan-among-recipients-of-presidential-medal-of-freedom/|access-date=May 30, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 29, 2012}}</ref> In November 2013, Dylan was awarded France's highest honor, the ],<ref name =Legiond’H>{{Cite news| url= https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/dylan-joins-frances-legion-of-honor/?smid=pl-share | title= Dylan Joins France's Legion of Honor| author=Kozinn, Allan | date=November 14, 2013| access-date=February 22, 2024| newspaper=The New York Times }}</ref> despite the misgiving of the grand chancellor of the Légion, who had declared him unworthy.<ref name =Legiond’H/> In February 2015, Dylan accepted the ] award from the ], in recognition of his philanthropic and artistic contributions.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sisario|first1=Ben|title=At Grammys Event, Bob Dylan Speech Steals the Show|url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/at-grammys-event-bob-dylan-speech-steals-the-show/|access-date=February 8, 2015|publisher=The New York Times (ArtsBeat Blog)|date=February 7, 2015}}</ref> | |||
''' Nobel Prize in Literature ''' | |||
{{main|2016 Nobel Prize in Literature}} | |||
In 1996, Gordon Ball of the ] nominated Dylan for the ],<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.expectingrain.com/dok/art/nobel/nobelpress.html| title=Finally and Formally Launched as a Candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1997|access-date=September 7, 2008| publisher=expectingrain.com| date=May 24, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ball|first=Gordon|url=http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/22i/Ball.pdf|title=Dylan and the Nobel|access-date=September 7, 2008|work=]|date=March 7, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808015425/http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/22i/Ball.pdf|archive-date=August 8, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> initiating a campaign that lasted for 20 years.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/19/bob-dylan-nobel-odds-rise-literature| title=Bob Dylan's Nobel odds rise, but not his chances| author=Flood, Alison| date=September 19, 2012| access-date=September 20, 2012| work=The Guardian| location=London}}</ref> On October 13, 2016, the Nobel committee announced that it would be awarding Dylan the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".<ref name=NYTNobel>{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/music/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature.html| title=Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize, Redefining Boundaries of Literature| author=Sisario, Ben| date=October 13, 2016| access-date=October 14, 2016| newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' reported: "Mr. Dylan, 75, is the first musician to win the award, and his selection on Thursday is perhaps the most radical choice in a history stretching back to 1901."<ref name=NYTNobel/> Dylan remained silent for days after receiving the award,<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/22/bob-dylan-criticised-as-impolite-and-arrogant-by-nobel-academy-member| title=Bob Dylan criticised as 'impolite and arrogant' by Nobel academy member| newspaper=The Guardian| date=October 22, 2016| access-date=October 22, 2016| agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref> and then told journalist ] that it was "amazing, incredible. Whoever dreams about something like that?"<ref name=Gundersen>{{Cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/world-exclusive-bob-dylan---ill-be-at-the-nobel-prize-ceremony-i | title=World exclusive: Bob Dylan – I'll be at the Nobel Prize ceremony... if I can| author=Gundersen, Enda| date=October 28, 2016| access-date=October 29, 2016| work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> Dylan's Nobel Lecture was posted on the Nobel Prize website on June 5, 2017.<ref>{{cite web| last1=Bob| first1=Dylan| title=Bob Dylan – Nobel Lecture| url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2016/dylan-lecture.html| website=Nobelprize.org}}</ref> ], a member of the Nobel Committee, described Dylan's place in literary history:{{Blockquote|a singer worthy of a place beside the Greek bards, beside ], beside the ], beside the kings and queens of ], beside the forgotten masters of brilliant ].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Coscarelli|first=Joe|date=2016-12-10|title=Bob Dylan Sends Warm Words but Skips Nobel Prize Ceremonies|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/arts/bob-dylan-skips-nobel-prize-ceremonies.html|access-date=2023-02-12|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>}} | |||
==Artistry and legacy== | |||
Dylan has been described as one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, musically and culturally. He was included in the ], where he was called "master poet, caustic social critic and intrepid, guiding spirit of the counterculture generation".<ref name="Time100Dylan">{{cite news| url = http://www.shrout.co.uk/TIME%20Bob%20Dylan.html| title = The Time 100: Bob Dylan| author=Cocks, Jay| date = June 14, 1999| access-date=October 5, 2008| work=shrout.co.uk/TIME }}</ref> ] suggested that Dylan's early compositions virtually took over the folk genre: " early songs were very rich ... with strong melodies. 'Blowin' in the Wind' has a really strong melody. He so enlarged himself through the folk background that he incorporated it for a while. He defined the genre for a while."<ref>Fong-Torres, ''The Rolling Stone Interviews, Vol. 2'', p. 424. Reproduced online:{{cite web| url=http://www.bobdylanroots.com/simon.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421172331/http://www.bobdylanroots.com/simon.html| archive-date=April 21, 2008| title=''Rolling Stone'' interview (1972) | date=June 6, 1972| access-date=September 8, 2009| publisher=Bob Dylan Roots}}</ref> | |||
For many critics, Dylan's greatest achievement was the cultural synthesis exemplified by his mid-1960s trilogy of albums—''Bringing It All Back Home'', ''Highway 61 Revisited'' and ''Blonde on Blonde''. In ]'s words: | |||
{{blockquote|Between late 1964 and the middle of 1966, Dylan created a body of work that remains unique. Drawing on folk, blues, country, R&B, rock'n'roll, gospel, ], ], ] and ] poetry, ] and ], advertising jargon and social commentary, ] and ], he forged a coherent and original artistic voice and vision. The beauty of these albums retains the power to shock and console.<ref name="Marqusee139">Marqusee, p. 139.</ref>}} | |||
Dylan's lyrics began to receive critical study as early as 1998, when ] sponsored the first international academic conference on Bob Dylan held in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 7, 2017|title=Dylan Conference|url=https://tinomarkworth.com/dylan-conference/|access-date=February 12, 2023|website=tinomarkworth.com|language=en}}</ref> In 2004, ], ] professor at ], created a freshman seminar titled "Dylan", which aimed "to put the artist in context of not just popular culture of the last half-century, but the tradition of classical poets like ] and ]."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/15/arts/music/bob-dylan-101-a-harvard-professor-has-the-coolest-class-on-campus.html| title=Bob Dylan 101: A Harvard Professor Has the Coolest Class on Campus| author=Schuessler, Jennifer| date=October 14, 2016 |access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Thomas went on to publish ''Why Bob Dylan Matters'', exploring Dylan's connections with ].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.npr.org/2017/11/21/563736161/a-classics-professor-explains-why-bob-dylan-matters| title= A Classics Professor Explains 'Why Bob Dylan Matters'| author=Heller, Jason| date=November 21, 2017 |access-date = February 13, 2024| website=npr.org}}</ref> Literary critic ] published '']'', an appreciation of Dylan's work.<ref>{{cite news| last=Lethem| first=Jonathan| title=Alfred Tennyson, A. E. Housman. Now This.| date=June 13, 2004| work=The New York Times| url=https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9C04E3D91030F930A25755C0A9629C8B63.html}}</ref> Following Dylan's Nobel win, Ricks reflected: "I'd not have written a book about Dylan, to stand alongside my books on ] and ], ] and ], if I didn't think Dylan a genius of and with language."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/bob-dylan-s-nobel-prize-divides-irish-writers-and-literary-critics-1.2828753| title=Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize divides Irish writers and literary critics| author=Doyle, Martin| date=October 13, 2016| access-date=December 15, 2016| newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> The critical consensus that Dylan's songwriting was his outstanding creative achievement was articulated by '']'': "Hailed as the ] of his generation, Dylan ... set the standard for lyric writing."<ref name =EncBr>{{cite encyclopedia| url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Dylan-American-musician| title=Bob Dylan: American musician| author=Al Kooper| access-date=November 5, 2016| encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica| author-link=Al Kooper}}</ref> Former British ] ] said Dylan's lyrics should be studied in schools.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/poetry/article2503109.ece| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530105239/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/poetry/article2503109.ece| url-status=dead| archive-date=May 30, 2010| title=Andrew Motion explains why Bob Dylan's lyrics should be studied in schools| author=Motion, Andrew| date=September 22, 2007| access-date=October 10, 2008| work=The Times| location=London}}</ref> His lyrics have entered the vernacular; ] notes that<blockquote>Lines that branded Dylan a poet and counterculture valedictorian in the '60s are imprinted on the culture: "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose"; "a hard rain's a-gonna fall"; "to live outside the law you must be honest." Some lyrics — "you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows" and "the times they are a-changin' " — appear in '']''.<ref name =Gund2001>{{cite news| title=Times change, but Dylan leaves a lasting imprint| last=Gundersen| first=Edna| work=]| date=May 17, 2001| url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/2001-05-bob-dylan.htm}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
'']'' ranked Dylan first on its 2015 list of the ],<ref name="Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Songwriters">{{cite magazine|title=Bob Dylan – 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-songwriters#bob-dylan|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=November 1, 2016}}</ref> fifteenth on its 2023 list of the Greatest Singers of All Time,<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=January 1, 2023|title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/bob-dylan-53-1234643193/|access-date=October 13, 2023|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref> and placed "]" first on their ] in 2004 and 2011.<ref name="LARS"/> He was listed second on the magazine's ].<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Robertson| first=Robbie| title=100 Greatest Artists: Bob Dylan| magazine=Rolling Stone| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-artists-147446/bob-dylan-10-31068/}}</ref> The ''Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' writes that "His lyrics—the first in rock to be seriously regarded as literature—became so well known that politicians from ] to ] have cited them as an influence."<ref name=":R&REncylopedia">{{cite book| title=Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll| date=2001}}</ref> | |||
Dylan's voice also received critical attention. ] described his early vocal style as "a rusty voice suggesting Guthrie's old performances, etched in gravel like ]'s".<ref>Shelton, pp. 108–111.</ref> His voice continued to develop as he began to work with rock'n'roll backing bands; ] described the sound of Dylan's vocal work on "]" as "at once young and jeeringly cynical".<ref>Gray (2006), p. 413.</ref> As Dylan's voice aged during the 1980s, for some critics, it became more expressive. Christophe Lebold writes in the journal '']'': <blockquote>Dylan's more recent broken voice enables him to present a world view at the sonic surface of the songs—this voice carries us across the landscape of a broken, fallen world. The anatomy of a broken world in "]" (on the album '']'') is but an example of how the thematic concern with all things broken is grounded in a concrete sonic reality.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/22i/Lebold.pdf| title=A Face like a Mask and a Voice that Croaks: An Integrated Poetics of Bob Dylan's Voice, Personae, and Lyrics| author=Lebold, Christophe| date=March 1, 2007| access-date=May 3, 2010| work=Oral Tradition }}</ref></blockquote> | |||
Among musicians who have acknowledged his influence are ],<ref>Lennon: "In Paris in 1964 was the first time I ever heard Dylan at all. Paul got the record (''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'') from a French DJ. For three weeks in Paris we didn't stop playing it. We all went potty about Dylan.": Beatles, (2000), ''The Beatles Anthology'', pp. 112–114.</ref> ],<ref>McCartney: "I'm in awe of Bob ... He hit a period where people went, 'Oh, I don't like him now.' And I said, 'No. It's Bob Dylan.' To me, it's like Picasso, where people discuss his various periods, 'This was better than this, was better than this.' But I go, 'No. It's Picasso. It's all good.' "{{cite news| url=https://www.avclub.com/paul-mccartney-1798211806| title=Paul McCartney interview| author=Siegel, Robert| date=June 27, 2007| access-date=August 25, 2015| work=A.V. Club| archive-date=August 25, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825102000/http://music.avclub.com/paul-mccartney-1798211806| url-status=live}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite book| last=Richardson| first=P.| title=No Simple Highway| publisher=St. Martin's Press| year=2015| isbn=978-1-250-01062-9| url=https://archive.org/details/nosimplehighwayc0000rich| url-access=registration| access-date=May 13, 2016| page=|quote=Dylan's influence on Garcia and Hunter was a given; both admired his songwriting and thought he gave rock music a modicum of respectability and authority. "He took out of the realm of ignorant guys banging away on electrical instruments and put it somewhere else altogether," Garcia said later.}}</ref> ],<ref>"They asked me what effect Bob Dylan had on me," Townshend said. "That's like asking how I was influenced by being born." Flanagan, (1990), ''Written In My Soul'', p. 88.</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.pink-floyd.org/barrett/sydlyrics.html#misc| title=Bob Dylan Blues| author=Barrett, Syd| access-date=May 4, 2010| publisher=pink floyd.org}}</ref> ],<ref>Mitchell: “I can’t really pick just one because I like so many, but the Dylan song that really grabbed me was ‘Positively Fourth Street’ and the reason for that was the subject matter seemed at the time so unique. What it said to me, not only is this a good song, but it means that we can now sing about any kind of emotion. I don’t think there was a song before that that defined the kind of hurt expressed in that song. It widened the scope of possibilities for songwriters.”{{cite news| author=Hilburn, Robert| date=May 19, 1991| access-date=August 18, 2011| work=Los Angeles Times| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-05-19-ca-3173-story.html| title=The Impact of Dylan's Music 'Widened the Scope of Possibilities'}}</ref> ],<ref>"Bob Dylan, I'll never be Bob Dylan. He's the master. If I'd like to be anyone, it's him. And he's a great writer, true to his music and done what he feels is the right thing to do for years and years and years. He's great. He's the one I look to." ''Time'' interview with Neil Young, September 28, 2005. Reproduced online : {{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1110988,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051210222145/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1110988,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=December 10, 2005| title=Resurrection of Neil Young| author=Tyrangiel, Josh| date=September 28, 2005| access-date=September 15, 2008| magazine=Time }}</ref> ],<ref name=":Sprinsgteen"/> ],<ref>Bowie: "Dylan taught my generation that it was OK to write pop songs about your worst nightmares." Bowie paid homage with "]" on the album '']'', 1971.</ref><ref name =Gund2001/> ],<ref>In 2007, Ferry released an album of his versions of Dylan songs, '']''</ref> ],<ref>'']'' interview with Patti Smith, May 16, 2007: "The people I revered in the late '60s and the early '70s, their motivation was to do great work and great work creates revolution. The motivation of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan or The Who wasn't marketing, to get rich, or be a celebrity."{{cite web| url=https://timeout.com/london/music/patti-smith-interview| title=Patti Smith: interview| date=May 16, 2007| access-date=September 8, 2008| work=]| archive-date=May 15, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515164232/http://www.timeout.com/london/music/patti-smith-interview| url-status=dead}}</ref> ],<ref>"Dylan laid down the template for lyric, tune, seriousness, spirituality, depth of rock music".{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/1349116.stm| title=Bob Dylan: His Legacy to Music| date=May 29, 2001| access-date=October 5, 2008|work=BBC News }}</ref> ],<ref>Bono:His voice has been a bee buzzing around my ear since I can remember being conscious. It's an unusual voice, not always soothing, sometimes nagging, but it reminds us of the possibilities for music and its place in the world...U2 kind of came from outer space, where punk was ground zero and you didn't admit to having roots. Bob scolded me, "You're sitting on all this stuff. You should check it out." As we fall over ourselves toward the fast and furious future, Dylan feels like the brakes, reminding us of stuff we might have lost, like our dignity.</ref><ref name =Gund2001/> ],<ref>''Mojo'': What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Nick Cave: "I guess it's ''Slow Train Coming'' by Bob Dylan. That's a great record, full of mean-spirited spirituality. It's a genuinely nasty record, certainly the nastiest 'Christian' album I've ever come across." '']'', January 1997</ref> ],<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7541930/leonard-cohen-new-album-corrects-ready-to-die-reports| title=Leonard Cohen Corrects Himself| author=Willman, Chris| date=October 14, 2016| access-date=November 13, 2016| magazine=Billboard}}</ref> ],<ref>Waits: "For a songwriter, Dylan is as essential as a hammer and nails and saw are to a carpenter." {{cite web| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/mar/20/popandrock1| title=It's Perfect Madness| date=March 20, 2005| work=]}}</ref> ]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paus |first1=Ole |last2=Bakke |first2=Asbjørn |title=For en mann |date=2024 |publisher=Kagge forlag |isbn=9788248928508}}</ref> and ].<ref>Chuck D, in conversation with Edna Gundersen in '']'', said of Dylan, “He is stencilled on a lot of aspects of my career. His ability to paint pictures with words and his concerns for society. He taught me to go against the grain.”</ref><ref name =Gund2001/> | |||
Dylan significantly contributed to the initial success of both ] and ]: the Byrds achieved chart success with their version of "]" and the ], while the Band were Dylan's backing band ], recorded ''The Basement Tapes'' with him in 1967<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/basement-tapes/| title=The Basement Tapes (1975)| author=Marcus, Greil| date=April 10, 2010| access-date=July 1, 2017| publisher = bobdylan.com}}</ref> and featured three previously unreleased Dylan songs on their ].<ref>Hoskyns, pp. 153–157.</ref> ], introducing "Wanted Man", said "I don't have to tell you who Bob Dylan is—the greatest writer of our time."<ref>"Johnny Cash, from the intro to "Wanted Man", '']'', recorded February 24, 1969.</ref> | |||
Some critics have dissented from the view of Dylan as a visionary figure in popular music. In his book ''Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom'', ] objected: "I can't take the vision of Dylan as seer, as teenage messiah, as everything else he's been worshipped as. The way I see him, he's a minor talent with a major gift for self-hype".<ref>Cohn, pp. 164–165.</ref> Australian critic ] credited Dylan with changing the persona of the rock star: "What cannot be disputed is that Dylan invented the arrogant, faux-cerebral posturing that has been the dominant style in rock since, with everyone from ] to ] educating themselves from the Dylan handbook".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/tangled-up-in-blah/story-e6frg8px-1111117308423 | title = Tangled Up In Blah | author=Marx, Jack | date = September 2, 2008 | access-date=October 5, 2008 | work=The Australian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523063537/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/tangled-up-in-blah/story-e6frg8px-1111117308423|archive-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref> | |||
Fellow musicians have also expressed critical views. Joni Mitchell described Dylan as a "plagiarist" and his voice as "fake" in a 2010 interview in the '']''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-22-la-et-jonimitchell-20100422-story.html| title = It's a Joni Mitchell concert, sans Joni| author=Diehl, Matt| date = April 22, 2010| access-date=May 24, 2021| work=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Bethany|last=Larson| title=Folk Face-Off: Joni Mitchell vs. Bob Dylan | url=http://flavorwire.com/85781/folk-face-off-joni-mitchell-vs-bob-dylan|date=April 23, 2010|access-date=August 4, 2011|publisher=Flavorwire.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Joni Mitchell Library – The interviewer was an a**hole': Joni Mitchell clarifies her infamous 'plagiarist' charge against Bob Dylan: Something Else! (Website), June 29, 2013|url=https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=2632|access-date=April 23, 2021|website=jonimitchell.com}}</ref> Mitchell's comments led to discussions on Dylan's use of other people's material, both supporting and criticizing him.<ref>{{Cite news | url = http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/04/30/is-bob-dylan-a-phony.html | title = Is Bob Dylan a Phony?| author=Wilentz, Sean| author-link = Sean Wilentz | date = April 30, 2010| access-date=May 2, 2010| newspaper=The Daily Beast}}</ref> Talking to ] in ''Rolling Stone'' in 2012, Dylan responded to the allegation of plagiarism, including his use of Henry Timrod's verse in his album ''Modern Times'',<ref name="nytTimrod"/> by saying that it was "part of the tradition".<ref>{{cite magazine| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-unleashed-a-wild-ride-on-his-new-lp-and-striking-back-at-critics-20120927?page=7| title = Bob Dylan Unleashed| author = Gilmore, Mikal| date = September 27, 2012| access-date = January 11, 2013| magazine = Rolling Stone| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170902145251/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-unleashed-a-wild-ride-on-his-new-lp-and-striking-back-at-critics-20120927?page=7| archive-date = September 2, 2017| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref group="a">Dylan told Gilmore: "As far as Henry Timrod is concerned, have you even heard of him? Who's been reading him lately? And who's pushed him to the forefront? ... And if you think it's so easy to quote him and it can help your work, do it yourself and see how far you can get. Wussies and pussies complain about that stuff. It's an old thing—it's part of the tradition."</ref> | |||
Dylan's music has inspired artists in other fields. ] recalls how he and ] were inspired by the lines of "]" beginning "At midnight, all the agents/ And the superhuman crew...": <blockquote>It was a glimpse, a mere fragment of something; something ominous, paranoid and threatening. But something that showed that comics, like poetry or rock and roll or Bob Dylan himself, might feasibly become part of the greater cultural continuum. The lines must have also lodged in Alan's consciousness for, nearly twenty years later, Dylan's words eventually provided the title of the first issue of our comic book series ''].''</blockquote> Gibbons says of their seminal comic, "It began with Bob Dylan."<ref>{{cite book| last1=Gibbons| first1=Dave| last2=Moore| first2=Alan| chapter=Introduction| year=2013| orig-date=1986| title=]| publisher= DC Comics| isbn=9781401238964}}</ref> | |||
In 2007, ] released '']'', "inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan".<ref name="Variety-07">{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/i-m-not-there-3-1200556650/ |title=''I'm Not There'' |first=Todd |last=McCarthy |date=September 4, 2007 |access-date=September 10, 2009 |work=Variety |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820190547/http://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/i-m-not-there-3-1200556650/ |archive-date=August 20, 2013 }}</ref> The movie used six actors, ], ], ], ], ] and ], to explore different facets of Dylan's life.<ref name="Variety-07"/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/movies/21ther.html| title=I'm Not There (2007)| author=A. O. Scott| date=November 7, 2007| access-date=September 10, 2009| work=The New York Times}}</ref> Dylan's previously unreleased 1967 song from which the film takes its name<ref>Greil Marcus wrote: "There is nothing like 'I'm Not There' in the rest of the basement recordings, or anywhere else in Bob Dylan's career ... Very quickly the listener is drawn into the sickly embrace of the music, its wash of half-heard, half-formed words and the increasing bitterness and despair behind them. Words are floated together in a dyslexia that is music itself – a dyslexia that seems to prove the claims of music over words, to see just how little words can achieve." See Marcus, p. 198.</ref> was included on the ] along with covers of Dylan songs by such diverse artists as ], ] and ]. Irish playwright ] wrote and directed the musical ], which used Dylan's songs to tell the stories of various characters during the ] years, set in Dylan's birthplace, ]. The play premiered in London in 2017.<ref>{{cite news| last=Billinngton| first=Michael| title=Girl from the North Country review: Bob Dylan's songs are Depression-era dynamite| date= July 26, 2017| url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jul/27/girl-from-the-north-country-review-bob-dylan-conor-mcpherson| work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Brantley| first=Ben| title='Girl From the North Country' Review: Bob Dylan's Amazing Grace| work=]| date=March 6, 2020| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/theater/girl-from-the-north-country-review.html}}</ref> | |||
Dylan's rise to stardom, from his arrival in New York in 1961 to his ], is portrayed by actor ] in the feature film '']'', scheduled to open in the U.S. on December 25, 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ntim |first=Zac |date=July 24, 2024 |title='A Complete Unknown' Trailer: Timothée Chalamet Is A Singing, Smoking Bob Dylan In First Look At James Mangold's Musical Biopic |url=https://deadline.com/video/a-complete-unknown-trailer-timothee-chalamet-bob-dylan-james-mangold-elle-fanning-biopic/ |website=Deadline |language=en-US |access-date=November 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240724140356/https://deadline.com/video/a-complete-unknown-trailer-timothee-chalamet-bob-dylan-james-mangold-elle-fanning-biopic/|archive-date=July 24, 2024}}</ref> | |||
If Dylan's work in the 1960s was seen as bringing intellectual ambition to popular music,<ref name="Marqusee139"/> critics in the 21st century described him as a figure who had greatly expanded the folk culture from which he initially emerged. In his review of ''I'm Not There'', ] wrote: | |||
{{blockquote|Elvis might never have been born, but someone else would surely have brought the world rock 'n' roll. No such logic accounts for Bob Dylan. No iron law of history demanded that a would-be Elvis from Hibbing, Minnesota, would swerve through the Greenwich Village folk revival to become the world's first and greatest rock 'n' roll beatnik bard and then—having achieved fame and adoration beyond reckoning—vanish into a folk tradition of his own making.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-11-13/film/like-a-complete-unknown-i-m-not-there-and-the-changing-face-of-bob-dylan-on-film/| title = Like A Complete Unknown| author = Hoberman, J.| date = November 20, 2007| access-date = October 5, 2008| work = The Village Voice| url-status=dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080921114532/http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-11-13/film/like-a-complete-unknown-i-m-not-there-and-the-changing-face-of-bob-dylan-on-film/| archive-date = September 21, 2008| df = mdy-all}}</ref>}} | |||
== Archives and recognition == | |||
] | |||
The sale of ] of about 6,000 items of memorabilia to the ] and the ] was announced on March 2, 2016. It was reported the sale price was "an estimated $15 million to $20 million". The archive comprises notebooks, drafts of Dylan lyrics, recordings, and correspondence.<ref name =SisarioNYT>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/arts/music/bob-dylans-secret-archive.html|title=Bob Dylan's Secret Archive| author=Sisario, Ben| date=March 2, 2016| work=The New York Times| access-date=March 30, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/inside-bob-dylans-historic-new-tulsa-archive-its-an-endless-ocean-20160303| title=Inside Bob Dylan's Historic New Tulsa Archive: 'It's an Endless Ocean'| author=Greene, Andy| date=March 3, 2016| access-date=March 4, 2016| magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> To house the archive, the ] in ] opened on May 10, 2022.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-05-11/bob-dylan-center-museum-tulsa| title=In Tulsa, the new Bob Dylan museum reconsiders the legacies of an icon and a city| author=Smith, RJ| date=May 11, 2022| access-date=May 15, 2022| newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.archpaper.com/2022/05/olson-kundig-transforms-tulsa-warehouse-into-museum-devoted-to-the-life-and-work-bob-dylan/|title=Simple Twist of Tulsa| author=Gunts, Edward| date=May 18, 2022| access-date=May 19, 2022|newspaper=The Architect's newspaper}}</ref> | |||
In 2005, 7th Avenue East in Hibbing, Minnesota, the street on which Dylan lived from ages 6 to 18, received the honorary name Bob Dylan Drive.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/bob-dylan-finally-honoured-by-his-home-town-493053.html| title = Bob Dylan finally honoured by his home town| author = Buncombe, Andrew| date = June 3, 2005| access-date=March 30, 2017| work = The Independent}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/12/09/bob-dylans-hometown-of-hibbing-struggles-with-how-to-honor-its-most-famous-son |title=Bob Dylan's hometown of Hibbing struggles with how to honor its most famous son|website=Mprnews.org |date=December 9, 2016 |access-date=March 30, 2017}}</ref> In 2006, a cultural pathway, Bob Dylan Way, was inaugurated in Duluth, Minnesota, where Dylan was born. The 1.8-mile path links "cultural and historically significant areas of downtown for the tourists".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.bobdylanway.com/path.php| title = Bob Dylan Way| date = June 1, 2006| access-date = March 30, 2017| publisher = bobdylanway.com| archive-date = March 30, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170330180211/http://www.bobdylanway.com/path.php| url-status = dead}}</ref> | |||
In 2015, a 160-foot-wide Dylan mural by Brazilian street artist ] was unveiled in downtown Minneapolis.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/09/08/kobra-dylan-mural| title = Towering, kaleidoscopic Dylan mural is now complete| author = Kerr, Euan| date = September 8, 2015| access-date=March 30, 2017| publisher = mprnews.org}}</ref> | |||
In December 2013, the ] which Dylan had played at the ] fetched $965,000, the second highest price paid for a guitar.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25273104| title=Bob Dylan's Fender Stratocaster sells for nearly $1m| date=December 6, 2013| access-date=June 24, 2014| work=BBC News}}</ref> In June 2014, Dylan's hand-written lyrics of "Like a Rolling Stone" fetched $2 million at auction, a record for a popular music manuscript.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28009344| title=Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone lyrics fetch $2m record| date=June 24, 2014| access-date=June 24, 2014| work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/handwritten-manuscripts-for-dylans-like-a-rolling-stone-to-be-auctioned/?_php=true&_type=blogs|title=Dylan's Handwritten Lyrics to 'Like a Rolling Stone' to Be Auctioned|author=Kozinn, Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=April 30, 2014|access-date=June 24, 2014|work=The New York Times}}</ref> | |||
==Visual art== | |||
Dylan's visual art was first seen by the public via a painting he contributed for the cover of ]'s '']'' album in 1968.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sutherland|first1=Sam|title=The Band's Pioneering 'Music From Big Pink'|url=https://bestclassicbands.com/band-big-pink-review-5-21-188/|access-date=June 8, 2021|website=Best Classic Bands|date=July 5, 2020|language=en-GB}}</ref> The cover of Dylan's own 1970 album ] features the painting of a human face by Dylan.<ref>Bell, 2012, ''Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan.'' p. 524.</ref> More of Dylan's artwork was revealed with the 1973 publication of his book '']''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Writings And Drawings by Bob Dylan|url=https://www.bobdylan-comewritersandcritics.com/pages/books/writings-drawings-proof-copy.htm|access-date=June 8, 2021|website=www.bobdylan-comewritersandcritics.com}}</ref> The cover of Dylan's 1974 album '']'' again featured one of his paintings. In 1994 ] published ''Drawn Blank'', a book of Dylan's drawings.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Bob|last=Dylan|title=Drawn Blank |publisher= ]|year=1994|isbn= 978-0-679-41788-0}}</ref> In 2007, the first public exhibition of Dylan's paintings, ''The Drawn Blank Series'', opened at the Kunstsammlungen in ], Germany;<ref name="EncyclopediaDrawn"/> it showcased more than 200 watercolors and ]s made from the original drawings. The exhibition coincided with the publication of ''Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series'', which includes 170 reproductions from the series.<ref name="EncyclopediaDrawn">{{cite web|last=Gray|first=Michael|title=Dylan's Drawn Blank Paintings Exhibition|url=http://bobdylanencyclopedia.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/dylans-drawn-blank-paintings-exhibition.html|publisher=BobDylanEncyclopediablogspot.com|access-date=June 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="NYTimesArtist">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/books/review/Pessl-t.html | last = Pessl | first = Marsha | title = When I Paint My Masterpiece | work=] | date = June 1, 2008 | access-date=October 20, 2010}}</ref> From September 2010 until April 2011, the ] exhibited 40 large-scale acrylic paintings by Dylan, ''The Brazil Series''.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/bob-dylan-paintings-at-danish-national-gallery-2068935.html| title = Bob Dylan paintings at Danish National Gallery| author=Battersby, Matilda| date = September 2, 2010| access-date=September 9, 2010| work=The Independent| location=London}}</ref> | |||
In July 2011, a leading contemporary art gallery, ], announced their representation of Dylan's paintings.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/news/artnetnews/bob-dylan-gagosian-gallery.asp| title = Dylan at Gagosian Gallery| author = Corbett, Rachel| date = July 27, 2011| access-date=July 31, 2011| publisher = artnet.com}}</ref> An exhibition of Dylan's art, ''The Asia Series'', opened at the Gagosian Madison Avenue Gallery on September 20, displaying Dylan's paintings of scenes in China and the Far East.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/bob-dylan---september-20-2011| title = Bob Dylan: The Asia Series| date = September 10, 2011| access-date = December 12, 2012| publisher = gagosian.com| archive-date = September 15, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170915035034/http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/bob-dylan---september-20-2011| url-status = dead}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' reported that "some fans and Dylanologists have raised questions about whether some of these paintings are based on the singer's own experiences and observations, or on photographs that are widely available and were not taken by Mr. Dylan". ''The Times'' pointed to close resemblances between Dylan's paintings and historic photos of Japan and China, and photos taken by ] and ].<ref>{{cite news| url = http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/questions-raised-about-dylan-show-at-gagosian/| title = Questions Raised About Dylan Show at Gagosian| author = Itzkoff, Dave| date = September 26, 2011| access-date=September 27, 2011| work = The New York Times}}</ref> Art critic ] has defended Dylan's artistic practice, arguing: "Ever since the birth of photography, painters have used it as the basis for their works: ] and ] and other favorite artists—even ]—all took or used photos as sources for their art, sometimes barely altering them".<ref>{{Cite news| url = https://www.thedailybeast.com/bob-dylan-accused-of-plagiarizing-famous-photos-in-his-new-art-show| title = Bob Dylan Accused of Plagiarizing Famous Photos in His New Art Show| author = Gopnik, Blake| date = September 28, 2011| access-date = April 13, 2018| publisher = thedailybeast.com| newspaper = The Daily Beast}}</ref> The ] confirmed that Dylan had licensed the reproduction rights of these photographs.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2011/10/01/bob-dylan-paid-to-license-asia-series-photos-magnum-says/| title = Bob Dylan Paid to License ''Asia Series'' Photos, Magnum Says| date = October 1, 2011| access-date = October 4, 2011| work = Art+Auction| url-status=dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111007073205/http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2011/10/01/bob-dylan-paid-to-license-asia-series-photos-magnum-says/| archive-date = October 7, 2011| df = mdy-all}}</ref> | |||
Dylan's second show at the Gagosian Gallery, ''Revisionist Art'', opened in November 2012. The show consisted of thirty paintings, transforming and satirizing popular magazines, including '']'' and '']''.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/bob-dylan--november-28-2012| title = Gagosian Gallery artists: Bob Dylan| date = November 20, 2012| access-date = December 12, 2012| publisher = gagosian.com| archive-date = March 15, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180315182615/https://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/bob-dylan--november-28-2012| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/arts/design/revisionist-art-thirty-works-by-bob-dylan.html| title = Revisionist Art: Thirty Works by Bob Dylan| author = Smith, Roberta| date = December 13, 2012| access-date=December 14, 2012| work = The New York Times}}</ref> In February 2013, Dylan exhibited the ''New Orleans Series'' of paintings at the ] in Milan.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/02/06/bob-dylans-new-orleans-se_n_2629294.html| title = Bob Dylan's 'New Orleans Series' Goes On Display In Milan| author = Parker, Sam| date = February 6, 2013| access-date=February 9, 2013| work = HuffPost}}</ref> In August 2013, Britain's ] in London hosted Dylan's first major UK exhibition, ''Face Value'', featuring twelve pastel portraits.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/bob-dylan-face-value-national-portrait-gallery| title = Bob Dylan: Face Value, National Portrait Gallery| author = Güner, Fisun| date = August 24, 2013| access-date=August 26, 2013| publisher = TheArtsDesk.com}}</ref> | |||
In November 2013, the ] in London mounted ''Mood Swings'', an exhibition in which Dylan displayed seven wrought iron gates he had made. In a statement released by the gallery, Dylan said, <blockquote>I've been around iron all my life ever since I was a kid. I was born and raised in iron ore country, where you could breathe it and smell it every day. Gates appeal to me because of the negative space they allow. They can be closed but at the same time they allow the seasons and breezes to enter and flow. They can shut you out or shut you in. And in some ways there is no difference.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.artlyst.com/articles/the-legendary-bob-dylan-unveils-seven-iron-gates-sculpture| title = The Legendary Bob Dylan Unveils Seven Iron Gates Sculpture| date = September 24, 2013| access-date=November 16, 2013 | |||
| publisher = artlyst.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.halcyongallery.com/exhibitions/bob-dylan-mood-swings| title = Mood Swings | |||
| date = November 1, 2013| access-date=November 16, 2013| publisher = Halcyon Gallery}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
In November 2016, the Halcyon Gallery featured a collection of drawings, watercolors and acrylic works by Dylan. The exhibition, ''The Beaten Path'', depicted American landscapes and urban scenes, inspired by Dylan's travels across the US.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://halcyongallery.cld.bz/Bob-Dylan-The-Beaten-Path/6#6| title = ''The Beaten Path''| author = Dylan, Bob| date = November 5, 2016| access-date=December 2, 2016| publisher = Halcyon Gallery}}</ref> The show was reviewed by '']'' and '']''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://asiatimes.com/bob-dylans-visual-art-important-ode-america/|title=Bob Dylan's visual art is an important ode to America|last=Wilentz|first=Sean|date=November 5, 2016|website=Asia Times Online|access-date=November 16, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://asiatimes.com/article/bob-dylan-headed-back-china-canvas/|title=Bob Dylan is headed back to China – on canvas|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=November 5, 2016|website=Asia Times Online|access-date=November 16, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://vanityfair.com/culture/2016/11/why-bob-dylan-paints|title=In His Own Words: Why Bob Dylan Paints|last=Dylan|first=Bob|date=November 2, 2016|magazine=Vanity Fair|access-date=November 16, 2016}}</ref> In October 2018, the Halcyon Gallery mounted an exhibition of Dylan's drawings, ''Mondo Scripto''. The works consisted of Dylan hand-written lyrics of his songs, with each song illustrated by a drawing.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.halcyongallery.com/exhibitions/14-mondo-scripto-bob-dylan/| title = Bob Dylan, Mondo Scripto, 09 Oct 2018 – 23 Dec 2018| date = September 10, 2018| access-date = December 1, 2021| publisher = halcyongallery.com}}</ref> | |||
''Retrospectrum'', the largest retrospective of Dylan's visual art to date, consisting of over 250 works in a variety of media, debuted at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bob Dylan's 'Retrospectrum' debuts at the Modern Art Museum, Shanghai|url=https://www.halcyongallery.com/news/10-bob-dylan-s-retrospectrum-debuts-at-the-modern-art/|access-date=June 8, 2021|website=Halcyon Gallery|language=en}}</ref> Building on the exhibition in China, a version of ''Retrospectrum'', which includes a new series of paintings, "Deep Focus", drawn from film imagery,<ref>{{cite web|title=Dylan Transfigured: Deep Focus |url=https://artreview.com/dylan-transfigured-deep-focus/| author = Richard F. Thomas| authorlink= Richard F. Thomas| date = December 21, 2021| access-date = December 24, 2021|website=artreview.com|language=en}}</ref> opened at the ] in Miami on November 30, 2021.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/bob-dylan-artwork-show-opens-in-miami-new-cinema-paintings/2021/11/27/f7f2e35a-4f94-11ec-a7b8-9ed28bf23929_story.html| title = Bob Dylan artwork show opens in Miami, new cinema paintings| author = Licon, Adriana| date = November 27, 2021| access-date = December 1, 2021| newspaper = The Washington Post}}</ref> | |||
Since 1994, Dylan has published ].<ref>''Drawn Blank'', Random House (November 15, 1994); ''Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series'', Prestel (March 31, 2008); ''Bob Dylan: The Brazil Series'', Prestel (October 25, 2010); ''Bob Dylan: The Asia Series'', Gagosian Gallery (October 12, 2011); ''Revisionist Art: Thirty Works by Bob Dylan'', Harry N. Abrams (March 26, 2013); ''Bob Dylan: Face Value'', National Portrait Gallery (February 28, 2014); ''The Beaten Path'', Halcyon Gallery (November 5, 2016); ''Mondo Scripto'', Halcyon Gallery, (October 1, 2018); ''Bob Dylan: Retrospectrum'', Skira Editore, (March 1, 2023)</ref> In November 2022, Dylan apologized for using an ] to sign books and artwork which were subsequently sold as "hand-signed" since 2019.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.facebook.com/bobdylan/posts/697295788427537 | title = To my fans and followers| author = Dylan, Bob| date = November 26, 2022| access-date = November 29, 2022| website = Facebook}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=November 28, 2022 |title=Bob Dylan apologises for machine-printed 'signatures' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63779904 |access-date=November 28, 2022}}</ref> | |||
In 2024 an abstract painting by Dylan from the late 1960s sold at auction for approximately $200,000. The painting was originally given to a relative of the seller in exchange for an astrology chart.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Spanos |first=Brittany |date=May 28, 2024 |title=Rare Bob Dylan Painting Fetches Nearly $200K at Auction |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rare-bob-dylan-painting-sells-nearly-200k-at-auction-1235028375/ |access-date=August 9, 2024 |magazine=] |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
==Written works== | |||
{{Main|Bob Dylan bibliography}} | |||
Dylan has published ], a work of ]; '']'', the first part of his memoirs; several books of the lyrics of his songs, and nine books of his art. Dylan's third full length book, '']'', which contains 66 essays on songs by other artists, was published on November 1, 2022. Dylan has also been the subject of numerous biographies and critical studies. | |||
==Discography== | |||
{{Main|Bob Dylan discography|List of songs written by Bob Dylan}} | |||
{{Div col|colwidth=25em}} | |||
* '']'' (1962) | |||
* '']'' (1963) | |||
* '']'' (1964) | |||
* '']'' (1964) | |||
* '']'' (1965) | |||
* '']'' (1965) | |||
* '']'' (1966) | |||
* '']'' (1967) | |||
* '']'' (1969) | |||
* '']'' (1970) | |||
* '']'' (1970) | |||
* '']'' (1973) | |||
* '']'' (1973) | |||
* '']'' (1974) | |||
* '']'' (1975) | |||
* '']'' (1975) | |||
* '']'' (1976) | |||
* '']'' (1978) | |||
* '']'' (1979) | |||
* '']'' (1980) | |||
* '']'' (1981) | |||
* '']'' (1983) | |||
* '']'' (1985) | |||
* '']'' (1986) | |||
* '']'' (1988) | |||
* '']'' (1989) | |||
* '']'' (1990) | |||
* '']'' (1992) | |||
* '']'' (1993) | |||
* '']'' (1997) | |||
* '']'' (2001) | |||
* '']'' (2006) | |||
* '']'' (2009) | |||
* '']'' (2009) | |||
* '']'' (2012) | |||
* '']'' (2015) | |||
* '']'' (2016) | |||
* '']'' (2017) | |||
* '']'' (2020) | |||
* '']'' (2023) | |||
{{div col end}} | |||
== Notes == | |||
{{reflist|group=a|colwidth=30em}} | |||
== References == | |||
=== Citations === | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
=== Sources === | |||
{{div col|colwidth=30em}} | |||
* {{Cite book |editor-first=Derek |editor-last=Barker |title=Bob Dylan Anthology, Volume 3 |publisher=Red Planet Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-912733-94-1}} | |||
* {{Cite book |editor-first=John |editor-last=Bauldie |title=Wanted Man: In Search of Bob Dylan |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-14-015361-3}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=The |last=Beatles |title=The Beatles Anthology |publisher=Cassell & Co. |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-304-35605-8}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Ian |last=Bell |title=Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan |publisher=Mainstream Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-78057-573-5}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Ian |last=Bell |title=Time Out of Mind: The Lives of Bob Dylan |publisher=Mainstream Publishing |year=2013 |isbn=9781780575773}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Nik |last=Cohn |title=Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom |publisher=Paladin |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-586-08014-6}} | |||
* {{Cite book |editor-first=Jonathan |editor-last=Cott |title=Dylan on Dylan: The Essential Interviews |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-340-92312-2}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Bob |last=Dylan |title=Chronicles: Volume One |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7432-2815-2 |title-link=Chronicles: Volume One}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Sue |last=Fishkoff |title=The Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch |publisher=Schocken Books |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8052-1138-2}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Bill |last=Flanagan |title=Written In My Soul |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-7119-2224-2}} | |||
* {{Cite book |editor-first=Ben |editor-last=Fong-Torres |title=The Rolling Stone Interviews |volume=2 |publisher=Warner Paperback Library |year=1973}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Andy |last=Gill |title=Classic Bob Dylan: My Back Pages |publisher=Carlton |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-85868-599-1}} | |||
* {{cite book |first1=Andy |last1=Gill |first2=Kevin |last2=Odegard |title=A Simple Twist Of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks |url=https://archive.org/details/simpletwistoffat00gill |url-access=registration |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-306-81413-6}} | |||
* {{Gilliland |show=31 |title=Ballad in Plain D: An introduction to the Bob Dylan era}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Michael |last=Gray |author-link=Michael Gray (author) |title=Song & Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan |publisher=Continuum International |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8264-5150-7}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Michael |last=Gray |title=The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia |publisher=Continuum International |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8264-6933-5 |title-link=The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=David |last=Hajdu |author-link=David Hajdu |title=Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina |publisher=Farrar Straus Giroux |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-374-28199-1}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Todd |last=Harvey |title=The Formative Dylan: Transmission & Stylistic Influences, 1961–1963 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8108-4115-4}} | |||
* {{Cite book |editor-first=Benjamin |editor-last=Hedin |title=Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co. |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-393-32742-7}} | |||
* {{Cite book |title=This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band |last=Helm |first=Levon |author-link=Levon Helm |others=Stephen Davis |year=2000 |publisher=a capella |isbn=978-1-55652-405-9}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |author-link=Clinton Heylin |title=Saved!: The Gospel Speeches of Bob Dylan |publisher=Hanuman Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-937815-38-0}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title=Bob Dylan: A Life In Stolen Moments |publisher=Book Sales |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7119-5669-8}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title=Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades: Take Two |publisher=Viking |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-670-88506-0}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title=Revolution In The Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, Volume One: 1957–73 |publisher=Constable |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-84901-051-1}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title=Still On The Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan, Volume Two: 1974–2008 |publisher=Constable |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84901-011-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutioninairs0000heyl}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title=Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades: 20th Anniversary Edition |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-571-27240-2}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title=The Double Life of Bob Dylan: Volume I: 1941–1966 A Restless, Hungry Feeling |publisher=Bodley Head |year=2021 |isbn=978-1847925886}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Clinton |last=Heylin |title= The Double Life of Bob Dylan: Volume 2: 1966–2021 Far Away From Myself |publisher=Bodley Head |year=2023 |isbn=978-1529923797}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Barney |last=Hoskyns |author-link=Barney Hoskyns |title=Across The Great Divide: The Band and America |publisher=Viking |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-670-84144-8}} | |||
*{{Cite book |first=Philip|last=Larkin|author-link=Philip Larkin |title=All What Jazz: A Record Diary |publisher=Faber & Faber|year=1985 |isbn=0-571-13476-9}} | |||
* {{Cite book |editor-first=Sean |editor-last=Latham |title=The World of Bob Dylan |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-108-49951-4}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=C. P. |last=Lee |author-link=CP Lee |title=Like a Bullet of Light: The Films of Bob Dylan |publisher=Helter Skelter |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-900924-06-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/likebulletofligh00cple}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Greil |last=Marcus |author-link=Greil Marcus |title=The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes |publisher=Picador |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-312-42043-7 |title-link=Invisible Republic (book)}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Greil |last=Marcus |author-link=Greil Marcus |title=Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-571-22385-5}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Mike |last=Marqusee |title=Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s |publisher=Seven Stories Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-58322-686-5}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Scott |last=Marshall |title=Restless Pilgrim: The Spiritual Journey of Bob Dylan |publisher=Relevant Books |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-9714576-2-1}} | |||
* {{citation |editor-first=Jim |editor-last=Miller |title=The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll |publisher=Picador |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-330-26568-3 |ref=none}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Andrew |last=Muir |title=Razor's Edge: Bob Dylan & the Never Ending Tour |publisher=Helter Skelter |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-900924-13-9}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Mark |last=Polizzotti |title=Highway 61 Revisited |publisher=Continuum |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8264-1775-6}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Christopher |last=Ricks |title=Dylan's Visions of Sin |publisher=Penguin/Viking |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-670-80133-6}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Robbie |last=Robertson |author-link=Robbie Robertson |title=Testimony |publisher=William Heinemann |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-78515-106-4}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Anthony |last=Scaduto |title=Bob Dylan |publisher=Helter Skelter |year=2001 |orig-year=1972 |isbn=978-1-900924-23-8}} | |||
* {{Cite book |editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Schumacher |title=First Thought: Conversations with Allen Ginsberg |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-8166-9917-9}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Robert |last=Shelton |title=No Direction Home |publisher=New English Library |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-450-04843-2}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Robert |last=Shelton |title=No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan, Revised and updated edition |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-84938-911-2}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Sam |last=Shepard |title=Rolling Thunder Logbook |publisher=Da Capo |year=2004 |edition=reissue |isbn=978-0-306-81371-9}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Howard |last=Sounes |title=Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan |publisher=Grove Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8021-1686-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/downhighwaylifeo0000soun}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Richard |last=Williams |title=Dylan: A Man Called Alias |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-7475-1084-0}} | |||
* {{Cite book |first=Nigel |last=Williamson |title=The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-84353-139-5}} | |||
{{div col end}} | |||
==External links== | |||
{{sister project links|d=Q392|c=Category:Bob Dylan|q=Bob Dylan|n=Category:Bob Dylan|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}} | |||
{{Spoken Misplaced Pages|Bobdylanpart1.ogg|date=November 6, 2008}} | |||
* {{Official website}} | |||
* – Dylan news and events, updated daily | |||
* – Comprehensive log of concerts and set lists | |||
* – Information on recording sessions and performances | |||
* {{IMDb name|1168|Bob Dylan}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 01:09, 27 December 2024
American singer-songwriter (born 1941) This article is about the musician. For his debut album, see Bob Dylan (album).
Bob Dylan | |
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Dylan in 2019 | |
Born | Robert Allen Zimmerman (1941-05-24) May 24, 1941 (age 83) Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. |
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Years active | 1957–present |
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Children | 6, including Jesse and Jakob |
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Website | bobdylan |
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Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60-year career. With an estimated figure of more than 125 million records sold he is one of the best-selling musicians of all-time. A counter culture figure, he started his career as a folk singer before transitioning with blues and rock and roll. He is known for his lyrical innovations, technical experimentations and influence in the music industry.
Dylan was born and raised in St. Louis County, Minnesota. He rose to prominence in the 1960s influenced by Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, and Robert Johnson. Following his self-titled debut album of traditional folk songs in 1962, he made his breakthrough with The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). The album featured "Girl from the North Country" and "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", which adapted the tunes and phrasing of older folk songs. His songs "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements.
In 1965 and 1966, Dylan drew controversy among folk purists when he adopted electrically amplified rock instrumentation, and in the space of 15 months recorded three of the most influential rock albums of the 1960s: Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited (both 1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966). Dylan's move from acoustic folk and blues music to rock contributed to the development of folk rock, as his musical and lyrical output grew in complexity. His six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965) expanded commercial and creative boundaries in popular music.
In July 1966, a motorcycle crash led Dylan to cease touring. During this period, he recorded a large body of songs with members of the Band which produced the album The Basement Tapes (1975). He released country music albums John Wesley Harding (1967), Nashville Skyline (1969) and New Morning (1970). He gained acclaim for Blood on the Tracks (1975), and Time Out of Mind (1997), the later of which earned him the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Dylan still releases music and has toured continuously since the late 1980s on what has become known as the Never Ending Tour. Since 1994, Dylan has published nine books of paintings and drawings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries.
Over his career he has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, ten Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award as well as a nomination for BAFTA Award. He was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997, National Medal of Arts in 2009, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has also been awarded with a Pulitzer Prize special citation in 2008, and Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.
Early life and education
Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman (Hebrew: שבתאי זיסל בן אברהם Shabtai Zisl ben Avraham) in St. Mary's Hospital on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota. Dylan's paternal grandparents, Anna Kirghiz and Zigman Zimmerman, emigrated from Odessa in the Russian Empire (now Odesa, Ukraine) to the United States, following the 1905 pogroms against Jews. His maternal grandparents, Florence and Ben Stone, were Lithuanian Jews who had arrived in the United States in 1902. Dylan wrote that his paternal grandmother's family was originally from the Kağızman district of Kars Province in northeastern Turkey.
Dylan's father Abram Zimmerman and his mother Beatrice "Beatty" Stone were part of a small, close-knit Jewish community. They lived in Duluth until Dylan was six, when his father contracted polio and the family returned to his mother's hometown of Hibbing, where they lived for the rest of Dylan's childhood, and his father and paternal uncles ran a furniture and appliance store.
In the early 1950s Dylan listened to the Grand Ole Opry radio show and heard the songs of Hank Williams. He later wrote: "The sound of his voice went through me like an electric rod." Dylan was also impressed by the delivery of Johnnie Ray: "He was the first singer whose voice and style, I guess, I totally fell in love with… I loved his style, wanted to dress like him too." As a teenager, Dylan heard rock and roll on radio stations broadcasting from Shreveport and Little Rock.
Dylan formed several bands while attending Hibbing High School. In the Golden Chords, he performed covers of songs by Little Richard and Elvis Presley. Their performance of Danny & the Juniors' "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" at their high school talent show was so loud that the principal cut the microphone. In 1959, Dylan's high school yearbook carried the caption "Robert Zimmerman: to join 'Little Richard'". That year, as Elston Gunnn, he performed two dates with Bobby Vee, playing piano and clapping. In September 1959, Dylan enrolled at the University of Minnesota. Living at the Jewish-centric fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu house, Dylan began to perform at the Ten O'Clock Scholar, a coffeehouse a few blocks from campus, and became involved in the Dinkytown folk music circuit. His focus on rock and roll gave way to American folk music, as he explained in a 1985 interview:
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.
During this period, he began to introduce himself as "Bob Dylan". In his memoir, he wrote that he considered adopting the surname Dillon before unexpectedly seeing poems by Dylan Thomas, and deciding upon the given name spelling. In a 2004 interview, he said, "You're born, you know, the wrong names, wrong parents. I mean, that happens. You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free."
Career
1960–1962: Relocation to New York and stardom
In May 1960, Dylan dropped out of college at the end of his first year. In January 1961, he traveled to New York City to perform and visit his musical idol Woody Guthrie at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. Guthrie had been a revelation to Dylan and influenced his early performances. He wrote of Guthrie's impact: "The songs themselves had the infinite sweep of humanity in them... was the true voice of the American spirit. I said to myself I was going to be Guthrie's greatest disciple". In addition to visiting Guthrie, Dylan befriended his protégé Ramblin' Jack Elliott.
From February 1961, Dylan played at clubs around Greenwich Village, befriending and picking up material from folk singers, including Dave Van Ronk, Fred Neil, Odetta, the New Lost City Ramblers and Irish musicians the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In September, The New York Times critic Robert Shelton boosted Dylan's career with a very enthusiastic review of his performance at Gerde's Folk City: "Bob Dylan: A Distinctive Folk-Song Stylist". That month, Dylan played harmonica on folk singer Carolyn Hester's third album, bringing him to the attention of the album's producer John Hammond, who signed Dylan to Columbia Records. Dylan's debut album, Bob Dylan, released March 19, 1962, consisted of traditional folk, blues and gospel material with just two original compositions, "Talkin' New York" and "Song to Woody". The album sold 5,000 copies in its first year, just breaking even.
In August 1962, Dylan changed his name to Bob Dylan, and signed a management contract with Albert Grossman. Grossman remained Dylan's manager until 1970, and was known for his sometimes confrontational personality and protective loyalty. Dylan said, "He was kind of like a Colonel Tom Parker figure ... you could smell him coming." Tension between Grossman and John Hammond led to the latter suggesting Dylan work with the jazz producer Tom Wilson, who produced several tracks for the second album without formal credit. Wilson produced the next three albums Dylan recorded.
Dylan made his first trip to the United Kingdom from December 1962 to January 1963. He had been invited by television director Philip Saville to appear in Madhouse on Castle Street, which Saville was directing for BBC Television. At the end of the play, Dylan performed "Blowin' in the Wind", one of its first public performances. While in London, Dylan performed at London folk clubs, including the Troubadour, Les Cousins, and Bunjies. He also learned material from UK performers, including Martin Carthy.
By the release of Dylan's second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, in May 1963, he had begun to make his name as a singer-songwriter. Many songs on the album were labeled protest songs, inspired partly by Guthrie and influenced by Pete Seeger's topical songs. "Oxford Town" was an account of James Meredith's ordeal as the first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. The first song on the album, "Blowin' in the Wind", partly derived its melody from the traditional slave song "No More Auction Block", while its lyrics questioned the social and political status quo. The song was widely recorded by other artists and became a hit for Peter, Paul and Mary. "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" was based on the folk ballad "Lord Randall". With its apocalyptic premonitions, the song gained resonance when the Cuban Missile Crisis developed a few weeks after Dylan began performing it. Both songs marked a new direction in songwriting, blending a stream-of-consciousness, imagist lyrical attack with traditional folk form.
Dylan's topical songs led to his being viewed as more than just a songwriter. Janet Maslin wrote of Freewheelin':
These were the songs that established as the voice of his generation—someone who implicitly understood how concerned young Americans felt about nuclear disarmament and the growing Civil Rights Movement: his mixture of moral authority and nonconformity was perhaps the most timely of his attributes.
Freewheelin' also included love songs and surreal talking blues. Humor was an important part of Dylan's persona, and the range of material on the album impressed listeners, including the Beatles. George Harrison said of the album: "We just played it, just wore it out. The content of the song lyrics and just the attitude—it was incredibly original and wonderful".
The rough edge of Dylan's singing unsettled some but attracted others. Author Joyce Carol Oates wrote: "When we first heard this raw, very young, and seemingly untrained voice, frankly nasal, as if sandpaper could sing, the effect was dramatic and electrifying". Many early songs reached the public through more palatable versions by other performers, such as Joan Baez, who became Dylan's advocate and lover. Baez was influential in bringing Dylan to prominence by recording several of his early songs and inviting him on stage during her concerts. Others who had hits with Dylan's songs in the early 1960s included the Byrds, Sonny & Cher, the Hollies, the Association, Manfred Mann and the Turtles.
"Mixed-Up Confusion", recorded during the Freewheelin' sessions with a backing band, was released as Dylan's first single in December 1962, but then swiftly withdrawn. In contrast to the mostly solo acoustic performances on the album, the single showed a willingness to experiment with a rockabilly sound. Cameron Crowe described it as "a fascinating look at a folk artist with his mind wandering towards Elvis Presley and Sun Records".
1963–1965: Protest music and Another Side
"The Times They Are a-Changin'" Dylan said of "The Times They Are a-Changin'": "This was definitely a song with a purpose. I wanted to write a big song, some kind of theme song, with short concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way. The civil rights movement and the folk music movement were pretty close and allied together at that time."Problems playing this file? See media help.
In May 1963, Dylan's political profile rose when he walked out of The Ed Sullivan Show. During rehearsals, Dylan had been told by CBS television's head of program practices that "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" was potentially libelous to the John Birch Society. Rather than comply with censorship, Dylan refused to appear.
Dylan and Baez were prominent in the civil rights movement, singing together at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Dylan performed "Only a Pawn in Their Game" and "When the Ship Comes In".
Dylan's third album, The Times They Are a-Changin', reflected a more politicized Dylan. The songs often took as their subject matter contemporary stories, with "Only a Pawn in Their Game" addressing the murder of civil rights worker Medgar Evers, and the Brechtian "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" the death of Black hotel barmaid Hattie Carroll at the hands of young White socialite William Zantzinger. "Ballad of Hollis Brown" and "North Country Blues" addressed despair engendered by the breakdown of farming and mining communities.
The final track on the album expressed Dylan's angry response to a hostile profile published in Newsweek. As biographer Clinton Heylin puts it, the profile wrote about "the way the Bar Mitzvah boy from Hibbing, Minnesota, had reinvented himself as the prince of protest", emphasising his birth name Robert Zimmerman, his attendance at the University of Minnesota and his close relationship with his parents whom he claimed to be estranged from. The day after the article appeared, Dylan returned to the studio to record "Restless Farewell" which ends with his vow to "make my stand/ And remain as I am/ And bid farewell and not give a damn".
By the end of 1963, Dylan felt manipulated and constrained by the folk and protest movements. Accepting the "Tom Paine Award" from the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, an intoxicated Dylan questioned the role of the committee, characterized the members as old and balding, and claimed to see something of himself and of every man in Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.
Another Side of Bob Dylan, recorded in a single evening on June 9, 1964, had a lighter mood. The humorous Dylan reemerged on "I Shall Be Free No. 10" and "Motorpsycho Nightmare". "Spanish Harlem Incident" and "To Ramona" are passionate love songs, while "Black Crow Blues" and "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" suggest the rock and roll soon to dominate Dylan's music. "It Ain't Me Babe", on the surface a song about spurned love, has been described as a rejection of the role of political spokesman thrust upon him. His new direction was signaled by two lengthy songs: the impressionistic "Chimes of Freedom", which sets social commentary against a metaphorical landscape in a style characterized by Allen Ginsberg as "chains of flashing images," and "My Back Pages", which attacks the simplistic and arch seriousness of his own earlier topical songs and seems to predict the backlash he was about to encounter from his former champions.
In the latter half of 1964 and into 1965, Dylan moved from folk songwriter to folk-rock pop-music star. His jeans and work shirts were replaced by a Carnaby Street wardrobe, sunglasses day or night, and pointed "Beatle boots". A London reporter noted "Hair that would set the teeth of a comb on edge. A loud shirt that would dim the neon lights of Leicester Square. He looks like an undernourished cockatoo." Dylan began to spar with interviewers. Asked about a movie he planned while on Les Crane's television show, he told Crane it would be a "cowboy horror movie." Asked if he played the cowboy, Dylan replied, "No, I play my mother."
1965–1969: Going electric and motorcycle accident
Main articles: Electric Dylan controversy and Folk rockDylan's late March 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home was another leap, featuring his first recordings with electric instruments, under producer Tom Wilson's guidance. The first single, "Subterranean Homesick Blues", owed much to Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business"; its free-association lyrics described as harking back to the energy of beat poetry and as a forerunner of rap and hip-hop. The song was provided with an early music video, which opened D. A. Pennebaker's cinéma vérité presentation of Dylan's 1965 British tour, Dont Look Back. Instead of miming, Dylan illustrated the lyrics by throwing cue cards containing key words on the ground. Pennebaker said the sequence was Dylan's idea, and it has been imitated in music videos and advertisements.
The second side of Bringing It All Back Home contained four long songs on which Dylan accompanied himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica. "Mr. Tambourine Man" became one of his best-known songs when The Byrds recorded an electric version that reached number one in the US and UK. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" were two of Dylan's most important compositions.
In 1965, headlining the Newport Folk Festival, Dylan performed his first electric set since high school with a pickup group featuring Mike Bloomfield on guitar and Al Kooper on organ. Dylan had appeared at Newport in 1963 and 1964, but in 1965 was met with cheering and booing and left the stage after three songs. One version has it that the boos were from folk fans whom Dylan had alienated by appearing, unexpectedly, with an electric guitar. Murray Lerner, who filmed the performance, said: "I absolutely think that they were booing Dylan going electric." An alternative account claims audience members were upset by poor sound and a short set.
Dylan's performance provoked a hostile response from the folk music establishment. In the September issue of Sing Out!, Ewan MacColl wrote: "Our traditional songs and ballads are the creations of extraordinarily talented artists working inside disciplines formulated over time ...'But what of Bobby Dylan?' scream the outraged teenagers ... Only a completely non-critical audience, nourished on the watery pap of pop music, could have fallen for such tenth-rate drivel". On July 29, four days after Newport, Dylan was back in the studio in New York, recording "Positively 4th Street". The lyrics contained images of vengeance and paranoia, and have been interpreted as Dylan's put-down of former friends from the folk community he had known in clubs along West 4th Street.
Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde
"Like a Rolling Stone" Dylan's 1965 hit single, which appeared on the album Highway 61 Revisited. In 2004, it was chosen as the greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.Problems playing this file? See media help.
In July 1965, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" peaked at number two in the US chart. In 2004 and in 2011, Rolling Stone listed it as number one on "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Bruce Springsteen recalled first hearing the song: "that snare shot sounded like somebody'd kicked open the door to your mind." The song opened Dylan's next album, Highway 61 Revisited, named after the road that led from Dylan's Minnesota to the musical hotbed of New Orleans. The songs were in the same vein as the hit single, flavored by Mike Bloomfield's blues guitar and Al Kooper's organ riffs. "Desolation Row", backed by acoustic guitar and understated bass, offers the sole exception, with Dylan alluding to figures in Western culture in a song described by Andy Gill as "an 11-minute epic of entropy, which takes the form of a Fellini-esque parade of grotesques and oddities featuring a huge cast of celebrated characters". Poet Philip Larkin, who also reviewed jazz for The Daily Telegraph, wrote "I'm afraid I poached Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (CBS) out of curiosity and found myself well rewarded."
In support of the album, Dylan was booked for two US concerts with Al Kooper and Harvey Brooks from his studio crew and Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm, former members of Ronnie Hawkins's backing band the Hawks. On August 28 at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, the group was heckled by an audience still annoyed by Dylan's electric sound. The band's reception on September 3 at the Hollywood Bowl was more favorable.
From September 24, 1965, in Austin, Texas, Dylan toured the US and Canada for six months, backed by the five musicians from the Hawks who became known as The Band. While Dylan and the Hawks met increasingly receptive audiences, their studio efforts foundered. Producer Bob Johnston persuaded Dylan to record in Nashville in February 1966, and surrounded him with top-notch session men. At Dylan's insistence, Robertson and Kooper came from New York City to play on the sessions. The Nashville sessions produced the double album Blonde on Blonde (1966), featuring what Dylan called "that thin wild mercury sound". Kooper described it as "taking two cultures and smashing them together with a huge explosion": the musical worlds of Nashville and of the "quintessential New York hipster" Bob Dylan.
On November 22, 1965, Dylan quietly married 25-year-old former model Sara Lownds. Some of Dylan's friends, including Ramblin' Jack Elliott, say that, immediately after the event, Dylan denied he was married. Writer Nora Ephron made the news public in the New York Post in February 1966 with the headline "Hush! Bob Dylan is wed".
Dylan toured Australia and Europe in April and May 1966. Each show was split in two. Dylan performed solo during the first half, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica. In the second, backed by the Hawks, he played electrically amplified music. This contrast provoked many fans, who jeered and slow clapped. The tour culminated in a raucous confrontation between Dylan and his audience at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in England on May 17, 1966. A recording of this concert was released in 1998: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966. At the climax of the evening, a member of the audience, angered by Dylan's electric backing, shouted: "Judas!" to which Dylan responded, "I don't believe you ... You're a liar!" Dylan turned to his band and said, "Play it fucking loud!"
During his 1966 tour, Dylan was described as exhausted and acting "as if on a death trip". D. A. Pennebaker, the filmmaker accompanying the tour, described Dylan as "taking a lot of amphetamine and who-knows-what-else". In a 1969 interview with Jann Wenner, Dylan said, "I was on the road for almost five years. It wore me down. I was on drugs, a lot of things ... just to keep going, you know?"
On July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his motorcycle, a Triumph Tiger 100, near his home in Woodstock, New York. Dylan said he broke several vertebrae in his neck. The circumstances of the accident are unclear since no ambulance was called to the scene and Dylan was not hospitalized. Dylan's biographers have written that the crash offered him the chance to escape the pressures around him. Dylan concurred: "I had been in a motorcycle accident and I'd been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race." He made very few public appearances, and did not tour again for almost eight years.
Once Dylan was well enough to resume creative work, he began to edit D. A. Pennebaker's film of his 1966 tour. A rough cut was shown to ABC Television, but they rejected it as incomprehensible to mainstream audiences. The film, titled Eat the Document on bootleg copies, has since been screened at a few film festivals. Secluded from public gaze, Dylan recorded over 100 songs during 1967 at his Woodstock home and in the basement of the Hawks' nearby house, "Big Pink". These songs were initially offered as demos for other artists to record and were hits for Julie Driscoll, the Byrds, and Manfred Mann. The public heard these recordings when Great White Wonder, the first "bootleg recording", appeared in West Coast shops in July 1969, containing Dylan material recorded in Minneapolis in 1961 and seven Basement Tapes songs. This record gave birth to a minor industry in the illicit release of recordings by Dylan and other major rock artists. Columbia released a Basement selection in 1975 as The Basement Tapes.
In late 1967, Dylan returned to studio recording in Nashville, accompanied by Charlie McCoy on bass, Kenny Buttrey on drums and Pete Drake on steel guitar. The result was John Wesley Harding, a record of short songs thematically drawing on the American West and the Bible. The sparse structure and instrumentation, with lyrics that took the Judeo-Christian tradition seriously, was a departure from Dylan's previous work. It included "All Along the Watchtower", famously covered by Jimi Hendrix. Woody Guthrie died in October 1967, and Dylan made his first live appearance in twenty months at a memorial concert held at Carnegie Hall on January 20, 1968, where he was backed by the Band.
"Lay Lady Lay" "Lay Lady Lay", on the country album Nashville Skyline, has been one of Dylan's biggest hits, reaching No. 7 in the US.Problems playing this file? See media help.
Nashville Skyline (1969), featured Nashville musicians, a mellow-voiced Dylan, a duet with Johnny Cash and the single "Lay Lady Lay". Variety wrote, "Dylan is definitely doing something that can be called singing. Somehow he has managed to add an octave to his range." During one recording session, Dylan and Cash recorded a series of duets, but only their version of "Girl from the North Country" appeared on the album. The album influenced the nascent genre of country rock.
In 1969, Dylan was asked to write songs for Scratch, Archibald MacLeish's musical adaptation of "The Devil and Daniel Webster". MacLeish initially praised Dylan's contributions, writing to him "Those songs of yours have been haunting me—and exciting me," but creative differences led to Dylan leaving the project. Some of the songs were later recorded by Dylan in a revised form. In May 1969, Dylan appeared on the first episode of The Johnny Cash Show where he sang a duet with Cash on "Girl from the North Country" and played solos of "Living the Blues" and "I Threw It All Away". Dylan traveled to England to top the bill at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31, 1969, after rejecting overtures to appear at the Woodstock Festival closer to home.
1970–1979: Return to touring and Christian music
In the early 1970s, critics charged that Dylan's output was varied and unpredictable. Greil Marcus asked "What is this shit?" upon first hearing Self Portrait, released in June 1970. It was a double LP including few original songs and was poorly received. In October 1970, Dylan released New Morning, considered a return to form. The title track was from Dylan's ill-fated collaboration with MacLeish, and "Day of the Locusts" was his account of receiving an honorary degree from Princeton University on June 9, 1970. In November 1968, Dylan co-wrote "I'd Have You Anytime" with George Harrison; Harrison recorded that song and Dylan's "If Not for You" for his album All Things Must Pass. Olivia Newton-John covered "If Not For You" on her debut album and "The Man in Me" was prominently featured in the film The Big Lebowski (1998).
Tarantula, a freeform book of prose-poetry, had been written by Dylan during a creative burst in 1964–65. Dylan shelved his book for several years, apparently uncertain of its status, until he suddenly informed Macmillan at the end of 1970 that the time had come to publish it. The book attracted negative reviews but later critics have suggested its affinities with Finnegans Wake and A Season In Hell.
Between March 16 and 19, 1971, Dylan recorded with Leon Russell at Blue Rock, a small studio in Greenwich Village. These sessions resulted in "Watching the River Flow" and a new recording of "When I Paint My Masterpiece". On November 4, 1971, Dylan recorded "George Jackson", which he released a week later. For many, the single was a surprising return to protest material, mourning the killing of Black Panther George Jackson in San Quentin State Prison. Dylan's surprise appearance at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh on August 1, 1971, attracted media coverage as his live appearances had become rare.
In 1972, Dylan joined Sam Peckinpah's film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, providing the soundtrack and playing "Alias", a member of Billy's gang. Despite the film's failure at the box office, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" became one of Dylan's most covered songs. That same year, Dylan protested the move to deport John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who had been convicted for marijuana possession, by sending a letter to the US Immigration Service which read in part: "Hurray for John & Yoko. Let them stay and live here and breathe. The country's got plenty of room and space. Let John and Yoko stay!"
Dylan began 1973 by signing with a new label, David Geffen's Asylum Records, when his contract with Columbia Records expired. His next album, Planet Waves, was recorded in the fall of 1973, using the Band as his backing group as they rehearsed for a major tour. The album included two versions of "Forever Young", which became one of his most popular songs. As one critic described it, the song projected "something hymnal and heartfelt that spoke of the father in Dylan", and Dylan said "I wrote it thinking about one of my boys and not wanting to be too sentimental". Columbia Records simultaneously released Dylan, a collection of studio outtakes, widely interpreted as a churlish response to Dylan's signing with a rival record label.
In January 1974, Dylan, backed by the Band, embarked on a North American tour of 40 concerts—his first tour for seven years. A live double album, Before the Flood, was released on Asylum Records. Soon, according to Clive Davis, Columbia Records sent word they "will spare nothing to bring Dylan back into the fold". Dylan had second thoughts about Asylum, unhappy that Geffen had sold only 600,000 copies of Planet Waves despite millions of unfulfilled ticket requests for the 1974 tour; he returned to Columbia Records, which reissued his two Asylum albums.
"Tangled Up in Blue" Dylan said of the opening song from Blood on the Tracks: "I was trying to deal with the concept of time, and the way the characters change from the first person to the third person, and you're never sure if the first person is talking or the third person. But as you look at the whole thing it really doesn't matter."Problems playing this file? See media help.
After the tour, Dylan and his wife became estranged. He filled three small notebooks with songs about relationships and ruptures, and recorded the album Blood on the Tracks in September 1974. Dylan delayed the album's release and re-recorded half the songs at Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis with production assistance from his brother, David Zimmerman. Released in early 1975, Blood on the Tracks received mixed reviews. In NME, Nick Kent described the "accompaniments" as "often so trashy they sound like mere practice takes". In Rolling Stone, Jon Landau wrote that "the record has been made with typical shoddiness". Over the years critics came to see it as one of Dylan's masterpieces. In Salon, journalist Bill Wyman wrote:
Blood on the Tracks is his only flawless album and his best produced; the songs, each of them, are constructed in disciplined fashion. It is his kindest album and most dismayed, and seems in hindsight to have achieved a sublime balance between the logorrhea-plagued excesses of his mid-1960s output and the self-consciously simple compositions of his post-accident years.
In the middle of 1975, Dylan championed boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, imprisoned for triple murder, with his ballad "Hurricane" making the case for Carter's innocence. Despite its length—over eight minutes—the song was released as a single, peaking at 33 on the US Billboard chart, and performed at every 1975 date of Dylan's next tour, the Rolling Thunder Revue. Running through late 1975 and again through early 1976, the tour featured about one hundred performers and supporters from the Greenwich Village folk scene, among them Ramblin' Jack Elliott, T-Bone Burnett, Joni Mitchell, David Mansfield, Roger McGuinn, Mick Ronson, Ronee Blakely, Joan Baez and Scarlet Rivera, whom Dylan discovered walking down the street, her violin case on her back. The tour encompassed the January 1976 release of the album Desire. Many of Desire's songs featuring a travelogue-like narrative style, influenced by Dylan's new collaborator, playwright Jacques Levy. The 1976 half of the tour was documented by a TV concert special, Hard Rain, and the LP Hard Rain.
The 1975 tour with the Revue provided the backdrop to Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a sprawling narrative mixed with concert footage and reminiscences. Actor and playwright Sam Shepard accompanied the Revue and was to serve as screenwriter, but much of the film was improvised. Released in 1978, it received negative, sometimes scathing, reviews. Later in the year, a two-hour edit, dominated by the concert performances, was more widely released. In November 1976, Dylan appeared at the Band's farewell concert with Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Martin Scorsese's 1978 film of the concert, The Last Waltz, included most of Dylan's set.
In 1978, Dylan embarked on a year-long world tour, performing 114 shows in Japan, the Far East, Europe and North America, to a total audience of two million. Dylan assembled an eight-piece band and three backing singers. Concerts in Tokyo in February and March were released as the live double album Bob Dylan at Budokan. Reviews were mixed. Robert Christgau awarded the album a C+ rating, while Janet Maslin defended it: "These latest live versions of his old songs have the effect of liberating Bob Dylan from the originals". When Dylan brought the tour to the US in September 1978, the press described the look and sound as a "Las Vegas Tour". The 1978 tour grossed more than $20 million, and Dylan told the Los Angeles Times that he had debts because "I had a couple of bad years. I put a lot of money into the movie, built a big house ... and it costs a lot to get divorced in California." In April and May 1978, Dylan took the same band and vocalists into Rundown Studios in Santa Monica, California, to record an album of new material, Street-Legal. It was described by Michael Gray as "after Blood On The Tracks, arguably Dylan's best record of the 1970s: a crucial album documenting a crucial period in Dylan's own life". However, it had poor sound and mixing (attributed to Dylan's studio practices), muddying the instrumental detail until a remastered CD release in 1999 restored some of the songs' strengths.
"Gotta Serve Somebody" Dylan took five months off at the beginning of 1979 to attend Bible school. His subsequent album Slow Train Coming reached No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart and included this Grammy-winning song.Problems playing this file? See media help.
In the late 1970s, Dylan converted to Evangelical Christianity, undertaking a three-month discipleship course run by the Association of Vineyard Churches. He released three albums of contemporary gospel music. Slow Train Coming (1979) featured Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler and was produced by veteran R&B producer Jerry Wexler. Wexler said that Dylan had tried to evangelize him during the recording. He replied: "Bob, you're dealing with a 62-year-old Jewish atheist. Let's just make an album." Dylan won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song "Gotta Serve Somebody". When touring in late 1979 and early 1980, Dylan would not play his older, secular works, and he delivered declarations of his faith from the stage, such as:
Years ago they ... said I was a prophet. I used to say, "No I'm not a prophet", they say "Yes you are, you're a prophet." I said, "No it's not me." They used to say "You sure are a prophet." They used to convince me I was a prophet. Now I come out and say Jesus Christ is the answer. They say, "Bob Dylan's no prophet." They just can't handle it.
Dylan's Christianity was unpopular with some fans and musicians. John Lennon, shortly before being murdered, recorded "Serve Yourself" in response to "Gotta Serve Somebody". In 1981, Stephen Holden wrote in The New York Times that "neither age (he's now 40) nor his much-publicized conversion to born-again Christianity has altered his essentially iconoclastic temperament".
1980–1989: Career fluctuations
In late 1980, Dylan briefly played concerts billed as "A Musical Retrospective", restoring popular 1960s songs to the repertoire. His second Christian album, Saved (1980), received mixed reviews, described by Michael Gray as "the nearest thing to a follow-up album Dylan has ever made, Slow Train Coming II and inferior". His third Christian album was Shot of Love (1981). The album featured his first secular compositions in more than two years, mixed with Christian songs. The lyrics of "Every Grain of Sand" recall William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence". Elvis Costello wrote that "Shot of Love may not be your favorite Bob Dylan record, but it might contain his best song: 'Every Grain of Sand'."
Reception of Dylan's 1980s recordings varied. Gray criticized Dylan's 1980s albums for carelessness in the studio and for failing to release his best songs. Infidels (1983) employed Knopfler again as lead guitarist and also as producer; the sessions resulted in several songs that Dylan left off the album. Best regarded of these were "Blind Willie McTell", which was both a tribute to the eponymous blues musician and an evocation of African American history, "Foot of Pride" and "Lord Protect My Child". These three songs were later released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.
Between July 1984 and March 1985, Dylan recorded Empire Burlesque. Arthur Baker, who had remixed hits for Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper, was asked to engineer and mix the album. Baker said he felt he was hired to make Dylan's album sound "a little bit more contemporary". In 1985 Dylan sang on USA for Africa's famine relief single "We Are the World". He also joined Artists United Against Apartheid, providing vocals for their single "Sun City". On July 13, 1985, he appeared at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia. Backed by Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, he performed a ragged version of "Ballad of Hollis Brown", a tale of rural poverty, and then said to the worldwide audience: "I hope that some of the money ... maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe ... one or two million, maybe ... and use it to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks". His remarks were widely criticized as inappropriate, but inspired Willie Nelson to organize a concert, Farm Aid, to benefit debt-ridden American farmers.
In October 1985, Dylan released Biograph, a box set featuring 53 tracks, 18 of them previously unreleased. Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "Historically, Biograph is significant not for what it did for Dylan's career, but for establishing the box set, complete with hits and rarities, as a viable part of rock history." Biograph also contained liner notes by Cameron Crowe in which Dylan discussed the origins of some of his songs.
In April 1986, Dylan made a foray into rap when he added vocals to the opening verse of "Street Rock" on Kurtis Blow's album Kingdom Blow. Dylan's next studio album, Knocked Out Loaded (1986), contained three covers (by Junior Parker, Kris Kristofferson and the gospel hymn "Precious Memories"), plus three collaborations (with Tom Petty, Sam Shepard and Carole Bayer Sager), and two solo compositions by Dylan. A reviewer wrote that "the record follows too many detours to be consistently compelling, and some of those detours wind down roads that are indisputably dead ends. By 1986, such uneven records weren't entirely unexpected by Dylan, but that didn't make them any less frustrating." It was the first Dylan album since his 1962 debut to fail to make the Top 50. Some critics have called the song Dylan co-wrote with Shepard, "Brownsville Girl", a masterpiece.
In 1986 and 1987, Dylan toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, sharing vocals with Petty on several songs each night. Dylan also toured with the Grateful Dead in 1987, resulting in the live album Dylan & The Dead, which received negative reviews; Erlewine said it was "quite possibly the worst album by either Bob Dylan or the Grateful Dead". Dylan initiated what came to be called the Never Ending Tour on June 7, 1988, performing with a back-up band featuring guitarist G. E. Smith. Dylan would continue to tour with a small, changing band for the next 30 years. In 1987, Dylan starred in Richard Marquand's movie Hearts of Fire, in which he played Billy Parker, a washed-up rock star turned chicken farmer whose teenage lover (Fiona) leaves him for a jaded English synth-pop sensation (Rupert Everett). Dylan also contributed two original songs to the soundtrack—"Night After Night", and "Had a Dream About You, Baby", as well as a cover of John Hiatt's "The Usual". The film was a critical and commercial flop.
Dylan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1988. Bruce Springsteen, in his introduction, declared, "Bob freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body. He showed us that just because music was innately physical did not mean that it was anti-intellectual". Down in the Groove (1988) sold even more poorly than Knocked Out Loaded. Gray wrote: "The very title undercuts any idea that inspired work may lie within. Here was a further devaluing of the notion of a new Bob Dylan album as something significant." The critical and commercial disappointment of that album was swiftly followed by the success of the Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup Dylan co-founded with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. In late 1988, their Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 reached number three on the US albums chart, featuring songs described as Dylan's most accessible compositions in years. Despite Orbison's death in December 1988, the remaining four recorded a second album in May 1990, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.
Dylan finished the decade on a critical high note with Oh Mercy, produced by Daniel Lanois. Gray praised the album as "Attentively written, vocally distinctive, musically warm, and uncompromisingly professional, this cohesive whole is the nearest thing to a great Bob Dylan album in the 1980s." "Most of the Time", a lost-love composition, was prominently featured in the film High Fidelity (2000), while "What Was It You Wanted" has been interpreted both as a catechism and a wry comment on the expectations of critics and fans. The religious imagery of "Ring Them Bells" struck some critics as a re-affirmation of faith.
1990–1999: Return to Folk music and resurgence
Dylan's 1990s began with Under the Red Sky (1990), an about-face from the serious Oh Mercy. It contained several apparently simple songs, including "Under the Red Sky" and "Wiggle Wiggle". The album was dedicated to "Gabby Goo Goo", a nickname for the daughter of Dylan and Carolyn Dennis, Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan, who was four. Musicians on the album included George Harrison, Slash, David Crosby, Bruce Hornsby, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Elton John. The record received negative reviews and sold poorly. In 1990 and 1991 Dylan was described by his biographers as drinking heavily, impairing his performances on stage. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan dismissed allegations that drinking was interfering with his music: "That's completely inaccurate. I can drink or not drink. I don't know why people would associate drinking with anything I do, really".
Defilement and remorse were themes Dylan addressed when he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from Jack Nicholson in February 1991. The event coincided with the start of the Gulf War and Dylan played "Masters of War"; Rolling Stone called his performance "almost unintelligible". He made a short speech: "My daddy once said to me, he said, 'Son, it is possible for you to become so defiled in this world that your own mother and father will abandon you. If that happens, God will believe in your ability to mend your own ways'". This was a paraphrase of 19th-century Orthodox Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's commentary on Psalm 27. On October 16, 1992, the thirtieth anniversary of Dylan's debut album was celebrated with a concert at Madison Square Garden, christened "Bobfest" by Neil Young and featuring John Mellencamp, Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed, Eddie Vedder, Dylan and others. It was recorded as the live album The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration.
Over the next few years Dylan returned to his roots with two albums covering traditional folk and blues songs: Good as I Been to You (1992) and World Gone Wrong (1993), backed solely by his acoustic guitar. Many critics and fans noted the quiet beauty of the song "Lone Pilgrim", written by a 19th-century teacher. In August 1994, he played at Woodstock '94; Rolling Stone called his performance "triumphant". In November, Dylan recorded two live shows for MTV Unplugged. He said his wish to perform traditional songs was overruled by Sony executives who insisted on hits. The resulting album, MTV Unplugged, included "John Brown", an unreleased 1962 song about how enthusiasm for war ends in mutilation and disillusionment.
With a collection of songs reportedly written while snowed in on his Minnesota ranch, Dylan booked recording time with Daniel Lanois at Miami's Criteria Studios in January 1997. The subsequent recording sessions were, by some accounts, fraught with musical tension. Before the album's release Dylan was hospitalized with life-threatening pericarditis, brought on by histoplasmosis. His scheduled European tour was canceled, but Dylan made a speedy recovery and left the hospital saying, "I really thought I'd be seeing Elvis soon". He was back on the road by mid-year, and performed before Pope John Paul II at the World Eucharistic Conference in Bologna, Italy. The Pope treated the audience of 200,000 to a homily based on Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind".
In September, Dylan released the new Lanois-produced album, Time Out of Mind. With its bitter assessments of love and morbid ruminations, Dylan's first collection of original songs in seven years was highly acclaimed. Alex Ross called it "a thrilling return to form." "Cold Irons Bound" won Dylan another Grammy For Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, and the album won him his first Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The album's first single, "Not Dark Yet", has been called one of Dylan's best songs and "Make You Feel My Love" was covered by Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Adele and others. Elvis Costello said "I think it might be the best record he's made."
2000–2009: Oscar win, memoir, and Modern Times
"Things Have Changed" Dylan's Oscar-winning song was featured in the movie Wonder Boys. The line "sapphire-tinted skies" echoes the verse of Shelley while "forty miles of bad road" echoes Duane Eddy's hit single.Problems playing this file? See media help.
In 2001, Dylan won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Things Have Changed", written for the film Wonder Boys. "Love and Theft" was released on September 11, 2001. Recorded with his touring band, Dylan produced the album under the alias Jack Frost. Critics noted that Dylan was widening his musical palette to include rockabilly, Western swing, jazz and lounge music. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Controversy ensued when The Wall Street Journal pointed out similarities between the album's lyrics and Junichi Saga's book Confessions of a Yakuza. Saga was not familiar with Dylan's work, but said he was flattered. Upon hearing the album, Saga said of Dylan: "His lines flow from one image to the next and don't always make sense. But they have a great atmosphere."
In 2003, Dylan revisited the evangelical songs from his Christian period and participated in the project Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan. That year, Dylan released Masked & Anonymous, which he co-wrote with director Larry Charles under the alias Sergei Petrov. Dylan starred as Jack Fate, alongside a cast that included Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz and John Goodman. The film polarized critics. In The New York Times, A. O. Scott called it as an "incoherent mess"; a few treated it as a serious work of art.
In 2004, Dylan published the first part of his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One. Confounding expectations, Dylan devoted three chapters to his first year in New York City in 1961–1962, virtually ignoring the mid-1960s when his fame was at its height, while devoting chapters to the albums New Morning (1970) and Oh Mercy (1989). The book reached number two on The New York Times' Hardcover Non-Fiction bestseller list in December 2004 and was nominated for a National Book Award.
Critics noted that Chronicles contained many examples of pastiche and borrowing; sources included Time magazine and the novels of Jack London. Biographer Clinton Heylin queried the veracity of Dylan's autobiography, noting "Not a single checkable story held water; not one anecdote couldn't be shot full of holes by any half-decent researcher."
Martin Scorsese's Dylan documentary No Direction Home was broadcast on September 26–27, 2005, on BBC Two in the UK and as part of American Masters on PBS in the US. It covers the period from Dylan's arrival in New York in 1961 to his motorcycle crash in 1966, featuring interviews with Suze Rotolo, Liam Clancy, Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, Pete Seeger, Mavis Staples and Dylan himself. The film earned a Peabody Award and a Columbia-duPont Award. The accompanying soundtrack featured unreleased songs from Dylan's early years.
Dylan's career as a radio presenter began on May 3, 2006, with his weekly program, Theme Time Radio Hour, on XM Satellite Radio. He played songs with a common theme, such as "Weather", "Weddings", "Dance" and "Dreams". Dylan's records ranged from Muddy Waters to Prince, L.L. Cool J to the Streets. Dylan's show was praised for the breadth of his musical selections and for his jokes, stories and eclectic references. In April 2009, Dylan broadcast the 100th show in his radio series; the theme was "Goodbye" and he signed off with Woody Guthrie's "So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh".
Dylan released Modern Times in August 2006. Despite some coarsening of Dylan's voice (a critic for The Guardian characterized his singing on the album as "a catarrhal death rattle") most reviewers praised the album, and many described it as the final installment of a successful trilogy, encompassing Time Out of Mind and "Love and Theft". Modern Times entered the US charts at number one, making it Dylan's first album to reach that position since 1976's Desire. The New York Times published an article exploring similarities between some of Dylan's lyrics in Modern Times and the work of the Civil War poet Henry Timrod. Modern Times won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album and Dylan won Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for "Someday Baby". Modern Times was named Album of the Year by Rolling Stone and Uncut. On the same day that Modern Times was released, the iTunes Music Store released Bob Dylan: The Collection, a digital box set containing all of his albums (773 tracks), along with 42 rare and unreleased tracks.
On October 1, 2007, Columbia Records released the triple CD retrospective Dylan, anthologizing his entire career under the Dylan 07 logo. The sophistication of the Dylan 07 marketing campaign was a reminder that Dylan's commercial profile had risen considerably since the 1990s. This became evident in 2004, when Dylan appeared in a TV advertisement for Victoria's Secret. In October 2007, he participated in a multi-media campaign for the 2008 Cadillac Escalade. In 2009 he gave the highest profile endorsement of his career to date, appearing with rapper will.i.am in a Pepsi ad that debuted during Super Bowl XLIII. The ad opened with Dylan singing the first verse of "Forever Young" followed by will.i.am doing a hip hop version of the song's third and final verse.
The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 – Tell Tale Signs was released in October 2008, as both a two-CD set and a three-CD version with a 150-page hardcover book. The set contains live performances and outtakes from selected studio albums from Oh Mercy to Modern Times, as well as soundtrack contributions and collaborations with David Bromberg and Ralph Stanley. The pricing of the album—the two-CD set went on sale for $18.99 and the three-CD version for $129.99—led to complaints about "rip-off packaging". The release was widely acclaimed by critics. The abundance of alternative takes and unreleased material suggested to one reviewer that this volume of old outtakes "feels like a new Bob Dylan record, not only for the astonishing freshness of the material, but also for the incredible sound quality and organic feeling of everything here".
Dylan released Together Through Life on April 28, 2009. In a conversation with music journalist Bill Flanagan, Dylan explained it originated when French director Olivier Dahan asked him to supply a song for his movie My Own Love Song. He initially intended to record a single track, "Life Is Hard", but "the record sort of took its own direction". Nine of the album's ten songs are credited as co-written by Dylan and Robert Hunter. The album received largely favorable reviews, although several critics described it as a minor addition to Dylan's canon. In its first week of release, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the US, making Dylan, at 67 years of age, the oldest artist to ever debut at number one on that chart.
Dylan's Christmas in the Heart was released in October 2009, comprising such Christmas standards as "Little Drummer Boy", "Winter Wonderland" and "Here Comes Santa Claus". Edna Gundersen wrote that Dylan was "revisiting yuletide styles popularized by Nat King Cole, Mel Tormé, and the Ray Conniff Singers". Dylan's royalties from the album were donated to the charities Feeding America in the US, Crisis in the UK, and the World Food Programme. The album received generally favorable reviews. In an interview published in The Big Issue, Flanagan asked Dylan why he had performed the songs in a straightforward style, and he replied: "There wasn't any other way to play it. These songs are part of my life, just like folk songs. You have to play them straight too."
2010–2019: Tempest and continued recordings
Volume 9 of Dylan's Bootleg Series, The Witmark Demos, was issued in October 18, 2010. It comprised 47 demo recordings of songs taped between 1962 and 1964 for Dylan's earliest music publishers: Leeds Music in 1962, and Witmark Music from 1962 to 1964. One reviewer described the set as "a hearty glimpse of young Bob Dylan changing the music business, and the world, one note at a time." On the critical aggregator Metacritic, the album has a score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim". In the same week, Sony Legacy released Bob Dylan: The Original Mono Recordings, a box set that presented Dylan's eight earliest albums, from Bob Dylan (1962) to John Wesley Harding (1967), in their original mono mix in the CD format for the first time. The set was accompanied by a booklet featuring an essay by Greil Marcus.
On April 12, 2011, Legacy Recordings released Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963, taped at Brandeis University on May 10, 1963, two weeks before the release of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The tape was discovered in the archive of music writer Ralph J. Gleason, and the recording carries liner notes by Michael Gray, who says it captures Dylan "from way back when Kennedy was President and the Beatles hadn't yet reached America. It reveals him not at any Big Moment but giving a performance like his folk club sets of the period ... This is the last live performance we have of Bob Dylan before he becomes a star."
On Dylan's 70th birthday, three universities organized symposia on his work: the University of Mainz, the University of Vienna, and the University of Bristol invited literary critics and cultural historians to give papers on aspects of Dylan's work. Other events, including tribute bands, discussions and simple singalongs, took place around the world, as reported in The Guardian: "From Moscow to Madrid, Norway to Northampton and Malaysia to his home state of Minnesota, self-confessed 'Bobcats' will gather today to celebrate the 70th birthday of a giant of popular music."
Dylan's 35th studio album, Tempest, was released on September 11, 2012. The album features a tribute to John Lennon, "Roll On John", and the title track is a 14-minute song about the sinking of the Titanic. In Rolling Stone, Will Hermes gave Tempest five out of five stars, writing: "Lyrically, Dylan is at the top of his game, joking around, dropping wordplay and allegories that evade pat readings and quoting other folks' words like a freestyle rapper on fire".
Volume 10 of Dylan's Bootleg Series, Another Self Portrait (1969–1971), was released in August 2013. The album contained 35 previously unreleased tracks, including alternative takes and demos from Dylan's 1969–1971 recording sessions during the making of the Self Portrait and New Morning albums. The box set also included a live recording of Dylan's performance with the Band at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969. Thom Jurek wrote, "For fans, this is more than a curiosity, it's an indispensable addition to the catalog." Columbia Records released a boxed set containing all 35 Dylan studio albums, six albums of live recordings and a collection of non-album material (Sidetracks) as Bob Dylan: Complete Album Collection: Vol. One, in November 2013. To publicize the box set, an innovative video of "Like a Rolling Stone" was released on Dylan's website. The interactive video, created by director Vania Heymann, allowed viewers to switch between 16 simulated TV channels, all featuring characters who are lip-synching the lyrics.
Dylan appeared in a commercial for the Chrysler 200 car which aired during the 2014 Super Bowl. In it, he says that "Detroit made cars and cars made America... So let Germany brew your beer, let Switzerland make your watch, let Asia assemble your phone. We will build your car." Dylan's ad was criticized for its protectionist implications, and people wondered whether he had "sold out". The Lyrics: Since 1962 was published by Simon & Schuster in the fall of 2014. The book was edited by literary critic Christopher Ricks, Julie Nemrow and Lisa Nemrow and offered variant versions of Dylan's songs, sourced from out-takes and live performances. A limited edition of 50 books, signed by Dylan, was priced at $5,000. "It's the biggest, most expensive book we've ever published, as far as I know", said Jonathan Karp, Simon & Schuster's president and publisher. A comprehensive edition of the Basement Tapes, songs recorded by Dylan and the Band in 1967, was released as The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete in November 2014. The album included 138 tracks in a six-CD box; the 1975 album The Basement Tapes contained just 24 tracks from the material which Dylan and the Band had recorded at their homes in Woodstock, New York in 1967. Subsequently, over 100 recordings and alternate takes had circulated on bootleg records. The sleeve notes are by author Sid Griffin. The Basement Tapes Complete won the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album. The box set earned a score of 99 on Metacritic.
In February 2015, Dylan released Shadows in the Night, featuring ten songs written between 1923 and 1963, which have been described as part of the Great American Songbook. All of the songs had been recorded by Frank Sinatra, but both critics and Dylan himself cautioned against seeing the record as a collection of "Sinatra covers". Dylan explained: "I don't see myself as covering these songs in any way. They've been covered enough. Buried, as a matter a fact. What me and my band are basically doing is uncovering them. Lifting them out of the grave and bringing them into the light of day". Critics praised the restrained instrumental backings and the quality of Dylan's singing. The album debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release. The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966, consisting of previously unreleased material from the three albums Dylan recorded between January 1965 and March 1966 (Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde) was released in November 2015. The set was released in three formats: a 2-CD "Best Of" version, a 6-CD "Deluxe edition", and an 18-CD limited "Collector's Edition". On Dylan's website the "Collector's Edition" was described as containing "every single note recorded by Bob Dylan in the studio in 1965/1966". The Best of the Cutting Edge entered the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart at number one on November 18, based on its first-week sales.
Dylan released Fallen Angels, described as "a direct continuation of the work of 'uncovering' the Great Songbook that he began on Shadows In the Night", in May. The album contained twelve songs by classic songwriters such as Harold Arlen, Sammy Cahn and Johnny Mercer, eleven of which had been recorded by Sinatra. Jim Farber wrote in Entertainment Weekly: "Tellingly, delivers these songs of love lost and cherished not with a burning passion but with the wistfulness of experience. They're memory songs now, intoned with a present sense of commitment. Released just four days ahead of his 75th birthday, they couldn't be more age-appropriate". The 1966 Live Recordings, including every known recording of Dylan's 1966 concert tour, was released in November 2016. The recordings commence with the concert in White Plains New York on February 5, 1966, and end with the Royal Albert Hall concert in London on May 27. The New York Times reported most of the concerts had "never been heard in any form", and described the set as "a monumental addition to the corpus".
In March 2017, Dylan released a triple album of 30 more recordings of classic American songs, Triplicate. Dylan's 38th studio album was recorded in Hollywood's Capitol Studios and features his touring band. Dylan posted a long interview on his website to promote the album, and was asked if this material was an exercise in nostalgia.
Nostalgic? No I wouldn't say that. It's not taking a trip down memory lane or longing and yearning for the good old days or fond memories of what's no more. A song like 'Sentimental Journey' is not a way back when song, it doesn't emulate the past, it's attainable and down to earth, it's in the here and now.
Critics praised the thoroughness of Dylan's exploration of the Great American Songbook, though, in the opinion of Uncut, "For all its easy charms, Triplicate labours its point to the brink of overkill. After five albums' worth of croon toons, this feels like a fat full stop on a fascinating chapter." The next volume of Dylan's Bootleg Series revisited his "Born Again" Christian period of 1979 to 1981, described by Rolling Stone as "an intense, wildly controversial time that produced three albums and some of the most confrontational concerts of his long career". Reviewing the box set The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981, comprising 8 CDs and 1 DVD, Jon Pareles wrote in The New York Times:
Decades later, what comes through these recordings above all is Mr. Dylan's unmistakable fervor, his sense of mission. The studio albums are subdued, even tentative, compared with what the songs became on the road. Mr. Dylan's voice is clear, cutting and ever improvisational; working the crowds, he was emphatic, committed, sometimes teasingly combative. And the band tears into the music.
Trouble No More includes a DVD of a film directed by Jennifer Lebeau consisting of live footage of Dylan's gospel performances interspersed with sermons delivered by actor Michael Shannon.
In April 2018, Dylan made a contribution to the compilation EP Universal Love, a collection of reimagined wedding songs for the LGBT community. The album was funded by MGM Resorts International and the songs are intended to function as "wedding anthems for same-sex couples". Dylan recorded the 1929 song "She's Funny That Way", changing the gender pronoun to "He's Funny That Way". The song was previously recorded by Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. That same month, The New York Times reported that Dylan was launching Heaven's Door, a range of three whiskeys. The Times described the venture as "Mr. Dylan's entry into the booming celebrity-branded spirits market, the latest career twist for an artist who has spent five decades confounding expectations". Dylan has been involved in both the creation and the marketing of the range; on September 21, 2020, Dylan resurrected Theme Time Radio Hour with a two-hour special with the theme of "Whiskey". On November 2, 2018, Dylan released More Blood, More Tracks as Volume 14 in the Bootleg Series. The set comprises all Dylan's recordings for Blood On the Tracks and was issued as a single CD and also as a six-CD Deluxe Edition.
In 2019, Netflix released Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, billed as "Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream". The film received largely positive reviews but also aroused controversy because it mixed documentary footage filmed during the Rolling Thunder Revue in the fall of 1975 with fictitious characters and stories. Coinciding with the film release, the box set The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings, was released by Columbia Records. The set comprises five full Dylan performances from the tour and recently discovered tapes from Dylan's tour rehearsals. The box set received an aggregate score of 89 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". The next installment of Dylan's Bootleg Series, Bob Dylan (featuring Johnny Cash) – Travelin' Thru, 1967 – 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15, was released on November 1. The set comprises outtakes from Dylan's albums John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline, and songs that Dylan recorded with Johnny Cash in Nashville in 1969 and with Earl Scruggs in 1970.
2020–present
Rough and Rowdy Ways
Main article: Rough and Rowdy WaysOn March 26, 2020, Dylan released "Murder Most Foul", a seventeen-minute song revolving around the Kennedy assassination, on his YouTube channel. Billboard reported on April 8 that "Murder Most Foul" had topped the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales Chart, the first time that Dylan had scored a number one song on a pop chart under his own name. Three weeks later, on April 17, 2020, Dylan released another new song, "I Contain Multitudes". The title is from Walt Whitman's poem "Song of Myself". On May 7, Dylan released a third single, "False Prophet", accompanied by the news that the three songs would all appear on a forthcoming double album.
Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan's 39th studio album and his first album of original material since 2012, was released on June 19 to favorable reviews. Alexis Petridis wrote: "For all its bleakness, Rough and Rowdy Ways might well be Bob Dylan's most consistently brilliant set of songs in years: the die-hards can spend months unravelling the knottier lyrics, but you don't need a PhD in Dylanology to appreciate its singular quality and power." Rob Sheffield wrote: "While the world keeps trying to celebrate him as an institution, pin him down, cast him in the Nobel Prize canon, embalm his past, this drifter always keeps on making his next escape. On Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan is exploring terrain nobody else has reached before—yet he just keeps pushing on into the future". The album earned a score of 95 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". In its first week of release Rough and Rowdy Ways reached number one on the UK album chart, making Dylan "the oldest artist to score a No. 1 of new, original material".
In December 2020, it was announced that Dylan had sold his entire song catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group, including both the income he receives as a songwriter and his control of their copyright. Universal, a division of the French media conglomerate Vivendi, will collect all future income from the songs. The New York Times stated Universal had purchased the copyright to over 600 songs and the price was "estimated at more than $300 million", although other reports suggested the figure was closer to $400 million.
In February 2021, Columbia Records released 1970, a three-CD set of recordings from the Self Portrait and New Morning sessions, including the entirety of the session Dylan recorded with George Harrison on May 1, 1970. Dylan's 80th birthday was commemorated by a virtual conference, Dylan@80, organized by the University of Tulsa Institute for Bob Dylan Studies. The program featured seventeen sessions over three days delivered by over fifty international scholars, journalists and musicians. Several new biographies and studies of Dylan were published.
In July 2021, livestream platform Veeps presented a 50-minute performance by Dylan, Shadow Kingdom: The Early Songs of Bob Dylan. Filmed in black and white with a film noir look, Dylan performed 13 songs in a club setting with an audience. The performance was favorably reviewed, and one critic suggested the backing band resembled the style of the musical Girl from the North Country. The soundtrack to the film was released on 2 LP and CD formats in June 2023. In September, Dylan released Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980–1985), issued in 2 LP, 2 CD and 5 CD formats. It comprised rehearsals, live recordings, out-takes and alternative takes from Shot of Love, Infidels and Empire Burlesque. In The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick wrote: "These bootleg sessions remind us that Dylan's worst period is still more interesting than most artists' purple patches". Springtime in New York received an aggregate score of 85 on Metacritic.
On July 7, 2022, Christie's, London, auctioned a 2021 recording of Dylan singing "Blowin' in the Wind". The record was in an innovative "one of one" recording medium, branded as Ionic Original, which producer T Bone Burnett claimed "surpasses the sonic excellence and depth for which analogue sound is renowned, while at the same time boasting the durability of a digital recording." The recording fetched GBP £1,482,000—equivalent to $1,769,508. In November, Dylan published The Philosophy of Modern Song, a collection of 66 essays on songs by other artists. The New Yorker described it as "a rich, riffy, funny, and completely engaging book of essays". Other reviewers praised the book's eclectic outlook, while some questioned its variations in style and dearth of female songwriters.
In January 2023, Dylan released The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996–1997) in multiple formats. The 5-CD version comprised a re-mix of the 1997 album "to sound more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room" without the effects and processing which producer Daniel Lanois applied later; 25 previously unreleased out-takes from the studio sessions; and a disc of live performances of each song on the album performed by Dylan and his band in concert. On November 17, 2023, Dylan released The Complete Budokan 1978, containing the full recordings of the February 28 and March 1 Tokyo concerts from his 1978 Tour.
Dylan contributed a cover version of Cole Porter's song "Don't Fence Me In" to the soundtrack of the biographical film Reagan, which was released on August 30, 2024. On September 20, 2024, Dylan released The 1974 Live Recordings, a 27-disc CD boxset of recordings from the 1974 Bob Dylan & The Band tour, featuring 417 previously unreleased live tracks.
Never Ending Tour
Main article: Never Ending TourThe Never Ending Tour commenced on June 7, 1988. Dylan has played roughly 100 dates a year since, a heavier schedule than most performers who started in the 1960s. By April 2019, Dylan and his band had played more than 3,000 shows, anchored by long-time bassist Tony Garnier.
To the dismay of some of his audience, Dylan's performances are unpredictable as he often alters his arrangements and changes his vocal approach. These variable performances have divided critics. Richard Williams and Andy Gill argued that Dylan has found a successful way to present his rich legacy of material. Others have criticized his live performances for changing "the greatest lyrics ever written so that they are effectively unrecognisable", and giving so little to the audience that "it is difficult to understand what he is doing on stage at all".
In September 2021, Dylan's touring company announced a series of tours which were billed as the "Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, 2021–2024". The Rough and Rowdy Ways World Tour replaced Dylan's varied set lists with a more stable repertory, performing nine of the ten songs on his 2020 album. Nevertheless, the tour has been referred to by the media as an extension of his ongoing Never Ending Tour.
In the fall of 2024 Dylan embarked on a European tour, beginning in Prague, Czech Republic, on October 4 and ending in London on November 14. Alex Ross has summarised Dylan's touring career: "his shows cause his songs to mutate, so that no definitive or ideal version exists. Dylan's legacy will be the sum of thousands of performances, over many decades... Every night, whether he's in good or bad form, he says, in effect, 'Think again.'"
Personal life
Romantic relationships
Echo Helstrom
Echo Helstrom was Dylan's high school girlfriend. The couple listened together to rhythm-and-blues on the radio, and her family exposed him to singers such as Jimmie Rodgers on 78 RPM records, and a plethora of folk music magazines, sheet music, and manuscripts. Helstrom is believed by some to be the inspiration for Dylan's song "Girl from the North Country", though this is disputed.
Suze Rotolo
Dylan's first serious relationship was with artist Suze Rotolo, a daughter of Communist Party USA radicals. According to Dylan, "She was the most erotic thing I'd ever seen ... The air was suddenly filled with banana leaves. We started talking and my head started to spin". Rotolo was photographed arm-in-arm with Dylan on the cover of his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Critics have connected Rotolo to some of Dylan's early love songs, including "Don't Think Twice It's All Right". The relationship ended in 1964. In 2008, Rotolo published a memoir about her life in Greenwich Village and relationship with Dylan in the 1960s, A Freewheelin' Time.
Joan Baez
When Joan Baez met Dylan in April 1961, she had already released her first album and was acclaimed as the "Queen of Folk". On hearing Dylan perform his song "With God on Our Side", Baez later said, "I never thought anything so powerful could come out of that little toad". In July 1963, Baez invited Dylan to join her on stage at the Newport Folk Festival, setting the scene for similar duets over the next two years. By the time of Dylan's 1965 tour of the UK, their romantic relationship had begun to fizzle out, as captured in D. A. Pennebaker's documentary film Don't Look Back. Baez later toured with Dylan as a performer on his Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975–76. Baez also starred as "The Woman In White" in the film Renaldo and Clara (1978), directed by Dylan. Dylan and Baez toured together again in 1984 with Carlos Santana.
Baez recalled her relationship with Dylan in Martin Scorsese's documentary film No Direction Home (2005). Baez wrote about Dylan in two autobiographies—admiringly in Daybreak (1968), and less admiringly in And A Voice to Sing With (1987). Her song "Diamonds & Rust" has been described as "an acute portrait" of Dylan.
Sara Lownds
Dylan married Sara Lownds, who had worked as a model and secretary at Drew Associates, on November 22, 1965. They had four children: Jesse Byron Dylan (born January 6, 1966), Anna Lea (born July 11, 1967), Samuel Isaac Abram (born July 30, 1968), and Jakob Luke (born December 9, 1969). Dylan also adopted Sara's daughter from a prior marriage, Maria Lownds (later Dylan, born October 21, 1961). Sara Dylan played the role of Clara in Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara (1978). Bob and Sara Dylan were divorced on June 29, 1977.
Carolyn Dennis
Dylan and his backing singer Carolyn Dennis (often professionally known as Carol Dennis) have a daughter, Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan, born on January 31, 1986. The couple were married on June 4, 1986, and divorced in October 1992. Their marriage and child remained a closely guarded secret until the publication of Howard Sounes's biography Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan, in 2001.
Home
When not touring, Dylan is believed to live primarily in Point Dume, a promontory on the coast of Malibu, California, though he owns property around the world.
Religious beliefs
Growing up in Hibbing, Minnesota, Dylan and his family were part of the area's small, close-knit Jewish community, and Dylan had his Bar Mitzvah in May 1954. Around the time of his 30th birthday, in 1971, Dylan visited Israel, and also met Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the New York-based Jewish Defense League.
In the late 1970s, Dylan converted to Christianity. In November 1978, guided by his friend Mary Alice Artes, Dylan made contact with the Vineyard School of Discipleship. Vineyard Pastor Kenn Gulliksen recalled: "Larry Myers and Paul Emond went over to Bob's house and ministered to him. He responded by saying yes, he did in fact want Christ in his life. And he prayed that day and received the Lord". From January to March 1979, Dylan attended Vineyard's Bible study classes in Reseda, California.
By 1984, Dylan was distancing himself from the "born again" label. He told Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone: "I've never said I'm 'born again'. That's just a media term. I don't think I've been an agnostic. I've always thought there's a superior power, that this is not the real world and that there's a world to come." In 1997, he told David Gates of Newsweek:
Here's the thing with me and the religious thing. This is the flat-out truth: I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music. I don't find it anywhere else. Songs like "Let Me Rest on a Peaceful Mountain" or "I Saw the Light"—that's my religion. I don't adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I've learned more from the songs than I've learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs.
Dylan has supported the Chabad Lubavitch movement, and has privately participated in Jewish religious events, including his sons' Bar Mitzvahs and services at Hadar Hatorah, a Chabad Lubavitch yeshiva. In 1989 and 1991, he appeared on the Chabad telethon.
Dylan has continued to perform songs from his gospel albums in concert, occasionally covering traditional religious songs. He has made passing references to his religious faith, such as in a 2004 interview with 60 Minutes, when he told Ed Bradley, "the only person you have to think twice about lying to is either yourself or to God". He explained his constant touring schedule as part of a bargain he made a long time ago with the "chief commander—in this earth and in the world we can't see".
Speaking to Jeff Slate of The Wall Street Journal in December 2022, Dylan reaffirmed his religious outlook: "I read the scriptures a lot, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I believe in damnation and salvation as well as predestination. The Five Books of Moses, Pauline Epistles, Invocation of the Saints, all of it."
Style and influences
Initially modeling his style on Woody Guthrie's folk songs, Robert Johnson's blues and what he called the "architectural forms" of Hank Williams's country songs, Dylan added increasingly sophisticated lyrical techniques to the folk music of the early 1960s, infusing it "with the intellectualism of classic literature and poetry". His lyrics incorporated political, social, and philosophical influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture.
Accolades and honors
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Bob DylanDylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1997, US President Bill Clinton presented Dylan with a Kennedy Center Honor in the East Room of the White House, saying: "He probably had more impact on people of my generation than any other creative artist. His voice and lyrics haven't always been easy on the ear, but throughout his career Bob Dylan has never aimed to please. He's disturbed the peace and discomforted the powerful". In May 2000, Dylan received the Polar Music Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI. In June 2007, Dylan received the Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts category; the jury called him "a living myth in the history of popular music and a light for a generation that dreamed of changing the world." In 2008, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power".
Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2012. President Barack Obama, presenting Dylan with the award, said "There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music." Obama praised Dylan's voice for its "unique gravelly power that redefined not just what music sounded like but the message it carried and how it made people feel". In November 2013, Dylan was awarded France's highest honor, the Légion d'Honneur, despite the misgiving of the grand chancellor of the Légion, who had declared him unworthy. In February 2015, Dylan accepted the MusiCares Person of the Year award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, in recognition of his philanthropic and artistic contributions.
Nobel Prize in Literature
Main article: 2016 Nobel Prize in LiteratureIn 1996, Gordon Ball of the Virginia Military Institute nominated Dylan for the Nobel Prize in Literature, initiating a campaign that lasted for 20 years. On October 13, 2016, the Nobel committee announced that it would be awarding Dylan the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". The New York Times reported: "Mr. Dylan, 75, is the first musician to win the award, and his selection on Thursday is perhaps the most radical choice in a history stretching back to 1901." Dylan remained silent for days after receiving the award, and then told journalist Edna Gundersen that it was "amazing, incredible. Whoever dreams about something like that?" Dylan's Nobel Lecture was posted on the Nobel Prize website on June 5, 2017. Horace Engdahl, a member of the Nobel Committee, described Dylan's place in literary history:
a singer worthy of a place beside the Greek bards, beside Ovid, beside the Romantic visionaries, beside the kings and queens of the blues, beside the forgotten masters of brilliant standards.
Artistry and legacy
Dylan has been described as one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, musically and culturally. He was included in the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, where he was called "master poet, caustic social critic and intrepid, guiding spirit of the counterculture generation". Paul Simon suggested that Dylan's early compositions virtually took over the folk genre: " early songs were very rich ... with strong melodies. 'Blowin' in the Wind' has a really strong melody. He so enlarged himself through the folk background that he incorporated it for a while. He defined the genre for a while."
For many critics, Dylan's greatest achievement was the cultural synthesis exemplified by his mid-1960s trilogy of albums—Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. In Mike Marqusee's words:
Between late 1964 and the middle of 1966, Dylan created a body of work that remains unique. Drawing on folk, blues, country, R&B, rock'n'roll, gospel, British beat, symbolist, modernist and Beat poetry, surrealism and Dada, advertising jargon and social commentary, Fellini and Mad magazine, he forged a coherent and original artistic voice and vision. The beauty of these albums retains the power to shock and console.
Dylan's lyrics began to receive critical study as early as 1998, when Stanford University sponsored the first international academic conference on Bob Dylan held in the United States. In 2004, Richard F. Thomas, Classics professor at Harvard University, created a freshman seminar titled "Dylan", which aimed "to put the artist in context of not just popular culture of the last half-century, but the tradition of classical poets like Virgil and Homer." Thomas went on to publish Why Bob Dylan Matters, exploring Dylan's connections with Greco-Roman literature. Literary critic Christopher Ricks published Dylan's Visions of Sin, an appreciation of Dylan's work. Following Dylan's Nobel win, Ricks reflected: "I'd not have written a book about Dylan, to stand alongside my books on Milton and Keats, Tennyson and T.S. Eliot, if I didn't think Dylan a genius of and with language." The critical consensus that Dylan's songwriting was his outstanding creative achievement was articulated by Encyclopædia Britannica: "Hailed as the Shakespeare of his generation, Dylan ... set the standard for lyric writing." Former British poet laureate Andrew Motion said Dylan's lyrics should be studied in schools. His lyrics have entered the vernacular; Edna Gundersen notes that
Lines that branded Dylan a poet and counterculture valedictorian in the '60s are imprinted on the culture: "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose"; "a hard rain's a-gonna fall"; "to live outside the law you must be honest." Some lyrics — "you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows" and "the times they are a-changin' " — appear in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.
Rolling Stone ranked Dylan first on its 2015 list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, fifteenth on its 2023 list of the Greatest Singers of All Time, and placed "Like A Rolling Stone" first on their list of greatest songs in 2004 and 2011. He was listed second on the magazine's list of the hundred greatest artists. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll writes that "His lyrics—the first in rock to be seriously regarded as literature—became so well known that politicians from Jimmy Carter to Václav Havel have cited them as an influence."
Dylan's voice also received critical attention. Robert Shelton described his early vocal style as "a rusty voice suggesting Guthrie's old performances, etched in gravel like Dave Van Ronk's". His voice continued to develop as he began to work with rock'n'roll backing bands; Michael Gray described the sound of Dylan's vocal work on "Like a Rolling Stone" as "at once young and jeeringly cynical". As Dylan's voice aged during the 1980s, for some critics, it became more expressive. Christophe Lebold writes in the journal Oral Tradition:
Dylan's more recent broken voice enables him to present a world view at the sonic surface of the songs—this voice carries us across the landscape of a broken, fallen world. The anatomy of a broken world in "Everything is Broken" (on the album Oh Mercy) is but an example of how the thematic concern with all things broken is grounded in a concrete sonic reality.
Among musicians who have acknowledged his influence are John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Jerry Garcia, Pete Townshend, Syd Barrett, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Patti Smith, Joe Strummer, Bono, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Ole Paus and Chuck D. Dylan significantly contributed to the initial success of both the Byrds and the Band: the Byrds achieved chart success with their version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and the subsequent album, while the Band were Dylan's backing band on his 1966 tour, recorded The Basement Tapes with him in 1967 and featured three previously unreleased Dylan songs on their debut album. Johnny Cash, introducing "Wanted Man", said "I don't have to tell you who Bob Dylan is—the greatest writer of our time."
Some critics have dissented from the view of Dylan as a visionary figure in popular music. In his book Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom, Nik Cohn objected: "I can't take the vision of Dylan as seer, as teenage messiah, as everything else he's been worshipped as. The way I see him, he's a minor talent with a major gift for self-hype". Australian critic Jack Marx credited Dylan with changing the persona of the rock star: "What cannot be disputed is that Dylan invented the arrogant, faux-cerebral posturing that has been the dominant style in rock since, with everyone from Mick Jagger to Eminem educating themselves from the Dylan handbook".
Fellow musicians have also expressed critical views. Joni Mitchell described Dylan as a "plagiarist" and his voice as "fake" in a 2010 interview in the Los Angeles Times. Mitchell's comments led to discussions on Dylan's use of other people's material, both supporting and criticizing him. Talking to Mikal Gilmore in Rolling Stone in 2012, Dylan responded to the allegation of plagiarism, including his use of Henry Timrod's verse in his album Modern Times, by saying that it was "part of the tradition".
Dylan's music has inspired artists in other fields. Dave Gibbons recalls how he and Alan Moore were inspired by the lines of "Desolation Row" beginning "At midnight, all the agents/ And the superhuman crew...":
It was a glimpse, a mere fragment of something; something ominous, paranoid and threatening. But something that showed that comics, like poetry or rock and roll or Bob Dylan himself, might feasibly become part of the greater cultural continuum. The lines must have also lodged in Alan's consciousness for, nearly twenty years later, Dylan's words eventually provided the title of the first issue of our comic book series Watchmen.
Gibbons says of their seminal comic, "It began with Bob Dylan."
In 2007, Todd Haynes released I'm Not There, "inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan". The movie used six actors, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw, to explore different facets of Dylan's life. Dylan's previously unreleased 1967 song from which the film takes its name was included on the original soundtrack along with covers of Dylan songs by such diverse artists as Sonic Youth, Calexico and Yo La Tengo. Irish playwright Conor McPherson wrote and directed the musical Girl from the North Country, which used Dylan's songs to tell the stories of various characters during the Depression years, set in Dylan's birthplace, Duluth, Minnesota. The play premiered in London in 2017.
Dylan's rise to stardom, from his arrival in New York in 1961 to his controversial performance at Newport in 1965, is portrayed by actor Timothée Chalamet in the feature film A Complete Unknown, scheduled to open in the U.S. on December 25, 2024.
If Dylan's work in the 1960s was seen as bringing intellectual ambition to popular music, critics in the 21st century described him as a figure who had greatly expanded the folk culture from which he initially emerged. In his review of I'm Not There, J. Hoberman wrote:
Elvis might never have been born, but someone else would surely have brought the world rock 'n' roll. No such logic accounts for Bob Dylan. No iron law of history demanded that a would-be Elvis from Hibbing, Minnesota, would swerve through the Greenwich Village folk revival to become the world's first and greatest rock 'n' roll beatnik bard and then—having achieved fame and adoration beyond reckoning—vanish into a folk tradition of his own making.
Archives and recognition
The sale of Dylan's archive of about 6,000 items of memorabilia to the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of Tulsa was announced on March 2, 2016. It was reported the sale price was "an estimated $15 million to $20 million". The archive comprises notebooks, drafts of Dylan lyrics, recordings, and correspondence. To house the archive, the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma opened on May 10, 2022.
In 2005, 7th Avenue East in Hibbing, Minnesota, the street on which Dylan lived from ages 6 to 18, received the honorary name Bob Dylan Drive. In 2006, a cultural pathway, Bob Dylan Way, was inaugurated in Duluth, Minnesota, where Dylan was born. The 1.8-mile path links "cultural and historically significant areas of downtown for the tourists".
In 2015, a 160-foot-wide Dylan mural by Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra was unveiled in downtown Minneapolis.
In December 2013, the Fender Stratocaster which Dylan had played at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival fetched $965,000, the second highest price paid for a guitar. In June 2014, Dylan's hand-written lyrics of "Like a Rolling Stone" fetched $2 million at auction, a record for a popular music manuscript.
Visual art
Dylan's visual art was first seen by the public via a painting he contributed for the cover of The Band's Music from Big Pink album in 1968. The cover of Dylan's own 1970 album Self Portrait features the painting of a human face by Dylan. More of Dylan's artwork was revealed with the 1973 publication of his book Writings and Drawings. The cover of Dylan's 1974 album Planet Waves again featured one of his paintings. In 1994 Random House published Drawn Blank, a book of Dylan's drawings. In 2007, the first public exhibition of Dylan's paintings, The Drawn Blank Series, opened at the Kunstsammlungen in Chemnitz, Germany; it showcased more than 200 watercolors and gouaches made from the original drawings. The exhibition coincided with the publication of Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series, which includes 170 reproductions from the series. From September 2010 until April 2011, the National Gallery of Denmark exhibited 40 large-scale acrylic paintings by Dylan, The Brazil Series.
In July 2011, a leading contemporary art gallery, Gagosian Gallery, announced their representation of Dylan's paintings. An exhibition of Dylan's art, The Asia Series, opened at the Gagosian Madison Avenue Gallery on September 20, displaying Dylan's paintings of scenes in China and the Far East. The New York Times reported that "some fans and Dylanologists have raised questions about whether some of these paintings are based on the singer's own experiences and observations, or on photographs that are widely available and were not taken by Mr. Dylan". The Times pointed to close resemblances between Dylan's paintings and historic photos of Japan and China, and photos taken by Dmitri Kessel and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Art critic Blake Gopnik has defended Dylan's artistic practice, arguing: "Ever since the birth of photography, painters have used it as the basis for their works: Edgar Degas and Édouard Vuillard and other favorite artists—even Edvard Munch—all took or used photos as sources for their art, sometimes barely altering them". The Magnum photo agency confirmed that Dylan had licensed the reproduction rights of these photographs.
Dylan's second show at the Gagosian Gallery, Revisionist Art, opened in November 2012. The show consisted of thirty paintings, transforming and satirizing popular magazines, including Playboy and Babytalk. In February 2013, Dylan exhibited the New Orleans Series of paintings at the Palazzo Reale in Milan. In August 2013, Britain's National Portrait Gallery in London hosted Dylan's first major UK exhibition, Face Value, featuring twelve pastel portraits.
In November 2013, the Halcyon Gallery in London mounted Mood Swings, an exhibition in which Dylan displayed seven wrought iron gates he had made. In a statement released by the gallery, Dylan said,
I've been around iron all my life ever since I was a kid. I was born and raised in iron ore country, where you could breathe it and smell it every day. Gates appeal to me because of the negative space they allow. They can be closed but at the same time they allow the seasons and breezes to enter and flow. They can shut you out or shut you in. And in some ways there is no difference.
In November 2016, the Halcyon Gallery featured a collection of drawings, watercolors and acrylic works by Dylan. The exhibition, The Beaten Path, depicted American landscapes and urban scenes, inspired by Dylan's travels across the US. The show was reviewed by Vanity Fair and Asia Times Online. In October 2018, the Halcyon Gallery mounted an exhibition of Dylan's drawings, Mondo Scripto. The works consisted of Dylan hand-written lyrics of his songs, with each song illustrated by a drawing.
Retrospectrum, the largest retrospective of Dylan's visual art to date, consisting of over 250 works in a variety of media, debuted at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai in 2019. Building on the exhibition in China, a version of Retrospectrum, which includes a new series of paintings, "Deep Focus", drawn from film imagery, opened at the Frost Art Museum in Miami on November 30, 2021.
Since 1994, Dylan has published nine books of paintings and drawings. In November 2022, Dylan apologized for using an autopen to sign books and artwork which were subsequently sold as "hand-signed" since 2019.
In 2024 an abstract painting by Dylan from the late 1960s sold at auction for approximately $200,000. The painting was originally given to a relative of the seller in exchange for an astrology chart.
Written works
Main article: Bob Dylan bibliographyDylan has published Tarantula, a work of prose poetry; Chronicles: Volume One, the first part of his memoirs; several books of the lyrics of his songs, and nine books of his art. Dylan's third full length book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, which contains 66 essays on songs by other artists, was published on November 1, 2022. Dylan has also been the subject of numerous biographies and critical studies.
Discography
Main articles: Bob Dylan discography and List of songs written by Bob Dylan- Bob Dylan (1962)
- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)
- The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964)
- Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)
- Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
- Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
- Blonde on Blonde (1966)
- John Wesley Harding (1967)
- Nashville Skyline (1969)
- Self Portrait (1970)
- New Morning (1970)
- Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
- Dylan (1973)
- Planet Waves (1974)
- Blood on the Tracks (1975)
- The Basement Tapes (1975)
- Desire (1976)
- Street-Legal (1978)
- Slow Train Coming (1979)
- Saved (1980)
- Shot of Love (1981)
- Infidels (1983)
- Empire Burlesque (1985)
- Knocked Out Loaded (1986)
- Down in the Groove (1988)
- Oh Mercy (1989)
- Under the Red Sky (1990)
- Good as I Been to You (1992)
- World Gone Wrong (1993)
- Time Out of Mind (1997)
- "Love and Theft" (2001)
- Modern Times (2006)
- Together Through Life (2009)
- Christmas in the Heart (2009)
- Tempest (2012)
- Shadows in the Night (2015)
- Fallen Angels (2016)
- Triplicate (2017)
- Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020)
- Shadow Kingdom (2023)
Notes
- According to Dylan biographer Robert Shelton, Dylan first confided his change of name to his high school girlfriend, Echo Helstrom, in 1958, telling her that he had found a "great name, Bob Dillon". Shelton surmises that Dillon had two sources: Marshal Matt Dillon was the hero of the TV western Gunsmoke; Dillon was also the name of one of Hibbing's principal families. While Shelton was writing Dylan's biography in the 1960s, Dylan told him, "Straighten out in your book that I did not take my name from Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas's poetry is for people that aren't really satisfied in their bed, for people who dig masculine romance." At the University of Minnesota, Dylan told a few friends that Dillon was his mother's maiden name, which was untrue. He later told reporters that he had an uncle named Dillon. Shelton added that only when he reached New York in 1961 did he begin to spell his name "Dylan", by which time he was acquainted with the life and work of Dylan Thomas. Shelton (2011), pp. 44–45.
- On August 9, 1962, he legally changed his name from Robert Allen Zimmerman to Robert Dylan in the St. Louis County Court, Hibbing. His father, Abraham Zimmerman, was the witness at this legal event.(Heylin 2021, p. 138)
- In a May 1963 interview with Studs Terkel, Dylan broadened the meaning of the song, saying "the pellets of poison flooding the waters" refers to "the lies people are told on their radios and in their newspapers." Cott (2006), p. 8.
- The title "Spokesman of a Generation" was viewed by Dylan with disgust in later years. He came to feel it was a label the media had pinned on him, and in his autobiography, Chronicles, Dylan wrote: "The press never let up. Once in a while I would have to rise up and offer myself for an interview so they wouldn't beat the door down. Later an article would hit the streets with the headline 'Spokesman Denies That He's A Spokesman.' I felt like a piece of meat that someone had thrown to the dogs." Dylan (2004), p.119
- In an interview with Seth Goddard for Life (July 5, 2001) Ginsberg said Dylan's technique had been inspired by Jack Kerouac: "(Dylan) pulled Mexico City Blues from my hand and started reading it and I said, 'What do you know about that?' He said, 'Somebody handed it to me in '59 in St. Paul and it blew my mind.' So I said 'Why?' He said, 'It was the first poetry that spoke to me in my own language.' So those chains of flashing images you get in Dylan, like 'the motorcycle black Madonna two-wheeled gypsy queen and her silver studded phantom lover,' they're influenced by Kerouac's chains of flashing images and spontaneous writing, and that spreads out into the people". Schumacher, Michael, ed. (2017). First Thought: Conversations with Allen Ginsberg. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 322–. ISBN 978-1-4529-4995-6.
- Later recorded by Jimi Hendrix, whose version Dylan acknowledged as definitive.
- According to Shelton, Dylan named the tour Rolling Thunder and then "appeared pleased when someone told him to native Americans, rolling thunder means speaking the truth." A Cherokee medicine man named Rolling Thunder appeared on stage at Providence, RI, "stroking a feather in time to the music." Shelton (2011), p. 310.
- Dylan told Gilmore: "As far as Henry Timrod is concerned, have you even heard of him? Who's been reading him lately? And who's pushed him to the forefront? ... And if you think it's so easy to quote him and it can help your work, do it yourself and see how far you can get. Wussies and pussies complain about that stuff. It's an old thing—it's part of the tradition."
References
Citations
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Bob Dylan — as a matter of legal record, 'Robert Dylan' ...
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The petition for divorce stated that the "respondent, Robert Dylan ... "
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Bruce Springsteen, who was originally touted as a 'new Dylan' when he was signed to Columbia Records, Dylan's label, by the same label honcho, John Hammond, who signed Dylan, said this about 'Like a Rolling Stone':
'Dylan freed your mind and showed us that because the music was physical did not mean it was anti-intellect. He had the vision and talent to make a pop song so that it contained the whole world. He invented a new way a pop singer could sound, broke through the limitations of what a recording could achieve, and he changed the face of rock 'n' roll for ever and ever.' - Heylin, Clinton, 2011, Bob Dylan: Behind The Shades, The 20th Anniversary Edition, pp. 646–652.
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- Biograph, 1985, Liner notes & text by Cameron Crowe. Musicians on "Mixed Up Confusion": George Barnes & Bruce Langhorne (guitars); Dick Wellstood (piano); Gene Ramey (bass); Herb Lovelle (drums)
- Dylan had recorded "Talkin' John Birch Society Blues" for his Freewheelin album, but the song was replaced by later compositions, including "Masters of War". See Heylin (2000), pp. 114–115.
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{{cite web}}
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Column, tower, and dome, and spire,/Shine like obelisks of fire,/Pointing with inconstant motion/From the altar of dark ocean/To the sapphire-tinted skies;
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- "Did Bob Dylan Lift Lines From Dr Saga?". The Wall Street Journal. July 8, 2003. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- Dylan co-wrote Masked & Anonymous under the pseudonym Seregei Petrov, taken from an actor in the silent movie era; Larry Charles used the alias Rene Fontaine. Gray (2006), p. 453.
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- Shelton, pp. 108–111.
- Gray (2006), p. 413.
- Lebold, Christophe (March 1, 2007). "A Face like a Mask and a Voice that Croaks: An Integrated Poetics of Bob Dylan's Voice, Personae, and Lyrics" (PDF). Oral Tradition. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- Lennon: "In Paris in 1964 was the first time I ever heard Dylan at all. Paul got the record (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) from a French DJ. For three weeks in Paris we didn't stop playing it. We all went potty about Dylan.": Beatles, (2000), The Beatles Anthology, pp. 112–114.
- McCartney: "I'm in awe of Bob ... He hit a period where people went, 'Oh, I don't like him now.' And I said, 'No. It's Bob Dylan.' To me, it's like Picasso, where people discuss his various periods, 'This was better than this, was better than this.' But I go, 'No. It's Picasso. It's all good.' "Siegel, Robert (June 27, 2007). "Paul McCartney interview". A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
- Richardson, P. (2015). No Simple Highway. St. Martin's Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-250-01062-9. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
Dylan's influence on Garcia and Hunter was a given; both admired his songwriting and thought he gave rock music a modicum of respectability and authority. "He took out of the realm of ignorant guys banging away on electrical instruments and put it somewhere else altogether," Garcia said later.
- "They asked me what effect Bob Dylan had on me," Townshend said. "That's like asking how I was influenced by being born." Flanagan, (1990), Written In My Soul, p. 88.
- Barrett, Syd. "Bob Dylan Blues". pink floyd.org. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- Mitchell: “I can’t really pick just one because I like so many, but the Dylan song that really grabbed me was ‘Positively Fourth Street’ and the reason for that was the subject matter seemed at the time so unique. What it said to me, not only is this a good song, but it means that we can now sing about any kind of emotion. I don’t think there was a song before that that defined the kind of hurt expressed in that song. It widened the scope of possibilities for songwriters.”Hilburn, Robert (May 19, 1991). "The Impact of Dylan's Music 'Widened the Scope of Possibilities'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
- "Bob Dylan, I'll never be Bob Dylan. He's the master. If I'd like to be anyone, it's him. And he's a great writer, true to his music and done what he feels is the right thing to do for years and years and years. He's great. He's the one I look to." Time interview with Neil Young, September 28, 2005. Reproduced online : Tyrangiel, Josh (September 28, 2005). "Resurrection of Neil Young". Time. Archived from the original on December 10, 2005. Retrieved September 15, 2008.
- Bowie: "Dylan taught my generation that it was OK to write pop songs about your worst nightmares." Bowie paid homage with "Song for Bob Dylan" on the album Hunky Dory, 1971.
- In 2007, Ferry released an album of his versions of Dylan songs, Dylanesque
- Time Out interview with Patti Smith, May 16, 2007: "The people I revered in the late '60s and the early '70s, their motivation was to do great work and great work creates revolution. The motivation of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan or The Who wasn't marketing, to get rich, or be a celebrity.""Patti Smith: interview". Time Out. May 16, 2007. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
- "Dylan laid down the template for lyric, tune, seriousness, spirituality, depth of rock music"."Bob Dylan: His Legacy to Music". BBC News. May 29, 2001. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
- Bono:His voice has been a bee buzzing around my ear since I can remember being conscious. It's an unusual voice, not always soothing, sometimes nagging, but it reminds us of the possibilities for music and its place in the world...U2 kind of came from outer space, where punk was ground zero and you didn't admit to having roots. Bob scolded me, "You're sitting on all this stuff. You should check it out." As we fall over ourselves toward the fast and furious future, Dylan feels like the brakes, reminding us of stuff we might have lost, like our dignity.
- Mojo: What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Nick Cave: "I guess it's Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan. That's a great record, full of mean-spirited spirituality. It's a genuinely nasty record, certainly the nastiest 'Christian' album I've ever come across." Mojo, January 1997
- Willman, Chris (October 14, 2016). "Leonard Cohen Corrects Himself". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- Waits: "For a songwriter, Dylan is as essential as a hammer and nails and saw are to a carpenter." "It's Perfect Madness". The Guardian. March 20, 2005.
- Paus, Ole; Bakke, Asbjørn (2024). For en mann. Kagge forlag. ISBN 9788248928508.
- Chuck D, in conversation with Edna Gundersen in USA Today, said of Dylan, “He is stencilled on a lot of aspects of my career. His ability to paint pictures with words and his concerns for society. He taught me to go against the grain.”
- Marcus, Greil (April 10, 2010). "The Basement Tapes (1975)". bobdylan.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
- Hoskyns, pp. 153–157.
- "Johnny Cash, from the intro to "Wanted Man", At San Quentin, recorded February 24, 1969.
- Cohn, pp. 164–165.
- Marx, Jack (September 2, 2008). "Tangled Up In Blah". The Australian. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
- Diehl, Matt (April 22, 2010). "It's a Joni Mitchell concert, sans Joni". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- Larson, Bethany (April 23, 2010). "Folk Face-Off: Joni Mitchell vs. Bob Dylan". Flavorwire.com. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
- "Joni Mitchell Library – The interviewer was an a**hole': Joni Mitchell clarifies her infamous 'plagiarist' charge against Bob Dylan: Something Else! (Website), June 29, 2013". jonimitchell.com. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
- Wilentz, Sean (April 30, 2010). "Is Bob Dylan a Phony?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- Gilmore, Mikal (September 27, 2012). "Bob Dylan Unleashed". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- Gibbons, Dave; Moore, Alan (2013) . "Introduction". Watchmen. DC Comics. ISBN 9781401238964.
- ^ McCarthy, Todd (September 4, 2007). "I'm Not There". Variety. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
- A. O. Scott (November 7, 2007). "I'm Not There (2007)". The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
- Greil Marcus wrote: "There is nothing like 'I'm Not There' in the rest of the basement recordings, or anywhere else in Bob Dylan's career ... Very quickly the listener is drawn into the sickly embrace of the music, its wash of half-heard, half-formed words and the increasing bitterness and despair behind them. Words are floated together in a dyslexia that is music itself – a dyslexia that seems to prove the claims of music over words, to see just how little words can achieve." See Marcus, p. 198.
- Billinngton, Michael (July 26, 2017). "Girl from the North Country review: Bob Dylan's songs are Depression-era dynamite". The Guardian.
- Brantley, Ben (March 6, 2020). "'Girl From the North Country' Review: Bob Dylan's Amazing Grace". The New York Times.
- Ntim, Zac (July 24, 2024). "'A Complete Unknown' Trailer: Timothée Chalamet Is A Singing, Smoking Bob Dylan In First Look At James Mangold's Musical Biopic". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 24, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
- Hoberman, J. (November 20, 2007). "Like A Complete Unknown". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
- Sisario, Ben (March 2, 2016). "Bob Dylan's Secret Archive". The New York Times. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- Greene, Andy (March 3, 2016). "Inside Bob Dylan's Historic New Tulsa Archive: 'It's an Endless Ocean'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- Smith, RJ (May 11, 2022). "In Tulsa, the new Bob Dylan museum reconsiders the legacies of an icon and a city". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- Gunts, Edward (May 18, 2022). "Simple Twist of Tulsa". The Architect's newspaper. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
- Buncombe, Andrew (June 3, 2005). "Bob Dylan finally honoured by his home town". The Independent. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- "Bob Dylan's hometown of Hibbing struggles with how to honor its most famous son". Mprnews.org. December 9, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- "Bob Dylan Way". bobdylanway.com. June 1, 2006. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- Kerr, Euan (September 8, 2015). "Towering, kaleidoscopic Dylan mural is now complete". mprnews.org. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- "Bob Dylan's Fender Stratocaster sells for nearly $1m". BBC News. December 6, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
- "Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone lyrics fetch $2m record". BBC News. June 24, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
- Kozinn, Allan (April 30, 2014). "Dylan's Handwritten Lyrics to 'Like a Rolling Stone' to Be Auctioned". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
- Sutherland, Sam (July 5, 2020). "The Band's Pioneering 'Music From Big Pink'". Best Classic Bands. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
- Bell, 2012, Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan. p. 524.
- "Writings And Drawings by Bob Dylan". www.bobdylan-comewritersandcritics.com. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
- Dylan, Bob (1994). Drawn Blank. Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-41788-0.
- ^ Gray, Michael. "Dylan's Drawn Blank Paintings Exhibition". BobDylanEncyclopediablogspot.com. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
- Pessl, Marsha (June 1, 2008). "When I Paint My Masterpiece". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
- Battersby, Matilda (September 2, 2010). "Bob Dylan paintings at Danish National Gallery". The Independent. London. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
- Corbett, Rachel (July 27, 2011). "Dylan at Gagosian Gallery". artnet.com. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- "Bob Dylan: The Asia Series". gagosian.com. September 10, 2011. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
- Itzkoff, Dave (September 26, 2011). "Questions Raised About Dylan Show at Gagosian". The New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
- Gopnik, Blake (September 28, 2011). "Bob Dylan Accused of Plagiarizing Famous Photos in His New Art Show". The Daily Beast. thedailybeast.com. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
- "Bob Dylan Paid to License Asia Series Photos, Magnum Says". Art+Auction. October 1, 2011. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
- "Gagosian Gallery artists: Bob Dylan". gagosian.com. November 20, 2012. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
- Smith, Roberta (December 13, 2012). "Revisionist Art: Thirty Works by Bob Dylan". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- Parker, Sam (February 6, 2013). "Bob Dylan's 'New Orleans Series' Goes On Display In Milan". HuffPost. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- Güner, Fisun (August 24, 2013). "Bob Dylan: Face Value, National Portrait Gallery". TheArtsDesk.com. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- "The Legendary Bob Dylan Unveils Seven Iron Gates Sculpture". artlyst.com. September 24, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
- "Mood Swings". Halcyon Gallery. November 1, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
- Dylan, Bob (November 5, 2016). "The Beaten Path". Halcyon Gallery. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- Wilentz, Sean (November 5, 2016). "Bob Dylan's visual art is an important ode to America". Asia Times Online. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- "Bob Dylan is headed back to China – on canvas". Asia Times Online. November 5, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- Dylan, Bob (November 2, 2016). "In His Own Words: Why Bob Dylan Paints". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- "Bob Dylan, Mondo Scripto, 09 Oct 2018 – 23 Dec 2018". halcyongallery.com. September 10, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- "Bob Dylan's 'Retrospectrum' debuts at the Modern Art Museum, Shanghai". Halcyon Gallery. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
- Richard F. Thomas (December 21, 2021). "Dylan Transfigured: Deep Focus". artreview.com. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
- Licon, Adriana (November 27, 2021). "Bob Dylan artwork show opens in Miami, new cinema paintings". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- Drawn Blank, Random House (November 15, 1994); Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series, Prestel (March 31, 2008); Bob Dylan: The Brazil Series, Prestel (October 25, 2010); Bob Dylan: The Asia Series, Gagosian Gallery (October 12, 2011); Revisionist Art: Thirty Works by Bob Dylan, Harry N. Abrams (March 26, 2013); Bob Dylan: Face Value, National Portrait Gallery (February 28, 2014); The Beaten Path, Halcyon Gallery (November 5, 2016); Mondo Scripto, Halcyon Gallery, (October 1, 2018); Bob Dylan: Retrospectrum, Skira Editore, (March 1, 2023)
- Dylan, Bob (November 26, 2022). "To my fans and followers". Facebook. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- "Bob Dylan apologises for machine-printed 'signatures'". BBC News. November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- Spanos, Brittany (May 28, 2024). "Rare Bob Dylan Painting Fetches Nearly $200K at Auction". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
Sources
- Barker, Derek, ed. (2019). Bob Dylan Anthology, Volume 3. Red Planet Publishing. ISBN 978-1-912733-94-1.
- Bauldie, John, ed. (1992). Wanted Man: In Search of Bob Dylan. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-015361-3.
- Beatles, The (2000). The Beatles Anthology. Cassell & Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35605-8.
- Bell, Ian (2012). Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78057-573-5.
- Bell, Ian (2013). Time Out of Mind: The Lives of Bob Dylan. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 9781780575773.
- Cohn, Nik (1970). Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom. Paladin. ISBN 978-0-586-08014-6.
- Cott, Jonathan, ed. (2006). Dylan on Dylan: The Essential Interviews. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-92312-2.
- Dylan, Bob (2004). Chronicles: Volume One. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-2815-2.
- Fishkoff, Sue (2003). The Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch. Schocken Books. ISBN 978-0-8052-1138-2.
- Flanagan, Bill (1990). Written In My Soul. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-2224-2.
- Fong-Torres, Ben, ed. (1973). The Rolling Stone Interviews. Vol. 2. Warner Paperback Library.
- Gill, Andy (1999). Classic Bob Dylan: My Back Pages. Carlton. ISBN 978-1-85868-599-1.
- Gill, Andy; Odegard, Kevin (2004). A Simple Twist Of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81413-6.
- Gilliland, John (1969). "Ballad in Plain D: An introduction to the Bob Dylan era" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
- Gray, Michael (2000). Song & Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan. Continuum International. ISBN 978-0-8264-5150-7.
- Gray, Michael (2006). The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Continuum International. ISBN 978-0-8264-6933-5.
- Hajdu, David (2001). Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina. Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-28199-1.
- Harvey, Todd (2001). The Formative Dylan: Transmission & Stylistic Influences, 1961–1963. The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-4115-4.
- Hedin, Benjamin, ed. (2004). Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader. W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-393-32742-7.
- Helm, Levon (2000). This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band. Stephen Davis. a capella. ISBN 978-1-55652-405-9.
- Heylin, Clinton (1990). Saved!: The Gospel Speeches of Bob Dylan. Hanuman Books. ISBN 978-0-937815-38-0.
- Heylin, Clinton (1996). Bob Dylan: A Life In Stolen Moments. Book Sales. ISBN 978-0-7119-5669-8.
- Heylin, Clinton (2000). Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades: Take Two. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-88506-0.
- Heylin, Clinton (2009). Revolution In The Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, Volume One: 1957–73. Constable. ISBN 978-1-84901-051-1.
- Heylin, Clinton (2010). Still On The Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan, Volume Two: 1974–2008. Constable. ISBN 978-1-84901-011-5.
- Heylin, Clinton (2011). Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades: 20th Anniversary Edition. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-27240-2.
- Heylin, Clinton (2021). The Double Life of Bob Dylan: Volume I: 1941–1966 A Restless, Hungry Feeling. Bodley Head. ISBN 978-1847925886.
- Heylin, Clinton (2023). The Double Life of Bob Dylan: Volume 2: 1966–2021 Far Away From Myself. Bodley Head. ISBN 978-1529923797.
- Hoskyns, Barney (1993). Across The Great Divide: The Band and America. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-84144-8.
- Larkin, Philip (1985). All What Jazz: A Record Diary. Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-13476-9.
- Latham, Sean, ed. (2021). The World of Bob Dylan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-49951-4.
- Lee, C. P. (2000). Like a Bullet of Light: The Films of Bob Dylan. Helter Skelter. ISBN 978-1-900924-06-1.
- Marcus, Greil (2001). The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes. Picador. ISBN 978-0-312-42043-7.
- Marcus, Greil (2005). Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-22385-5.
- Marqusee, Mike (2005). Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-1-58322-686-5.
- Marshall, Scott (2002). Restless Pilgrim: The Spiritual Journey of Bob Dylan. Relevant Books. ISBN 978-0-9714576-2-1.
- Miller, Jim, ed. (1981), The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll, Picador, ISBN 978-0-330-26568-3
- Muir, Andrew (2001). Razor's Edge: Bob Dylan & the Never Ending Tour. Helter Skelter. ISBN 978-1-900924-13-9.
- Polizzotti, Mark (2006). Highway 61 Revisited. Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-1775-6.
- Ricks, Christopher (2003). Dylan's Visions of Sin. Penguin/Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-80133-6.
- Robertson, Robbie (2016). Testimony. William Heinemann. ISBN 978-1-78515-106-4.
- Scaduto, Anthony (2001) . Bob Dylan. Helter Skelter. ISBN 978-1-900924-23-8.
- Schumacher, Michael, ed. (2017). First Thought: Conversations with Allen Ginsberg. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-9917-9.
- Shelton, Robert (1986). No Direction Home. New English Library. ISBN 978-0-450-04843-2.
- Shelton, Robert (2011). No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan, Revised and updated edition. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84938-911-2.
- Shepard, Sam (2004). Rolling Thunder Logbook (reissue ed.). Da Capo. ISBN 978-0-306-81371-9.
- Sounes, Howard (2001). Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan. Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-1686-4.
- Williams, Richard (1992). Dylan: A Man Called Alias. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-1084-0.
- Williamson, Nigel (2004). The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-139-5.
External links
Listen to this article (11 minutes) This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 6 November 2008 (2008-11-06), and does not reflect subsequent edits.(Audio help · More spoken articles)- Official website
- Expecting Rain – Dylan news and events, updated daily
- BobLinks – Comprehensive log of concerts and set lists
- Bjorner's Still on the Road – Information on recording sessions and performances
- Bob Dylan at IMDb
- Bob Dylan on Nobelprize.org
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