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Bob Dylan

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

After almost sixty (!) years on the job, Bob Dylan makes other song-writers look like fresh-new-born-M14-noobs. This man's music & legacy breaks genres, generations, and any other barrier in between. There's a reason Hunter S. Thompson's favorite song was "Mr. Tambourine Man," I mean come on- has a better song been written? Bob's circle of influence include: Martin Scorsese. Guns 'N' Roses. Oh, & he introduced The Beatles to marijuana (So you can thank him for Rubber Soul). I could go on... & I will. Bob Dylan is American as apple-pie. He is a melting-pot of everything America has to offer musically: Folk, poetry, Chuck Berry, Texas medicine, blues... all through a voice (love it or hate it) that is oh so signature. He has a discography that is long enough to be its own blog (I'd suggest you see this wiki). Bob was born Robert Zimmerman and he discovered Woody Guthrie while a young teen in Minnesota before moving to New York where he became Bob Dylan. A major role in the folk scene, performing at New York's Greenwich Village, performing with the likes of Jone Baez and other legendary acts of that scene. Ever since then he's been making waves. Most famously betraying his folk scene audience by going electric in 1965. On July 29, 1966 Bob would get in a motorcycle accident & not perform for eight years. He did give us a personal favorite of mine during this time with 1969's Nashville Skyline. His career can be broken down into five acts.

The 5 Acts of Bob Dylan
Act I: The Early Folk Stuff (early 60's)
Act II: Man Goes Electric [& a bit before] ('65-'66)
Act III: Blood on the Track + Rolling Thunder Tour (70's)
Act IV: RE-Birth (80's)
Act V: Consistency (90's til now)

The motorcycle even was a turning point. He would move to upstate New York, specifically Woodstock, and record the demos known as the Basement Tapes. Giving us a new stoner-folk genre of music. He returned to touring in January of '74 with previous write-up The Band. A good showing of this time is captures on The Bootleg Series Vol. 5. If you're new to the game you can't go wrong with Greatest Hits Vol. II. This man is way more than anything I can describe in words. Maybe if I was half as great of a poet as Dylan... But I'm not. Please go listen to Bob Dylan, listen to his lyrics & have your life changed forever. It took me awhile to get pass his voice.... Maybe even a decade... but once I did I was saved. I was all of a sudden in a never-ending, forever exploring world of Dylan. There's two ways I measure my life. B.D. (Before Dylan) and A.D. (After Dylan).

Five Favorite Albums:
5. Infidels
4. Blood on the Tracks
3. Blonde on Blonde
2. Highway 61 Revisited
1. Nashville Skyline 
 
Further Viewing:
 Bob Dylan on The Johnny Cash Show

Bob Dylan

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