Bob Dylan, Biography Of A Legend

Bob Dylan is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries. It also embodies the most controversial Nobel Prize for literature ever awarded in history. His music, which is poetry, and his poetry, which is music, have marked the popular culture of the United States and the world. He is considered an icon of the pop counterculture.

Dylan strongly requested one of his many biographers to clarify that he was not named after the poet Dylan Thomas, as many believed. According to him, the inspiration came from a character from a cowboy series named Matt Dillon. The poet stated that “Dylan Thomas’ poetry is for people who are not really satisfied in bed, for people who delve into male romanticism”.

Bob Dylan’s music is complex and fascinating. It has its roots in the most diverse rhythms such as those of rock, folk, country, blues and jazz. But the most fascinating aspect is represented by his texts, with which he explored social, political, literary, philosophical and spiritual themes. All this has given him a unique personality in the world of music and to whom we owe the Nobel prize.

Bob Dylan, a simple guy

Bob Dylan was born in Duluth (Minnesota, United States) on May 24, 1941. His real name is Robert Allen Zimmerman. He comes from a Jewish family, of Ukrainian origin on the paternal side and Lithuanian on the maternal side. The history of his family also has its roots in Turkey.

Dylan lived in his hometown until the age of 6. In those years, his father fell ill with polio and the family decided to move to his mother’s hometown, Hibbing, a place where time seemed to stand still. Bob Dylan described it as a place where “culture was mostly based on circuses and carnivals, preachers and pilots, lumberjack and comedian shows, marching bands and exceptional radio programs.”

Here his father had an electrical equipment shop and young Bob got his first job as a street sweeper. In Hibbing he attended high school and met his first loves, Gloria and Encho, which inspired his first verses and poems. Also in that city he learned music and formed the first bands of which he was part.

A fundamental change

Dylan briefly attended the University of Minnesota. He dropped out of school at the end of the first year and moved to New York. There he met the true face of America. Did he make his first performances at Café Wha? interpreting the themes of his great idol, Woody Guthrie. After all, it was Guthrie, with his work, who had inspired him to embark on that uncertain journey.

Dylan learned enormously during that time, even if he was unable to be successful in the strict sense. It was like a sponge: he observed, analyzed, deduced. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to deepen the different rhythms and cultivate his training. He was also a great reader. It devoured the Greek authors, Kant, Whitman, Ezra Pound, TS Eliot, Ginsberg, Shelley, Poe and William Burroughs, among others.

Then he met John Hammond, a talent scout with an experienced eye. The latter put him in contact with Albert Grossman, a manager who felt true devotion to that 20-year-old boy who exuded talent. Over the next four years they created true masterpieces and Dylan rose to fame.

A unique artist

In 1965 Bob Dylan finally obtained his consecration. The song Like a Rolling Stone , of the same year, was called the best song of the twentieth  century by several American magazines. Dylan forged an unmistakable identity that is reflected in the nine albums produced in that decade. There has not been and there is no one like him.

It profoundly revolutionized conventional pop music. His lyrics are authentic poems and his music is a refined combination of sounds. He also allowed himself the luxury of addressing religious issues and in any case obtaining unexpected successes. He has gotten a loyal audience that has followed him for decades, which is not so common for various artists.

The award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 caused a great deal of fuss. It was the first time that this award was given to a pop musician. However, many think it is an absolutely deserved award. In this regard, Leonard Cohen said what many think: “ Rewarding Bob is like giving a medal to Mount Everest for being the highest mountain. There was no need. Dylan is so great that the prize is just a detail, more than obvious ”.