Dylan, Bob (redirected from Robert Allen Zimmerman)

Dylan, Bob (dĭl`ən), 1941–, American singer and composer, b. Duluth, Minn., as Robert Zimmerman. Dylan learned guitar at the age of 10 and autoharp and harmonica at 15. After a rebellious youth, he moved to New York City in 1960 and in the early years of the decade began playing in a folk style in Greenwich Village clubs. He turned to performing with an electric rock-and-roll band in 1965. Influenced by such figures as Leadbelly, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, and Woody Guthrie as well as by such early rockers as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Little Richard, Dylan, in turn, has had a profound effect on folk and rock music. As a lyricist he captured the cynicism, anger, and alienation of American youth, which reverberated in his harsh vocal delivery and insistent guitar-harmonica accompaniment.

Among Dylan's many social protest songs are "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'." Dylan's style evolved from acoustic folk (e.g., "Don't Think Twice") to folk rock (e.g., "Highway 61 Revisited"), country blues (e.g., "Country Pie"), and hard-driving rock. Enigmatic and reclusive, he became a cult figure; he has continued to tour and record new albums. Although many of his later recordings were not well received, his Time out of Mind (1997), Love and Theft (2001), and Modern Times (2006, Grammy) albums won nearly universal praise. He also wrote an early autobiography, Bob Dylan, Self-Portrait (1970); a late one, Chronicles: Volume One (2004); and a novel, Tarantula (1971, repr. 2004).

Bibliography

See his Lyrics: 1962–2001 (2004); J. W. Ellison, ed., Younger than That Now: The Collected Interviews with Bob Dylan (2004), J. Cott, ed., Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews (2006); biographies by R. Shelton (1986), B. Spitz (1988), C. Heylin (rev. ed. 2001), and H. Sounes (2001); O. Trager, Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia (2004); studies by P. Cable (1980), B. Bowden (1982), T. Riley (1992), P. Williams (3 vol., 1994–2004), G. Marcus (1997 and 2005), D. Hajdu (2001), and C. Ricks (2004); discographies by M. Krogsgaard (1991), J. Nogowski (1994), and B. Hedin, ed. (2004); M. Scorsese, dir., No Direction Home (documentary film, 2005).

---

Dylan, Bob

 orig. Robert Allen Zimmerman

(born May 24, 1941, Duluth, Minn., U.S.) U.S. singer and songwriter. He grew up in the iron-range town of Hibbing, Minn., adopted the name of the poet Dylan Thomas, and traveled to New York in search of idol Woody Guthrie. In the early 1960s he performed professionally in Greenwich Village coffeehouses and released albums that made him the darling of critics and folk music devotees. “Blowin' in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin'” became anthems of the civil rights movement. In 1965 he adopted electrically amplified instruments and the rhythms of rock and roll in a major departure. The landmark albums Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966) established him as a leading figure in rock music, and his lyrics, influenced partly by the Beat movement, brought poetic complexity to pop music. After a motorcycle accident in 1966, he underwent another musical turnabout and released several albums (notably Nashville Skyline, 1969) characterized by country music elements and a muted, reflective tone. Among the most praised of his many later albums are Blood on the Tracks (1975), Time Out of Mind (1997) and Love and Theft (2001). He is perhaps the most admired and influential American songwriter of his time.

---

Dylan, Bob (b. Robert Allen Zimmerman) (1941–  ) folk/rock songwriter, singer; born in Duluth, Minn. He imitated Little Richard on piano at high school dances, changed his name, and dropped out of college to perform folk and country songs at local coffee houses. (Over the years he gave various explanations of the origin of his last name; one was that originally it was "Dillon" after the popular television western lawman, and only later did its spelling change to reflect his admiration for the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas.) In 1960 he moved to New York and began visiting legendary folksinger Woody Guthrie in the hospital. He was soon playing his own and Guthrie's songs on guitar in small folk clubs; in the latter he met Joan Baez, who helped advance his career. He achieved a huge following with the albums Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963), with its hit "Blowin' In The Wind," and Times They Are A-Changin' (1964), which established him as the premier folk balladeer of his generation as well as its voice for social protest. Influenced by the Beatles, in 1965 he released Highway 61 Revisited backed by a full rock band; the album included the hits "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Like a Rolling Stone." A prolific songwriter and gifted lyricist, he went on to write many great folk-rock songs of the 1970s and 1980s and to sell many gold albums in rock, country, and even gospel styles. In 1985 he sang at benefit concerts for African famine relief and in 1986 he toured Japan, Australia, and the United States with rock star Tom Petty. He continued to make occasional appearances at benefits and special concerts.