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Times Are a-Changin’ in 2008

            How does one even begin to put into words the music, poetry and life of one of the greatest American singer-songwriters of all time? He’s just a guy from Duluth, Minnesota… who happened to capture the voice of a generation with his song. I mean, come on, he’s only one of the most multi-faceted, geniuses of the past century! Why would this be hard?!

            In case you have been under a rock for the past few months, Mr. Bob Dylan is coming to Mesker Amphitheatre on August 24^th to perform a legendary concert that the tri-state will buzz about for years to come.

            Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941, found himself right in the spearhead of social upheaval and reform during the 1960s. Though his lyrics were never intended as anthems for the American unrest that shadowed the nation throughout the Sixties and early Seventies, they chronicled the ‘times that were a-changin,’ and his “early focus on rock ‘n roll gave way to an interest in American folk music, typically performed with an acoustic guitar.”

            Arguably most known are his early works that include folksy tunes such as “Mr. Tambourine Man,” the cries of a lonely, sorrow-filled individual desperate for the long trip on his supplier’s “magic swirlin’ ship,” and his most famous song of all time – “Blowin’ in the Wind.” You may remember this as the song that the guitar-clad Jenny sang on stage when Forest punched out a rude patron in the 1994 Academy Award winning movie Forest Gump.

            “Blowin’ in the Wind” was later covered by Peter, Paul and Mary – proving his lyrics weren’t only meant for the raspy, pentametered voice that Dylan is famous for. Immortalized by Jimi Hendrix, “All Along the Watchtower” was originally written and recorded by Dylan in 1967 as a three-chord folk ballad. Others who recorded and had hits with Dylan’s songs included The Turtles, Sonny and Cher, The Byrds, Guns n Roses, The Hollies and Neil Diamond, just to name a few.

            Dylan’s knack for congealing all of the issues of the day into lyrical prose landed him in a position of familiarity and stature; however these labels were not the intention or desire of the folk singer. On May 12, 1963, Dylan walked off the Ed Sullivan Show rather than to be censored by the CBS Head of Program Practices. At the end of 1963, he was awarded the “Tom Paine Award” from the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee but gave a drunken and offensive speech, declaring that he saw a bit of everyone in Lee Harvey Oswald, President Kennedy’s suspected assassin. Though the essence of Dylan’s demeanor may have seemed brash and unnecessary, Dylan always got his point across. His objective was his music, not to be a prophet, poet or national leader. He is multi-faceted and has never had a single true identity. He is more of a cat than a man – sporting nine lives.

            “The minute you try to grab hold of Dylan, he’s no longer where he was. He’s like a flame: If you try to hold him in your hand you’ll surely get burned. Dylan’s life of change and constant disappearances and constant transformations makes you yearn to hold him, and to nail him down. And that’s why his fan base is so obsessive, so desirous of finding the truth and the absolutes and the answers to him – things that Dylan will never provide and will only frustrate… Dylan is difficult and mysterious and evasive and frustrating, and it only makes you identity with him all the more as he skirts identity.” -Jim Emerson

            If you think just because Bob Dylan is 67-years-old he has shriveled up and withered away, you are wrong. 2008 has brought a whole new cornucopia of issues to Dylan’s table. With the presidential campaign nipping at our heels, he has a lot to say about everything from the suffering economy to war. Bob Dylan has publicly endorsed Presidential Nominee, Barack Obama, a candidate that has made “change” as much of an ideal as a Bob Dylan has throughout his entire career. It’s a match made in heaven.

            “Well, you know right now America is in a sate of upheaval. Poverty is demoralizing. You can’t expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we’ve got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up: Barack Obama. He’s redefining what a politician is, so we’ll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I’m hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to.” –Bob Dylan, The Times 2008

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Columbia Records

1963
What can be said about Bob Dylan that hasn't been said before and better? In short, the man and his guitar were an instrument for rapid social change the likes of which hadn't been seen since the days of prophets and Arthurian kings. Listen to any one of the tracks on The Times They Are A-Changin' and in them you will hear the spirits of a thousand and one poets and sages shining through the ages. Listen to the sound of desperation and poverty turn cold and dark in "Ballad of Hollis Brown." Listen to the sound of the pain of longing, loss, and hopeless love on the road in "One Too Many Mornings." Listen to the tides of social discord as they lash against the early 60's shore in "When the Ship Comes In". Hear the instant epiphany as Bob lays out the history of American foreign conflict in "With God on Our Side". The importance of this album in the struggles for racial equality in America cannot be underrated. Listening to this album, one feels as if he is being educated by Socrates himself. In it is the accumulated wisdom of humanity... In it is the voice, not only of a generation, but of all mankind. This is, in my humble opinion, his best album.
-Brad Linzy

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Bob Dylan Trivia
 

Dylan joined up with Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and George Harrison to create the band called:

The Traveling Wilburys

In the late 1970’s Dylan became a born-again Christian. He released two albums of Chrstian gospel music called:

Slow Train Coming (1979)

Saved (1980)

According to journalist Al Arononwitz, the historic meeting between Bob Dylan and The Bealtes took place on August 28, 1964, in the Beatles’ New York hotel, during their first full-scale U.S. tour. The musicians bonded over these two items:
A bottle of port wine
A bag of pot

Dylan’s first band:
The Shadow Blasters

Bob Dylan’s original stage name:
Robert Allen (first and middle name)

Bob Dylan’s trademark hairstyle:
The Dylan ‘Fro

Dylan typically performs with what three instruments:
Guitar, Piano, Harmonica

Bob Dylan’s son, Jakob Dylan fronts a band called:
The Wallflowers

Dylan was an advocate of early hip-hop and rap, contributing vocals to the song “Street Rock” with:
Kurtis Blow

Dylan’s first wife:
Sara Lownds

Listed his high school ambition as:
To join Little Richard

Twenty-five years after Dylan missed the infamous Woodstock Festival, he performed at:
Woodstock 94

Dylan was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 by this legendary performer who said, “Bob freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body.”
Bruce Springsteen