Bob Dylan Essay Research Paper Regarding significant

Bob Dylan Essay, Research Paper

Regarding significant musical movements in history,

more specifically

the twenty first century, few were more important than the

folk revolution that

took shape in the mid-nineteen hundreds. One of the

leaders of this

revolution was Robert Allen Zimmerman, known by his popular

assumed

name, Bob Dylan. Born in 1941 in Minnesota, Dylan grew up

the grandchild

of Jewish-Russian immigrants and had a surprisingly

unexceptional

childhood. His interest in music became evident in his

high school years

when he taught himself basic piano and guitar. From these

rudimentary skills

Dylan would build his knowledge and experience in music to

his present

status as a forefather of folk music in the rock era.

Accordingly, a song from

the pinnacle of his career embodies his style and poetic

capabilities, acting as

a reference point of the music it followed and the music

that was to come.

Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowland is an unmistakably remarkable

example of the

work of Bob Dylan in his finest hour.

To fully understand the influence of Bob Dylan on

the American folk

revolution and his importance in the pop culture of today s

youth, one must

first understand his background and development musically.

First of all Bob

Dylan was born in Minnesota, not a particular hub of

musical activity.

Author Bob Spitz makes a good point concerning Dylan s

birthplace.

History has taught us that no matter how we change the

environment it is impossible to change the man…After all,

anybody is as their land and air is….If that is so, it is

no

wonder that Bob Dylan became such a luminous amalgam

of showmanship and aloofness, spirituality and desolation,

eloquence and exaggeration, individuality and

schizophrenia. These seesawing extremes, among others,

are indigenous to the historical landscape of northern

Minnesota. (Spitz 9)

For others this might have been a setback but for Dylan it

was the perfect

environment to nurture his interests, in music

specifically. At the age of ten

he was writing poems and by thirteen was setting them to

music with

self-taught piano and guitar skills. Dylan s interest in

music continued to

climb as he entered Hibbing High School. During his high

school years

Dylan would become involved in musical productions and

attempt forming

many bands with such names as the Golden Chords and Elston

Gunn and His

Rock Boppers. He began to idolize such new rock stars as

Elvis Presley and

Jerry Lee Lewis to the point that his high school yearbook

listed his goal in

life as joining Little Richard . An eighteen year old

Dylan left his hometown

of Hibbing in the fall of 1959 for college at the

University of Minnesota,

Minneapolis. This would be his first taste of the big city

and the life that

awaited him.

The sight and sounds of the big city opened many

new vistas for the

young Dylan and he took advantage of his situation by

studying the roots of

contemporary rock. He began to listen to the works of folk

pioneers like

Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, and Woody Guthrie. At the

same time

Dylan was beginning to perform solo at local Minneapolis

night spots such as

the Ten O Clock Scholar cafe and the St. Paul s Purple

Onion Pizza Parlor.

During this time Dylan was honing his guitar skills and

harmonica work and

developing his famous nasal voice which would become his

trademark.

Halfway through his college career Dylan decided it

was time for a

move. He packed up and moved to New York City with two main

motivations. His primary motivation was to become part of

the Greenwich

Village folk-music scene which was burgeoning in the city.

His second

reason for moving was to meet his idle, Woodie Guthrie, who

was in a

hospital in New Jersey with a rare hereditary disease.

Dylan would succeed