Bob Dylan Influence

While many artists can reach the level of musical icons during their recording time, a few continue to remain relevant after they have died, and even fewer can touch peoples hearts and souls with as much power today as when they were alive, Bob Marley is one such artist. As Robert Palmer wrote for Marley’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “ No one in rock and roll has left a musical legacy that matters more or one that matters in such fundamental ways.” A few years ago while I was at a fast food restaurant, there were two women behind the counter, one younger and one older. While waiting for my order I overheard the younger woman confiding in the older woman about some life issues that she was going through at the time.

Peter Seeger, also known as Pete Seeger, - an individual, who was a musician, an author, and an activist, has helped change history by writing and singing songs, participating in anti-war marches, and fighting for the nation in battle. Pete wrote and sang folk songs that related to everyday life stories. His childhood was very cold and kept him very lonely. He later dropped out of Harvard and wanted to be an observer for all public affairs. He supported himself by painting farmhouses, playing his banjo, becoming a porter and singing folk songs in a bar. The 1930s through the 1970s, was a period of economic struggle, government reform, warfare and environmental reform. Seeger’s folk songs encouraged and involved the people of the United

Woody Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter and musician who is today known as a huge part of traditional Americana music. Huge musicians in their own right, such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellenkamp, Pete Seeger, and many more have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence in their creative song writing process. Many of his songs are based on his experience during the Great Depression as Guthrie travelled with displaced farmers from the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma searching for a better life in California.

As previously mentioned, music has played a significant role through the ages by shaping social movements and exemplifying the mood of the decade. During the 1960s, there were winds of change that blew a considerable varying collection of musicians. These winds of change came after the post-War expansion, the assassination of an idealistic president, and America’s involvement in the Vietnam conflict. Bob Dylan’s seminal, “The Times They Are a-Changing” can be considered as a song that encapsulated the message and mood of the 1960s decade (Holz, 2010). The song reflected a musical genre that was influenced by issues like poverty, nuclear disarmament, war, racism, and environmentalism.

In the sixties the most famous American artist was Bob Dylan. People liked Dylan because he wasn’t about the fame he wanted to sing and make a difference. By writing the lyrics to his music he was making a difference.

Pete Seeger is an extremely talented artist who is very well known for his contributions to folk music. Pete Seeger is an absolute inspiration to many people around the world today. Not only was Pete Seeger just a singer/songwriter, he was also an important political activist, the author of several dozen books, an environmentalist as well as a peace advocator. He plays a very significant role in terms of historical influences. As a man of many identities, Pete Seeger will always remain an influential individual in regards to American History. It is definitely worth discussing the many roles Pete Seeger acquired and how each of these roles assisted in impacting American History.

The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular

Dylan and the Sympathetic Beat For an artist so dedicated to innovation and originality, Bob Dylan is particularly obsessed with his influences. Indeed, if T.S. Elliot’s observation that “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.” (114) is true, it may very well be the source of his success as an innovator in the music industry. The most famous of such obsessions was with Woody Guthrie, and Dylan’s pilgrimage to visit the dying musician in Brooklyn State Hospital, which is documented in his poem Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie.

The Vietnam War was a war many people had no clue why we were in. Many men, women, and children died in or cause of this war. From this, protests rained upon the government leading to a new kind of protest by Bob Dylan, song. Bob Dylan was born on May 24, 1941 and from an early age had always fought for what was right. His songs have changed and inspired not just our country but the world. He is the only musician with a Nobel Prize for Literature and so far is the only one who truly deserves it. His protests through his music tell people that lives are being lost and teach us to fight against the war as there was no reason to be in it. Bob Dylan’s song “The Times They Are A-Changin” was considered a national anthem for the sixties and showed that a single song can make a difference through its extraordinary lyrics protesting the Vietnam War through the use of multiple literary elements.

Bob Dylan is known to be one of the most influential artist during the American Folk Music. He change the way of music, especially for the American Folk Music Revival. Bob was born on May 24, 1941. His parents are Abram and Beatrice Zimmerman. His real name is Robert Zimmerman. He picked up the name Bob Dylan when he began singing in Greenwich Village. His songs are still played today, especially “Blowin in The Wind.” Bob was influenced by other artists before he became famous. His influences were Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley. Also the legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie. Woody was hospitalized and Bob would visit him regulary. That same Bob dropped out of college.

To understand the sixties counterculture, we must understand the important role of Bob Dylan. His lyrics fueled the rebellious youth in America. Songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times are A-Changin” made him favorable to anti-war demonstrators and supporters of the Civil Rights movement. He was commonly hailed as the spokesman for his generation. Dylan used lyrics to allow the youth to find their own form of counter-culture. The youth generation began to see the effects racism, war, etc. effect the society in America. To combat this, the youth created their own form of counter-culture to promote a peaceful change within society. Some of their actions include forming anti-war protests that opposed America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and supporting African Americans/women get the rights they deserve through the Civil Rights Movement. Bob Dylan’s music appealed to the young generation because he openly expresses his disapproval of the establishment in order to influenced his audience to move in a direction for change. Counterculture youth rejected cultural norms of the previous generation and their values and lifestyles opposed the mainstream culture present in the 1950’s. The folk music revival of the early 1960s, as well as the counter-culture movement played an important role in advocating change. Bob Dylan wrote songs that influenced the Civil Rights Movement, New Left Movement, and Anti-War Movement.

-Blanton, Amy. 'Bob Dylan An Impact On American Society'. dartmouth. N.p., 2001. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

A prominent factor in the culture of the 1960’s was the art of protest. We as class researched heavily into the different areas of protest during that time, as it really was an era in which the ‘people’ fought back against governments and elitist institutes. To begin, we looked at the ‘Hippie’ culture; their shared beliefs and the changes they were trying to make in the world. Many hippies used music to portray their political and cultural views. The use of music meant that the messages were available to all, instead of being restricted to those with the ‘right’ education on politics. A huge proprietor within the hippie society was Bob Dylan who used the music industry to spread their messages through songs such as “Masters of War” (1963) and “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1963). Protest songs were not only used throughout the hippie movement, but are a thread that ties together many of the counter-cultures in the 1960’s such as punk, and black rights movements through soul and funk music. I particularly enjoyed this area of study; being a trained and experienced singer, I very much took advantage of a situation in which I could learn more about the roots of the music industry that I perform within. So, when we were asked to create our own protest

Excessive hype from Dylan’s presence in politics inspired him to move his music in a different direction. In 1964 and 1965, Dylan’s musical style and appearance changed quite rapidly as he transitioned from a modern song writer of the folk scene to a rock music star. Dylan made his breakthrough to the pop music audience in the summer of 1965, when Like a Rolling Stone hit number two on the charts. Unexpectedly, Dylan became the topic of multitudes of articles, and his song lyrics became the subject of literary analyses across the

Duluth Minnesota, May 24th 1941 Robert Allen Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) was born. 69 Years and over 45 albums later Bob Dylan has completely altered the face of popular music since his debut as a fresh faced folk singer in 1962. His early career forged him into an informal chronicler and then he later developed into an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest [Gray, 2006] and became a voice for a generation. His songs have been covered by many artists in a wide span of genres and he has remained a prominent and highly influential figure in the history of popular music over the past five decades. [Gates, David, 1997]