Folk Rock

When you are talking about “folk rock”, I immediately think of “Dylan”, the Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, some of its most famous of prophets. However, is it all just them? As great as they are “folk rock” was a confluence or a perfect storm of a genre that popped up in mid-sixties out of acoustical folk music. So, when did folk rock start?

Did it start with that controversial moment when Dylan plugged in on July 25th, in 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival? Did folk rock start with the Byrds releasing their debut album in June of 1965? or was it that night August 28th in 64′, at the Delmonico in NYC where Dylan first turned on the Beatles and led to a friendly competition of “one-up-man-ship” that permeated the Beatles northern way. Or does it go back further?

The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins and even Elvis had been mixing rock & roll and folk music for years by the time of the mid-sixties when “folk rock” became the next big thing.

Late 1950s Folk Music Revival

Folk music, as a separate form of music from rock & roll, was a big thing in the early sixties with its strong emphasis on the acoustic stringed instrumentation. The “folk movement” that was growing in the college crowds was parallel to that of the social awareness and equal rights movements of the late 50/early 60s. The folk music revival was started in the late forties/early fifties by artists like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger in folk groups like the Weavers which led to a late 50s explosion of new artists like the New Christy Minstrels, the Brothers Four, the Chad Mitchell Trio, the Limelighters, the Highwaymen and the Kingston Trio with their notable 1958 hit “Tom Dooley”.

Bob Dylan grew out of the folk music revival inconspicuously with his brilliant but highly unknown anthological first album in 1962. The folk music circuit was having hits by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter Paul & Mary, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs and the Kingston Trio in being somewhat synonymous with the civil rights movement that was coming about partially (in music) from white youth’s acceptance of R&B music of the 50s.

A Master Poet Emerges

Dylan controversially plugged into an amp and rocked with a rock band at the Newport Folk Festival riding a string of folk rock hit singles and albums. The Byrds embodied the folk rock ethos as the quintessential folk rock group, with a string of “anthemic” original songs, as well as Dylan penned songs and a string of hit albums in the mid-sixties. However, almost simultaneously the Beatles showed interest in folk rock early on, after their first tour of America. The music on “A Hard Day’s Night” their 3rd album, and first hit film, shows a clear focus on incorporating folk music elements into their original music.

Sometime, just after the British invasion in 1964, many rock & roll groups on both sides of the Atlantic, adopted folk and blues music elements into a newer form of rock music simple called “folk rock”. This newer form of rock that developed was unique in that it was instigated by both sides of the Atlantic (US & UK). Just before the “invasion”, America was in its pinnacle of the doo-wop years with new rock sub-genres of surf rock, garage rock and “Jersey” rock over a backdrop of doo-wop Rhythm & Blues music as strictly popular music. This whole scenario was then completely interrupted and usurped by the freshly naive British bands playing old time rock & roll and bubble gum chewing “power pop”, thereby causing a slow revolution in rock music that took a couple of years for the waves to settle into a new idiom called “Rock Music”.

Folk Rock

Folk Rock developed around 1964 and then peaked in 1965 and 1966 when many rock & roll groups adopted folk and blues music elements into a newer form of rock music simple called “folk rock”. In turn, many folk music artists, that is, strictly acoustic folk musicians started to play and incorporate electrified mixes of rock & roll in their music. The music was changing and in 1965 it seemed to come from a newer generation (that of the “baby boomers”) where “rock & roll” turned (or split) into “rock” and “soul”.

Folk rock may have started that fateful night when Dylan turned on the Beatles at the Hotel Delmonico in September 1964. They were already showing signs of profound influence and counter-influence between both Bob Dylan and the Beatles culminating in fantastic musical output in both album and song in 1965.

Some say “folk rock” started with The Byrds from Los Angeles with the release of the Dylan authored “Mr. Tambourine Man”. The Byrds were a supergroup where the members were very active in the folk music scene with other folk music acts. In many ways, the Byrds started a folk-rock volley with the Beatles using Bob Dylan songs as well as their own originals.

Or maybe folk rock started early in 1965 when Bob Dylan first went electric on the A-side of his influential “Bringing It All Back Home” album. Bob Dylan had a huge influence on the Byrds and their first few hits and their first four albums. In fact, Bob Dylan would have a direct and indirect influence on almost everyone involved in the “folk rock” scene, including the Beau Brummels, the Turtles, the Band, the Beatles, the Stones, the Who and the many others.

Later on, in 1965 Simon & Garfunkel would also go number one, epitomizing the folk rock sound and ushering a wave of new “folk rock” groups that would go on to shape rock in the 60s. Groups like the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Mamas & the Papas, Jefferson Airplane and The Band among many others with acoustic leanings rose up and gave us a new genre “Folk Rock”.

Folk Rock would later go on to assimilated itself within popular rock music within the subgenres of light rock, country rock and much of radio-friendly soft rock.

Bob Dylan

In folk rock, you should first start off with Bob Dylan and his knowledge of an eclectic mix of Americana music. Bob Dylan possessed an internal library of music which included major forms of country music, western music, Blues, European styles with a keen knowledge of rare vintage R&B songs.

Dylan claimed to have done a lot of traveling, which is very evident in his music. He had regional forms from Nashville, Atlanta, Lubbock and Bakersfield, he knew forms of “honky-tonk”, “western swing”, “bluegrass”, “jug band” and other “close harmony” styles. He knew fingerpicking styles, a whole assortment of “western music”, the “blues” and other “European folk” forms (jigs and ballads). Due to his travels as a true “troubadour”, absorbing styles and techniques from all over, he was the last embodiment of the true Americana travelin’ musician.

Dylan has a vast library of styles on display on his first album, “Bob Dylan”, his hitless debut album. To me, Bob Dylan’s first album is absolute gold, with amazing gems of songs that would become sixties mythology. The evidence is on the many songs and arrangements on the album that would be covered later on by many bands and artists of the 60’s. Most notably on the album are versions of “House of the Rising Sun” and “In My Time of Dying”, later to be covered by the Animals and Led Zeppelin respectively.

One of the biggest and most controversial events in creating “Folk Rock” as a genre, was the moment Dylan plugged into an amplifier and jammed with a rock band. This event immortalized at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where folkies were so upset that the myth of the “Judas” taunt first surfaced. His output in 1965 and 1966 had him at the head of the folk-rock movement. The releasing of his first, “plugged in” (as into an amplifier), with a live rock & roll band really started to make “folk rock” as a genre take off as a new sound. Bob Dylan would go on to release three masterpiece albums that would stand the test of time, “Bringing It All Back Home”, “Highway 61” and “Blonde On Blonde”.

The Byrds

The southern Californian City of Angels was experiencing a huge change from the fast-paced “surf rock” scene to the newer “folk rock” scene. The Byrds surfaced as progenitors of Folk Rock under Dylan’s influence and epitomized as the quintessential American folk rock band. They would later follow the Beatles into the genre of “psychedelic rock” and then in 1968 help Dylan start “country rock”.

The Byrds came together in early 1964 Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby got together all folk musicians from other groups in the folk scene such as the New Christy Minstrels, the Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and Les Baxter’s Balladeers. The trio, along with drummer Michael Clarke and bassist Chris Hillman, went on to spearhead the “folk rock” movement. As the Byrds progressed throughout the mid-sixties, they would not only help “found” folk-rock but also help develop “psychedelic rock”.

The Beatles and the British Competition

After the initial British invasion, the Beatles had a couple of early folk rock songs, starting with “And I Love Her” off the “A Hard Day’s Night” album and the Beatles went practically country & western on their British release of “Beatles for Sale” album, which was the American albums “Beatles 65′” and “Beatles VI”. Next, came the album “Help!” with songs like “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face”.

The Beatles master albums start with the great “Rubber Soul” album, in which great folk experimentations were conducted while providing classic rock with several rock anthems. In fact, the British version of Rubber Soul was chopped up, edited and re-packaged as a “folk-rock” album in the United States, much to the chagrin of the Beatles.

This was reciprocated with America’s Byrds albums “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “Turn, Turn, Turn!”, “The Fifth Dimension” and “Younger than Yesterday”; Bob Dylan’s triumvirate of albums “Bringing It All Back Home”, “Highway 61” and 1966’s “Blonde on Blonde”; and Simon & Garfunkel’s albums “Sounds Of Silence” and “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme” which are all key albums in the musical branch of folk-rock within the whole of classic rock.

The songs became more progressive in their experimentations with folk rock, country rock, and psychedelic rock. Much of the Beatles music in the mid-sixties was influenced by the, then current, sounds of music going on in America. Along with Bob Dylan, The Byrds, the San Franciscan scene, and with surf rockers (The Beach Boys in California), there was cross-pollination with the UK bands, the Beatles, the Stones and the Kinks in 1965 in terms of folk rock.

Folk Rock #4

Simon & Garfunkel

Late in 1965, a song written by a struggling artist originally from NYC and then struggling in the UK hit the number one spot on the Billboard charts at the start of 1966. The song was unique in that it was an original folk song using acoustic guitar only and then months later overdubbed with a rock band accompaniment. Paul Simon recorded the song before he left for Britain in 1964. Simon & Garfunkel went on to dominate the pop charts until the end of the decade with multiple hit singles and albums.

Other Folk Rock bands

Starting with the British invasion’s “The Animals” rendition of “House of the Rising Sun”, an anonymous song off of Dylan’s debut album became a number one hit in the summer of 1964. The Beau Brummels early hits of “Laugh, Laugh” and “Just A Little” were also precursors to the 1965 rush of folk rock music.

After “Mr. Tambourine Man” hit in early 1965, a whole new wave of folk-rock bands appeared. Among them were The Lovin’ Spoonful with “Do You Believe In Magic?”; there was The Mamas & the Papas with “Monday, Monday” and “California Dreaming”; then The Turtles with “It Ain’t Me Babe” along with multiple pop hits; along with Barry McGuire and his Vietnam war protest song “Eve Of Destruction”.

Also in California but north of Los Angeles, a new Mecca of music was starting in San Francisco with Jefferson Airplane and Grace Slick’s two rock anthems the truthful seeking “Somebody To Love” and the psychedelic anthem “White Rabbits”; the group We Five’s remake of Sylvia Fricker’s “You Were On My Mind” which was a hit at #3 in the summer of 1965; the San Franciscan group Love with their #52 hit “My Little Red Book” and their “7 and 7 is” a number 33 hit; Sonny & Cher number 1 hit with ” I Got You, Babe”, then The Monkees “Last Train To Clarksville” and “I’m A Believer” shot up to the top of the charts in 1966; Donovan  had his hits later in 1967 with “Mellow Yellow” and “Sunshine Superman”

Then there was Dylan’s previous touring band originally called the Hawks but ultimately known as The Band (Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson), began their rise to the top of the folk-rock pantheon with their 1968 “Songs From Big Pink” and their second album simply titled “The Band”.

Other notable groups in the folk-rock scene were the electric (British) Folk groups, Pentangle, The Fairport Convention, Alan Stivell, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band which would keep the genre alive, years after the mainstream heyday had died out.

Folk rock had a long-lasting effect on rock music. It kept the folk American ethos alive in rock music which would manifest itself later in genres of “country rock”, “southern rock” and later “singer/songwriter” forms of rock music. Lyrics became very complex, with topics ranging from protest songs to songs of morality and poetry. It was a time of experimentation.

The mix of acoustic instruments with electric rock & roll instruments and song elements were very innovative for the day and even up until today. There was a lot of thought that went into the music of the mid-1960s in all genres but most particularly in the words and the messages of the songs. Folk rock had it all, questioning, observing, and then questioning again very much in the spirit of rebellion in the face of tyranny.  Folk-rock said it like it was, warts and all, no soft soaping, no glad-handing. The spirit of the 60s came out when the rebel (rock) found a cause and that cause was true freedom expressed in “Folk Rock”, which would later resurface in other genres, funk and hip-hop.

Bob Dylan – Rock’s Poet, Philosopher and Master Lyricist

Poet, prophet, preacher, philosopher, master lyricist, word man and walking Americana musicologist, Bob Dylan exemplified the thinking man with a brain, a heart and most of all a soul. His early life is draped in mystery and exudes the Jack Kerouac beat poet lifestyle as being a traveling troubadour.

He is one of the most important, if not the most important figure in Rock music, up there with Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. No one individual has come even close to the impact that he had on popular music except for maybe Elvis or Lennon.

He ultimately would go on to achieve selling over 100 million records worldwide, winning countless awards including Grammys, Golden Globes and Academy awards etc., making him one of the best selling artists of all time.

After the release of his first album (which flopped commercially), Bob Dylan would immediately start work for the next album. He would spend the next year profusely listening and absorbing as much music and lyrical styles as he could for new material for his second album.

“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”

On September 22, 1962, Dylan played Carnegie Hall as part of an all-star hootenanny where he unveiled his masterpiece “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” musically based on the traditional British ballad “Lord Randall”.  It was said by Bob Dylan that each line of the song could have been a title and a topic of new song but that Dylan thought they couldn’t all be written down and perfected in one lifetime.

On May 27, 1963, Dylan released “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”, a very deep and telling song, it re-emphasizes just how ahead of his time and how advanced Bob Dylan had become since his last album. Many of Bob Dylan’s songs, like this one, would be in many ways therapeutic to the masses. One could find the truth, justice, gentle therapy, the questions of life in the many songs Bob Dylan wrote in the decade of the 60’s, in particular, his first four acoustic albums.

“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” coincided with the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Many thought the title referred to nuclear fallout after a nuclear explosion. Dylan has said it refers to anything that might befall a person, a group of people, a nation or even the whole world. This just goes back to the contention that the songs have many layers and it is up to the listener to grasp the meanings according to their points of views. They depend on what kind of goggles you are looking through.

Dylan in Greenwich Village, NYC

His relocation from Minnesota to New York City is immortalized in the song “Talkin’ New York”, off his first album. He struggled but persisted,  to get gigs in Greenwich  Village at various folk clubs and coffeehouses in his first year in New York City. At this time he would befriend many folk artists such as Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Dave Van Ronk, Fred Neil, Odetta, the New Lost City Ramblers and Johnny Cash as well as The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem.

Dylan had the ability to absorb all that he heard whether it be other artists live or records played on the radio or on the record player which he listened to incessantly.  He claimed that he needed to hear a song once or twice to be able to play it. Dylan would often base his original lyrics around earlier folk songs, a practice employed by many of the other folk artists of the time. Much of Dylan’s early material was sung with an almost laughing giggle that he would continue to employ on his subsequent albums.

In September 1961, Bob Dylan got a great gig, a two week run at the famous Gerde’s Folk City, in West Greenwich Village and garnered positive reviews and write-ups in the New York Times by Robert Shelton. This would help open the doors for him to become a recording artist with Columbia records.

At this time Dylan went on to become “Woody Guthrie’s greatest fan (disciple)”, incorporating Guthrie’s styles of singing while playing with only his guitar and harmonica. Bob Dylan went to visit Woody Guthrie at Greystone Psychiatric Hospital after Guthrie became seriously ill with Huntington’s disease.

Bob Dylan first recordings and the Album “Bob Dylan”

After being invited to play harmonica on a recording by Carolyn Hester on September 14, 1961, the producer for Columbia records John Hammond having heard Bob Dylan performing in the session,  signed Dylan “on the spot” and arranged a formal audition recording soon after in October. He was recommended by several key music industry professionals based on his live performances at Gerde’s Folk City

Bob Dylan was a seasoned live performer with a hard edge but he was accused of being very difficult because of his undisciplined ignorance of the recording business in his first time in the recording studio. Regardless of this, he managed to cut many of the songs in one take.

Bob Dylan’s first four acoustic albums contained a lot of American traditional blues and folk songs that he would arrange on the album. He would often borrow a melody or chord progression from previously written songs that he would either re-write or write brand new original lyrics not related to the originals songs theme of topics.

His first album ‘Bob Dylan’ released on March 19th, 1962, did not even chart and was virtually ignored by the critics. As an album, it was a sleeper in America selling about 5,000 copies upon its initial release- just enough to cover the recording costs. Some of the Columbia records non-believers dubbed Bob Dylan as “Hammond’s Folly”.

This is just another example, like the Beatles, of certain people being totally wrong about an artists’ potential. Despite the slurs, John Hammond defended Dylan and did not have him dropped from the label. It is notable that John Hammond had support for his decision from an early fan of Dylan’s, Johnny Cash.

In the UK, the album eventually reached #13 in 1965. In retrospect, the album is a favorite one of mine, with all its diverse styles, as good as anything he would put out. The album is strong in its topics, its variety and its analysis of Americana. In some ways, Dylan sounds like an experienced older man with his style of singing, prompting the lyrics “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now” to my mind.

“Mixed-Up Confusion”, was Dylan’s first single released December 14, 1962, recorded with a full electric band during the Free Wheelin sessions but was left off the album. The band consisted of Bob Dylan – guitar, harmonica, vocal; George Barnes – guitar; Bruce Langhorn – guitar; Dick Wellstood – Piano; Gene Ramey – bass; Herb Lovelle on drums produced by John Hammond. Corrina, Corrina was the b-side.

Dylan’s rise as a Folk artist through his live performances

Dylan changed his birth name of Robert Zimmerman to Bob Dylan in August of 1962, inspired by his favorite writer poet Dylan Thomas. He had already been using the name since his days at the University of Minnesota. This represents the amazing change he would undergo, evident in his mastery of poetry and the lyric.

His live performances would become absolutely amazing and stunning to a hungry intellectual audience that many of the baby boomer generation(s) accepted and digested. If you were tired of love found, love lost, foaming at the mouth, drooling, nonsensical primitive rock & roll songs then with Dylan and the folk crowd in general, would satisfy your taste for more, and then some.

Dylan  signs with the artist manager Albert Grossman

Back in 1961, Dylan signed an agreement with Ron Silver, an agent Bob hoped would secure booking, rather than signing with only a manager. However, later in August of 1961, Dylan signed a management contract with the sometimes confrontational Albert Grossman as his manager. Albert Grossman would buy out Ron Silver for $10,000.

Albert Grossman had a reputation as a ruthless business man; he would generate more income for himself and his clients through aggressive negotiations. He would influence Dylan to transfer publishing rights from Duchess music to Witmark publishing (a division of Warner music publishing), Unbeknownst to Dylan, Grossman had an agreement with Witmark where he would receive 50% of Witmarks share of publishing income from all the artists Grossman could sign to Witmark.

Producer John Hammond and manager Albert Grossman would have much animosity over Bob Dylan’s business agreements, prompting Grossman to push Hammond out of producing Dylan to be replaced by the great Jazz producer Tom Wilson.

At the end of 1962, Bob Dylan would tour the UK playing many of the popular folk venues, such as the Troubadour, Les Cousins and Bunjiles, absorbing many European folk styles from various folk UK artists including Martin Carthy who would be a big influence on Dylan’s songwriting. He would unveil one of his most famous songs “Blowing in the Wind” on the BBC’s drama Madhouse on Castle Street. After this he would return to New York in January of 1963 to resume recording his 2nd album.

Suze Rotolo

In January of 1962 Bob Dylan moved in with his girlfriend in an apartment on West 4th Street, He would be influenced by his new girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, who was into equality, civil rights, freedom and anti-war sentiments. Suze Rotolo’s  family were left wing in their political points of view and both of Suze’s parents were members of the American Communist party. Dylan’s involvement with Suze would influence the emotional dynamic in his lyric and poetry writings.

After six months of living together, Suze left New York to study art in Italy. She would postpone her return several times, causing Bob Dylan distress and loneliness which was heavily evident in his original lyrical writings on his 2nd Album. Suze has since spoken out in her biography that she was not happy about being Bob Dylan’s “chick”. A smart and strong woman that she was, she was reacting to the lack of women’s rights and respect that were prevalent in the early and mid sixties. This attitude would only start to change in the last three years of the sixties, continuing in the seventies with the formation of the National Organization of Women (NOW).

Bob Dylan – Rock’s Poet, Philosopher and Master Lyricist

Poet, prophet, preacher, philosopher, master lyricist, word man and walking Americana musicologist, Bob Dylan exemplified the thinking man with a brain, a heart and most of all a soul. His early life is draped in mystery and exudes the Jack Kerouac beat poet lifestyle as being a traveling troubadour.

He is one of the most important, if not the most important figure in Rock music, up there with Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. No one individual has come even close to the impact that he had on popular music except for maybe Elvis or Lennon.

He ultimately would go on to achieve selling over 100 million records worldwide, winning countless awards including Grammys, Golden Globes and Academy awards etc., making him one of the best selling artists of all time.

After the release of his first album (which flopped commercially), Bob Dylan would immediately start work for the next album. He would spend the next year profusely listening and absorbing as much music and lyrical styles as he could for new material for his second album.

“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”

On September 22, 1962, Dylan played Carnegie Hall as part of an all-star hootenanny where he unveiled his masterpiece “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” musically based on the traditional British ballad “Lord Randall”.  It was said by Bob Dylan that each line of the song could have been a title and a topic of new song but that Dylan thought they couldn’t all be written down and perfected in one lifetime.

On May 27, 1963, Dylan released “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”, a very deep and telling song, it re-emphasizes just how ahead of his time and how advanced Bob Dylan had become since his last album. Many of Bob Dylan’s songs, like this one, would be in many ways therapeutic to the masses. One could find truth, justice, gentle therapy, the questions of life in the many songs Bob Dylan wrote in the decade of the 60’s, in particular, his first four acoustic albums.

“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” coincided with the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Many thought the title referred to nuclear fallout after a nuclear explosion. Dylan has said it refers to anything that might befall a person, a group of people, a nation or even the whole world. This just goes back to the contention that the songs have many layers and it is up to the listener to grasp the meanings according to their points of views. They depend on what kind of goggles you are looking through.

Dylan’s Star begins to rise

Inspired by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Joan Baez (who became romantically involved with Dylan), he was writing songs that were considered protest songs and was showing up at a lot of the organized public civil rights events. Baez and Dylan would go on to the memorable August 28, 1963 at the march on Washington in front of the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King gave his iconic speech “I Have a Dream”.

Joan Baez would help Dylan become well known in the civil rights activism side of folk music by covering many of his tunes and performing alongside him at many events.  In the early 60’s Bob would be nationally visible in the civil rights movement (culminating in his famous performance at the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial), before his disillusionment or rather his flat out refusal to be used as figurehead by the various civil rights and anti-war movements.

His vocal style has been criticized as raw, untrained, coming from the streets, nasally and as “if sandpaper could sing”. Yet these aspects are what attract many to his music, including myself.  At first I had problems listening to his voice, but after repeated listening to the poetry of his lyrics, topics and themes, his vocal intonation, I have come to prefer his style of singing one of his songs over the musically correct and “pleasing to the ear” covers of his songs by other artists. Nobody sings Dylan like Dylan especially that great sneer in his voice as he sings “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, “Highway 61”, “Motorspycho Nitemare”, “Rainey Day Women #12 & 35  or “Tombstone Blues” to the infectious laughing fit of “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”.

At this point in time (1962 to 1963) he was comfortable with the civil activism of the day but he would later distance himself following the JFK assassination. The songs were worlds beyond the 50’s love, blues and nonsensical scat (Doo Wop) feel good songs. Many songs tackled very controversial and sensitive subject matter that many artists would not touch for fear of ending their careers.

In May of 1963, Dylan took a stand against censorship when he refused to omit the song “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” on the Ed Sullivan show. He would continue to oppose censorship and support artists who took stands to preserve art and not to be dictated as to what was acceptable and what wasn’t (First Amendment). He would continue to inspire many rock groups and artists who had messages and activism in things that the “establishment” was nervous to downright oppressive towards.

Around this time Bob Dylan and Joan Baez became musically as well as “romantically” intertwined. Joan Baez would take many of Dylan’s songs to upper charts

He became a reluctant figurehead and political activist thanks in large part to the press. He has admitted many times that he never really wanted to be the spearhead of the voices of dissent and social unrest in the early 60’s. His songs became anthems for the civil rights, anti war, anti-greed, anti-establishment commentary of the monstrous military socio-industrial complex. He considered himself more an artist/poet/musician rather than the activist everyone wanted and pushed him to be.

Blowing In the Wind

This song is one of Dylan’s most famous songs and was the song that introduced him to the folk music scene as a superstar. The song has a gentle guitar riff sung is a soft manner with words that sound as if they were paraphrasing the Old (Ezekiel) and new Testaments. The topics are very serious and seem to have a spiritual connotation to them. The song quickly became an anthem to the civil rights movement. The song was praised by many black people who were amazed that a young white man could express the sentiments of an oppressed people so eloquently. One unexpected fan of Bob Dylan was Huey P. Newton, the leader of the Black Panther party.

The songs on “The Freewheeling Bob Dylan” reflect a new direction in modern music songwriting where an imaginative conjuring up of images in the mind that mix with the stream of consciousness tuneful recitation, especially in folk music and later folk rock, psychedelic rock and on into hard rock, and then crossing over to soul, funk and of course hip hop and beyond.

Several weeks after Dylan released the song “Blowin’ In The Wind”, Peter Paul and Mary would bring the hit song to #2 on the Billboard charts. This version of the song sold 300,000 copies in its first week ultimately selling more than one million copies. The song is ranked #14 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time.

The Freewheeling Bob Dylan

On May 27th, 1963, Bob Dylan released “The Freewheeling Bob Dylan” album, this time around too much commercial and critical success. The album went to #22 on the American Billboard album charts, #1 in the UK and eventually went platinum. The album was ranked 97 on the Rolling Stone greatest 500 albums of all time. He also launched the folk anthem “Blowing In the Wind”.

Many of the songs on this album were protest and social commentary songs. Bob Dylan’s original songs touched on many subjects such as lost loves “Girl from the North Country”, “Don’t Think Twice About It”, “Corrina Corrina”, “Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance”; traveling “Down the Highway”, “Bob Dylan’s Dream”;  on civil rights “Blowing In the Wind”, “Oxford Town”; anti war “Masters of War”, “A Hard Rain’s A-gonna Fall”, “Talking World War III Blues”; as well as many fun jokey ditties “Bob Dylan’s Blues”, “I Shall Be Free, No. 10”.

Dylan had many types of songs that he would frequently work on and progress with, such as his “yearning” songs (Girl from the North Country, ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, Bob Dylan’s Dream) where he is yearning for a girl wherever she is, then there are the “talky” songs “Talkin New York”, “Talking World War III”, where Dylan does a narration or speaks the words rather than sing or attempt to sing. Then there are songs that are definitely “protest” songs and “social commentary” “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “Masters of War”, “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”, “Oxford Town” the “jokey” songs “Bob Dylan’s Dream”, “I Shall Be Free No. 10” where Dylan laughs a little giggle or breaks out in laughter the there are the “philosophical” songs and several are just masterpieces based on artistically, philosophical and spiritual levels  LIST SONGS Of Dylan Analysis.

Dylan recorded a lot of material that did not show up on “Freewheelin'”. There was a new song about fallout shelters, “Let Me Die In My Footsteps” and “Rocks and Gravel”, “Talking Hava Negiliah Blues”, “Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues”, and “Sally Gal”. Dylan recorded cover versions of “Wichita”, Big Joe Williams’ “Baby, Please Don’t Go”, and Robert Johnson’s “Milk Cow’s Calf’s Blues”. Dylan’s songwriting talent was developing so rapidly that nothing from a session in April appeared on the “Freewheelin'” album and would be used for the next album “The Times They Are-A-Changin'”.

“Blowin’ in the Wind” – The song that launched Dylan’s career, the song that brought him to the attention of the folk, civil rights, antiwar protest communities. The moment Bob Dylan became a folk superstar. The song is based on an old Negro spiritual song “No More Auction Block”. This song struck a chord with the civil rights leaders. This song is an example of the genius in Dylan as he uses vague generalizations to make the song adaptable to many different issues or problems.

“Girl from the North Country” – A sad song about a love that once found, was lost. It paints the picture of a cold wintery landscape, like a passing thought in the night, the memories of a girl once known. The song is derived from Scarborough Fair which he learned from Martin Cathy in the UK. It is the first of his “yearning songs”

“Masters of War” –This song is very pointed, one of my favorites, a jagged spear that just cuts in and exposes the ugly truth. “Masters of War” was derived from a British riddle song “Nottamun Town” written by Jean Ritchie. At the time that this protest song was released, it was a strong one seething with disgust, there was not a song as strong as this since the days of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”.

“Down the Highway”- A catchy guitar riff, very off the rails, and barefoot; A vagabond’s tale of “gamblin’, drinkin’, guitar-playin'”; a song about traveling. Each verse has a guitar intro that Bob proceeds to play in an off-putting way, simulating street-ness or homelessness.

“Bob Dylan’s Blues” – Another traveling folk song, reflecting an original view of the American experience. A song that Dylan employed with fervor and poise, these little ditty songs sounded like you would hear them on a hobo’s train ride or campfire. Dylan has a little fun with the lyrics which are amusing, in his usual nasal sarcasm.

“A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” This masterpiece of a song has so many topics of injustice, of war, of miscommunication. This song, like “Blowin’ In The Wind”, also makes use of concepts vague enough to be applicable to many different issues. This is by far one of Dylan’s best-remembered songs as far as artistry, philosophy, and poetry. The song exudes many different references including the Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit” veiled reference and more. The song is by far a groundbreaking song, where the artistic complexity is on a level so far ahead of its time. The song is also one of the first of his great sociological, philosophical songs with a heavy and frank social comment.

“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” A fingerpicking ditty about the girl that is lost. The song was adapted from the melody of Paul Clayton’s song “Who’s Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I’m Gone)”. A masterpiece of self-pitying that captures the emotion of the lover who is hurt. It is a matter of fact song of happy memories with calm acceptance of the way things ended up. One of Dylan’s most beautiful songs about love loss but quiet acquiescence.

“Bob Dylan’s Dream” a sad song about remembering times past and old times, past fiends past conversations, times past and more sad complacency. The Melody is based on the traditional folk song Lady Franklins Lament

“Oxford Town”, a song about racism and how white sympathizers were just as hated, by the racist groups existing in both the US and the UK. One day in September, at the University of Mississippi, US Air Force veteran James Meredith enrolled, with the help of US Federal Troops. Mississippi’s state Governor Ross Barnett was against equal rights and the federal government had to step in.

“Talkin’ World War III Blues” was another joke-talking song which Dylan did spontaneously. Like Talking New York a song on his debut album. Dylan was able to sound like an old man, with the slurring of his words and his seemingly old man rants.

“Corrina, Corrina” Dylan treats this traditional song first made popular by Bo Carter back in 1928. Dylan has a nice low western swing with this version. Very nicely arranged using a country western feel with several acoustic guitars some drums but also that fabulous mandolin.

“Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance”-  A bit of a joke song with some vagabond humor, Dylan doing his Hill-Billy best, you can just picture the overalls, the hay, corncob pipe and his toothless grin.

“I Shall Be Free, No 10”, kind of a jokey song using his off the cuff style where he goes on with current American media culture. A re-write of Lead Belly’s “We Shall Be Free”, the song ends the album on a happy note. This song could have come off the debut.

Clearly, Bob Dylan was ahead of his time, possibly of all time. He single-handedly changed rock and pop music, even influencing The Beatles, who are often lauded as having changed rock and pop music as well. A debate can be made of who was more influential, such as when Lennon went through a period of writing and even singing like Dylan (i.e.: “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”) but I will leave that up to you the reader/listener.