Articles Index
Folk Music and the Civil Rights Movement
Sure, the civil rights movement would have happened without the music, but the way in which folk songs and folk singers fused with the message of individual and collective empowerment was certainly helpful. Also, it was no accident. Learn more about the place American folk music held in the civil rights movement with this brief history.
Bob Dylan and The Band: The Making of The Basement Tapes
Whether it was simply a loose months-long jam session or—as some argue—a submersion into the primordial marrow of America's ancient folk tradition, The Basement Tapes will forever stand as one of the most obscure, yet important chapters of Dylan's career. Read more about Bob Dylan and The Band's epic Basement Tapes sessions.
Bob Dylan Becomes “Hammond's Folly”
There's much controversy as to what inspired John Hammond—Columbia Records' all-time greatest A&R man—into signing Bob Dylan to the label. Some say it was Robert Shelton's legendary review in the New York Times. Others claim Hammond already had Dylan in his sights when the review was published. Either way, on September 30, 1961, Dylan found himself sitting signing on a dotted line that would over time make Columbia Records his home record label for what now amounts to five decades.
Bob Dylan's First Concert
It may not have been The Big Time, per se, but for Bob Dylan, it sure must have felt like it. On November 4, 1961, the 20-year-old folksinger ascended the stage of the 200-seat Carnegie Recital Hall armed with his guitar and a pocketful of new cover songs he'd just carved into memory. The occasion? His first real concert. Read more about Dylan's Carnegie Hall performance here!
The Making of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks
One of the most important albums of the 1970s, when Blood on the Tracks was unleashed on January 17, 1975, it was as if Bob Dylan poked a stick into a restless hive of music critics, stirring up a gust of opinions. Read more about the making of Blood on the Tracks!
Bob Dylan Strikes Back in the Ongoing Media Attacks Over China Controversy
A full month after Bob Dylan's debut concerts in China, the saga continues. In response to the ongoing media assault charging that, among other things, he “sold out” to the Chinese censors, Dylan cranked up his blog on May 13 with a dispatch titled “To My Fans and Followers.” Read more here.
Bob Dylan to Launch 2011 Spring Tour in Red China
With final approval of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, Bob Dylan will be launching his tour of Asia beginning on April 6 in Beijing, followed two on April 8 in Shanghai. Ranging between 280 yuan ($43) and 1,961 yuan ($300), tickets are almost sold out for both the performance at Beijing's 12,000-seat Worker's Gymnasium, and the 8,000 seat Shanghai Grand Theater.
Bob Dylan Meets Blu-Ray: Classic Pennebaker and Lerner Flicks Go Hi-Def
In recognition of Bob Dylan's 70th birthday, Columbia/Legacy and Docurama Films have announced the simultaneous April 26 Blu-ray release of Murray Lerner's The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-65, and D.A. Pennebaker's classic film from Dylan's 1965 London tour, Don't Look Back. Read more about the Hi-Def release of these vintage Dylan flicks here.
Bob Dylan, PhD
On June 9, 1970, during one of the lowest points of his career, Bob Dylan was the recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Music at the venerable Princeton University. Having just turned 30 two weeks before (and just about to release his all-time worst album, Self Portrait), Dylan rolled up at Nassau Hall in a 1968 Buick Electra, flanked by his wife Sara, David Crosby, and Ben Salzman, his music publisher's husband...
Bob Dylan and Joan Baez: The King and Queen of Folk
However, by the time they finally met at Boston's Club 47 in April 1963, Dylan had evolved into the scene's most promising singer-songwriter, and Baez was blown away. Several weeks later at the Monterey Folk Festival, she would join Dylan onstage for a duet of “With God on Our Side." Read more about the history of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez here.
Bob Dylan 70th Birthday New Release Bonanza
Ever since his 50th, every time Dylan's birthday hits a decade, a latent and lucrative cottage industry re-emerges, offering a plethora of new editions and re-releases bearing Dylan's shining monicker. The following is a list of all the products being released in tandem with Bob Dylan's big Seven-Oh. See ya at the store!
Bob Dylan Tour Page
Bob Dylan and His Band are coming to your town soon! Don't miss your chance to catch the greatest show on earth. Bookmark this page for the latest Bob Dylan tour news and updates, and stay tuned for any important announcements!
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash: Two Songwriting Titans Make History
When it comes to creative freedom, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan have been two of the most historically defiant risk-takers among American singer-songwriters. Loyal only to the muse, it was inevitable that the paths of these two visionaries would eclipse. Read all about Bob Dylan's lifelong friendship with Johnny Cash here.
Pete Seeger's Influence on Folk Music
Pete Seeger turns 90 on May 3, 2009, and events are happening all over the world in his honor. Learn more about Pete Seeger's influence on American folk music, particularly protest and topical song, with this overview of Pete Seeger's career and impact.
Bob Dylan's Breaks from Politics: The 1963 ECLC Speech
The evening was about to get ugly. For anyone else, it would have been career suicide, but in December 1963, an outspoken and half drunk Bob Dylan's career arc was straight up. The occasion was the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee's annual Bill of Rights dinner, when the organization gave its Tom Paine Award to some distinguished individual. This year, it was Dylan.
Bob Dylan's Early Lover and Musical Inspiration, Suze Rotolo, Dies at Age 67
Suze Rotolo, Bob Dylan's early lover and the woman on the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, died today at 67 after enduring a battle with lung cancer. In what may be the most-documented love affair in popular song, some of Dylan's lyrical love letters to Rotolo include, “Boots of Spanish Leather,” “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right,” and “Tomorrow is a Long Time.” Read more here about Dylan and Rotolo's romance.
Millions of Fans Can't Be Wrong
Go to any Bob Dylan show, and among that sea of faces and swaying bodies are individuals who appreciate the music on their own terms, in their own way. Read this list of Bob Dylan fan archetypes and see where you fit in!
Lost Recording, Bob Dylan: Live at Brandeis 1963 to be Released
If it's vintage Bob Dylan you want, it's vintage bob Dylan you'll get. With great fanfare, Sony/Legacy just announced the forthcoming April 12, 2011 on-sale for Bob Dylan, Live at Brandeis 1963, a 45-minute set taped at the 1st annual Brandeis Folk Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts on May 10, 1963.
Bob Dylan's Music Central to Forthcoming Movie, The Music Never Stopped
In the new film, The Music Never Stopped, Bob Dylan's songs, “I Threw it All Away,” “Desolation Row,” and “Mr. Tambourine Man," are paramount to the film's success. However, working with such a tight budget, and with the music so centrifugal to the storyline, the movie's very existence depended on whether the musicians would sell the rights to their songs far below the going rate. Dylan signed off first, with The Grateful Dead right behind him. Read more about the film here.
Bob Dylan's “Like a Rolling Stone”
When “Like a Rolling Stone” hit the airwaves on July 20, 1965, things would never be the same. The impact was enormous. Revolutionary. And it's no overstatement to say that this extraordinary song was instrumental in reshaping not only Bob Dylan's career, but in many ways, the entire spectrum of American popular music.
Bob Dylan Concert News: Dylan to Launch Spring Leg of 2011 Tour in Asia
The show will be Dylan's first-ever appearance in Taiwan, unfurling the spring leg of the 2011 Never Ending Tour. Also on the Asian itinerary are Japan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, however, whether Dylan will perform in China has yet to be determined. In spring of 2010, Dylan had a similar Asian itinerary scheduled to kick off the tour when China's ministry of culture pulled the plug on two scheduled performances in Shanghai and Beijing.
Complete List of Bob Dylan Articles by Ben Corbett
Welcome to About.com contributing writer Ben Corbett's online Bob Dylan nerve center. Whether you're searching for Bob Dylan tour information or news, a critical review of his latest release, or you're simply curious about the history of his records, films or art exhibitions, everything you ever wanted to know about America's most prolific songwriter is a just click away.
How Bobby Zimmerman Became Bob Dylan
Back in the late 1950s, rock 'n' roll royalty's most distinguished names were typically terse, snappy two-syllable appellations that shook, rattled, and rolled off DJs' tongues like so much cool. For a young rocker like Bob Dylan, the name Zimmerman just wasn't gonna cut it. Read more about how Bobby Zimmerman became Bob Dylan.
Irwin Silber's Open Letter to Bob Dylan in Sing Out!
By late 1964, Dylan's transition out of traditional folk and political songwriting was the running debate in folk circles, inspiring Silber to publish his patronizing borderline passive-aggressive “Open Letter to Bob Dylan” in the November issue, where he lambasted Dylan, essentially accusing him of selling out. Read more about Silber's controversial letter here.
Bob Dylan's Motorcycle Accident: The Whole Story
For years following the accident, there was a lot of controversy about its plausibility. Did it really happen? Was Dylan making it up just so he could take a much-needed rest? One rumor even held that the accident was a cover, and that in reality Dylan went into rehab to kick drugs. Even today, the crash is still hotly debated, with fans and scholars still referring to Dylan's career in terms of “Pre-Accident” and “Post-Accident.”