Rock and roll is dated back 1955, and its invention attributed to Chuck Berry and specifically based on black music. However, the music broke the social and racial prejudice epitomizing both young and black rockers. There were various artists who rose with the rise of the rock and roll such as Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. However, Bob Dylan is regarded as the most influential musician of the era. He played an imperative role in expressing the ambitions of young people by establishing simple songs and poetic lyrics (scaruffi). He consistently demonstrated an ability to reach and affect his audience with sophisticated and thoughtful lyrics. He led to the lyrical maturation of rock and roll energizing the folk music genre.
The influence of Bob Dylan on rock and roll is incalculable. He pioneered a number of schools of pop songwriting, stream-of-conscious and hallucinatory narratives. In addition, he broke the notion that for one to be a good musician one needed a conventionally good voice through his vocalists, redefining the role of vocalist in popular music. Although he played the role of a renegade in his career life, he was able to keep the rock and roll community mindful of its roots. During the restless age, Bob Dylan was able to provide a running commentary through his songs (Rockhall). He was able to compose imagistic and cryptic lyrics capturing and defining the moods of the listeners, audience and the whole generation.
Dylan was born in 24th May 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, and he learned to play piano and harmonica at an early age of 10 and later self-taught guitar. In his high school years, rock and roll music was on the rise, and he could listen to famous rock artist such as Chuck Berry, Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie among others. This cultivated his appreciation for rock and roll traditional folk and country music. In university, Dylan acquainted himself with acoustic instruments learning the quixotic folksongs of previous generations. Bob Dylan moved to New York City early 1961 where he was involved in folk and blue scenes. Within a short period, he was able to make a remarkable impression on the folk community on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village (Marshall). He performed in various places such as coffeehouses winning a significant following owing to his rough charisma.
In the fall of 1961, John Hammond a Columbian producer signed Dylan, and in the following year Hammond made the eponymous debut album. This debut comprised a collection of folk songs and blues boasting only two original songs. However, later in 1962, he composed numerous original songs, predominantly based on political protest in the Greenwich contemporaries, which were showcased in the second album ‘The Freewheelin'. However, there were several songs that were scrapped as his manager wanted to present Dylan as an acoustic folky. For example, the songs ‘Mixed Up Confusion’ and ‘Talking John Birch Society Blues’ were scrapped from the album prior to its release.
The second album ‘The Freewheelin’ highly influenced and impacted the folk community in the US, encouraging numerous performers cover songs from the album. For example, the song “Blowin’ in the Wind” became a pop song in the summer of 1963 courtesy of Peter, Paul and Mary making Bob Dylan a household name. Dylan wrote numerous songs and performed hundreds of concerts a year increasing his publicity, as well as shaping rock and roll music. Dylan songwriting developed far beyond that of his counterparts in New York in 1964, by the time he was releasing “The Times They Are A-Changing” (Roberts). His writing was heavily influenced and inspired by poetic works of poets like John Keats and Arthur Rimbaud. Therefore, his songs were more of literate and evocative quality impacting the folk community heavily (Roberts). In addition, Bob had already started expanding his musical boundaries, through the addition of r&b and blues influences to his songs.
Through his songs, Dylan attracted the interests of young people to poetry as they were inspired by great poets. In addition, during the historical civil rights speech by Martin Luther Jr. he performed the songs “only a Pawn in Their Game” and “Blowing in the Wind”. With such huge audiences, rock and roll gained significant popularity as well as encouraging people through poetry and folk songs. He had a unique mixture of gravity and comedy incorporating poetry and blending blues and r&b with rock and roll music.
He recognized the importance of social and political issues affecting the society and integrating such issues, in his music. For example, during the Cuban Missile Crisis hen America was threatened with the fear of nuclear war by USSR, Dylan wrote the song “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” in response, describing the situation. The song provided a description of the situation the public was facing such as fear, bitterness and anticipation of an attack. He also used a song to define the generation gap between liberals and conservatives. The song “They are A-Changing” reflected the changes in the society adopted poetry in describing the situation affecting the society. In regard to the Vietnam war, and protest against the war, he wrote two anti-war songs “Master of War” and John Brown” (Roberts). However, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he restrained from active involvement in politics due to the fear of assassination.
In the fall of 1965, Dylan engaged Hawks a band, which he used as a touring band. The band became most famous backing band, and Dylan transformed the to the greatest rock band of all time. The band led to a subsequent rise of Americana revivalist movement in pop and rock. The rise of the band and rock and roll music was also attributed to the world tour where Bob and the band performed in Britain in the spring of 1966. The performance in Manchester was immortalized in countless albums indicating the intensity of Dylan in 1966 (Rockhall).
In the mid-1966, he suffered a motor cycle accident, which critically injured him, an event that was pivotal turning point of his career, although the details of accidents and its severity remained elusive. On recovery, he retreated to his home for few months concentrating on his family. However, after a short period he took he band in a rented house, which was dubbed Big Pink, in the West Saugerties, which recorded a number of demos. During the period, Dylan and the band produced and recorded numerous songs and materials, which ranged from old folk, blues and country. These songs and materials were all original an indication that his music and songwriting had undergone a metamorphosis. The new music was more streamlined and direct, which demonstrated heavy influence from traditional folk, blues and country (scaruffi). The Big Pink recordings were never released, but Dylan’s music publisher circulated tapes from the sessions.
In his absence and in the wake of the psychedelic revolution, the rock and roll became heavier and artier. However, on his return in 1967 with John Wesley, which was a surprise to the general public they released a hit which peaked number two, in the US and number one, in the UK. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, he produced other hit songs, but later relented to Greenwich Village after which he started his acting career.
In conclusion, Bob Dylan played an imperative role re-inventing rock music and creation of its popularity. In addition, the incorporation of poetry in the music attracted the attention of the folk community in the US as well as beyond borders. His music has played an imperative role even in today’s literature rock and roll music.
Works Cited
Marshall, Lee . Bob Dylan: The Never Ending Star. Oxford: Polity, 2007.
Roberts, Jeremy . Bob Dylan: Voice of a Generation. Illinois: Twenty-First Century Books, 2005.
Rockhall. "Bob Dylan Bibliography." 2013. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 26 July 2013 <http://rockhall.com/inductees/bob-dylan/bio/>.
scaruffi, piero . "The History of Rock Music." 2002. 26 July 2013 <http://www.scaruffi.com/history/short.html>.
