Bob Dylan's folk music - Essay Example

Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in May 24, 1941, he grew up in Hibbing where he learnt how to play he guitar and harmonica when he was as young as six, in high school he formed a rock and roll band called the golden chords. After graduation he joined the University of Minnesota and he started to perform folk songs in coffee houses under the name bob Dylan which he adapted from Thomas Dylan, a poet who he had long admired. In the summer of 1960, he begun listening to blues and this greatly influenced his music in later days when he became a writer and performer. He quit college while in his first year and moved to New York to visit Woody Guthrie who was his Idol, but was in hospital as well as trying to start a musical career for himself. From February 1961, he played at several words in Greenwich Village and it was here that he befriended and gathered material and inspiration from the many folk singers who were in the village folk scene such as Van Ronk Dave and the Clancy brothers. He came to musical prominence after he played the harmonica for Carolyn Hester’s album and he was spotted by John Hammond who signed him up on his first deal with Columbia records, the rest as they say, is history. His influence in music cannot be overestimated, he was outstanding in various fields and he significantly developed and expanded the musical scene in the sixties and later years with his innovative daring and liberal ideas. He shattered the notion that for one to be a vocalist, they must have what was traditionally considered a good or refined voice, up to today there are many who have criticized him for his rough voice. Nevertheless, this has not gotten in the way of his success and in any case it has made people listen past the voice to the words which are the real deal, there can be no doubt as to the fact that he radically redefined the vocalist role in popular music. He also ignited several music genres such as electrified folk rock which was unheard of before him and he is popularly believed to have been the force behind the Beatles introspective song writing (Varga). Dylan is viewed by many as the bona fide poet of the rock and roll era and a preeminent song writer in modern day, he transcends various music genres exploring rock and blues, pop and folk .He has consistently managed to reach out to his fans through profound and sophisticated lyrics with a poetic flare that give credence to his title of a poet which he however does not acknowledge. When Dylan ventured into folk, he was responding to the fact that he believed rock and roll despite its adrenal and pulse rushing effect was not particularly mature or meaningful; therefore he decided to look for a genre in which his infinite poetic and lyrical depth could be accommodated. His entry in folk and country music radically changed the genre by making it more liberal and democratic; essentially he can be described as having toned down rock and roll giving it maturity and through his topical song writing, psyched up folk music. Consequently it was no longer the music of the middle aged and old timers who were often middle class sophisticates trying to search for authenticity amid the conformity that characterized the American suburban scene in the 50’s. According to Andy Gill (The independent) Dylan rescued folk music from a bunch or bearded guys in cable knit sweaters dreaming about becoming sailors and soldiers and opened it to the young and energetic generation that had previously disassociated from the genre preferring rock and roll. One of his most daring and radical changes was the introduction of the electric guitar to folk music, on July 1965, in front of a crowd of 10,000 fans at the Newport folk festival, he surprised them by plugging in a Stratocaster and went electric and this marked the start of a new era(Al Kooper, Gary and Seiji). In the same year he broke through to the pop music audience with his hit single “like a rolling stone”, which not only catapulted him to the second position on the pop charts but revolutionized the genre performance since his song was a whopping 6 minutes, a significant break from the traditional 3 minutes. Dylan’s music was and is still used to reflect and prod the conscious of the society, he had been awarded numerous awards for his advocacy of human rights and equality among the being the awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by president Obama. Arguably, one of his greatest and most inspirational performances was right next to Dr King as he gave his legendary I have a dream speech when he sang, “only a pawn in their game” and “blowing in the wind”. From an examination of his history and listening to his classic songs such as blonde on blonde which he performs with the legend Jonny cash, one must admit that his music transcendent and beautiful in an extraordinary way. His lyrics are written not to please but ton inspire critics and ultimately to entertain. He personified poetry in his music and because of him; youths in the 60 and preceding generations suddenly became interested in poetry. His musical genius and versatility is epitomized by the fact that he has also been able to integrate himself into the jazz scene which critics would have assumed to be virtually impossible since reconciling the folk rock that he was better known for would be impractical if not impossible. Understandably, the concepts of Jazz music and what Bob Dylan performs have rarely been linked together probably became of the overt differences in the genre, nevertheless a keen ear will not fail to detect and underlying similarity. For example in the song if “dogs run free”, while there are no obvious matches they are definitely not mutually exclusive; some of the underlying cords in many of Dylan’s songs seem to stray from the traditional blues or rock s and the ascending chromatic cords seems to incline them towards jazz. This is especially notable in “Tiny Montgomery” which uses only two cords which is more common with Jazz than the other genres Dylan was majored in. The connection to jazz however gradually came to the limelight as jazz musicians begun to customize his music in the genre and the first full album of Dylan’s Jazz was produced in 1966 by Glenn Campbell, Jim Horn and Hall Blaine. Rock and roll and jazz audiences attend concerts with very different intentions, for jazz fans expect to thrive on the musical and sound of harmonious instrumentation without any singing while rock fans would rather hear the vocals belted out above, within and as part of the instrumentation. Jazz artist have proved that his songs can be rendered in to jazz and one the most successful renditions was Nina Simons version of “just like a woman”. Although he dabbled in several genres and achieved considerable success, Dylan is still popularly considered to be a rock and roll and folk musician, nonetheless, his music today easily finds comparative point in country music both because he retrospectively influenced the genre and because of the connection between folk and country. Country music can be thought of as a toned down version of rock and roll in which the lyrics get more attention with a more depth and focus on the words, comparatively, this is exactly the kind of inspiration Dylan used to justify his integrating of rock and roll with folk music. In 1966 along with Jonny cash Dylan recorded the Nashville skyline which was one of his most successful attempts at country music and he successfully, as he had done with all other genres, revitalized it and opened it to a wider audience bringing country music to the mainstream. His initial songs were rich with powerful melodies and this is an inherent characteristic of country, this is explicable since his earliest icon and mentor had been Woody Guthrie who was one of the leading country and folk singers. This is likely what inspired him to develop his signature sophisticated lyrics which reflects a depth of feeling mostly found in country music and impart them in his folk and rock and roll performances. Conclusion At the end of the day, Dylan remains one of the most influential musicians of the past and present, his presence is still felt today both by the timelessness of his music and his inspiration to musicians. He smashed through stereotypes and demonstrated that virtually any genre could be fused by his diverse approach to music and song writing, he is honored both as a singer but as a cultural icon that uses his voice to critic and praise in equal measures. While he is predominantly seen as rock and folk musician, his musical latitude encompasses many other genres and it is this versatility that has seen him remain relevant throughout the four decades he has been in the musical scene. Works Cited Al Kooper, Gary, Graffman, Seiji, Ozawa. "Bob Dylan Goes Electric, 'Nobody Will Remember Me'." Newsweek Jul 19 1999: 46. Web. 12 Nov. 2013 . Varga, George. "American Icons | Bob Dylan's Times Keep a'Changin' -- the American Master is an Unpredictable Creative Maverick." The San Diego Union - Tribune: F. Jan 29 2006. ProQuest. Web. 12 Nov. 2013 . Gill, Andy. “70 reasons why Bob Dylan is the most important figure in pop-culture history”. The independent. 20 May 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2013 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/70-reasons-why-bob-dylan-is-the-most-important-figure-in-popculture-history-2286368.html Read More