Bobby Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota, relocated to
New York City and precisely 50 years ago, set the world
on fire. Having been personally re-imagined as Bob
Dylan, he captured the hearts and minds of music lovers
in lower Manhattan - and then everywhere. Some of his
earlier songs like ''Blowin' in the Wind'' seemed to
have been in existence eternally, and he was quickly
some kind of mystic presence on the music scene. But
even that quick renown would never satisfy Dylan, who
would always push forward, onward, outward. He went
electric at Newport with his backers in the Band,
horrifying the folk purists. He ventured into the drug
culture - he turned the Beatles on to marijuana - and
his songs got denser, trippier. But they were always
lyrical and meaningful, and though he always disdained
the term, he was undoubtedly a voice of his generation.
Fifty years on, it is time to celebrate Bob Dylan and
recount his extraordinary journey. ''LIFE'' was there
when Bob and Joan Baez were kids in the Village, and
photographers like Elliott Landy were there every
subsequent step of the way, chronicling the story. Here
is that story - Bob Dylan's story - in words and
pictures.''LIFE ''is amused that Dylan once wrote a
sarcastic song, ''Ballad of a Thin Man,'' about a
newsweekly reporter who was trying to figure him out.
The reporter, way back in the '60s, wasn't affiliated
with ''LIFE'' - but no matter. All these years down the
road, we're still looking at Bob. Maybe there's another
song to be written? |
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