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1 “BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND: BOB DYLAN, THE BEATLES AND THE SEARCH FOR AMERICAN AUTHENTICITY IN THE 1960s Kayley Sullivan Seminar in History II

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Page 1: BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES

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“BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND”: BOB DYLAN, THE BEATLES AND THE SEARCH FOR

AMERICAN AUTHENTICITY IN THE 1960s

Kayley Sullivan

Seminar in History II

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The debate has long existed whether the influence of music changes society, or vice

versa; whether society exerts a change on music. This is an especially prevalent discussion as it

relates to American culture in the 1960s. Two major artists from this time period, the Beatles and

Bob Dylan are often associated with the radical cultural changes that were occurring in the

country. Many people saw them as being spokesmen for the generation. Through the analysis of

both artists, this paper seeks to answer show how both their music and image are a product of

society and how through their music and image, they were able to influence society. The way

their music and image were packaged, as well as received must be considered. By examining

these things, the paper seeks to show how the Beatles originally were perceived as apolitical and

eventually through a greater focus on their lyrics and their actions outside of music, began to

become more politicized and controversial. Bob Dylan, however, essentially followed the

opposite route. Originally finding his niche within a more political, folk countercultural

movement, he later on moved into rock, became more reclusive and changed the content of his

lyrics to reflect more apolitical themes. Despite these different paths, both artists were

constantly struggling with this notion of authenticity in their music and in their own lives. The

turbulent decade both influenced this and mirrored this, as many Americans struggled with new

realities and how they fit into them.

There is little historiography that I have been able to find that addresses both Bob Dylan

and the Beatles and none that has directly compares their political outspokenness. However, my

thesis does mostly fit in with what has been written about each separately. Keith Negus discusses

the concept of “Bob Dylan wearing the Bob Dylan mask”1, which explains Bob Dylan’s persona

and works into my conclusion that his fabricated sense of self fit into a certain niche to allow him

1 For a brief overview of the literature, see Keith, Negus. Bob Dylan, (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press,

2008), 40.

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to attain success. There is much discussion by historians on how Brian Epstein, the Beatles

manager worked to clean up their image in order to help them achieve success. My thesis fits

into the arguments historians make about the transformation Dylan’s career took in the sixties.

This is additionally supported by what Dylan has had to say as well. My argument also tends to

agree with what historians have to say about the Beatles’ transformation throughout the sixties.

Through the analysis of many interviews and historiography of both artists, the transformations

are evident. The Beatles went from a harmless, lighthearted group to a very politically

opinionated one. Bob Dylan’s transformation went completely in reverse. While he initially

attained fame for being outspoken on issues such as the Vietnam War and the civil rights

movement, in the later sixties, he pulled away from the political outspokenness he was once so

famous for. The connection between the paths the two artists took in the sixties, is referenced

only in one 1966 interview with the Beatles, and in no historiography I have been able to find.

There are many similarities between the interviewing styles of Bob Dylan and the

Beatles. Both groups were popular amongst a more liberal, left leaning crowd. They are both

often asked about why they think they’ve attained such success and both are reluctant to answer,

often deflecting the question or simply answering that they don’t know. Also, the two use humor

to deflect questions they do not wish to answer. For example, in a 1995 interview with Bob

Dylan, when asked if he would be voting, he answered sarcastically that he would be busy

tonight.2 Similarly, when the Beatles were asked the same question, they answered, that they

would be busy eating dinner.3 Each group also rejected the fact that they were trying to get any

messages across with their music. Paul McCartney, claimed, “We’re just signing songs you

2 Bob Dylan, interview by the San Francisco Press, KQED, December 14, 1965.

3 The Beatles, interview by the Montreal Press, September 8, 2964.

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know. We’re not trying to do anything more. Not preaching or anything.”4 When Dylan was

asked if he prefers to write songs with subtle or obvious messages, he claimed to like to write

neither.5 They each also had issues with the media throughout their career. In a 1963 interview

with Studs Terkel and the 1965 San Francisco press conference, Dylan stated that he doesn’t like

to give many interviews to the media because everything gets taken out of context. The Beatles

ran into a major problem with the media in 1966, when John Lennon claimed that the Beatles

were “bigger than Jesus”, leading to a right wing Christian backlash against the Beatles’ music.6

Both artists were packaged and presented at least originally, in a way that would fit

within the confines of modern day society in order to be successful. They did this with varying

degrees of social and political outspokenness. As their careers progressed, their already

established success allowed them more freedom in their work. This freedom allowed the Beatles

to push boundaries and address more political and controversial themes, while it did the opposite

for Bob Dylan, allowing him to get away from the social activist persona he had created.

Regardless, the works and careers of Bob Dylan and the Beatles have always been considered

avant garde, controversial and influential, and they emerged at a time historically, when America

was open to their ideas.

In order to understand the cultural implications of the works of the Beatles and Bob

Dylan, it is important to understand who their audience was. Why were these people so open to

accepting these new ideas, and how exactly were they receiving them? The majority of fans of

both artists were “baby boomers.” After World War II, the GI Bill was passed, giving financial

4 The Beatles, interview by the New York City Press, August 8, 1964.

5 Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press Conference

6 Mark Sullivan, “'More Popular Than Jesus': The Beatles and the Religious Far Right” Popular Music 6, no. 3 (1987).

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benefits to the soldiers coming home. Many young men used this opportunity to start families,

often moving into “Levitowner” houses in the newly developed suburbs. The generation of

children born into these families had not lived through the Great Depression or either World

War. The average family was significantly more economically stable than that of previous

generations. Bob Dylan, in a 1963 interview with Stud Terkel, discussed the majority of young

people coming of age at the time as being tied down to their towns and their families and school

and work. He compared himself to them, claiming that they were not thinking about the same

types of things he was thinking about, and he urged them to wake up and think outside of their

safe lives and what they were being told by the media and their parents.7 Ultimately, many of

these youths did begin to think more radically, as society began to change and music changed

with it.

Baby boomers were born into a world that America was at the top of socially, politically

and economically. 8 Never before has a generation of Americans collectively had so few

hardships, and because of that, many historians agree that this gave the boomers a false sense of

entitlement and security.9 This came to be an issue with many baby boomers when their safety

was no longer guaranteed. “For many white middle class teens going off to college, it seemed as

though everything their parents had preached about conformity bringing contentment could not

protect them from nuclear threats and death in a jungle on the other side of the world.”10 The

Cold War and the constant threat of nuclear attack was a major concern for all Americans during

77

Bob Dylan, interview by Studs Terkel, The Studs Terkel Show WFMT, Radio, April 26, 1963. 8 For a brief overview of the literature, see Laban Carrick Hill, American Dreaming: How Youth Changed in America

in the 60s (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007), 1-48. 9 For a brief overview of the literature, see Paul C. Light, Baby Boomers, (New York, NY: W.W. Norton and

Company, Inc., 1998), 7. 10

Hill, American Dreaming, 48.

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the 1950s and 1960s. However, the Vietnam War brought a much more tangible threat in the

form of the draft.

Tensions and military activity had been increasing in Vietnam since the end of the First

Indochina War between France and Vietnam in 1954. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving

Lyndon Johnson the authority to start a conflict Vietnam was issued in 1964. However, the

conflict did not escalate to such a large scale and the draft did not begin until 1965. By this time,

both the Beatles and Bob Dylan had already gained significant popularity with American

audiences, so young people were already listening to them and susceptible to their ideas. Those

eligible for the draft were younger men who were often more inclined to buy into radical,

sometimes anti-establishment, anti-war ideas when they themselves were in danger. It can be

argued, however, that there had been drafts for previous wars without a prevalent anti-war

movement or a push for radical culture change. Why was this war different?

From the very beginning, the Vietnam War was different than any other previously seen.

It was a war that not everyone agreed with or even necessarily understood. This was especially

true as it applied to baby boomers. The average baby boomer was eleven at the time of the

Cuban Missile Crisis, fourteen at the start of the Vietnam War and eighteen when the number of

American troops in Vietnam had hit its peak.11 This could obviously be quite a shock compared

to the safer world that many boomers grew up in. Fear was present in each of these events; fear

that at any moment our home soil could be attacked, fear for our country and our people and

most importantly, and most consequentially, fear for their own safety. The fear that them or a

person close to them could be sent to Vietnam at any time brought the war home for people.

11

Light, Baby Boomers, 8.

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The reality made it easier for a lot of people to disagree with the war and be open to new

ideas regarding the conflict. The difference was that the average age of soldiers in World War II

was twenty six, whereas it was nineteen in Vietnam. Sixty percent of deaths in Vietnam were

men who had been drafted and nineteen and twenty years olds suffered the greatest casualties.12

There were twenty seven million men who came of draft age during the Vietnam War. 13 With

young people being put in a situation to put their life on the line for a cause they might not

understand, the anti-war movement that came about is hardly surprising.

In addition to the movement against the war, young people of the time had many more

issues they were interested in. These included the legalization of marijuana, equality for women

and the war on poverty. Also, civil rights were a huge issue at the time. For example, ninety

one percent of Vietnam War Protesters also supported equality for women. This was a time of

radical thinking; of acceptance of new ideas. The Baby Boomers were born into a safe, secure

world, and they were ready for something more exciting. This made them open to new ideas.

When things arose that they took issue with, such as the Vietnam War and the lack of equality

within the races, they looked to music to guide them. Collectively these factors contributed to

the success of both Bob Dylan and the Beatles, as both at different points were seen as being

spokesmen for certain liberal issues.

Looking back on history, there is a tendency for our cultural memory to see things

in terms of symbols or tropes. When thinking of the history of the 1960s in America, music and

certain musical groups are almost always connected and considered necessary to study in the

12

For a brief overview of the literature, see Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Inc., 1998), 217. 13

Light, Baby Boomers, 8.

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study of the 1960s. Folk and rock, in particular, have often been seen as being interconnected to

what was happening culturally and politically in America. Music is often looked upon as being

used as a means of support and justification to the different movements that were occurring;

Civil Rights, counterculture and antiwar. People look to music to justify what they are feeling.

Music is often considered to be a venue of rebellion, protest and change. Socially, politically

and economically, music has an influence on all walks of life. In the mid to late sixties, music

drastically changed. Between the war in Vietnam and the assassination of President, John F.

Kennedy, America and the baby boomers’ “innocence” began to be tainted. The assassinations

of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. continued this feeling. It also marked one of the

first times in American history that Americans were questioning their government. Between the

decisions being made in regard to the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement, there were

many things that many Americans did not agree with their leaders on. Additionally, Richard

Nixon’s secret bombings of Cambodia, and the Watergate Scandal, gave justification to the

distrust that had been building. Music came to reflect all of this. In the 1971 song, “Bye Bye

Miss American Pie”, Don McLean addressed this change in music. He cites the plane crash that

killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper as the definitive point of “the day the

music died.”14 The lyrics of popular songs in the late fifties and early sixties, which mostly

vaguely discuss love can be directly contrasted to many songs of the mid to late sixties which

openly talk about sex and drug use, as well as involve political themes.

14

Don McLean, American Pie, 1971 by United Artists, Vinyl Record.

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Ultimately, the listeners have a great influence on songs. Michael J. Gilmour states, “We

construct something out of songs we want or need.”15

The way the audience was receiving the

music of both Bob Dylan and the Beatles greatly contributed to the way it was being produced.

The meaning of the song is defined by how it was being received. As it relates to the counter

culture and anti-war movement, artists such as Bob Dylan and the Beatles were looked upon as a

justification for the cause; the irony being that the artists were also searching for their own

meaning and where they fell in this society.

The Beatles’ music saw a progression from safe and simplistic with the advent of their

success in 1963 to a much different image through the mid to late sixties and up until their

breakup in 1970. Their first song to gain popularity in the United States was “I Want to Hold

Your Hand (1963).” “Yeah, you've got that something, I think you'll understand. When I'll feel

that something, I wanna hold your hand.”16 The song is simple, not sexual or political. There are

no hidden meanings. There are no references to drugs. It catered to a crowd of young girls who

wanted to Beatles to sing about love in an innocent way. Additionally, the song is short at 2:24.

Another example of an early Beatles song that exemplifies the Beatles straight forward,

teen idol image is the second track on the album, Meet the Beatles, “Please Please Me.” The

repeated lyrics throughout the songs are, “Please, please me, oh yea, like I please you.”17

It

repeats the term “come on” twenty-four times and “please please me” five times. Songs like this

are very simply about love. The repetition of the phrases allows the audience to easily follow

along and remember the song, which makes them feel like they are more actively participating.

15 For a brief overview of the literature, see Michael J. Gilmour, The Gospel According to Bob Dylan: The Old, Old

Story for Modern Times, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 12. 16

The Beatles, I Want to Hold Your Hand, 1961, by Capitol Records, 7”. 17

The Beatles, Please Please Me, 1963 by Parlophone, 7”.

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The use of pronouns such as “me” and “you” additionally serve to make the song more relatable

to the listener.

The songs of the mid to late Beatles are distinctly different. The Beatles experienced a

transformation starting with their 1965 release of Rubber Soul. Through songs such as “In my

Life (1965)” and Eleanor Rigby (1966)”, the Beatles began to release much more thought

provoking songs. In “In My Life”, unlike in previous Beatles songs, there is no refrain. This is

drastically different because it doesn’t encourage the audience to follow along with the song as

easily. The listener must actually think about the lyrics in order to understand what the song is

about. The only thing that is repeated, and only twice, is the phrase, “In my life I love you

more.”18

This is still a love song, but it begins the transformation as it is certainly more

complicated than prior love songs. The 1966 release of “Eleanor Rigby” was a drastic difference

as it was one of the first Beatles songs to not use pronouns or to talk from the singer’s point of

view. The song repeats, “All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely

people, where do they all belong?”19

This song actually asks its audience to think about these

questions. It encourages them to think about other people, and marks a transition from the

subject of love in Beatles music.

They started to step out of their role as teen idols, and eventually moved into a much

more psychedelic and controversial image, creating more complicated songs often with deeper

meanings. The transformation continued songs such as, “Revoultion (1968)” “With a Little Help

From my Friends (1967)” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (1967)”, which is rumored to

stand for “LSD”, a drug the Beatles were publicly using at the time began to push boundaries in

society. “With a Little Help from my Friends” openly says, “I get high with a little help from my

18

The Beatles, In My Life, 1965 by Parlophone, 7”. 19

The Beatles, Eleanor Rigby, 1966 by Parlophone 7”.

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friends”.20

Although “Revolution” does not make any specific references to the Vietnam War or

anything else, given the political climate at the time, with lyrics such as “You say you want a

revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world”, it is obvious that it would be

received with certain implications. Also, it comes in at around four minutes and fifteen seconds,

about double the length of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Imagery such as, “Follow her down to

a bridge by a fountain, where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies. Everyone smiles as

you drift past the flowers, that grow so incredibly high”, is present in “Lucy in the Sky With

Diamonds”.21

Imagery like this contributes the Beatles psychedelic imagery. All of these songs

are much drastically less simple than the tracks on the Beatles’ first album, “Meet the Beatles”.

In 1967 John Lennon received a letter from a student at his former high school

explaining that the school was now offering a class on interpreting the Beatles lyrics. Allegedly,

in response Lennon wrote “I am the Walrus (1967)” in the most confusing language possible.22

This is a good example of how far Beatles’ lyrics had come in the way of complexity as opposed

to the straightforward message of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

The image of the Beatles themselves could be paralleled with the progression of their

music. The Beatles began the success of their career with a very clean cut look, which had

drastically transformed by the late sixties. Appearance is a huge part of any band’s image as a

whole. The appearance and the image the Beatles were putting forward are important to

understanding how the music and messages were being received. Brian Epstein, the Beatles

manager discovered the band in 1961. He was responsible for much of the Beatles’ early success

20

The Beatles, With a Little Help From my Friends, 1967, by EMI Studios, 7”. 21

The Beatles, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,1967 by Parlophone, 7”. 22

Steven Carter, “The Beatles and Freshman English”, College Composition and Communication 20, no. 3 (1969): 232.

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because he was able to change their image in a way that fit into what was popular at the time.

Speaking of the effect Epstein had on the Beatles, Paul Friedlander argued that, “Epstein brought

intelligence, upper class taste, organizational skills and money.”23

In addition to the music itself,

Epstein helped the members of the Beatles to change their look. In order to do this, he got their

hair cut to what is known today as their signature mop style and bought them plain black suits to

wear so that they all looked uniform and neat. In the early 1960s, a very clean cut look was in.

Men typically had short haircuts and wore neat clothing, mostly suits. Brian Epstein knew that

the Beatles would not be able to have success without fitting into this image. 24

Much of the Beatles initial success had to do with their popularity among a pre-teen to

early teen crowd, particularly girls. Many fans were established during this time period who

came to be the young adults in the late sixties who were protesting the Vietnam War and other

social issues, and were then receiving the Beatles more controversial and progressive messages.

For example, one fan says of her early obsession with the Beatles, “When I think about being

between the ages of twelve and fifteen…I was the perfect candidate to be a Beatles fan. Where

did the music fit in? Certainly the appreciation of the music came later, but I almost think it was

the visceral reaction to them, more than the music.”25 The Beatles captured the attention of

millions of young girls in America with their good looks, charisma and love songs. “Beatle-

mania” referred to the craze of Beatles fans. The Beatles played sold out show after sold out

show, even filling up Shea Stadium, a venue that could hold over 55,000 people, which was

23

For a brief overview of the literature, see Paul Friedlander, Rock and Roll: A Social History (Cambridge, MA: Westview Press, 2006), 79. 24

Tony Bramwell Magical Mystery Tour: My Life with the Beatles, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008), 36. 25

For a brief overview of the literature, see Garry Berman, “We’re Going to See the Beatles!” An Oral History of Beatlemania as Told by the Fans Who Were There, (Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press, 2008), 90.

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unheard of at the time. Beatles merchandise was also purchased by these fans from t-shirts to

buttons to dolls. The Beatles were a commodity, and they were being marketed and sold in

every way possible.

The Beatles interviews in the early 1960s reflect their perceived harmless nature and teen

idol status. Questions often center on the band’s appearance, particularly their hair. Almost

every interview in 1963 and 1964 asked the Beatles either when they were going to cut their hair

or how they came up with the hairstyle. Other common questions discussed what their hobbies

are outside of music, how they deal with the fame, what they think of the reaction from the girls,

how much money they make, how they were formed as a band, how long they think their success

will last and how they chose the name, “Beatles.” The Beatles answered all of these questions

with charismatic lighthearted humor. For example, in a 1964 interview, when asked when was

the last time they had cut their hair, Paul answered, “Uhh, quite a long time, actually. The last

time was about 23 years ago, was the last time I had one.”26

During this time, the Beatles were

seldom asked about politics in their interviews. The content, in addition to the lighthearted

joking way they answered each question, contributed to their image as harmless entertainment.

Although the Beatles originally appeared primarily to girls, they had mass appeal due to

their status as being a “safe rebellion.”27 Girls had crushes on them and boys associated with

them “as they might a popular athletic squad.”28 Music for many is often considered to be a safe

rebellion. It is a way, especially for young people, of being introduced to new ideas or ideas

contrary to what they have always been taught. However, it allows them to do so without

actually having to take any action and disturb the status quo.

26

The Beatles, interview by CBS News, New York City, February 2, 1964. 27

Friedlander, Rock and Roll, 81. 28

Ibid., 81.

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Despite their fabricated clean cut image, the Beatles were always considered to be

slightly rebellious. The fact that their hair was slightly longer than what was considered

acceptable was one of the main criticisms. They were often disliked my parents of the young

fans, particularly fathers. For baby boomer children who had grown up in a safe world with little

excitement, the hysteria and music of the Beatles was something new. The Beatles were

something foreign, and something their parents weren’t in agreement with, which served to make

them more attractive to these baby boomers.

Another way the Beatles and their management portrayed their image to their fans was

through their album covers. Ian Inglis discusses the function of album covers. Album covers

work to protect the album within, as a visual advertisement for the record and as an

accompaniment to the music. 29 For example, if there is a picture of the artist on the cover that

would help the listener to have a visual image of what he or she is listening to. Inglis discusses

the cover of their first album released in the United Kingdom, “Please Please Me.” She says of

the cover, “Identically dressed in suits and ties and smiling happily into the camera, they

personify the contemporary pop star-bright, breezy, young and handsome.”30 This supports the

fact that they were at the time trying to depict a clean cut image for themselves. By putting that

picture on their first album cover, the Beatles and their management assured that that would be

the image that their fans would associate with them.

Inglis argues that the first album cover and album as a whole that began to break the

conventions of music for the time was “Rubber Soul.” On the cover of “Rubber Soul”, the word

29

Ian Inglis, “Nothing You Can See that Isn’t Shown: the Album Covers of the Beatles”, Popular Music 20, no. 1 (2001): 84. 30

Inglis, “Nothing You Can See”, 86.

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“Beatles” is not present for the first time, three of the Beatles are not looking forward, but gazing

off, showing a willingness to break free and not follow conventions, and the distorted faces

symbolize the Beatles’ growing interest in drugs.31

Controversy arose with the cover art of the 1966 release of “Yesterday, Today and

Tomorrow.” The original album came out with a picture of the Beatles in white coats,

surrounded by decapitated baby dolls and meats, commonly referred to as the “butcher album.”

One of the first times the Beatles were criticized by the public and the media, they quickly took

the cover out of production and replaced with a new, less divisive cover. However, John Lennon

said of the cover, “The cover was as relevant as the Vietnam War. If the public could accept

something as cruel as the Vietnam War, then they could accept that cover.” 32

This was one of

the rare occasions during the time of the Beatles that any member publicly spoke out and took a

particular stance on any political topic, especially the Vietnam War.

The album covers of “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band” and the self-titled album

that has come to be known as the “White Album” are also notable. The album cover for “Sgt

Pepper” is completely indicative of the music on the album. It is colorful, original and

completely psychedelic. The collage on the cover contains the Beatles in their current look, the

Beatles in their early 1960s look, historical icons such as Ghandi and Karl Marx, as well as a

marijuana garden and many other seemingly random people and objects. The presence of

historical and political figures seems to denote that the Beatles are beginning to gain a political

voice. However, as is common in much of their work, they fail to take a definitive stance on any

31

Ibid., 88. 32

Hill, American Dreaming, 49.

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issues, with the exception of drug use. On the “White Album”, Inglis argues that the lack of any

album art forces the listener to make their own interpretations about the music. The album covers

of the Beatles are to this day, considered iconic. The covers are recognizable and have helped to

brand certain images of the Beatles to the public at different points in their career.

Along with the progression of the actual content of the songs and the album covers, the

interviews the Beatles gave throughout their career are indicative of their evolution as artists.

After the onset of early interviews centered on mostly trivial issues, the Beatles begun to be

asked some more serious questions and answer with some subtle messages. Ultimately, towards

the later sixties, the Beatles became very outspoken on topics such as the Vietnam War.

In late 1964 and through 1965, the Beatles began to be asked some slightly different

questions by the media. Although the questions regarding the hair and the girls were still present,

some questions began to be more subtly controversial. For example, the Beatles are often asked

their opinion on Barry Goldwater, a conservative American politician running for President

under the Republican nomination in 1964. The Beatles never made any real statements

regarding Goldwater, but often expressed their dislike for him through such gestures such as

giving the thumbs down when his name is mentioned or yelling “Boo!”33

The reputation of the

Beatles as a more left leaning group begins to be established with comments such as these.

Also beginning at this time, particularly in America, there was a backlash against the

Beatles. Some people believed that the Beatles were linked to the Communist movement and

were trying to undermine American society.34

Others claimed that they were a bad influence on

American youth. Particularly with the comment made by John Lennon in 1966, that the Beatles

33

The Beatles, interview by the Los Angeles Press, August 23, 1964. 34

“More Popular than Jesus”

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17

were “more popular than Jesus”, the religious far right joined the crusade against the Beatles. 35

In a 1964 interview, the Beatles were asked how they feel about, “A physiatrist in Seattle is

saying that you are a menace. You bring out the destructive instincts in teenagers and you ought

to be banned.”36

George humorously responded, “Physiatrists are menaces, too.” 37

They don’t

really address any issues, but instead try and divert what they are being asked if they do not wish

to answer it.

As time went on, the Beatles began to receive a lot more politically inspired questions.

They were often asked about the Vietnam War. For example, in 1965 they were asked how they

felt about the draft. John jokingly answered, “About five eleven.”38

Just a year later, in a 1965

interview the Beatles were questioned about receiving the Order of the British Empire when that

is often received by military heroes. John responded, “Yeah, and they got theirs for killing

people, and I think, you know, we deserve ours for not killing people.”39

Although this didn’t

specifically criticize any war in particular, it was a pretty obvious anti-military statement. Then

in a 1966 interview when asked what they seek next, Paul and John answered, “Peace. Ban the

bomb.”40

Then when asked how much interest they take in the Vietnam War, John responded,

“Well, we think about it every day, and we don’t agree with it and we think it’s wrong.”41

That

is about as straightforward of a comment on the war as is possible. Comments such as these are

extremely rare. It is important to note that this interview was in Tokyo, which most likely

allowed them more freedom in their criticizing of the war. However, the fact that the Vietnam

35

“More Popular Than Jesus” 36

Los Angeles Press Conference, August 23, 1964. 37

Los Angeles Press Conference, August 23, 1964. 38

The Beatles, interview by the Indianapolis Press, September 3, 1964. 39

The Beatles, interview by the Los Angeles Press, August 2, 1965. 40

The Beatles, interview by Ken Gary, Tokyo, Japan, June 3, 1966. 41

Ibid.

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War was not opposed by the majority of America until the Tet Offensive in 1968, contributes to

the authenticity of this statement, rather than capitalizing on a trend.

Bob Dylan, another musician often associated with culture change in the sixties, took a

very different route to success. Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman, but changed it when he

began performing. Like the Beatles, he sought to define a certain image. However, the image

that Dylan initially had success with was that of a spokesperson and a political activist. Dylan

began his career by moving to New York and playing in local coffee shops. His style then was

defined mostly as folk music. Oddly enough, Dylan was signed in 1963, the same year the

Beatles first came to the United States, so they were coexisting in the same America. Whereas he

initially gained recognition as a folk protest singer, the Beatles entered into the world of pop

rock.

Whereas the Beatles found their niche with a younger preteen to early teen crowd, Dylan

found popularity in folk music fans who often wanted him to be politically outspoken. Keith

Negus argues that Bob Dylan was “connecting listeners who were self-consciously seeking

intellectual justification for their engagement with popular music.”42 He was often supported

among a more left leaning, liberal crowd who was already somewhat politically active. His

work, particularly many of his earlier songs were often associated with being about certain issues

such as the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. Songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind

(1963)” and “Only a Pawn in their Game (1963)” are generally received with political

connotations. Although “Blowin in the Wind” is ambiguous and does not refer to anything

specifically, due to the time of its release and lyrics such as “how many deaths will it take till he

42

Negus, Bob Dylan, 40.

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knows that too many people have died?”43

It is generally associated with being against the

Vietnam War. That is definitively how it was received by those who were looking for support

for an anti-war movement that hadn’t gained as much popularity in the early sixties as it would

come to gain later on.

Shortly after being signed, Dylan performed at the civil rights movement’s March on

Washington, immediately establishing himself as a politically outspoken musician. He

performed “Only a Pawn in their Game”, which tells the story of Medgar Evans, who was a Civil

Rights Activist who had been assassinated a few months prior to the March. The song also

discusses the way poor whites were being manipulated to hate the blacks in order to keep them

content with the inequality they were experiencing. 44 These lyrics and the situation in which he

performed them were far from being ambiguously political.

Many of Dylan’s songs are specifically about certain political events. “Only a Pawn in

their Game” and “The Death of Emmett Till” are very evidently related to the civil rights

movement. Due to the fact that it was written around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, many

people believe that “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” makes reference to the risk of an atomic

attack. In 1963, Dylan claimed that the “hard rain” refers to lies that the media tells us, that he

“considers to be poison”.45

However, in 1965, he did admit that it referred to the Cuban Missile

Crisis. “We just hung around at night- people sat around wondering if it was the end, and so did

43

Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the Wind, 1963, Columbia Recording Studios, 7”. 44

Bob Dylan, Only a Pawn in their Game, 1963, Columbia Recording Studios. 45

Bob Dylan, Interview with Studs Terkel

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I. Would one o’clock the next day ever come?...it was a song of desperation.”46

The theme of

war is something present in many of Dylan’s songs.

Many songs that are widely considered to be protest songs of Dylan’s are often believed

to contain references to the Vietnam War or Cold War. In the 1964 song “With God on Our

Side”, Dylan makes direct reference to the war in Vietnam when he says, “In the nineteen-sixties

came the Vietnam War. Can somebody please tell me what we’re fightin’ for? So many young

men died. So many mothers cried. Now I ask the question, was God on our side?”47

This was

extremely rare for either artist to outwardly criticize the war that was currently being fought.

“Masters of War” also makes a pretty distinct reference to Vietnam with “You fasten the triggers

for others to set fire. Then you sit back and watch, when the death count gets higher.”48

Since

death counts were the standard measure of progress to the American people for this particular

war, there would be an obvious connection to the listener, particularly at the time. There were

many other more subtle references. For example, in “Blowin’ in the Wind”, Dylan asks “How

many times can a cannonball fly before they’re forever banned?” Although cannonballs

obviously were not being used in the Vietnam War, the reader can infer that Dylan means the

reference towards the current political situation.

Although situations such as the civil rights movement were very outwardly political, in

interviews Bob Dylan tended to be slightly less politically outspoken than many of his early

songs. In a 1963 interview with Studs Terkel, Dylan ambiguously discusses many subjects.

Terkel and Dylan begin by discussing Dylan’s arrival on the folk scene and his need to leave his

home in Duluth, Minnesota. Dylan felt that that the town gave him a “feeling that isn’t really

46 Clinton Heylin, Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan,(Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press,

Incorporated,1973), 76. 47

Bob Dylan, With God on Our Side, 1964, Columbia Records. 48

Bob Dylan, Masters of War, 1963, Columbia Records.

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free” and that most of the people there were not thinking about things in the same ways that he

was. He called on young Americans to begin thinking about things in different ways. Such

comments likely contributed to Dylan’s perceived role as a spokesperson. He goes on to deny

this role. He also claims that he purposely put out bad records in order to get away from the way

people were perceiving him at the time. Additionally, he alludes to his dislike and distrust of the

media, which helps to explain why there are so few interviews available of Dylan in the sixties.

Overall, Dylan’s style of responding the questions, is slow and deliberate, often evading the

question being directly asked. This further adds to the myth and mystery of Bob Dylan. 49

However, as time went on, Dylan seemed to distance himself from the political

outspokenness he originally gained fame for. In a 1965 interview to the San Francisco press,

Dylan was even more dismissive of everything even remotely political asked of him, often even

humorous. When asked what the meaning of the cover art of his latest album meant to him,

Dylan responded with “I haven’t really looked at that much.”50

By this point, Dylan had begun to

get some criticism that he was not as politically outspoken as he once was or as many felt he

should be. People were seeking meaning in his songs that he was no longer willing to cooperate

with or contribute to.

Based on his earlier works, many people had certain expectations from Dylan. This was

also the time that Dylan had switched over from the acoustic guitar to the electric guitar, often

signifying his change from folk music to rock music. When one interviewer asked Dylan how he

feels that many believed he had sold out to commercial interests and the typical modern song

movements, Dylan answered, “No comments. No arguments. I certainly don’t feel guilty.”51

When asked if he were to sell out to a commercial interest, what it would be, Dylan responded 49

Bob Dylan, Interview with Studs Terkel 50

Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press Conference 51

Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press Conference

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“ladies garments.” 52

Often times throughout the interview, Dylan uses humor to defect the

questions and avoid discussing topics he doesn’t wish to address.

At this point in his career, although he was not actively participating in any type of

political movements, it was still unwise for him to denounce the movements he was once

associated with. It would force Dylan to lose almost all support in the community in which he

originally found success. When asked what he would do if he was drafted for the war in

Vietnam Dylan answered, “I’d probably just do what had to be done.”53

This could be interpreted

to mean that he would go to war, or he would do what has to be done to avoid it. When asked for

clarification, he simply responded that he does not speak in terms of “what-ifs.”54

Answers such

as these could also potentially indicate a genuine indifference to the question. Dylan does,

however, concede to some separation of his work to those in the folk genre, when he claims that

he no longer plays his earlier work because “in a way it would be dishonest of me because I

wouldn’t really feel like singing them.”55

He also said that he considered folk songs to be protest

songs, but did not consider his current songs to be folk songs. 56

He is no longer associating

himself with the folk world or the protest world. Earlier in the same year, he was booed at the

Newport Folk Festival for the use of his electric guitar and his alleged betrayal of folk music.

Bob Dylan has gone through several dramatic transformations as an artist. He’s covered

all styles of music from folk to rock to country, and the subjects of his music have changed

drastically. While originally his songs often had political or social connotations, he made efforts

to stray away from that very soon in his career. The album “Blonde on Blonde” was released in

52

Ibid. 53

Ibid. 54

Ibid. 55

Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press Conference 56

Ibid.

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1966 and is often considered to be Dylan’s departure from the original politically charged songs.

Many fans of his earlier music were disappointed by “Blonde on Blonde” because they came to

expect certain things from his music and they felt betrayed when those things were gone.

Bob Dylan himself, only a few years later, when looking back at some of his earlier

works, is critical of his motivations for writing certain things. When Bob Dylan wrote the

“Ballad of Emmett Till”, he considered it be “the best thing I’d ever written.”57 However, just a

few years later he claimed, “I wrote a song about Emmett Till, which in all honesty was a

bullshit song…. My reasons and motives behind it were phony, I didn’t have to write it; I was

bothered by many other things that I pretended I wasn’t bothered by, in order to write this song

about Emmett Till, a person I never even knew… It was quick at hand, and knowing that people

knew who Emmett Till was, I wrote the song.” 58

Here Dylan is acknowledging that his songs,

particularly the early and political ones were sometimes written because he knew they would be

popular. He understood that it was easy to have a song go over well with a politically active

crowd if the song helps support an issue that they are already upset or advocating about. In this

case, Dylan knew that Emmett Till was a recognizable part of the Civil Rights Movement and

writing a song that fits in with that might help him find success. He was working within his

niche of society.

Another aspect of the careers of both Bob Dylan and the Beatles was the concept of

having a public persona and a private persona. Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman and

changed it when we began performing. On the Studs Terkel show Dylan claimed he never

57

For a brief overview of the literature, see Clinton Heylin, Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973, (Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, Inc., 2009), 72. 58

Ibid., 72.

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considered himself to be a “Robert Zimmerman.”59

This was his first step in his transformation

into his public Bob Dylan persona. Many historians, as well as Dylan himself make reference to

use of the “Bob Dylan mask.” Keith Negus discusses Stephen Scobie’s comparison of the “mask

of Bob Dylan with the way Geek and Roman actors would use masks to “conceal identity and

express character.” Dylan in later years went as far as to wear a literal white mask during some

performances. Dylan was certainly aware of this concept and makes that known to his audience.

Scobie also compares it to the concept of a persona in poetry.

Many critics use the phrase "I is another” when referring to Dylan, which Dylan himself

will occasionally quote back at the media when answering questions about the autobiographical

nature of his work. In a 1980 press conference, Dylan stated, “I’m only Bob Dylan when I need

to be.” When asked what he is the rest of the time, he answered, “myself.” 60

Bob Dylan’s

persona that he presented to the public was a different person than in his private sense of self,

and he was conscious of it. The fact that he, on multiple occasions made reference to this

concept signifies him distancing himself from the character he played through his music and

performance.

Many people at the time referred to Dylan as being a spokesperson for their generation,

and some went as far as to refer to him a prophet or a messiah. However, as Gilmour says, he

manages to “simultaneously draw an audience and keep them at a distance.”61

This can be seen

in terms of the “Bob Dylan mask”, in the public and private personas of Dylan or his earlier

career to his later career. In his early career, Dylan drew all of these people in, singing songs

speaking out against the Vietnam War and advocating for the civil rights movement. Much like 59

Bob Dylan, interview with Studs Terkel 60

Negus, Bob Dylan, 6. 61

Gilmour, The Gospel According to Bob Dylan, 14.

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the way, the folk fans felt deserted by Dylan in his leaving of folk for a more rock style, they felt

betrayed by his abandonment of political outspokenness in his work and life. They felt they had

been deserted by someone they once considered to be almost a messiah.

Dylan has denied the role of a spokesperson and particularly, a prophet at all periods of

his career. In 1963, Dylan expressed his frustration over being viewed in what he considered to

be a false light. He denied being a prophet and stated, “If you examine the songs, I don’t think

you’re going to find anything that says I’m a spokesman for anyone or anything really.”62

The

denial of being a spokesperson, while putting out songs and participating in events, such as the

March on Washington is somewhat contradictory. Given the content of many of the songs and

the context of the time, it would logically follow that people are going to get certain messages

out of them, and Dylan’s denial of that in 1963 is strange.

In later interviews, Dylan continues to deny his role of a spokesperson. However, it more

rationally fits into the narrative since it coincided with his efforts to try and distance himself

from protest and his old works. In 1965, Dylan didn’t even really give a direct answer to the

question of being a spokesperson, so as not to justify its legitimacy. A reporter asked Dylan,

“You are described by many people as being symbolic of the protest movement for the young

people. Are you going to participate in the Vietnam protest in front of the Paramount Hotel?”63

Bob Dylan responded simply with, “I’ll be busy tonight.” 64

By not giving a serious answer or

any elaboration to his answer, Dylan is able to deflect attention from the reporter’s question. In a

1969 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, the question comes up again with Dylan. He

answers, “If I thought I was that person, wouldn’t I be out there doing it?...So obviously I don’t

62

Bob Dylan, Interview with Studs Terkel 63

Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press 64

Ibid.

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think that.”65

Again, Dylan denies this role adamantly. But, again it comes up. Dylan has not

given many interviews, and the fact that a question referring to Dylan as a “spokesperson for his

generation” comes up in almost every one, speaks volumes about the way he was perceived,

regardless of how he saw himself.

On July 29, 1966, Bob Dylan was in a motorcycle accident and in its wake, drastically

took himself almost entirely out the public eye. He stopped touring, interviewing and generally

kept to himself and his family in their home in Woodstock, New York.66

However, he did not

stop writing songs during this time. There was always some speculation as to the extent of his

injuries and his actual reasoning for going into seclusion. In his autobiography Chronicles,

Dylan clarifies the situation for many fans when he states, “I had been in a motorcycle accident

and I’d been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race. Having

children changed my life and segregated me from just about everybody and everything that was

going on. Outside of my family, nothing held any real interest for me and I was seeing

everything through different glasses.”67

Bob Dylan is claiming that he wanted to disassociate

himself from the rest of the world and spend more time with his family. The accident gave him

the opportunity to do so. Dylan’s career is often referred to as “pre-accident” and “post-

accident”.68

Pre-accident refers to the touring, outspoken, public figure and post-accident refers

to the reclusive Dylan.

In 1969, when he gave the interview with Rolling Stone Dylan had been working on

reinventing himself as a quiet family man and more of a country singer. At this point in his

65

Bob Dylan, interview by Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone Magazine, 1969. 66

Negus, Bob Dylan, 46. 67

Bob Dylan, Chronicles: Volume, (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2004), 79. 68

Heylin, Revolution, 112.

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career, he was interested in continuing to make music while staying out of the public spotlight.69

He also discussed his desire to take a break from touring when he stated, “I was on the road for

almost five years. It wore me down. I was on drugs, a lot of things. A lot of things just to keep

going, you know? And I don’t want to live that way anymore.”70

Dylan’s new personality

towards the latter end of the sixties, contributed to the mythology that surrounds Bob Dylan. On

the theme of people feeling abandoned by Dylan, from his departure from folk, to his lack of

political outspokenness, continues here. Dylan literally drew in millions of fans only to

disappear for two years. However, rather than turn fans away, this disappearance contributed to

his mysterious narrative. The way he speaks in interviews is always very slow, deliberate and

not direct, often creating a mysterious tone. He purposely gives his audience very few details

about his own life and reveals only what he wants you to see. This mythology also ties into the

concept of the “Bob Dylan mask.”

In “I is Somebody Else” by Kat Peddie, the myth surrounding Bob Dylan is compared to

that of French poet, Arthur Rimbaud. Rimbaud was considered to be the best poet of his time.

He wrote the majority of his poetry between the ages seventeen and twenty, and at the age of

twenty one, stopped writing poetry because he felt he had already achieved all that he could

achieve. He then more or less went into seclusion, living a quiet life and traveling the world

until his death. Due to these unusual circumstances, the myth of Rimbaud further contributes to

the popularity and reception of his work. The same can be said for Dylan. The strange

circumstances of having the content of his songs being so political and then takin himself out of

69

Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone 70

Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone

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the public spotlight almost completely contribute to the Bob Dylan myth and the way his work is

received. 71

This connection is reinforced not only by their similarities, but also by Dylan’s

referencing of Rimbaud. In the 1965 interview with the San Francisco Press, when asked which

poets were his favorite, Dylan named Rimbaud.72

In Dylan’s song, “You’re Going to Make Me

Lonesome when You Go”, the lyrics make reference to Rimbaud with, “Relationships have all

been bad. Mine’ve been like Verlaine’s and Rimbaud.”73

Here is discusses Rimbaud’s notorious

relationship with Paul Verlaine, another poet at the time, which was considered to be very

scandalous and ended with Verlaine shooting Rimbaud in the wrist. Dylan also stated, “I came

across one of his letters called ‘Je est un ature,’ which translates to ‘I is someone else.’ When I

read those words the bells went off. It made perfect sense. I wished someone would have

mentioned it to be earlier.”74

This is very similar to when Dylan uses the term, “I is another.” It

relates the concept of the Bob Dylan mask. Both Dylan and Rimbaud wish to separate

themselves from their work and create an alternate personality through their work that their

private sense of self is not associated with.

Although it is not as commonly discussed by historians, the Beatles did experience this

concept of having a public and a private sense of self. The Beatles were a product that was being

marketed a certain way to appeal to a certain set of people, particularly in their early career. The

Beatles’ sexual encounters, political opinions and experimentation with drugs were not originally

made known to the public until later on because it would give the Beatles a bad image and harm

their sales. Kenneth Womack and Todd F. Davis discuss how in much later years, John Lennon

71 Kat Peddie, “’I is Somebody Else’: Bob Dylan/ Arthur Rimbaud” Popular Music History 2, no. 8 (2013). 72

Bob Dylan, San Francisco Press 73

Bob Dylan, You’re Going to Be Lonesome When I Go, 1975 by Columbia Records. 74

Peddie, “I is someone else”

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made many remarks about being disappointed that he was unable to discuss his political views

during the touring years, particularly concerning the Vietnam War.75 They state, “Although

celebrity clearly provided Lennon with a massive international forum for expressing his views,

how, indeed, could he focus his attentions on the anti-war movement and his hunger for peace

when the mask of Beatlehood required him to wink mischievously at the camera and conjure up

Beatle-John?” 76

Whereas Bob Dylan’s popularity encouraged and even required him to make

political statements, the Beatles were discouraged from doing so. If the Beatles were to make

statements about issues one way or the other, it would isolate some of their listeners and

negatively affect their profit. Both artists were expected to act in a certain way in order to

continue the façade of the masks they had created.

The Beatles make reference to the constraints they were working under in some of their

later interviews. In a Chicago Press Conference in 1966, Paul McCartney states, “The thing is,

we’re just trying to move it in a forward direction…And people seem to be trying to just sort of

hold us back and not want us to say anything that’s vaguely sort of, you know, inflammatory. I

mean, we won’t if, really, if people don’t want that, then we won’t do it. We’ll sort of just do it

privately.”77

Moving forward can be interpreted to mean, moving into more controversial issues;

likely politics, drugs, and such subjects that they eventually ended up discussing in many of their

songs.

This theme also come up in a 1966 press conference in Toronto, when asked about the

Vietnam War, John responded, “I mean we all just don’t agree with war for any reason

75

For a brief overview of the literature, see Kenneth Wommack and Todd F. Davis, Reading the Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2006), 104. 76

Ibid, 105. 77

The Beatles, Interview by the Chicago Press, August 11, 1966.

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30

whatsoever. There’s no reason on earth why anybody should kill anybody else.”78

They

interviewer then pressed them on the subject, asking why they don’t come out publicly in

opposition of the war. John answered with, “Because somebody would shoot us for saying it,

that’s why.”79

Paul then added, sarcastically, “We’re not allowed to have opinions you might

have noticed, you know.”80

The comments made by the Beatles here indicate that they were not

allowed to be as opinionated as they would have liked to have been and that they were aware of

it. Their political beliefs had been stifled, even though, through their celebrity status, they were

in a position to have potentially made a difference. Comments such as these bring one to wonder,

if whether in their earlier interviews, where almost all political questions were met with humor

deflecting the question, what they would have said had they had the freedom to do so.

By 1966, the Beatles and Bob Dylan had both certainly made a transformation from what

they originally were as performers, both in their music and perceived identity. These

transformations are referenced by many historians. However, a comparison of the careers of the

Beatles and Bob Dylan is rarely made. It is mentioned in a 1966 interview in New York City.

One interviewer asks the Beatles, “You seem to be doing a Bob Dylan in reverse. That is you

became popular playing rock and roll and now you seem to be doing a lot more folk rock.

Would you care to comment on that?”81

Although the Beatles denied that their work was to be

considered, “folk”, Paul stated, “No the thing is that-That thing about Bob Dylan is probably

right, in reverse because we’re getting more interested now in the content of the songs, whereas

Bob Dylan is getting more interested in rock and roll. It’s just we’re both going towards the

78

The Beatles, interview by the Toronto Press, August 17, 1966. 79

Ibid. 80

Ibid. 81

The Beatles, interview by the New York Press, August 22, 1966.

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31

same thing I think.”82

When asked to clarify what that thing that they were going towards was,

Paul answered that they were both moving forward.83

Dylan and the Beatles essentially took

opposite paths in the 1960s. They both started and ended in drastically different places.

However, in that, they were both moving towards authenticity to themselves and the kind of

music that they wanted to be producing. Their already established fame allowed them the

freedom to go in the direction that they wanted to go.

82

The Beatles, New York City Press, 1966. 83

The Beatles, New York City Press, 1966.

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