Bob Dylan

“The Early Years”

March 1962 – March 1965

John Gavin

Spring 2017

Class #1: Introduction

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Who’s this Gavin guy?

• I’m a Dylan fan: have a pretty complete collection

• Heard Dylan and bought a guitar (strummer)

• Know nothing about the music industry

• Bronx Catholic schools for 12 years (Fordham Prep)Bronx Catholic schools for 12 years (Fordham Prep)

• City College of New York (Economics) - 1968

• NYC Public School 4th Grade teacher for 4 ½ years

• Ohio State University (Trade School) - 1978

• Large computer company for 31 years

• Happily retired

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Goals and AssumptionsGoals

• Have Some Fun (hopefully)

• Share my enthusiasm using– Recordings, Lyrics and Videos of Mr. Dylan

• Have intelligent discussion and cross-talk

My Assumptions

• Dylan is a package deal of lyrics, music, voice and personality• Dylan is a package deal of lyrics, music, voice and personality– Distinctive, intelligent, authentic, human

• Dylan is a singer-songwriter, not a poet.

• You lose “something” when other singers perform Dylan songs

• I’m not a purist and never cared when about Dylan going electric or changing styles– R&R, Country and Jazz were already electric.

• Warning: Ignore academics and music critics discussing Dylan

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Course Outline

1. Introduction

2. 1st album: “Bob Dylan”

3. 2nd Album: “Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”

4. 3rd Album: “The Times They are a-Changin”4. 3rd Album: “The Times They are a-Changin”

5. 4th Album: “Another Side of Bob Dylan”

6. 5th Album “Bringing It All Back Home” – Part 1

7. 5th Album “Bringing It All Back Home” - Part 2

8. Video that covers Dylan’s first five albums

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The Best Resource for LyricsThe Official Bob Dylan Website: http://bobdylan.com/

Bob Dylan Website has the following choices:

Tour News Albums Songs Books Art Store

Google: “Bob Dylan Official Site”

• Then pick: “The Official Bob Dylan Site” at bobdylan.com

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Pick ALBUMS

Pictures of the album covers are shown: • Page down to the bottom of the pictures for the first five albums.

• Click on any album and you’ll get a list of the songs on that album.

• Click on any song and view the lyrics.

• Printing from the web can be sloppy, so I cut and paste the lyrics to any

text editor (like Word) and print from there. Or get the lyrics from other

web sites or books.

Dylan Albums vs. My BioHow does your Bio fit?

Dylan Album Release Date

1. March 1962

2. May 1963

3. January 1964

4. August 1964

My Bio

1. Soph at Fordham Prep

2. Junior in FP

3. Senior in FP

4. Working in Schrafft’s4. August 1964

5. March 1965

4. Working in Schrafft’s

5. Freshman at City College

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• June 21, 1965: Byrds have #1 Hit with “Mister Tambourine Man”

• July 4, 1965: I first listened to Dylan (his fifth album)

• -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• June 1, 1967 Beatles: “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”

Folk Music

• Traditional: Irish, English, Scots, etc, etc, etc.

• Revival Pre and Post WW2– Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, etc, etc

• Hootenanny TV: April 1963 to September 1964– Blacklist: Pete Seeger, etc. Refused to perform: Joan Baez, – Blacklist: Pete Seeger, etc. Refused to perform: Joan Baez,

Tom Paxton, Jack Elliot, etc, etc

– I watched it every week: host was Jack Linkletter.

• New Generation– Richie Havens, Judy Collins, Tom Paxton, Joan Baez, Phil

Ochs, Pete Fornatalle (WFUV), Buffy Sainte-Marie, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, etc, etc

– A large portion of folk musicians and Greenwich Village residents were left wing and politically active

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Bob Dylan

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Who’s this Dylan guy?I heard about Bob Dylan as a writer:• Peter, Paul and Mary: “Blowing in the Wind” 1963 (Video)

• Joan Baez: “Don’t Think Twice” 1963 (Video)

• The Byrds: “Mr. Tambourine Man” June 21, 1965 (Video)– Became a number one hit (June 26, 1965) at the height of The

Beatles and the British Invasion

– The Byrds made Dylan a national star

• The Wonder Who (The Four Sesons): “Don’t Think Twice”: • The Wonder Who (The Four Sesons): “Don’t Think Twice”: Oct 1965

• Turtles: “It Ain’t Me Babe”: Oct 1965

I first listened to Bob Dylan (his fifth album) on the July 4th

weekend of 1965

• Then worked back to his first four studio albums and then

• forward to newer studio albums.

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Bob Dylan Bio• Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941 in Duluth,

Minnesota

• Grew up in iron ore country (Hibbing, Minnesota)

• Dylan’s Bar Mitzvah was in May 1954 (probably, maybe, ???)

• Moved to Minneapolis in Sept 1959 after high school

• Moved to New York City in January 1961– Visited Woody Guthrie, ill from Huntington's disease, in

Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey

– JFK became president on January 20, 1961

• Most of Dylan’s life is a complete mystery– Think “Howard Hughes”

– Dylan did not want to be “The Voice of His Generation”.

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Fast 4 YearsJanuary 1961 – March 1965

• Moved to New York City in January 1961

• First album released on March 19, 1962

• Legally changed name to Bob Dylan in August 1962

• Four more albums released by March 1965

A Bit Later

• Married Shirley Noznisky (aka Sara Lowns) on November 22, 1965

– Four children; divorced June 1977

• Two additional electric albums released by May 1966

– Highway 61 Revisited: August 30, 1965

– Blonde on Blonde: May 16, 1966

• ??? “Motorcycle Accident” on July 29, 1966 ???3/7/2017 14

1930’s Leftists, Organized Labor, CommunistsBeat Generation

Civil Rights

Ban The Bomb

Hippies / Drugs

White Power

Black Power

Eighty Years of Political Stew

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Hippies / Drugs

Anti-War Radicals

Women’s Rights

Gay RightsBlack Lives Matter

Sexual Liberation

Tea Party

Social Movements: 1962 - 1965

• Civil Rights / Human Rights– Martin Luther King

– Sit-Ins, Marches, etc

– De facto and de jure segregation: apartheid

– KKK, murder, lynching, bombing, George Wallace– KKK, murder, lynching, bombing, George Wallace

• Ban The Bomb / A Very Hot “Cold War”– Cuban Missile Crisis

– MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction

– Hydrogen Bomb / TSAR Bomb / Civil Defense / Bomb Drills

• Beginnings of Anti-Vietnam War Movement– Didn’t really take off till 1966

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US Troop Levels in Vietnam

Year US Troops

1959 760

1960 900

1961 3205

1962 11,300

1963 16,300

1964 23,300

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1965 184,300

1966 385,300

1967 485,600

1968 536,100

1969 475,200

1970 334,600

1971 156,800

1972 24,200

1973 50

Dylan’s First Five Albums- 3 Years of Constant Change -

1. Bob Dylan , March 19, 1962– 2 of 13 songs are originals run time: 36:54

– Traditional Folk Singer

2. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, May 27, 1963– Change: 10 of 13 songs are originals run time: 50:04

– Now a Singer / Songwriter

3. The Times They Are a-Changin‘, January 13, 19643. The Times They Are a-Changin‘, January 13, 1964– Change: All original songs run time: 45:36

– Now a Protest Singer – Voice of his generation

4. Another Side of Bob Dylan, August 8, 1964– Change: songs are less political run time: 50:37

– Now more personal and poetic

5. Bringing It All Back Home, March 22, 1965– Change: electric guitars and free-verse lyrics run time=47:14

– Now a poet and rock & roller (folk rock)

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The Best Ways to Approach Dylan

Dylan is a package deal of lyrics, music, voice and personality

1. Listen to Dylan Albums– Soak in the complete experience (package deal)

– Dylan is the greatest performer of Dylan songs– Dylan is the greatest performer of Dylan songs

2. Listen to Dylan Albums while reading the lyrics after you’ve listened to the song several times

3. Watch Dylan DVDs: adds the visual4. Listen to other performers doing Dylan

5. Seeing Dylan perform live on stage

– Best reserved for fanatic Dylan fans

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Bob Dylan Concerts1987 - 2014

• Lyrics Change

• Melody Changes

• Lots of Loud Music

• Dylan’s Voice is Still Weird• Dylan’s Voice is Still Weird

• Great Bands

• Unique Mixture of Songs

• Fanatic Fans (like me) and Bewildered Concert Goers

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End Class 1End Class 1

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Class 2

Bob Dylan: 1st Album: “Bob Dylan”March 1962

John Gavin - Spring 2017

The Best Resource for LyricsThe Official Bob Dylan Website: http://bobdylan.com/

Bob Dylan Website has the following choices:

Tour News Albums Songs Books Art Store

Google: “Bob Dylan”

• Then pick: “Home ! Official Bob Dylan Website”

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Pick ALBUMS

Pictures of the album covers are shown: • Page down to the bottom of the pictures for the first five albums.

• Click on any album and you’ll get a list of the songs on that album

• Click on any song and view the lyrics

• Printing from the web can be sloppy, so I cut and paste the lyrics to any

text editor (like Word) and print from there. Or get the lyrics from other

web sites or text sources.

Dylan’s First Five Albums- 3 Years -

1. Bob Dylan , March 19, 1962– Only 2 of 13 songs are originals; run time: 36:54

2. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, May 27, 1963– Change: 10 of 13 songs are originals; run time: 50:04

3. The Times They Are a-Changin‘, January 13, 1964– Change: All songs are original (Many protest songs); time: 45:36– Change: All songs are original (Many protest songs); time: 45:36

4. Another Side of Bob Dylan, August 8, 1964– Change: songs are personal and less political; run time: 50:37

5. Bringing It All Back Home, March 22, 1965– Change: electric guitars and free-verse lyrics; run time=47:14

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1961 – 1962 Events Before Dylan’s First Album

• JFK becomes President: January 20, 1961

• USA tests first intercontinental ballistic missile: February 1, 1961

• USSR’s Yuri Gagarin orbits the earth: April 12, 1961

• Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba: April 17, 1961

• Freedom Riders begin interstate bus rides: May 4, 1961

• JFK’s “Berlin Crisis” speech urges Americans to build fallout

shelters: July 25, 1961

• Start of Berlin Wall: August 13, 1961

• USSR explodes the “Tsar Bomb”: October 30, 1961

• JFK sends 18,000 troops to Vietnam: November 18, 1961

• Fidel Castro announces he is a Marxist–Leninist: December 2, 1961

• American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for Soviet spy:

Feb 10, 1962

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1st Album: Bob Dylan

Title Writer(s) Length1. "You're No Good" Jesse Fuller 1:40

2. "Talkin' New York" Bob Dylan 3:203. "In My Time of Dyin‘ “ trad. arr. Dylan 2:40

4. "Man of Constant Sorrow" trad. arr. Dylan 3:10

5. "Fixin' to Die" Bukka White 2:22

6. "Pretty Peggy-O" trad. arr. Dylan 3:23

7. "Highway 51" Curtis Jones 2:527. "Highway 51" Curtis Jones 2:52

8. "Gospel Plow" trad. arr. Dylan 1:47

9. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" trad. arr. Eric von Schmidt 2:37

10. "House of the Risin' Sun" trad. arr. Dave Van Ronk 5:20

11. "Freight Train Blues" John Lair, arr. Dylan 2:18

12. "Song to Woody" Bob Dylan 2:4213. "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" Blind Lemon Jefferson 2:43

Bob Dylan – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica. March 19, 1962

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Album #1: March 1962

• Track 2 “Talkin’ New York”– Duration 3:20, Lyrics, Discuss, Dark Humor

• Track 4 “Man of Constant Sorrow”– 3:00 Video: great look at very early Dylan

• Track 9 “Baby Let Me Follow You Down”– 3:30 Video: with the Band 1971

• Track 10 “House of the Rising Sun”• Track 10 “House of the Rising Sun”– 5:20: arrangement stolen from Dave Van Ronk

• Track 12 “Song to Woody”– 2:45, Lyrics, Discuss, Tribute to Dylan’s hero.

• 1962 Extra: “Hard Times in New York Town”– 2:20: similar to “Talking New York”

• 1962 Extra: “Let Me Die in My Footsteps”– 3:30: a lyrical folksy protest song

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End Class 2End Class 2

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Class 3

Bob Dylan Album #2: “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”May 1963

John Gavin

Spring 2017

1962 – 1963 Events Before Dylan’s Second Album

• Nazi Adolf Eichmann is hanged at a prison in Ramla, Israel:

May 31, 1962

• US Supreme Court: mandatory prayers in public schools are

unconstitutional: June 26, 1962

• The Soviet Union agrees to send arms to Cuba: Sept 2, 1962

• The first black student, James Meredith, registers at the • The first black student, James Meredith, registers at the

University of Mississippi, escorted by Federal Marshals: Oct

1, 1962

• The Cuban Missile Crisis: Oct 14 – 28, 1962

• Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth

and others are arrested in a Birmingham, Alabama protest

for "parading without a permit“: April 12, 1963.

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2nd Album: Freewheelin’Title Length

1. "Blowin' in the Wind" Video 2:48

2. "Girl from the North Country" Video 3:22

3. "Masters of War" Audio 4:34

4. "Down the Highway" 3:27

5. "Bob Dylan's Blues" 2:23

6. "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" Video 6:55

7. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" Video 3:407. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" Video 3:40

8. "Bob Dylan's Dream" (nostalgic) 5:03

9. "Oxford Town" Audio 1:50

10. "Talkin' World War III Blues" Video 6:28

11. "Corrina, Corrina" (2nd guitar, bass, piano and drums) 2:44

12. "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance"

(Dylan, Henry Thomas) 2:01

13. "I Shall Be Free" (traditional) ` 4:49

Bob Dylan – guitar, harmonica, keyboards, vocals. May 27, 1963

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End Class 3End Class 3

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Class 4

Bob Dylan Album #3: “The Times They Are A-Changin”

January 1964

John Gavin

Spring 2017

1963 – 1964 Events Before Dylan’s Third Album

• Buddhist monk commits self-immolation to protest against the Ngô Đình

Diệm administration: June 11, 1963

• Alabama Governor George Wallace stands in the door of the University of

Alabama: June 11, 1963

• Medgar Evers is murdered in Jackson, Mississippi: June 12, 1963

• Establishment of the Moscow–Washington red phone: June 20, 1963

• JFK gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin: June 26, 1963• JFK gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin: June 26, 1963

• US, UK and USSR sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: Aug 5, 1963

• Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech during the

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: August 28, 1963

• 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, in Birmingham, Alabama, kills 4 and

injures 22: Sept 15, 1963

• Assassination of John F. Kennedy: Nov 22, 1963• Lee Harvey Oswald shot: Nov 24, 1963

• Barry Goldwater announces for the Republican nomination: Jan 5, 19643/7/2017 34

3rd Album: The Times They Are a-Changin‘

Title Length

1. "The Times They Are a-Changin'“ Video 3:15

2. "Ballad of Hollis Brown" 5:06

3. "With God on Our Side" Video 7:08

4. "One Too Many Mornings" 2:41

5. "North Country Blues" 4:355. "North Country Blues" 4:35

6. "Only a Pawn in Their Game" Newport 3:337. "Boots of Spanish Leather" 4:40

8. "When the Ship Comes In" Audio 3:18

9. "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" Audio 5:4810. "Restless Farewell" 5:32

Bob Dylan – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica. January 13, 19643/7/2017 35

End Class 4

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Class 5

Bob Dylan Album #4: “Another Side of Bob Dylan”

August 1964

John Gavin

Spring 2017

1964 Events Before Dylan’s Fourth Album • Bloodless military coup d'état overthrows South Vietnam PM: Jan 30, 1964

– The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show: Feb 9, 1964

• In Detroit Malcolm X delivers "The Ballot or the Bullet“ speech: Apr 12, 1964

• 400–1,000 students in NYC and 700 in San Francisco demonstrate against the

Vietnam War: May 2, 1964

• Twelve young men in New York City publicly burn their draft cards to protest the

war: May 12, 1964

• Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters embark on their cross-country trip aboard

Further (bus) spreading the gospel of LSD: June 12, 1964Further (bus) spreading the gospel of LSD: June 12, 1964

• Three civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James

Chaney, are murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi: June 21, 1964

• President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964: July 2, 1964

• Six days of race riots begin in Harlem: July 12, 1964

• Gulf of Tonkin Incident: US destroyers “attacked”: Aug 4, 1964

• Aircraft from US Navel vassels bomb North Vietnam in retaliation: Aug 5, 1964

• Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Johnson

broad war powers: Aug 7, 1964

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4th Album: Another Side of Bob Dylan

Title Length1. "All I Really Want to Do" 4:04

2. "Black Crow Blues" 3:14

3. "Spanish Harlem Incident" 2:24

4. "Chimes of Freedom" Video 7:10

5. "I Shall Be Free No. 10" Audio 4:475. "I Shall Be Free No. 10" Audio 4:476. "To Ramona" 3:52

7. "Motorpsycho Nitemare" Audio 4:33

8. "My Back Pages" Video 4:229. "I Don't Believe You 4:22

10. "Ballad in Plain D" 8:16

11. "It Ain't Me Babe" Video 3:33

Bob Dylan – vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, harmonica. August 8, 19643/7/2017 39

Change: General vs. Factual

• Personal vs. Impersonal

• Vague vs. Specific

• Abstract vs. Concrete

• Free Form vs. Structured• Free Form vs. Structured

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End Class 5

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Class 6 and 7

Bob Dylan 5th Album: “Bringing It All Back Home” March 1965

John Gavin

Spring 2017

1964 – 1965 Events Before Dylan’s Fifth Album

• The Warren Commission Report published: Sept 24, 1964

• Berkeley Free Speech Movement starts: Oct 1, 1964

• Martin Luther King Jr. wins Nobel Peace Prize: Oct 14, 1964

• In USSR Nikita Khrushchev is deposed. Oct 15, 1964

• LBJ announces the “Great Society”: Oct 31, 1964

• LBJ beats Goldwater: Nov 3, 1964

• Comedian Lenny Bruce is sentenced to 4 months for obscenity: Dec 22, 1964

• Malcolm X is assassinated in New York City: Feb 21, 1965• Malcolm X is assassinated in New York City: Feb 21, 1965

• Aerial bombardment of North Vietnam begins: March 2, 1965

• State Troopers attack 525 civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama as they attempt to march to the state capitol of Montgomery: March 2, 1965

• 3,500 United States Marines arrive in Da Nang, South Vietnam, becoming the

first American ground combat troops in Vietnam: March 8, 1965

• In response to the events in Selma, Alabama, President Johnson sends a bill to Congress that forms the basis for the Voting Rights Act of 1965: March 17, 1965

• Martin Luther King leads 3,200 civil rights activists in the third march from Selma, Alabama to the capitol in Montgomery: March 21, 1965

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third march from Selma, Alabama to the capitol in Montgomery: March 21, 1965

5th Album: Bringing It All Back HomeTitle Length

1. "Subterranean Homesick Blues" Video 2:212. "She Belongs to Me" 2:47

3. "Maggie's Farm" Newport 59:24 3:54

4. "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" 2 Videos 2:515. "Outlaw Blues" 3:05

6. "On the Road Again" 2:35

7. "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" Audio 6:307. "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" Audio 6:30

8. "Mr. Tambourine Man" 2 Videos 5:30

9. "Gates of Eden" Audio 5:40

10. "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)” Video 7:29

11. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" Aud & Vid 4:12

Bob Dylan – acoustic and electric guitar, harmonica, keyboards, vocals and 11 other musicians. Last four songs are mostly acoustic. Released: March 22, 1965

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End Class 6 and 7

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The EndThe End

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