A Folk Legend: Bob Dylan

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“The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind the answer is blowin' in the wind.” These famous lyrics are what gave the Civil Rights Movement support through a music stand point. Bob Dylan helped with the progression of the civil rights movements through many different ways. He wrote songs about deaths of public figures and strikes during the civil rights movement, and he stood as a public figure in support of it.

Bob Dylan was born on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. He was born with the name Robert Allen Zimmerman and later acquired the pseudonym Bob Dylan while performing folk songs in local coffee shops on his University of Minnesota campus.(Bio) He was asked for his name by the Ten O’Clock Scholar coffee shops owner David Lee and he frantically said Bob Dylan. Dylan said that when asked he came up with it on the spot. There are many different rumors of how he came up with it such as it being a relatives name or a character from one of his favorite TV shows. Shortly after playing in the coffee shops he was approached by Columbia Records to with a record deal to make an album. He accepted it and in a year he released his self-titled album (Bob Dylan) in March 1962.(Heylin) His girlfriend at the time Suze Rotolo, an artist and civil rights activist, was who inspired him to write the protest songs.(Audie Cornish) In 1962 Bob began his association with the civil rights movement while singing at benefit concerts. He started writing songs about the movement from then on. In the summer of 1963 Bob first handily experienced segregation in Mississippi at a civil rights concert. (Christopher Edwards)

Dylan’s first song about the Civil Rights Movement song was named “Only A Pawn In Their Game”. This song was written about the br...

... middle of paper ...

...rged in response to tumultuous public events.

This freedom let Dylan produce new music and get out of the spotlight as a figure in the Civil Rights Movement.

In Conclusion Bob Dylan helped with the progression of the Civil Rights Movement through many different popular protest songs, and by the involvement as a political figure and musician to help change the rights of African Americans.

Works Cited

Cornish, Audie. 12 June 2013. 21 April 2014.

Doyle, Jack. The Pop History Dig. 13 October 2008. 21 April 2014 .

Edwards, Christopher. "Down the foggy ruins of time ." Historical Assosciation (n.d.).

Heylin, Clinton. Bob Dylan: Behind The Shades . New York: Summit Books, 1991.

Marqusee, Mike. Red Pepper . november 2003. 21 April 2014 .

Rothschild, Nathalie. The Guardian. 1 March 2011. 21 April 2014 .

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