Dylan Bob

American musician, songwriter and poet, called the Robert Burns of the pop revolution, and the most influential figure in the history of rock outside of Elvis Presley with over 36 albums and 300 songs. Dylans iconoclastic work earned him the unofficial title of The Voice of the 60s, through "Blowin in the Wind," "A Hard Rain Gonna Fall," "It Aint Me Babe," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Dont think Twice, its All Right," and other now-classics. Everything he did after this period in the early 60s was compared to those works. Gravel-voiced and long-haired, he hit New York City in 1961, and after rave reviews on the New York coffee house circuit, signed a three-year contract with Witmark & Sons to publish his songs. He was 20 when his first album was released in March of 1962. His commercial breakthrough came in the summer of 1963 when the Peter Paul and Mary trio recorded "Blowin in the Wind." The trios high profile and the songs commercial success pushed Dylans second album, "The Freewheelin Bob Dylan" into the top 25 on the charts. Described as shy and defensive, hyped up, careless of his health, a bit scared by fame, immaterialist, but shrewd about money, a professional absorbed by his craft, he nonetheless remained an elusive figure. World famous by the time he was 21, he had not only celebrity but intellectual fame. With unrestrained energy, he moved from one genre to another; folk, blues, country, spirituals, but he soon discovered that you can be famous for only one thing at a time. He gained notoriety chiefly for his civil-rights and anti-war material, and thats what people wanted to hear from him. During the early 60s, Dylan produced 237 songs in three years. His music reflects his anger, humor, and occasionally, hope. A recurring theme is the dangers and foibles of navigating without a moral compass, the determination of the Civil Rights Movement, and the fear of a child growing up in the shadow of the atomic bomb. Dylan grew up in the remote mining town of Hibbing, Minnesota, population 20,000, two hours from the Canadian border. He tends to be imaginative about his background, portraying a "drop-out" picture of himself as an itinerant who began running away from home when he was seven. He implied that he had an unhappy childhood, but loving parents, and was treated as an outcast growing up, with nobody really understanding him. In fact, he was very good in English and an all-around B student at Hibbing High where teachers remember him as being attentive and inquisitive, quiet, shy and bashful but with a strong belief in his own ideas. He was booed and hooted while performing in school talent shows. An amazingly resilient performer, Dylan was criticized when he moved into unexpected directions from his 60s roots. Despite an unflattering image, he rebounded with imagination and heart. He is considered unpredictable and moody, though also charming and profound. Creating some of the cover paintings on his albums, in 1995, Dylan published a book of drawings called "Drawn Blank." For many of his original followers, Dylan disappeared in the 70s and 80s, except for brief comebacks. When he started recording folk and blues covers in the 90s, he was restored to favor. In 1977, he divorced his wife of 11 years and they entered a bitter custody battle over their five kids, one of whom, Jakob, is also a singer-musician. Ruth Tyrangiel, 47, filed a palimony suit on November 2, 1994 in Los Angeles against Dylan, her companion for 20 years. Tyrangie Read less