Bob Dylan

Artist Biography For Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan Born Robert Allen Zimmerman On May 24 1941 In Duluth Minnesota United States Is An American Singer-Songwriter. Often Regarded As One Of The Greatest Songwriters Of All Time Dylan Has Been A Major Figure In Popular Culture During A Career Spanning More Than 60 Years.
Dylan Started His Musical Odyssey In 1959 When He Began Playing In Dinkytown Minneapolis While Attending The University Of Minnesota. Shortly After Starting To Play He Changed His Stage Name To Bob Dylan After Being Influenced By The Poetry Of Dylan Thomas Before Legally Changing His Name In 1962. Much Of His Best Known Work Is From The 1960s When He Became An Informal Documentarian And Reluctant Figurehead Of American Unrest Promoted By Joan Baez. Some Of His Songs Such As "Blowin' In The Wind" And "The Times They Are A-Changin'" Became Anthems Of The Anti-War And Civil Rights Movements With Joan Baez And Dylan Singing Together At The March On Washington In 1963. However He Later Became Disenchanted With The Civil Liberty Protest Scene Feeling That He Had Been Used By Them. His Album Bringing It All Back Home Marked A Move Away From The Folk Scene And A Move Towards Rock And Roll And Dylan Began To Consciously Distance Himself From His Early Association With Civil Rights. He Also Started To Become Irritated When Being Interviewed Often Given Facetious Or Irreverent Answers To Questions. Bringing It All Back Home Was A Controversial Album As It The First On Which He Played Electric Guitar. This Was Seen By Some Of His Fans As A Betrayal Of This Folk Roots With Some Saying That It Obscured His Meaningful And Poetic Lyrics. The Second Half Of The 1960s Was Marked By A String Of Well Received Releases With His Song "Like A Rolling Stone" Released In July Of 1965 Later Being Named "The Greatest Song Of All Time" By Rolling Stone Magazine In 2004 Placing #1 In A List Of 500 Titles. It Also Marked The Formation Of Dylan's Backing Band The Hawks Who Would Later Call Themselves Simply The Band . Dylan Embarked On A World Tour Of Australia And Europe In 1966 During Which He Seemed To Be Under A Lot Of Strain And Pressure By Both His Fans The Music Press And His Own Promoters. Dylan Himself Admitted That He Began Taking Drugs Seriously Whilst On This Tour And Found It Immensely Hard Work. On Returning To New York He Crashed His Motorbike Sustaining Serious Injuries In The Process And Went Into A Period Of Withdrawal While He Recuperated. During The Late 1960s Dylan Again Changed Stylistic Tradition Moving Away From The Psychedelic Culture Of The Time. It Was Then That He Recorded All Along The Watchtower Perhaps More Famously Recorded By Jimi Hendrix. The 1970s Were A Period During Which Dylan Was More Sporadic In His Output Releasing Some Poorly Received LPs. He Rarely Appeared In Person Until 1974 When He Began Touring Again With His Backing Band The Band. He Also Wrote One Of His Most Extensively Covered Songs Knockin' On Heaven's Door As Well As What Is Now Recognised As One Of His Best Albums Blood On The Tracks. Towards The End Of The 1970s Dylan Discovered Christ And Released Some Albums Of Gospel Music. He Started To Talk To The Crowd About His Faith During His Performances And Wouldn't Play Any Of His Early Work Which Alienated Some Of His Previous Fans. Dylan Today Still Remains An Influential And Popular Artist Despite A Period Of Little Note Between 1980-2000 His 2006 Album Modern Times Reached The US Chart At #1 As Did His 2009 Album Together Through Life In The US Britain France And Several Other Countries. His 2012 Album Tempest Was Also Critically Acclaimed. Since 1988 Dylan Has Been On The So-Called Never Ending Tour During Which His Performances Have Provoked Controversy With Some Critics Claiming That His Lyrics Have Become Incomprehensible An Experience Which Is Not Helped By His Tendency To Change His Set-List And Vocals Almost Every Performance. Bob Dylan's Strong Influence Over The Past Few Years Is Becoming Even More Prominent Amongst A Growing Group Of Younger Emerging Artists Such As George Ellias And Devendra Banhart. Dylan's Early Lyrics Incorporated Politics Social Commentary Philosophy And Literary Influences Defying Existing Pop Music Conventions And Appealing Widely To The Counterculture Of The Time. While Expanding And Personalizing Musical Styles Dylan Has Shown Steadfast Devotion To Traditions Of American Song From Folk And Country/blues To Rock And Roll And Rockabilly To Gaelic Balladry Even Jazz Swing And Broadway. Dylan Performs With The Guitar Keyboard And Harmonica. Backed By A Changing Lineup Of Musicians He Has Toured Steadily Since The Late 1980s. He Has Also Recently Performed Alongside Other Iconic Artists Such As Paul Simon Joni Mitchell Tom Petty And Eric Clapton. Although His Contributions As A Performer And Recording Artist Have Been Central To His Career His Songwriting Is Generally Held As His Highest Accomplishment. Nobel Prize For Literature 2016 - On October 13 2016 Dylan Was Awarded The Nobel Prize For Literature For “for Having Created New Poetic Expressions Within The Great American Song Tradition”. The Prestigious Award Has Been Given Annually Since 1901 And Previous Nobel Laureates For Literature Include Harold Pinter And Samuel Beckett. Here Is The Speech Written By Dylan Although Unable To Attend Http //www.Nytimes.Com/2016/12/10/arts/bob-Dylan-Nobel-Prize-Acceptance-Speech.Html?_R 0

Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Ballad of a Thin Man

Bob-Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

"Ballad Of A Thin Man" Is A Song Written And Recorded By Bob Dylan Released On The Album Highway 61 Revisited In 1965. A Dark And Menacing-Sounding Song "Ballad Of A Thin Man" Addresses A Certain "Mr. Jones" Telling Him Repeatedly That He Simply Doesn't "know What's Happening". The Song's Lyrics Have Mr. Jones Facing A Wild Nonsensical Hallucinatory Carnival-Like World And The Character Is Portrayed As A Clueless Poser Who Cannot Deal With It All. The "identity" Of Mr. Jones Has Long Been In Dispute. When Asked About It In An Interview In 1965 Dylan Responded "He's A Pinboy. He Also Wears Suspenders. He's A Real Person. You Know Him But Not By That Name... I Saw Him Come Into The Room One Night And He Looked Like A Camel. He Proceeded To Put His Eyes In His Pocket. I Asked This Guy Who He Was And He Said "That's Mr. Jones." Then I Asked This Cat "Doesn't He Do Anything But Put His Eyes In His Pocket?" And He Told Me "He Puts His Nose On The Ground." It's All There It's A True Story." The Opening Lines Of The Song "You Walk Into The Room With Your Pencil In Your Hand " Appear To Lend Credence To The Notion That "Mr. Jones" May Have Been A Journalist. In A Mid-1980s Interview With Q Magazine Dylan Appeared To Identify Mr. Jones As Max Jones A Former Melody Maker Critic Supporting The Theory That "Mr. Jones" Was Simply One Of The Many Music Critics Who Didn't "get" Dylan's Songs Especially The More Allegorical Ones He Wrote In The Mid-1960s.Another Theory Is That The Jones In Question Was Jeffrey Owen Jones Later A Film Professor At Rochester Institute Of Technology . As An Intern For Time Magazine Jones Had Inteviewed Dylan Just A Day Before The Musician's Legendary Performance At The 1965 Newport Jazz Festival. In Todd Haynes' 2007 Surrealist Dylan Biopic I'm Not There Actor Bruce Greenwood Plays "Keenan Jones" A Journalist Who Doesn't Understand The Meaning Behind The Dylan-Esque Character Jude Quinn's Songwriting. In The Film Jones Is Sent Through A Hallucinatory Nightmare Sequence While Stephen Malkmus' Cover Of "Ballad Of A Thin Man" Plays In The Background. Greenwood Also Plays Pat Garrett In The Richard Gere Segment Of The Film. It Has Also Been Speculated Citation Needed That The Song Is About Brian Jones Co-Founder And Guitarist Of The Rolling Stones. Dylan Was A Friend Of Jones And Watched His Lengthy Downfall. Apart From All Of These Possible Dylan-Specific References The Term "Mr. Jones" Is In General Broadly Understood As An Allusion To The Phrase "Keeping Up With The Joneses" — A Reference To The Prototypical Materialistic American Family So At Odds With The Outlook On Life Espoused By Dylan And The Counterculture Of The 1960s. Another Possible Interpretation Of The Song Is That It Is About A Man Coming To Grips With His Own Homosexuality. Several Lyrics Appear To Reference Phallic Symbols "He Hands You A Bone" "With Your Pencil In Your Hand" "A One-Eyed Midget" "Sword Swallower" "He Hands You Back Your Throat" And There Are Possible Allusions To Fellatio "Well The Sword Swallower He Comes Up To You / And Then He Kneels" "Here's Your Throat Back Thanks For The Loan" "Give Me Some Milk Or Else Go Home" And Transvestism "He Clicks His High Heels" As Well. In This Interpretation Of The Song Some Of The Lyrics "How Does It Feel To Be Such A Freak" "There Ought To Be A Law / Against You Comin' Around" Could Allude To Society's Intolerance Of Homosexuality. Lyrics You Walk Into The Room
With Your Pencil In Your Hand
You See Somebody Naked
And You Say "Who Is That Man?"
You Try So Hard
But You Don't Understand
Just What You'll Say
When You Get Home Because Something Is Happening Here
But You Don't Know What It Is
Do You Mister Jones? You Raise Up Your Head
And You Ask "Is This Where It Is?"
And Somebody Points To You And Says
"It's His"
And You Say "What's Mine?"
And Somebody Else Says "Where What Is?"
And You Say "Oh My God
Am I Here All Alone?" Because Something Is Happening Here
But You Don't Know What It Is
Do You Mister Jones? You Hand In Your Ticket
And You Go Watch The Geek
Who Immediately Walks Up To You
When He Hears You Speak
And Says "How Does It Feel
To Be Such A Freak?"
And You Say "Impossible"
As He Hands You A Bone Because Something Is Happening Here
But You Don't Know What It Is
Do You Mister Jones? You Have Many Contacts
Among The Lumberjacks
To Get You Facts
When Someone Attacks Your Imagination
But Nobody Has Any Respect
Anyway They Already Expect You
To Just Give A Check
To Tax-Deductible Charity Organizations You've Been With The Professors
And They've All Liked Your Looks
With Great Lawyers You Have
Discussed Lepers And Crooks
You've Been Through All Of
F. Scott Fitzgerald's Books
You're Very Well Read
It's Well Known Because Something Is Happening Here
But You Don't Know What It Is
Do You Mister Jones? Well The Sword Swallower He Comes Up To You
And Then He Kneels
He Crosses Himself
And Then He Clicks His High Heels
And Without Further Notice
He Asks You How It Feels
And He Says "Here Is Your Throat Back
Thanks For The Loan" Because Something Is Happening Here
But You Don't Know What It Is
Do You Mister Jones? Now You See This One-Eyed Midget
Shouting The Word "NOW"
And You Say "For What Reason?"
And He Says "How?"
And You Say "What Does This Mean?"
And He Screams Back "You're A Cow
Give Me Some Milk
Or Else Go Home" Because Something Is Happening Here
But You Don't Know What It Is
Do You Mister Jones? Well You Walk Into The Room
Like A Camel And Then You Frown
You Put Your Eyes In Your Pocket
And Your Nose On The Ground
There Ought To Be A Law
Against You Comin' Around
You Should Be Made
To Wear Earphones Because Something Is Happening Here
But You Don't Know What It Is
Do You Mister Jones?

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Max

Music Tags for Bob Dylan:

Biography - Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan Born Robert Allen Zimmerman On May 24 1941 In Duluth Minnesota United States Is An American Singer-Songwriter. Often Regarded As One Of The Greatest Songwriters Of All Time Dylan Has Been A Major Figure In Popular Culture During A Career Spanning More Than 60 Years.
Dylan Started His Musical Odyssey In 1959 When He Began Playing In Dinkytown Minneapolis While Attending The University Of Minnesota. Shortly After Starting To Play He Changed His Stage Name To Bob Dylan After Being Influenced By The Poetry Of Dylan Thomas Before Legally Changing His Name In 1962. Much Of His Best Known Work Is From The 1960s When He Became An Informal Documentarian And Reluctant Figurehead Of American Unrest Promoted By Joan Baez. Some Of His Songs Such As "Blowin' In The Wind" And "The Times They Are A-Changin'" Became Anthems Of The Anti-War And Civil Rights Movements With Joan Baez And Dylan Singing Together At The March On Washington In 1963. However He Later Became Disenchanted With The Civil Liberty Protest Scene Feeling That He Had Been Used By Them. His Album Bringing It All Back Home Marked A Move Away From The Folk Scene And A Move Towards Rock And Roll And Dylan Began To Consciously Distance Himself From His Early Association With Civil Rights. He Also Started To Become Irritated When Being Interviewed Often Given Facetious Or Irreverent Answers To Questions. Bringing It All Back Home Was A Controversial Album As It The First On Which He Played Electric Guitar. This Was Seen By Some Of His Fans As A Betrayal Of This Folk Roots With Some Saying That It Obscured His Meaningful And Poetic Lyrics. The Second Half Of The 1960s Was Marked By A String Of Well Received Releases With His Song "Like A Rolling Stone" Released In July Of 1965 Later Being Named "The Greatest Song Of All Time" By Rolling Stone Magazine In 2004 Placing #1 In A List Of 500 Titles. It Also Marked The Formation Of Dylan's Backing Band The Hawks Who Would Later Call Themselves Simply The Band . Dylan Embarked On A World Tour Of Australia And Europe In 1966 During Which He Seemed To Be Under A Lot Of Strain And Pressure By Both His Fans The Music Press And His Own Promoters. Dylan Himself Admitted That He Began Taking Drugs Seriously Whilst On This Tour And Found It Immensely Hard Work. On Returning To New York He Crashed His Motorbike Sustaining Serious Injuries In The Process And Went Into A Period Of Withdrawal While He Recuperated. During The Late 1960s Dylan Again Changed Stylistic Tradition Moving Away From The Psychedelic Culture Of The Time. It Was Then That He Recorded All Along The Watchtower Perhaps More Famously Recorded By Jimi Hendrix. The 1970s Were A Period During Which Dylan Was More Sporadic In His Output Releasing Some Poorly Received LPs. He Rarely Appeared In Person Until 1974 When He Began Touring Again With His Backing Band The Band. He Also Wrote One Of His Most Extensively Covered Songs Knockin' On Heaven's Door As Well As What Is Now Recognised As One Of His Best Albums Blood On The Tracks. Towards The End Of The 1970s Dylan Discovered Christ And Released Some Albums Of Gospel Music. He Started To Talk To The Crowd About His Faith During His Performances And Wouldn't Play Any Of His Early Work Which Alienated Some Of His Previous Fans. Dylan Today Still Remains An Influential And Popular Artist Despite A Period Of Little Note Between 1980-2000 His 2006 Album Modern Times Reached The US Chart At #1 As Did His 2009 Album Together Through Life In The US Britain France And Several Other Countries. His 2012 Album Tempest Was Also Critically Acclaimed. Since 1988 Dylan Has Been On The So-Called Never Ending Tour During Which His Performances Have Provoked Controversy With Some Critics Claiming That His Lyrics Have Become Incomprehensible An Experience Which Is Not Helped By His Tendency To Change His Set-List And Vocals Almost Every Performance. Bob Dylan's Strong Influence Over The Past Few Years Is Becoming Even More Prominent Amongst A Growing Group Of Younger Emerging Artists Such As George Ellias And Devendra Banhart. Dylan's Early Lyrics Incorporated Politics Social Commentary Philosophy And Literary Influences Defying Existing Pop Music Conventions And Appealing Widely To The Counterculture Of The Time. While Expanding And Personalizing Musical Styles Dylan Has Shown Steadfast Devotion To Traditions Of American Song From Folk And Country/blues To Rock And Roll And Rockabilly To Gaelic Balladry Even Jazz Swing And Broadway. Dylan Performs With The Guitar Keyboard And Harmonica. Backed By A Changing Lineup Of Musicians He Has Toured Steadily Since The Late 1980s. He Has Also Recently Performed Alongside Other Iconic Artists Such As Paul Simon Joni Mitchell Tom Petty And Eric Clapton. Although His Contributions As A Performer And Recording Artist Have Been Central To His Career His Songwriting Is Generally Held As His Highest Accomplishment. Nobel Prize For Literature 2016 - On October 13 2016 Dylan Was Awarded The Nobel Prize For Literature For “for Having Created New Poetic Expressions Within The Great American Song Tradition”. The Prestigious Award Has Been Given Annually Since 1901 And Previous Nobel Laureates For Literature Include Harold Pinter And Samuel Beckett. Here Is The Speech Written By Dylan Although Unable To Attend Http //www.Nytimes.Com/2016/12/10/arts/bob-Dylan-Nobel-Prize-Acceptance-Speech.Html?_R 0 read less

16 Similar Artists To Bob Dylan - Frogtoon Music

Bob Dylan And The Band

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

"Ballad of a Thin Man" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan, released on the album Highway 61 Revisited in 1965. A dark and menacing-sounding song, "Ballad of a Thin Man" addresses a certain "Mr. Jones", telling him repeatedly that he simply doesn't "know what's happening". The song's lyrics have Mr. Jones facing a wild, nonsensical, hallucinatory, carnival-like world, and the character is portrayed as a clueless poser who cannot deal with it all. The "identity" of Mr. Jones has long been in dispute. When asked about it in an interview in 1965, Dylan responded: "He's a pinboy. He also wears suspenders. He's a real person. You know him, but not by that name... I saw him come into the room one night and he looked like a camel. He proceeded to put his eyes in his pocket. I asked this guy who he was and he said, "That's Mr. Jones." Then I asked this cat, "Doesn't he do anything but put his eyes in his pocket?" And he told me, "He puts his nose on the ground." It's all there, it's a true story." The opening lines of the song, "You walk into the room, with your pencil in your hand," appear to lend credence to the notion that "Mr. Jones" may have been a journalist. In a mid-1980s interview with Q magazine, Dylan appeared to identify Mr. Jones as Max Jones, a former Melody Maker critic, supporting the theory that "Mr. Jones" was simply one of the many music critics who didn't "get" Dylan's songs, especially the more allegorical ones he wrote in the mid-1960s.Another theory is that the Jones in question was Jeffrey Owen Jones (later a film professor at Rochester Institute of Technology). As an intern for Time Magazine, Jones had inteviewed Dylan just a day before the musician's legendary performance at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival. In Todd Haynes' 2007 surrealist Dylan biopic, I'm Not There, actor Bruce Greenwood plays "Keenan Jones", a journalist who doesn't understand the meaning behind the Dylan-esque character Jude Quinn's songwriting. In the film, Jones is sent through a hallucinatory nightmare sequence while Stephen Malkmus' cover of "Ballad of a Thin Man" plays in the background. Greenwood also plays Pat Garrett in the Richard Gere segment of the film. It has also been speculated[citation needed] that the song is about Brian Jones, co-founder and guitarist of The Rolling Stones. Dylan was a friend of Jones and watched his lengthy downfall. Apart from all of these possible Dylan-specific references, the term "Mr. Jones" is in general broadly understood as an allusion to the phrase "Keeping up with the Joneses" — a reference to the prototypical materialistic American family, so at odds with the outlook on life espoused by Dylan and the counterculture of the 1960s. Another possible interpretation of the song is that it is about a man coming to grips with his own homosexuality. Several lyrics appear to reference phallic symbols ("He hands you a bone", "With your pencil in your hand", "A one-eyed midget", "Sword Swallower", "He hands you back your throat") and there are possible allusions to fellatio ("Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you / And then he kneels", "Here's your throat back, thanks for the loan" "Give me some milk or else go home") and transvestism ("He clicks his high heels") as well. In this interpretation of the song, some of the lyrics ("How does it feel to be such a freak"; "There ought to be a law / Against you comin' around") could allude to society's intolerance of homosexuality. Lyrics You walk into the room With your pencil in your hand You see somebody naked And you say, "Who is that man?" You try so hard But you don't understand Just what you'll say When you get home Because something is happening here But you don't know what it is Do you, Mister Jones? You raise up your head And you ask, "Is this where it is?" And somebody points to you and says "It's his" And you say, "What's mine?" And somebody else says, "Where what is?" And you say, "Oh my God Am I here all alone?" Because something is happening here But you don't know what it is Do you, Mister Jones? You hand in your ticket And you go watch the geek Who immediately walks up to you When he hears you speak And says, "How does it feel To be such a freak?" And you say, "Impossible" As he hands you a bone Because something is happening here But you don't know what it is Do you, Mister Jones? You have many contacts Among the lumberjacks To get you facts When someone attacks your imagination But nobody has any respect Anyway they already expect you To just give a check To tax-deductible charity organizations You've been with the professors And they've all liked your looks With great lawyers you have Discussed lepers and crooks You've been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books You're very well read It's well known Because something is happening here But you don't know what it is Do you, Mister Jones? Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you And then he kneels He crosses himself And then he clicks his high heels And without further notice He asks you how it feels And he says, "Here is your throat back Thanks for the loan" Because something is happening here But you don't know what it is Do you, Mister Jones? Now you see this one-eyed midget Shouting the word "NOW" And you say, "For what reason?" And he says, "How?" And you say, "What does this mean?" And he screams back, "You're a cow Give me some milk Or else go home" Because something is happening here But you don't know what it is Do you, Mister Jones? Well, you walk into the room Like a camel and then you frown You put your eyes in your pocket And your nose on the ground There ought to be a law Against you comin' around You should be made To wear earphones Because something is happening here But you don't know what it is Do you, Mister Jones? Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.