Life and Career - Origins and Musical Beginnings

Life and career

Origins and musical beginnings

Robert Allen Zimmerman (Jewish name: Zushe ben Avraham)[12][13] was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota,[14] and raised there and in Hibbing, Minnesota, on the Mesabi Iron Range west of Lake Superior. Research by Dylan's biographers has shown that his paternal grandparents, Zigman and Anna Zimmerman, emigrated from Odessa in Ukraine to the United States after the antisemitic pogroms of 1905.[15] Dylan himself has written (in his 2004 autobiography, Chronicles) that his paternal grandmother's maiden name was Kyrgyz and her family originated from Istanbul, although she grew up in the KaÐ"oÐ"Ð...zman district of Kars in Eastern Turkey. He also wrote that his paternal grandfather was from Trabzon on the Black Sea coast of Turkey.[16] His mother's grandparents, Benjamin and Lybba Edelstein, were Lithuanian Jews who arrived in America in 1902.[17]

His parents, Abram Zimmerman and Beatrice "Beatty" Stone, were part of the area's small but close-knit Jewish community. Zimmerman lived in Duluth until age seven. When his father was stricken with polio, the family returned to nearby Hibbing, where Zimmerman spent the rest of his childhood.[18] Abram was recalled by one of Bob's childhood friends as strict and unwelcoming, whereas his mother was remembered as warm and friendly.[19]

Zimmerman spent much of his youth listening to the radio Ð'-- first to the powerful blues and country stations broadcasting from Shreveport, Louisiana and, later, to early rock and roll.[20] He formed several bands in high school: the first, The Shadow Blasters, was short-lived; but his next band, The Golden Chords, lasted longer playing covers of popular songs. Their performance of Danny and the Juniors' "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" at their high school talent show was so loud that the principal cut the microphone off.[21][22] In his 1959 school year book, Robert Zimmerman listed as his ambition "To join Little Richard."[23] The same year, using the name Elston Gunnn,[24] he performed two dates with Bobby Vee, playing piano and providing handclaps.[25]

Zimmerman enrolled at the University of Minnesota in September 1959, moving to Minneapolis. His early focus on rock and roll gave way to an interest in American folk music, typically performed with an acoustic guitar. He has recalled, "The first thing that turned me onto folk singing was Odetta. I heard a record of hers in a record store. Right then and there, I went out and traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustical guitar, a flat-top Gibson."[26] In the sleeve notes to his album Biograph, Dylan explained the attraction folk music exerted: "The thing about rock'n'roll is that for me anyway it wasn't enough...There were great catch-phrases and driving pulse rhythms...but the songs weren't serious or didn't reflect life in a realistic way. I knew that when I got into folk music, it was more of a serious type of thing. The songs are filled with more despair, more sadness, more triumph, more faith in the supernatural, much deeper feelings."[27] He soon began to perform at the 10 O'clock Scholar, a coffee house a few blocks from campus, and became actively involved in the local Dinkytown folk music circuit, fraternizing with local folk enthusiasts and occasionally "borrowing" many of their albums.[28][29]

During his Dinkytown days, Zimmerman began introducing himself as "Bob Dylan". In his autobiography, Chronicles (2004), he wrote, "What I was going to do as soon as I left home was just call myself Robert Allen.... It sounded like a Scottish king and I liked it." However, by reading Downbeat magazine, he discovered that there was already a saxophonist called David Allyn. Around the same time, he became acquainted with the poetry of Dylan Thomas. Zimmerman felt he had to choose between Robert Allyn and Robert Dylan. "I couldn't decide Ð'-- the letter D came on stronger", he explained. He decided on "Bob" because there were several Bobbies in popular music at the time.[30]

Relocation to New York and record deal

Dylan dropped out of college at the end of his freshman year. He stayed in Minneapolis, working the folk circuit there with temporary