Composer of more than 500 songs; lyricist, producer and singer on forty-three CDs; and, with sales of more than 57 million copies of his CDs, Bob Dylan is one of AmericaÆs foremost music composers (Cocks, 1998, p. 108). Arriving in Greenwich Village in 1961, Dylan was heavily influenced by folk musician Woody Guthrie and within ôtwo years turned folk music inside outö (Cocks, 1998, p. 109). Dylan attended the University of Minnesota for a short time, but primarily plays the harmonica and acoustic guitar in a technique that he maintains was taught to him by Lonnie Johnson, one Dylan insists, contrary to many of his early critics, ôhas structureö (Scaggs, 2004, p. 46). This analysis will discuss DylanÆs compositions, his contributions to music, and his influence and its impact on other musicians and the world around him through composing.
The composer of immortal tunes like ôKnockinÆ on HeavenÆs Door,ö ôTimes They Are A changing,ö ôLike A Rolling Stone,ö and ôBlowing in the Wind,ö Bob Dylan, according to David Gates (1997, p. 62), ôdid to popular music what Einstein did to physics.ö This estimation of DylanÆs influence on music, musicians and the world around him through his counterculture compositions may not be one of exaggeration. Dylan was influenced by folk music and Guthrie, but he eventually remolded folk music into his own compositions that were not images associated with folk music or even typical rock and roll songs. Dylan also lists Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson among early influences. He was also influenced by Beat poet Allen Ginsburg.
Dylan is not formally or classically trained. His acoustic compositions soon gave way to electric guitar compositions that generated a great deal of scorn from other musicians of the era, including Woody Guthrie, although Johnny Cash supported his transition. As to the nature of his
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