Still Blowin' in the Wind

When Mrs. Beatrice Zimmerman gave birth to Robert on May 24, 1941 she could never have imagined, even in her wildest dreams, that he would go on to become one of the most prestigious, prodigious and richest singer song writers of all time. Now aged 76 Bob Dylan is still writing, recording and touring on what he calls “The Never Ending Tour”.

His achievements are best summed in by this extract from Wikipedia:

Bob Dylan is an American poetic songwriter, singer, painter, writer, and Nobel Prize laureate. He has been influential in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when his songs chronicled social unrest. Early songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the Civil Rights Movement and anti-war movement. Leaving behind his initial base in the American folk music revival, his six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone", recorded in 1965, enlarged the range of popular music.

Dylan's lyrics incorporate a wide range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the performances of Little Richard and the song writing of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams, Dylan has amplified and personalized musical genres. His recording career, spanning more than 50 years, has explored the traditions in American song—from folk, blues, and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and the Great American Songbook. Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his song writing is considered his greatest contribution.

Since 1994, Dylan has published seven books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. As a musician, Dylan is one of the best-selling artists of all time – in 2008 he had sold 120 million albums.

He has also received numerous awards including eleven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."

In May 2012, Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

In 2016, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For me, Dylan’s influence of popular music has been immense. He has written in excess of 500 songs, released 38 studio albums, 11 live albums, 85 singles and 26 notable extended plays.

Whether you love him or hate him, and I know many of you won’t share my enthusiasm, there have been nearly 1500 cover versions of his songs by over 600 artists making him the the most recorded popular music songwriter of all time.

A staggering 63 artists have recorded “Blowin’ in the Wind” closely followed by “Don’t Think Twice it’s Alright” with 50 cover versions.

Many artists have had major hits with Dylan songs early in their careers:

The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man

Jimi Hendix - All Along the Watchtower

Bryan Ferry – A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall

Adele - Make You Feel My Love

Stevie Wonder – Blowin’ in the Wind

Van Morrison and Them - It's All Over Now Baby Blue

Manfred Mann - If You Gotta Go, Go Now

The fact that major international artists from many genres of popular music have recorded his songs  including Bette Mildler, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Bobby Darin, Bruce Springstein, Carl Perkins, Johny Cash, Willie Nelson, Ben E King, Dionne Warwick, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz , Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Harry Belafonte, Glen Campbell, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Nina Simone, Rod Stewart, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Four Seasons, The Rolling Stones to name just a few, demonstrates his extraordinary song writing skills.

There are over 200 albums of entirely Dylan songs including these major artists:

There’s even an internet radio station devoted to Dylan cover songs – Tangled Up in Bob.

On Saturday 15^th July 1978 I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life when I chose not to go just up the road to Blackbushe Aerodrome thus missing the only opportunity I would ever have of seeing Bob Dylan play live, but that is another story!

Here is a selection of my favourite Dylan cover versions in an attempt to demonstrate the diversity of his song writing talents and win over some of you doubters:

And to finish a song by the man himself that IMHO is the greatest pop song of all time, a view shared by Rolling Stone Magazine who, in 2011, voted it Number 1 in their Top 500 Songs of All Time:


Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan from Mr. Harrison on Vimeo.

Sorry about the video but it's the only one available with the original track!

Hey Ho!