Explore Further
February/March 2007
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Exploring the American journey of Bob Dylan
Like a rolling stone, the man born Robert Allen Zimmerman bounced around Minnesota's Iron Range and the Twin Cities before going on to become one of the state's most famous sons.
Following his graduation from Hibbing High School in 1959, Zimmerman enrolled at the U of M, adopted a new moniker, became a staple on the Dinkytown folk music scene, dropped out of the U of M, and then headed for New York City in 1961.
Now age 65 and better known as Bob Dylan, the gravelly voiced singer-songwriter's works still bear the hallmarks of his "North Country" heritage.
"The North Country influences on Bob Dylan are evident in his work. There's an abiding respect for the working class, especially the mining folk, and you can hear it throughout his career," says Dylan historian and U of M music professor, Alex Lubet, who will teach a Compleat Scholar course on Dylan (beginning late February 2007).
"Yes, Dylan left Minnesota for New York. But he spent his most formative years here, on the Iron Range and in Minneapolis. Minnesota, and those two places in particular, are much more culturally diverse than people give them credit for. When Dylan was growing up in Hibbing, there were strong cultural identities -- a thriving Jewish culture (of which Dylan's family was part), the American Indians, the Finns. And Minneapolis, Dinkytown, prominent folk music scene. It's a combination of urban and rural, and he came of age in both.
"He came to folk music from rock and roll," continues Lubet. "Many people don't realize that, because they try to look at his career in a linear fashion, following just his albums. But there's a lot you miss out on that way. Things that didn't make the cut from the recording session, work he did with bands starting with the very first album that were not ultimately included on the recordings. Dylan started out in rock and roll in his teens, turned to folk music in Minneapolis and then returned to the electric sound while never abandoning acoustic. You miss that perspective if you solely study what's on his albums."
Continues Lubet, "Part of what makes Dylan stand out is his unique ability to fuse genres. In listening to some of his latest work, you can hear blues, folk, rock, classic pop, jazz, 19th century ballads -- even a little bit of old-time Hawaiian popular music. The man just has music coursing through his veins. This is why some critics credit him as the inventor of the recent 'Americana genre.'"
This spring, the U will celebrate one of its most mutable, groundbreaking, and at times controversial former students with an exploration of Dylan's contribution to American music and culture.
Through April 29, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is hosting Bob Dylan's American Journey, 1956-1966. The touring exhibit hails from Seattle's Experience Music Project, although the Weisman exhibit is significantly expanded to include items that showcase Dylan's Minnesota roots.
Says Dylan exhibit curator Colleen Sheehy, "This show is an artistic biography of Dylan in his first 10 years as he emerges from Hibbing, comes to Minneapolis, makes a big splash on the New York folk scene, and goes on to become a superstar and a pivotal figure in music and youth culture."
In conjunction with the exhibit, the University also is sponsoring a major symposium. "Highway 61 Revisited: Dylan's Road from Minnesota to the World, Bob Dylan Symposium" will be held March 25 through 27 at Coffman Union on the Minneapolis campus. Sponsored by the Weisman and organized by the College of Continuing Education's conference services, the three-day symposium is designed to present new, and perhaps unconventional, interpretations of Dylan, his career, his artistic output -- both musical and literary, his influences, and his impact on culture and society worldwide.
"This is a real departure, I think, from the types of symposia and conferences we normally host," says Lori Graven, a departmental director for the College's Continuing Professional Education conference services, which is in charge of organizing the symposium.
The symposium includes a guided bus tour of Dylan's hometown; keynote speakers such as rock artist Bobby Vee, Dylan expert Greil Marcus, and Rolling Stone editor Dave Marsh; and performances by former Dylan band mates, Spider John Koerner and Tony Glover. (The bus tour is not included in the conference fee.)
"Our ideal audience is pretty broad," says Graven. "Researchers and educators, journalists, historians, musicologists, cultural anthropologists, sociologists, poly sci people, or individuals who simply have an interest in Dylan, popular culture, or that era -- I think any one of them would get something out of the symposium."
Adds Lubet, "Dylan's career isn't like that of other artists, say Elvis or the Beatles. It isn't linear, and it isn't a clear progression from day one to the end. His work is really almost like a multi-faceted gem -- every which way you turn it, every different angle you glimpse it at, you see something new. The symposium, the exhibit, the Compleat Scholar course, they'll help people see that. As Minnesotans, I think we want to own a tiny piece of him, claim him as 'one of us.' And so, this will be like no other Dylan celebration of its kind."
For more information about the Weisman Art Museum exhibit Bob Dylan's American Journey, 1956-1966, visit www.weisman.umn.edu.
For more information about the Bob Dylan symposium, please e-mail conferences5@cce.umn.edu.
