| Emulated but never duplicated, Bob Dylan's influence | | | | quarters of the press. Bob Dylan followed the album |
| on popular music is truly incalculable. As a songwriter, | | | | quickly with New Morning, which was hailed as a |
| he pioneered several different schools of pop | | | | comeback. |
| songwriting, from confessional singer/songwriter to | | | | Bob Dylan's hugely successful 1974 Planet Waves |
| winding, hallucinatory, stream-of-conscious narratives. | | | | world tour was the beginning of a comeback |
| As a vocalist, he broke down the notions that in order | | | | culminated by 1975's Blood on the Tracks. Largely |
| to perform, a singer had to have a conventionally good | | | | inspired by the disintegration of his marriage, Blood on |
| voice, thereby redefining the role of vocalist in popular | | | | the Tracks was hailed as a return to form by critics |
| music. | | | | and it became his second number one album. |
| Bob Dylan began performing in coffeehouses, and his | | | | At the conclusion of his 1978 tour, Bob Dylan |
| rough charisma won him a significant following. In April, | | | | announced that he was a born-again Christian, and he |
| he opened for John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City. | | | | launched a series of Christian albums that following |
| Five months later, Dylan performed another concert at | | | | summer with Slow Train Coming. Though the reviews |
| the venue, which was reviewed positively by Robert | | | | were mixed, the album was a success, peaking at |
| Shelton in the New York Times. Columbia A&R man | | | | number three and going platinum. |
| John Hammond sought out Dylan on the strength of | | | | In 1988, Bob Dylan embarked on what became known |
| the review, and signed the songwriter in the fall of 1961. | | | | as "The Never-Ending Tour" -- a constant stream of |
| Hammond produced Dylan's eponymous debut album | | | | shows that ran on and off into the late '90s. That |
| (released in March 1962), a collection of folk and blues | | | | same year, he released Down in the Groove, an album |
| standards that boasted only two original songs. | | | | largely comprised of covers. The Never-Ending Tour |
| Over the course of 1962, Bob Dylan began to write a | | | | received far stronger reviews than Down in the |
| large batch of original songs, many of which were | | | | Groove, but 1989's Oh Mercy was his most acclaimed |
| political protest songs in the vein of his Greenwich | | | | album since 1974's Blood on the Tracks. However, his |
| contemporaries. These songs were showcased on his | | | | 1990 follow-up, Under the Red Sky, was received |
| second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Before its | | | | poorly, especially when compared to the enthusiastic |
| release, Freewheelin' went through several | | | | reception for the 1991 box set The Bootleg Series, |
| incarnations. Dylan had recorded a rock & roll single, | | | | Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased), a collection of previously |
| "Mixed Up Confusion," at the end of 1962, but his | | | | unreleased outtakes and rarities. |
| manager, Albert Grossman, made sure the record | | | | It was followed in 1993 by another folk album, World |
| was deleted because he wanted to present Dylan as | | | | Gone Wrong, which won the Grammy for Best |
| an acoustic folky. | | | | Traditional Folk Album. After the release of World |
| The permissive and unrestrictive Bob Dylan made a | | | | Gone Wrong, Bob Dylan released a greatest-hits |
| huge impact in the U.S. folk community, and many | | | | album and a live record. Dylan released Time Out of |
| performers began covering songs from the album. Of | | | | Mind, his first album of original material in seven years, |
| these, the most significant were Peter, Paul & Mary, | | | | in the fall of 1997. Time Out of Mind received his |
| who made "Blowin' in the Wind" into a huge pop hit in | | | | strongest reviews in years and unexpectedly debuted |
| the summer of 1963 and thereby made Bob Dylan into | | | | in the Top Ten. |
| a recognizable household name. On the strength of | | | | Another album of original material, Love and Theft, |
| Peter, Paul & Mary's cover and his opening gigs for | | | | followed in 2001. Soon after its release, Bob Dylan |
| popular folky Joan Baez, Freewheelin' became a hit in | | | | announced that he was making his own film, to star |
| the fall of 1963, climbing to number 23 on the charts. | | | | Jeff Bridges, Penelope Cruz, John Goodman, Val |
| While Dylan’s 1969 album was a hit, spawning the | | | | Kilmer, and many more. The accompanying |
| Top Ten single "Lay Lady Lay," it was criticized in | | | | soundtrack, Masked and Anonymous, was released in |
| some quarters for uneven material. The mixed | | | | July 2003. Today, Dylan continues to define his legacy, |
| reception was the beginning of a full-blown backlash | | | | proving that his tremendous talent, unwavering |
| that arrived with the double-album Self Portrait. | | | | courage to be different, and extraordinary musical |
| Released early in June of 1970, the album was a | | | | prowess will continue to challenge and change the |
| hodgepodge of covers, live tracks, re-interpretations, | | | | face of the music industry for years to come. |
| and new songs greeted with negative reviews from all | | | | |