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Bob Dylan Turns 70

Dandelion Salad

Democracy Now!
May 24, 2011

006 Azkena Rock Festival 2010 Bob Dylan 26VI10

Image by Dena Flows via Flickr

Today Bob Dylan turns 70 years old, and we air a special program on his life and music. Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota. Raised in Hibbing, Minnesota, he moved to Greenwich Village in January of 1961. Within a couple of years, Dylan would be viewed by many as the voice of a generation as he wrote some of the decade’s most famous songs, including “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “The Times They Are a-Changing,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Masters of War,” “Desolation Row” and “Mr. Tambourine Man.” After emerging from the New York City folk scene, Dylan explored many other genres, from rock to country to the blues. He continues to tour to this day. In 2008, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded him a special citation for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” But before Bob Dylan became a musical star, he was one of countless young musicians in New York City trying to get heard. Some of his earliest radio appearances were on Pacifica radio station WBAI. We speak with the legendary WBAI broadcaster Bob Fass, the host of Radio Unnameable, who interviewed Dylan several times. Fass’s show began in 1963 and became a leading outlet for the emerging counterculture of the 1960s. It still airs every Thursday night at midnight. We play excerpts from the Pacifica Radio Archives of a 1962 performance by Dylan on Fass’s show and an interview when he was only 20 years old. We also speak with music writer Elizabeth Thomson, co-editor of the newly reissued book, No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan, written by the late Robert Shelton. And we feature part of Dylan’s 1963 performance at the March on Washington and hear why Dylan refused to sing out at protests against the Vietnam War. [includes rush transcript]

via The Legendary Bob Dylan Turns 70: Democracy Now! Airs Rare Interviews and Songs from Pacifica Radio Archives

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4 thoughts on “Bob Dylan Turns 70”

  1. NOW HERE THIS : BOB DYLAN has never been political . to think he is is a big misnomer . hold your fire boys and girls and dig his genius music .

  2. Thanks Lo. None of us here who care about
    Palestine can stand him.

    Does anyone remember how to track shipping and to find a ship’s position?. MV Finch aka The Spirit of Rachel Corrie is being hassled by both Egypt and Israel it would seem.

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24916 May 23

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24968 May 25

    Pity the poor souls on board and think of those hideous war criminals who are all gathered at the G8 in Deauville staying in luxury hotels and feeding off the fat of the land and off our backs.

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