Music in USA

You’re a bright and restless teenager in a small town in the American Midwest, you may well have one desire, and that is to get out, to go somewhere else. Hibbing, Minnesota, is one such town, and Robert “Bob” Zimmermann was one such young man.

In 1959, at the age of 18, Zimmermann left Hibbing to study English at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis; but formal studies were not his thing. Bob was very much into folk music. On campus and off it, he soon became a popular performer at folk clubs and folk events. “Zimmermann” was a bit of a long name for a cool folk singer, so Bob adopted the name of the popular radical Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who had died six years previously. Robert Zimmermann became Bob Dylan.

From Minneapolis, Dylan made his way to the heart of the contemporary American folk music scene, Greenwich Village in New York. He reached the city by Greyhound Bus in January 1961 with little money in his pocket and no clear career plan in his head. It was, however, the start of a new chapter in his life. At once, he began performing in local clubs, gaining attention for his talent and unique style.

Performing in the coffeehouses and bars of Greenwich Village, Dylan played both popular folk songs and some of his own compositions. He soon built up a following. His distinctive nasal voice and original lyrics attracted the attention of music critics and fellow musicians. Just over three months after he arrived in New York, an enthusiastic article in The New York Times by Robert Shelton helped launch Bob Dylan on the road to success. Within weeks, Columbia Records had signed him up for a recording contract.