Bob Dylan (/ˈdɪlən/; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, artist and writer. 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, although Dylan repudiated suggestions from journalists that he was a spokesman for his generation. Nevertheless, early songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the American civil rights and anti-war movements. After he left his initial base in the American folk music revival, his six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" altered the range of popular music in 1965. His mid-1960s recordings, backed by rock musicians, reached the top end of the United States music charts while also attracting denunciation and criticism from others in the folk movement.
Dylan's lyrics have incorporated various 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 songwriting of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams, Dylan has amplified and personalized musical genres. His recording career, spanning 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 songwriting is considered his greatest contribution.
Bob Dylan is the eponymous debut album of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on March 19, 1962 by Columbia Records (Mono-CL 1779; Stereo-CS 8579). Produced by Columbia's legendary talent scout John H. Hammond, who signed Dylan to the label, the album features folk standards, plus two original compositions, "Talkin' New York" and "Song to Woody".
Dylan met John Hammond at a rehearsal session for Carolyn Hester on September 14, 1961, at the apartment shared by Hester and her then-husband, Richard Fariña. Hester had invited Dylan to the session as a harmonica player, and Hammond approved him as a session player after hearing him rehearse, with recommendations from his son, musician John P. Hammond, and from Liam Clancy.
Hammond later told Robert Shelton that he decided to sign Dylan "on the spot", and invited him to the Columbia offices for a more formal audition recording. No record of that recording has turned up in Columbia's files, but Hammond, Dylan, and Columbia's A&R director Mitch Miller have all confirmed that an audition took place. (Producer Fred Catero, then a recording engineer for Columbia Records, claims to have the master of that session. It is not the original demo for Columbia, but a session from December 6, 1962, recorded by John Hammond, Sr.)
Bob Dylan, Performing Artist is a series of three books written by music critic Paul Williams concerning the music of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Unlike many other books about Dylan, these are not biographical but focus primarily on the performances delivered at various concerts over a period of almost forty years. The performances Williams analyzes were either personally attended or reviewed from audio-tapes (and sometimes from videotapes). In an interview published in Isis magazine's August 1990 issue, Williams told interviewer Derek Barker, "I didn't want to write about the person, I wanted to write about what this person has created, his art, his music."Bob Dylan, Performing Artist is considered one of the leading critical analyses of Dylan's songs and performances.
The first volume of the Performing Artist series, which covers the years 1960 through 1973, also recounts Dylan's childhood from his birth in May 1941 to August 1959. Early Years ends in December 1973 with Williams' review of the album Planet Waves.
Volume Two, Volume 2, or Volume II may refer to:
Vol. II is the fourth full length studio album by the rock band Hurt, and was released on September 25, 2007. This album shares many of the sorrowful and painful themes as Vol. I. However, many songs on this album have slower tempos and more acoustic instrumentation, while still maintaining a hard rock sound. Another change from Vol. I is the inclusion of different instruments, such as the banjo and dobro, and a lineup of female backup singers.
Before having Eric Greedy mix the album, the band had sent it to a mixing engineer who did not mix the album to the band's satisfaction. J. Loren said of the situation, "...he was a very notable person that we paid a large sum of money to, and he destroyed the record. It sounded so horrible, I actually had a nervous breakdown when I heard the record, and they threw me in a van before the cops came. So, I thought that my life was over, I just literally could not handle the devastation of it."
Many of the songs on this album are rerecorded from previous works. The songs "Summers Lost," "Abuse of SID," and "Better" are originally from Hurt's self-titled album. "Alone With the Sea," "Loded," and "Et Al" are originally from The Consumation.
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on March 27, 1967 on Columbia Records, original catalogue number KCS 9463. It contains every Top 40 single Dylan enjoyed through 1967. It peaked at #10 on the pop album chart in the United States, and went to #3 on the album chart in the United Kingdom. Certified five times platinum by the RIAA, it is his best-selling album in the U.S.
Greatest Hits presented Dylan's first appearance on records after his praised Blonde on Blonde double-LP of May 1966 and his motorcycle accident of that summer. With no activity by Dylan since the end of his recent world tour, and no new recordings on the immediate horizon (the sessions that would in part be later released as the Basement Tapes were still months away), Columbia needed new product to continue to capitalize on Dylan's commercial appeal. Hence the appearance of this package, the label's first Dylan compilation and its first LP release with a $5.98 list price, one dollar more than that of standard releases.
Greatest Hits Volume Two (or variants) may refer to any of the following albums:
It doesn't look good to me. So I'm sleeping outside your room.
I've been making plans. I've been saying my goodbyes.
I've been shaking hands coming fresh from the beauty salon.
I've been taking a chance. Take it back where it comes from.
I've been making demands. Got my hand in the cookie jar.
Were you born in a barn or just yesterday.
Would losing be that bad. Would it be that terrible.
Tie me up with yarn. Well, it's not inescapable.
Hold me down with bricks or even a staple.
Can you please get off my coast and coat.
I would like to leave. This is why I hate credit cards.
Little body mighty hand.
I've got things to hide and nothing to offer.
Maybe one good smile, but that can't buy you a governor.
Where's the changing tide? Where's the nail in the coffin?
Leave my brain outside. I am no longer a buffer.