Bob Dylan Popular Music Studies Essay

Throughout the 1930’s and 40’s Folk Music featured heavily in the American
Communist Party’s ideology, as Jazz and Swing music were deemed to be tools of the
working class, they sought to find music that was “National in form and revolutionary
in content.” As a result of this they took the music of southern hamlets, which was
alien to the majority of the population who no longer lived in these areas, as a result
of this, Folk music remained relatively unknown at this time. (1) Furthermore with the
election of Joseph McCarthy to the senate in 1947 he helped to spread paranoia across
the country, until his death 10 years later. During this time he was renowned for
making allegations of treason or espionage with little to no evidence, so much so that
the term ‘McCarthyism’ is now used to refer to similar actions. Therefore when ‘The
Weaver’s” released ‘Goodnight Irene’ it was quickly boycotted by the media, even
though record sales proved it’s popularity. (2) Whilst Communist paranoia effectively
snuffed out a Folk revival in the 1950’s, it was also instrumental in Bob Dylan
deciding to leave Hibbing Minnesota and gain a wider musical understanding.
Whilst Folk music wasn’t always well received by the media, since the advent of
micro-groove technology, it was being recorded by early Folklorists, most notably
John and Alan Lomax. In the case of Alan Lomax, his ‘American School of the Air’ a
program aimed at American school children, was especially influential for two
reasons: first for exposing young people to original Folk sounds, and also for teaching
them not only about the origins of these pieces, but also by showing what folk music
could become., by showing an orchestration.(3) as Adorno said ‘art is at every point
indicated by what [it] once was, but it is legitimated by …what it wants to become’ s
Furthermore these recordings were the basis for Folkways’ ‘Anthology of American
Folk Music’. Compiled by Harry Smith in 1952, Cantwell describes it as ‘[Folk
music’s] enabling document… it’s musical constitution.’ It featured artists such as
‘Mississippi John Hurt” and ‘The Carter Family’. (5) Arguably more important than
what was released on the album was what the album was released on. The fact that the
Folkways’ anthology was released on LP, a format shared predominantly by
symphonic works at this time, showed that their target demographic had changed,
evidenced by the fact that in 1952 LP unit sales accounted for around 17% of the
market. This marked the first change in the sociopolitical connections of folk music
and a move towards the left. Interestingly when the same album was re-released in the
1960’s, it featured an image of a poverty stricken farmer, the use of such poignant
imagery echoes romanticized ideas of socialism. This constant shifting of political
orientation shows Folk music was a commodity, as much as any other recorded music,
which conflicted with Folk music’s ideologies of originality and non-commercialism.
(6)
If ‘the popular dissemination of folk music came most readily through recordings’ (7)
then the importance of Israel Young’s Folklore Centre, which Dylan himself described
as the “Citadel of American folk music’ must not be understated. Although according
to most, Young was a much better concert promoter than a shopkeeper, over the years
arranging over 1000 concerts. He was ‘spurred on’ by Albert Grossman to arrange a
concert at Carnegie chapter hall (4th November 1961), in which Dylan would play, a
few months later in August 1962 he made Grossman his manager.(8) Possibly owing
to it’s relatively low rent and small town feel, Greenwich village acted as one of the
centers of the ‘Beat Culture’, often frequented by key poets such as Allen Ginsberg
and Jack Kerouac, the later credited with introducing the term ‘Beat’ to our
vernacular. The central elements of Beat culture included; interests in eastern
religions, non-materialism, and idealizing uninhibited means of expression through art
and life, although the media grossly misreported this. What they called ‘Beatnik’,
with tropes such as; goatee beards, pseudo-intellectualism, and turtlenecks. This idea
of the ‘Beatnik’ really went against the Beat ideals of ‘non-commercialism’ as various
record companies were using the term to sell products. ‘Advertising seeks to
generalize the commodity to increasingly mass status by loading it with symbolic
value.’(9) Interestingly Beat culture is often described as a precursor to the ‘Hippie’
movement of the 1960’s.
Stanley Cohen believes that popular culture can be attributed to; ‘Folk devils’, in this
case the ‘Beatniks’, and ‘moral panics’, which are often sensationalized by the media,
in this case the Washington square protest of April 9th 1961. The next day the New
York Mirror printed ‘3,000 Beatniks riot in Village’ when in reality there were only a
few hundred participants. Whilst this hysteria faded relatively quickly, it’s
implications marked a change in how youth viewed authority,
In the late 1950’s the parks commission began issuing permits to limit the numbers of
musicians due to complaints. John A Williams reported that ‘ … it became apparent
that what was opposed was not so much folk singing as the increased presence of
mixed [race] couples in the area.’ (10) Therefore when Young was refused a permit
and he arranged the protest, he was protecting musicians as a whole and working
towards racial equality. Folk music was quickly becoming a commodity;
consequently, ‘traditional’ folk songs were often attributed to artists that had little to
no claim on them. ‘They feel that Negro music… belongs to everyone, so why pay for
it?’ (11) The development of copyright laws protecting for black musicians would
naturally depend on the success of the civil rights movement.
The next real step in the civil rights movement was the Washington march for
freedom (August 27th 1963) when the 200.000 participants gathered, they heard folk
artists such as Bob Dylan, Odetta and Joan Baez. Dylan sang two recently composed
songs; ‘When the Ship Comes In’, the use of biblical phraseology and egalitarianism
was echoed in Martin Luther King’s later “dream” speech, and ‘Only a Pawn in Their
Game’ which focused on the assassination of NAACP leader Medgar Evers, and the
political situation surrounding it. In stark contrast to the other songs heard, Dylan’s
lyrics outlined ‘a class based analysis of the persistence of racism and … white-skin
privilege.’ (12) Both the ‘Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’ (SNCC) and
the ‘Congress of Racial Equality.’(CORE) saw the protest as a way of challenging
Kennedy’s inaction regarding the rights of African-Americans. One particularly active
member of CORE was Dylan’s girlfriend Suze Rotolo, she is often credited with
Dylan’s more political side and a picture of the couple features on “Freewheelin’ Bob
Dylan”
Dylan’s music had an ‘umbilical connection to the turmoil of the 1960’s’ (13) this can
be attributed to the story like lyrics used in ‘The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll’
where he describes the details of how a rich white man escaped justice, with only a 6
month sentence, at a time were media coverage was often racially biased. Furthermore
protest songs often put different words to an older tune, for ease of learning. These
songs encouraged solidarity in the midst of severe oppression. ‘Folk music fueled the
civil rights movement’ (14)
Suze Rotolo commented that ‘[Dylan] had an incredible ability to see and sponge—
there was a genius in that. The ability to create out of everything that's flying
around… and put it in words and music." (15) This is evident in his early style of
traditional folk, which appears on his self-titled, debut album. (1962) Just two years
prior, Dylan had read Woody Guthrie’s ‘Bound for Glory’ after which he adopted his
vernacular, style of playing and learnt all of his songs. In doing so he found he had a
great deal in common. ‘Guthrie offered an identity that was more genuinely Dylan’s
own than the one his society had saddled him with’ (16)
Furthermore Dylan almost ‘inherited’ Guthrie’s sense authenticity as Dylan’s constant
changes in style are often seen as ‘perennial reinventions of himself’ by his audience.
Unlike Guthrie, Dylan’s involvement with politics has been questionable, (17) whilst
he started with a definite political message; this was not always the case in later
albums which were much more introspective.
Furthermore Dylan’s lyrics, in their relative ambiguity, allowed for his content to be
interpreted in different times. For example; When ‘Masters of War’, first released on
‘Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ (1963), was played in the recent aftermath of September
11th, certain members of the audience interpreted it as almost a warning to their
enemies, as opposed to a damning portrayal of the American ‘military-industrial
complex.’(18) Which is exactly the opposite of what most people would have thought
in 1963.
In addition Dylan’s lyrics often dealt with the themes of anti-intellectualism and the
dichotomy between what is called ‘high art’ and popular music, he also makes his
view on art clear ‘Music is the only thing that is in tune with what is happening … all
this art they’ve been talking about is non-existent.’ These ideas are evident in the
lyrics to songs such as ‘Tombstone Blues’ furthermore his lyrics were often
ambiguous which allowed more people to relate to his music.
The most controversial point in Dylan’s music was his concert at Newport folk
festival (July 25th 1965) Clinton Heylin described it as ‘the most written about
performance in the history of rock.’ When he appeared on stage supported by an
electric band and played his new rock single ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ he shocked
audiences, who thought it clashed with his earlier ideals. (19) It also conflicted with
the folk purist’s mistaken belief that the use of non-electric instruments meant they
were somehow less commercialised. (20)
Interestingly Dylan’s life was symbiotically related to the ‘record’, a relatively new
phenomenon especially in folk music, as the older songs were passed down orally and
often altered according to local preferences.
Shortly after the clash at Newport, he penned a new song ‘Positively 4th Street’ which
is widely regarded as referring to it, whilst being unspecific in language, it does refer
to social hierarchies and power relations.(Chimes 155)
By Dylan’s own definition he ceased to be folksinger when he stopped singing old
songs, the only difference was his audience and the way they received him. During his
UK tour he spent time with important artists in the UK rock scene such as the Beatles
and Eric Clapton, (22)
This concert is often described as the end of the folk music revival, as the ideas of
optimism and unity of the civil rights movement were soon overshadowed by
escalation of the Vietnam War. As Lomax feared ‘the demands of authenticity and
political independence [often] clash with those of commerce. (23)
Whilst Dylan at this time was widely disregarded for ‘abandoning’ his traditional folk
roots, in later years critics would view it as a wise move, and necessary in that social
climate.
 Endnotes

1) S Frith and A, Goodwin On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word
(Routledge 2006) pp 366
2) R, Cantwell, Smith's Memory Theater: The Folkways Anthology of American
Folk Music. New England Review (1990-), 13(3/4), 364–397 pp 364
3) R Cohen, Rainbow Quest: The Folk Music Revival and American Society
1940-1970 (University of Massachusetts 2002) pp 8
4) T Adorno, Aesthetic Theory (AC & Black 1997) pp 3
5) S Baretta, The Conscience of the Folk Revival: The Writings of Israel "Izzy"
Young (Scarecrow Press 2012) pp XXV
6) R, Cantwell, Smith's Memory Theater: The Folkways Anthology of American
Folk Music. New England Review (1990-), 13(3/4), 364–397 pp 364-368
7) R Cohen, Rainbow Quest: The Folk Music Revival and American Society
1940-1970 (University of Massachusetts 2002) pp 10
8) Ibid pp 181
9) S Frith and A, Goodwin On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word
(Routledge 2006) pp 367
10) John, A Williams, Flashbacks: A Twenty-Year Diary of Article Writing (Open
Road Media 2016) ‘Black and White’
11) S Baretta, The Conscience of the Folk Revival: The Writings of Israel "Izzy"
Young (Scarecrow Press 2012) pp XXViii
12) M Marqusee, Chimes of Freedom: The politics of Bob Dylan’s Art (New Press
2003) pp 7-9
13) Ibid pp 4
14) R Cohen, Rainbow Quest: The Folk Music Revival and American Society
1940-1970 (University of Massachusetts 2002) pp 183
15) R Woliver, Hoot! A 25-Year History of the Greenwich Village Music Scene
(1994) pp 75-76
16) M Marqusee, Chimes of Freedom: The politics of Bob Dylan’s Art (New Press
2003) pp 20
17) Ibid pp 4
18) Ibid pp 1
19) Ibid 141
20) S Frith and A, Goodwin On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word
(Routledge 2006) pp 366
21) M Marqusee, Chimes of Freedom: The politics of Bob Dylan’s Art (New Press
2003) pp 155
22) Elijah Wald, Dylan Goes Electric Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the night that
split the sixties. (Dey Street Books August 2015) pp 195
23) M Marqusee, Chimes of Freedom: The politics of Bob Dylan’s Art (New Press
2003) pp 147
 Bibliography

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sixties. (Dey Street Books August 2015)

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Media 2016)

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