The Greenwich Village Scene and the Ascension of Bob Dylan

The Greeenwich Village Scene and the Ascension of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan arrived in New York in January 1961, in search of his hero and inspiration, the elusive Woody Guthrie. The Greenwich village scene, revolving around MacDougal Street and Bleecker Street, was already thriving, and he promptly began showing his face at the epicentres of folk culture in New York. The foremost amongst these was the Folklore Center. Established in 1957 by Izzy Young, it became the favourite haunt of New York’s most prominent folksingers. It was here that Bob Dylan first noticed, and confronted Dave Van Ronk, known as the ‘mayor of MacDougal Street’. Van Ronk was immediately impressed with Dylan and helped him get shows at prominent folk venues in the village. Dylan’s first step up however came from Izzy Young himself, “who immediately understood that Dylan was an unusual talent . . . [and] championed him, even presented him in a poorly attended concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall.”[1] Dylan eventually managed to meet Guthrie, to whom he gave a heartfelt rendition of his tribute Song to Woody, which is featured on his first album. He also struck up a friendship with a young folksinger from Boston called Joan Baez. Throughout the decade Baez was given licence to cover many of Dylan’s songs, contrasting his harsh and harrowing voice with her angelic birdsong. Baez was also an accomplished songwriter and folklorist herself, introducing to the folk scene many songs from creole cultures in Spanish, French, and even German.

From left to right: Dave Van Ronk, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen and Judy Collins

Before long Dylan was signed to Columbia Records, and released his self-titled debut LP in 1962. Although it did not accumulate many sales at the time, it was the first time his original material had been recorded, mixed with unique renditions of established folk songs. As Dylan explains, “what I was playing at the time were hard-lipped folk songs with fire and brimstone servings, and you didn't need to take polls to know that they didn't match up with anything on the radio, didn't lend themselves to commercialism.”[2] An example of this is one of his first songs to gain national recognition. Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues was a comical satire describing a John Birch society member who becomes increasingly paranoid about the encroachment of communists in American society, suspecting everyone of being a red, eventually even himself. The song inspired a controversy which gained Dylan publicity and thus, a larger audience. The song is also significant for its magnificent impression of Guthrie’s particular style of talking blues, sounding almost identical (excepting subject matter) to songs such as Guthrie’s Mean Talkin’ Blues, incidentally a satire against capitalists. This is typical of Dylan’s creative process, where he would become enamoured by someone’s sound and would seek to imitate and master it.

Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan and his girlfriend Suze (who appears on the cover of Freewheelin') walk through Greenwich village

By 1963, Dylan had matured more as an artist and The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was released, causing his explosion into the musical mainstream. His now well established sound was unique, but it is not difficult to see the deep influence of Guthrie. Dylan styled himself as a one man band, requiring nothing but his guitar, his voice, and his harmonica perched below his mouth. Guthrie used the same barebones format, causing his contemporary Pete Seeger to describe his musical style as “the genius of simplicity”[3]. Dylan stayed doggedly true to his folk roots throughout the early sixties. However, his next studio album The Times They Are A-Changin’, whilst being the first to feature only original compositions, was the last to be solely acoustic. Despite the complaints of many folk puritans, Dylan went electric, and from then on his sound constantly evolved and progressed away from his folk roots.

Dick Weissmann, What Side Are You On? An Inside History of the Folk Musical Revival in America, (New York: Continuum, 2006), p. 93.

Bob Dylan, Chronicles Vol. I, (London: Simon & Schuster, 2004), p. 6.

Dick Weissmann, What Side Are You On? An Inside History of the Folk Musical Revival in America, (New York: Continuum, 2006), p. 48.

Bibliography

Dylan, Bob, Chronicles Vol. I, (London: Simon & Schuster, 2004).

Weissmann, Dick, What Side Are You On? An Inside History of the Folk Musical Revival in America, (New York: Continuum, 2006).