Bob Dylan now over 30

Today is Bob Dylan’s 72nd birthday. He, Robert Zimmerman, was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota and raised in Hibbing, Minnesota. When asked to label himself in a famous early interview he quipped, “Well, I’d label myself as ‘well under 30.’ Scroll down to enjoy our playlist  including a song from nearly every released album.

I didn’t grow up listening to Bob Dylan. I discovered him from friends in college. I was a classical music nerd (and pianist). Dylan was the first pop singer I liked and yes, I call him ‘pop’ in the sense that he’s not from 200+ years ago unlike my favorite music at the time.

It was very much like a conversion experience as cheesy as that sounds. I remember hearing the lyric, “Let me die in my footsteps before I go down under the ground…”

I was hooked. There was just as much depth in this music as in the classical and baroque music that I cherished. The lonesomness of “North Country Blues” with its “draglines a-humming” took my breath away…

1962-1974. Check back for part 2 at 2pm ET!