Bob Dylan/ The Singer-Songwriters: Part One

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By the late 1960’s, folk was beginning to feel “scarred and battered”, so what came next in this tradition was less political, and much more personal. The world was changing politically, socially, and culturally. Some of the new generation of singers and songwriters felt that staying relevant meant they had to move away from folk, towards more personal themes. The ‘70s was the “Me” decade. Instead of drawing from what was happening in the outside world, one group of song-writers turned inward. Another group turned toward broader political issues, instead of the Hattie Carroll, situation-specific inspirations that had inspired writers in the early. ‘60s. 

There’s no better artist to start with than Bob Dylan, the single artist without whom, this whole series may not have even been possible, his impact is so huge. And yet, even Dylan owes his position as the Mount Everest of rock music to the people who came before him. One very important inspiration was the great Woody Guthrie.  And even Guthrie you have to put in context, amidst all of the other great artists we’ve been talking about since day one of the American Song podcast.  It’s like Pete Seeger, the great folk musician and a closer friend and collaborator of Guthrie’s, said, 

 "All songwriters are links in a chain."  

In This Episode

• Bruce Springsteen: Atlantic City
• Pete Seeger - This Land is Your Land
• Bob Dylan - The Times They are a Changing
• Jim Croce - Operator
• Bob Dylan - Song to Woody
• Bob Dylan - Big Yellow Taxi
• Buddy Holly and the Crickets - Not Fade Away
• Buddy Holly and the Crickets - Maybe Baby
• Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man
• Bob Dylan - Jokerman
• Bob Dylan - Foot of Pride
• Bob Dylan - House of the Rising Sun
• Bob Dylan - Rollin' and Tumblin'
• Bob Dylan - Arthur McBride
• Bob Dylan - Hurricane
• Bob Dylan/ Tom Petty - I've Forgot More than You'll Ever Know
• Bob Dylan - Blind Willie McTell
• Bob Dylan - Cantina Theme
• Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall
• Bob Dylan - Sad Eyes Lady of the Lowlands
• Bob Dylan - Masters of War
• Bob Dylan - Every Grain of Sand
• Bob Dylan - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
• Bob Dylan - High Water (for Charlie Patton)
• Bob Dylan - Meet Me in the Morning
• Bob Dylan - Sweetheart Like You
• Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet
• Bob Dylan - False Prophet
• Bob Dylan - Murder Most Foul 

Interviews

• Pete Seeger (on Woody Guthrie)
• Bob Dylan (on 'the muse' and Hoagy Carmichael)
• Louie Kemp (Bob Dylan's childhood friend)
• Bob Dylan/ Ed Bradley (60 Minutes Interview)
• Bob Dylan (on receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature)
• Alan Ginsberg (on first hearing Bob Dylan)
• Penn Jillette (Bob Dylan is America's Shakespeare)

Links to earlier American Song Episodes

Allman Bros. - Southern Rock: Coming to Terms with a Complicated Past

Folk Revival in England - The Second Folk Revival: A Passing of the Torch

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