Who is this guy
and why should you care?
The Story of
Bob Dylan
Overview
60’s
70’s
80’s – 90’s
2000’s
Summary
The Many Lives of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's life has been so eventful, so productive, and so interesting that it's hard to find a way to even tell the story. As Bono said: "Dylan has so many sides, he's round".
There have been many distinct periods in Dylan's career - times where he's shifted genres (and sometimes personality, voice, and image). He has delivered songs with a diversity of musical and lyrical styles, each of which he's mastered and innovated even within a single period.
There is no effective crash course in Bob Dylan. It's best to accept it will take a long time to even begin to have a comprehensive view of him. But you can get a sense of who he is and what he's done, and start to enjoy some of his work -- and the slowly move through more and more of it.
Below are some short videos that offer a solid overview of Dylan's life and career. They're useful in terms of providing a broad understanding, at a very high level, of the story of Bob Dylan - or at least the musical aspect of his life.
These tend to be quite focused on the 1960s as that is the period when he established himself and for which he is best known. We'll later make the case that nearly every period of Dylan's career is equally vital and interesting.