Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956–1966

last updated 8 January 2015

Bob Dylan came from nowhere, said Jon Pareles in The New York Times. Fewer than 60 people saw his New York concert debut in 1961. 'œLess than two years later, he was the reigning star of the protest-song movement and folk revival,' on his way to a permanent place in pop-culture lore. Now, with Bob Dylan's American Journey he has landed a show in one of the country's most esteemed museums. The Morgan Library's look at his early career 'œincludes staples of rock-museum craft: instruments, discs, posters.' But surprises abound. Listening stations let you compare Dylan's songs to his folk sources. Manuscripts show Dylan's momentary inspirations 'œwritten or typed on whatever paper was at hand,' but constantly reworked. For instance, only four words'”'œHow does it feel?''”survived the initial draft of Like a Rolling Stone.

But haven't we heard all this before? said Alan Light in The New York Sun. 'œThe Bob Dylan creation myth is familiar by now,' having been rehearsed recently in Dylan's memoir Chronicles, Volume 1 and Martin Scorsese's PBS documentary No Direction Home. Bobby Zimmerman from Hibbing, Minn., remakes himself as Freewheelin' Bob of Greenwich Village, winning the civil-rights fight and getting the Beatles high along the way. But by concentrating on historical context, this show misses what made Dylan so unique as an artist. 'œHe was more than just a lucky accident of timing, more than the sum of his influences.' The high points are when we see and hear Dylan for ourselves, as in a recording of that inauspicious 1961 debut. 'œHe sounds shockingly confident, even cocky.' He had reason.