Bob Dylan grew as a musical talent…thanks to Buddy Holly

When Bob Dylan, legendary American singer-songwriter (who is now 82 years old) won the coveted Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, he paid tribute to the music of the late Buddy Holly and its influence on him as a youth.

 

Dylan, who was born as Robert Zimmerman, attended a Winter Dance Party tour concert at the National Guard Armory in Duluth, Minn., on Jan. 31, 1959. Dylan traveled about 75 miles from his home in Hibbing, Minn., to see, hear and experience Buddy Holly’s performance that night. 

No one knew the end was so near. Holly died in a tragic airplane crash after the Winter Dance Party show on Feb. 2 at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Also killed were artists Jiles Perry “The Big Bopper” Richardson Jr. and Ritchie Valens as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. 

“Dylan was part of a generation that Holly greatly inspired, and he’s never forgotten his integral impact,” wrote Joe Taysom of Far Out magazine, based in London, England.

 

“Despite having an incredibly short career, Holly’s impact changed the music industry forever, and Dylan was one of many who was greatly inspired by his output,” Taysom said. (Holly’s first major hit, “That’ll Be the Day,” wasn’t released until May 1957, but Buddy Holly and the Crickets was a prolific group, turning out dozens of songs in the next year and a half.) 

Dylan was an aspiring artist who wanted to follow in Holly’s footsteps.

 Dylan told the Nobel Foundation that the dawn of his musical identity began with Buddy Holly. When Holly died at age 22, Dylan was 18. Dylan said: “From the moment I first heard him…I felt related, like he was an older brother. I even thought I resembled him. Buddy played the music I loved – the music I grew up on: country-western, rock’n’roll and rhythm and blues.”

 

“Three separate strands of music that he intertwined and infused into one genre. One brand. And Buddy wrote songs – songs that had beautiful melodies and imaginative verses. And he sang great – sang in more than a few voices,” Dylan said. 

Indeed, Holly “was powerful and electrifying and had a commanding presence,” Dylan continued. 

At the Duluth concert, “I was only 6 feet away. He was mesmerizing. I watched his face, his hands, the way he tapped his foot, his big black glasses, the eyes behind the glasses, the way he held his guitar, the way he stood, his neat suit. Everything about him…and he filled me with conviction.” 

“Then, out of the blue, the most uncanny thing happened,” Dylan said. “He looked me right straight dead in the eye, and he transmitted something. Something I didn’t know what. And it gave me the chills.” 

The Nobel Foundation’s announcement of Dylan’s selection as the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature was a bit unconventional, and it drew some criticism from those who lack appreciation for American songwriting as a legitimate form of “poetic expression.”

 

The Nobel spokesperson said: “Bob Dylan’s songs are rooted in the rich tradition of American folk music and are influenced by the poets of modernism and the beatnik movement. Early on, Dylan’s lyrics incorporated social struggles and political protest.” 

“Love and religion are other important themes in his songs. His writing is often characterized by refined rhymes, and it paints surprising, sometimes surreal imagery. Since his debut in 1962, he has repeatedly reinvented his songs and music.” 

That is so Buddy Holly-like…and extends over Bob Dylan’s musical career – more than 60 years and still counting. Buddy might sing: “Rave On.”