Highway 61 Revisited Bob Dylan
5
By Song smith dreamer.
This song has more in it than represented. Yes it refers to biblical terms, but as Bob himself explains, it refers to the actual highway from his nearby home and the journey to New Orleans, that has been taken over the years to and from New Orleans to Chicago in the transfer of The Blues from the South to the North. From Howling Wolf, to Buddy Guy and many others, Chicago represented the introduction of the Blues to mainstream American . It became the new access of the Blues for the world. The English guitarists such as Rric Clspton, Jimmy Paige, Jeff Beck, Pryer Greene, John Mayahl to mention a few , devoted their musical background to the Blies as the root of their guitar stylings.
These English guitarists brought the blues back to life, and made it possible for BB King, Albert King,Sun House, Blinf Lemon Jefferson, and Reverend Gary Davis, and so many more, find recognition at a time when racial dispaitity was still a big part of our cultural revolution. As talented or famous as these great musicians were, including Louis Armstrong, they were not allowed to eat or stay at the hotels that their white counterparts stayed. Evenilrs Davis was restricted from the simple comforts provided to the white musicians he traveled with. Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington are more of those who suffered the racial conflict that syipl prevailrd in the country.
Chicago became a home for the development of this truly American Genra of music. Developed from the labor in the cotton fields and popularized in Congo Square, an open market area, where many of these musicians would meet to exchange renditions, or new vompositiokd of their own songs. Robert Johnson, highly regarded as the greatest of the period, recorded only 24 songs, but his style became the most influential of the many "Delta Blues" artists. It was Howling Wolf who traveled north to Chicago, and began to electrify his guitar that started the Chicsho Bpues breakout, which quickly over took the world.
Robert Johnson, who was struggling to look earn to play, disappeared for a year, to return to the south and having developed his skip lol d in such dynamic ways, it became fabled that he had met the devil at a crossroads on Highway 61, and made a pact with the devil to become the famed guitarist and singer/songwriter to influence the Blues more than antother.
Dylan talks of many of the famouseusicians who traveled up and down Hoghway 61 on an interview, declaring this song as his personal anthem of historic musical growth and development . The lyrics represent some of the more metaphoric and symbolic lyrics to that point in his career. This was the negininh of his transformation from Folk Tradition, to the revolutionary Electric Rock style he was developing. He was strongly ctitisized for "selling out" to be marketable and competitive with the English Invasion. The very real truth was that he had grown out of the traditional folk style, and along with new lyrical debpth to a basic rock and roll style, created a new concept of songwriting that was the growth developed from his folk stylings, that had been strongly influenced by Woofy Guthrie, as well as Ramblimg Jack Elliot, who had lived and toured with Woody at the end of Woodies creer . Jack , commonly referred to as the last true roaming minstral, has often also been refered to as Woody Guthries son, and Bob Dylan's father. He,in fact is no blood relation to either. But his emulation of Woodies stylings, and his influence on Dylan are ever present.
To end, this song, Highway 61 Revisited, may not have the impact of his early accomplishments, but does have more Debpth and meaning than meets the eye. Knowing this background has made it one of my favorites from an artist I can say is unequaled in our generation. Enjoy l Iistrning with new perspective!
Anthony L Frye
