Bob Dylan Trivia

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11/16/05: Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. (imdb.com)

His favorite movie is Tirez sur le pianiste (1960) by François Truffaut. (imdb.com)

By the time he was ten, Bob began to get piano lessons and he was beginning to listen to the country, blues, and (a little later) the rock 'n' roll played on radio late at night in Hibbing. In his teens, Bob's father bought him an electric guitar and he started a series of rock 'n' roll cover bands with friends from school and summer camp called The Jokers, The Shadow Blasters, and, lastly, The Golden Chords. Once in college, he became so excited by the folk music of Woody Guthrie that he traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one. (imdb.com)

He was voted the 2nd Greatest Rock 'n' Rock Artist of all time by Rolling Stone. (imdb.com)

In his book, "Chronicles," Dylan indicates that the reason he began starting writing songs were the works of folk-legend Woody Guthrie (he was obsessed with Guthrie's "hopped-up union meeting sermons"), mysterious blues great Robert Johnson (saying he evoked the "dark night of the soul") and certain songs by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (due to their "tough language" and their "resilience and outrageous power"). (imdb.com)

There is much myth surrounding his changing his last name. In his "Chronicles" he said that he didn't think Zimmerman would be catchy enough as a stage name and that he first considered making his last name to his middle name, Allen. He then noted that a "D" would be stronger than an "A". But rather than spell it Dillion and in tribute to one of his favorite poets, Dylan Thomas, he choose to spell it Dylan. By late in college as many people called him "Dylan" as they did "Zimmerman" or "Zimmy" and, by the time he made it to New York City, everybody called him "Dylan.". (imdb.com)

He has nine grandchildren - four from his step-daughter, Maria, one each from Jesse and Samuel, and three from Jakob Dylan. He also has a "World's Greatest Grandpa" bumper sticker that he proudly displays on his car. (imdb.com)

Early 1980s: He studied with Lubavitch Hasidim. (imdb.com)

Dylan once visited artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol when he came to pick up actress/model Edie Sedgwick, whom he was dating at the time, and found himself the subject of Warhol's movie camera. Dylan responded by picking up an original Warhol painting and taking it with him "for payment" for being filmed, which he used first as a dartboard, then traded for a sofa (he apologized to Warhol in a press interview years later for his attitude). (imdb.com)

A father of six children. His children are: Maria Lowndes Dylan (born 21 October 1961; married to Peter Himmelman and a mother of four), Jesse Byron Dylan (born 6 January 1966; married to Susan Traylor and father of William), Anna Leigh Dylan (born 11 July 1967; she is married, but has no children), Samuel Abraham Dylan (born 30 July 1968; married to Stacy Hochheiser and father of Jonah), Jakob Luke Dylan (born 9 December 1969; married to Nicole Denny and a father of three), Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan (born 31 January 1985). His eldest child, Maria, became his step-daughter when he married Sara Lowndes, and he later adopted her as his own. His youngest daughter, Desiree, was born to his second wife, Carolyn Dennis. His other four children were all with his first wife, Sara. (imdb.com)

Other bands Dylan preformed in are The Satin Stones, The Rockets and Elston Gunn and the Rock Boppers. (imdb.com)

Attended the University of Minnesota briefly after graduating high school; flunked out by non-participation ("refusin' to see a rabbit die" in a science class, and reading Kant instead of a required textbook), and cutting classes to frequent the local Dinkytown coffeehouses. (imdb.com)

Besides his self-titled first album and a few albums in the early 1970s, he has been the writer of almost everything he has recorded. (imdb.com)

Although he had several stalkers over the years, perhaps the most dogged was the self-titled Dylanologist, A.J. Weberman. This obsessed fan started the "Dylan Liberation Front," protesting that Dylan had sold out and has abandoned his political causes (in reality, Dylan was never very political). Weberman staged several "protests" in front of Dylan's home, rooted through Dylan's garbage repeatedly, and accused Dylan of heroin use. After Weberman pushed aside Dylan's wife, Sara, and broke into Dylan's home, Dylan lost his patience and defeated his considerably beefier stalker in a fight. (imdb.com)

Despite rumors that he hates rap music, Dylan cites several rappers as having "brilliant minds" and, in his "Chronicles" states that he is a big fan of several Old School rappers, particularly Public Enemy, who were one of his favorite artists. Many see an early connection to rap in Dylan's music, particularly the song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". However, Dylan apparently dislikes the commercialism of much modern hip-hop and warned popular rappers that "sometimes less is more". (imdb.com)

1982: Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. (imdb.com)

His song "Like a Rolling Stone" was named # 1 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004). Other songs listed include: "Blowin' in the Wind" (# 14), "The Times Are A-Changin'" (# 59), "Tangled Up In Blue" (# 68), "Mr. Tambourine Man" (# 106), "Desolation Row" (# 185), "Knocking on Heaven's Door" (# 190), "Positively 4th Street" (# 203), "Just Like a Woman" # (230), "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (# 332), "Highway 61 Revisited" (# 364), and "Visions of Johanna" (# 403). (imdb.com)

1964: Introduced The Beatles to pot-smoking, during their first meeting in New York; each told the press later, "We just laughed all night.". (imdb.com)

Said that when he performs "All Along the Watchtower," he thinks of it as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Although Dylan was the song's original writer, Hendrix's cover is the best known version of the song. (imdb.com)

Some notable covers of his songs: "Quinn the Eskimo" - Manfred Mann; "Mr. Tambourine Man" - The Byrds; "All Along the Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix; "It Ain't Me, Babe" - Johnny Cash, The Turtles; "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" - Eric Clapton; as well as Guns N' Roses, "Maggie's Farm" - Rage Against the Machine, and there are over 100 covers of "Blowin' in the Wind.". (imdb.com)

Although he is often thought of as just playing guitar, harmonica, and singing, Dylan is equally skilled on the piano, and he has played most instruments at one point or another in his 40+ years in music. On the album "John Wesley Harding," for example, he played all the instruments but drums and bass on most of the tracks. (imdb.com)

Despite his reputation as a "protest singer", he was never very active politically and very rarely rallied for causes. Although he did some work in support of the civil right movements and often fought individual injustices (most famously, that of 'Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter' ), many of his peers in the folk community found his apparent indifference to politics frustrating. (imdb.com)

Borrowed lines from a Japanese book "Confessions of a Yakuza" for lyrics in the songs of his album "Love and Theft" - the author was apparently flattered by this. (imdb.com)

Has a brother named David Zimmerman. (imdb.com)

Won an Academy Award for the song "Things Have Changed" from the Wonder Boys (2000) soundtrack. He performed the song and accepted the Oscar via satellite due to the fact that he was on tour through Germany at the time. (imdb.com)

1959: Played piano for Bobby Vee in a make-up band booked for show left vacant by the airplane-crash death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (aka J.P. Richardson). (imdb.com)

For the recording of the famous, rambling song "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35" (with its chorus of "everybody must get stoned!"), Dylan took the group of mostly straight-laced, professional session musicians he was recording with, got them very drunk and had them smoke pot. When they returned, he had each man play a different instrument to what they usually played. After this went on, somebody asked Dylan when they were actually going to record the song, Dylan countered, "That was it." (imdb.com)

At the The 40th Annual Grammy Awards (1998) (TV) he won a Grammy for best male rock singer (on "Cold Irons Bound"), best contemporary folk singer and album of the year ("Time Out of Mind"). (imdb.com)

Rode a 500cc T100S/R Triumph Tiger motorcycle upon which he famously crashed (imdb.com)

In 1999 Steve Howe released "Portraits of Bob Dylan", an album consisting entirely of 12 of Dylan's songs. (imdb.com)

Dylan's father owned a furniture store when young "Bobby" was in high school, and sent him once on rounds, to collect from installment-plan customers late on their bills. When Dylan returned and told his father "Dad, those people don't have any money," his father replied "Some of those people make as much money as I do; they just don't know how to manage it." The lesson stuck with Dylan. (imdb.com)

Although Dylan was raised Jewish (being of fully Jewish heritage), he converted to a born-again version of Christianity in the late 1970s. (imdb.com)

All Along the Watchtower is the song he's performed the most, with nearly 2,000 known performances. It is also, including Jimi Hendrix's performance of the song, the song that's been most frequently featured on film and TV soundtracks. (imdb.com)

Holds the impressive distinction of having had his songs covered by nearly 3,000 artists, including Jimi Hendrix, U2, Dave Matthews Band, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Elvis Costello, Phil Collins, Bryan Ferry, Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Emerson Lake and Palmer and The Beach Boys. (imdb.com)

Portrayed by Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Ben Whishaw, Marcus Carl Franklin and Richard Gere in I'm Not There. (2007). (imdb.com)

Although he continues to influence musicians today, perhaps his most significant influence was on other musicians of his own generation in the 1960s. Among the musicians he influenced to start writing deeper, more introspective material were The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Paul Simon, among many, many others. Ironically, when those he influenced were at their creative peaks in the late 1960s, Dylan himself was in seclusion (after a motorcycle accident) and he really had nothing to do with the "hippie counterculture.". (imdb.com)

Hitchhiked from Minnesota to New York after leaving college, paying his way by doing odd jobs and sleeping wherever he could find space. Stopped at a courthouse along the way and legally changed his name from Zimmerman to Dylan (when asked later if his name was spelled like Dylan Thomas, he answered "No, like Bob Dylan"). (imdb.com)

May 1997: He was diagnosed with pericarditis, which can be lethal if it's not discovered in time. (imdb.com)

Resides in Malibu, California. (imdb.com)

Supports Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. (imdb.com)

In 2007 Bryan Ferry released "Dylanesque", an album consisting entirely of 11 of Dylan`s songs. (imdb.com)

Fan of Elvis Presley. (imdb.com)

Son of Abraham Zimmerman and Beatrice Stone (Beatty Zimmerman). (imdb.com)

Always something of a Casanova, he had his first steady girlfriend at 14 and was seeing as many as five girls at once by the time he was in college. (imdb.com)

Was a member of the `Travelling Willburys` with Beatle George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra. (imdb.com)

He turned down an offer to headline the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969 (Jimi Hendrix ultimately headlined), even though he had been living on a farm in Woodstock for many years at that point. (imdb.com)

Although he avoids discussing religion now, Dylan said in a 1997 interview with Rolling Stone that he`s no longer a follower of any organized religion. (imdb.com)

Early 1980s: Visited Israel on what was supposed to be a private trip; this was spoiled when he was photographed at Jerusalem`s Wailing Wall, and the picture made headlines around the world. (imdb.com)

Some of his biggest influences are Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, Ferdinand `Jelly Roll` Morton, Leadbelly, Mance Lipscomb, Big Joe Williams and Woody Guthrie. (imdb.com)

June 2004: Awarded an honorary degree at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland). (imdb.com)