Bob Dylan's Early Photographs (1941-1959)

23 Bob Dylan Photos from his Early years

Bob Dylan 1944

Marie Munter (Johnson) and her daughter, Jean Pryor and her son Dennis and Beatty Zimmerman (Stone) and her son Bob, Hibbing, 1944. Though living in Duluth Beatty had come back to Hibbing to visit her school friends. Now the fifth daughter on the twelfth night Told the first father that things weren’t right My complexion she said is much too white He said come here and step into the light he says hmm you’re right Let me tell the second mother this has been done But the second mother was with the seventh son And they were both out on Highway 61. Some Sunday Morning, Accentuate The Positive. May 12, 1946 – Mother’s Day Celebration – Duluth, MN He stamped his foot and commanded attention. Bobby said, ‘If everybody in this room will keep quiet, I will sing for my grandmother.” June 9, 1946 – Aunt Irene’s Wedding Reception – Covenant Club, Duluth, MN Bob’s first paid performance. An uncle said, proferring a handful of bills, “You’ve got to sing.” He refused. The pleading increased, although the fee remained the same. “So he sang,” his mother said, but not until he had announced: ‘If it’s quiet, I will sing.’” … Everyone was quiet as Bob’s two-song repertoire was repeated. Again the audience cheered, and Bobby walked over to his uncle and took the twenty-five dollars. He approached his mother with his first gate receipts. “Mummy,” he told her, “I’m going to give the money back.” He returned to his uncle and handed him the money. He nearly upstaged the bridal couple.

Bob Zimmerman in grade one at Alice School.

1951- Racing Clinic for Hibbing Junior Chamber of Commerce

(circa) 1951? Racing Clinic for Hibbing Junior Chamber of Commerce Prospective soapbox derby racer, Robert Zimmerman (2nd on right) wearing a billed-cap, lays hands on a steering wheel for his derby car. Did the racer get built? Did he race it? Is this the earliest known photograph of Bob in a hat?

Bob Zimmerman 1952

Bob Zimmerman, 12 years old, 6th grade, Washington School, 1953.

Bob Zimmerman, 12 years old, 6th grade, Washington School, 1953. Or is it? Bob Zimmerman had Kindergarten in Duluth at the Nettleton Elementary School— 108 East 6th Street, Duluth, MN 55805 (1st Avenue East and Sixth Street). Then in Hibbing he attended Grade 1 at the Alice School and then Grade 2-12 at Hibbing High School. So the published sources which say this is Washington School are wrong. Unusually Hibbing High School had Kindergarten to Grade 12 classes. The graduating class of 1962 was the last to have people attend all grades from Kindergarten to Grade 12. So from 1950 it was being phased out. — Sue Kanga Chaffee Usually people called the school Hibbing High School for all grades, occasionally it was called Hibbing High Junior High [sic] and in conversation The Junior High. Miss John’s 5th Grade Class 1952-1953: Back row: Nancy Annes, David Rian, Bonnie Marinac, Shirley Zubich, Bill Marinac, Peggy Teske, Judy Hennessey Front row: Griffith Thomas, Bob Zimmerman The class was split up into three parts and made, decorated and played their rhythm objects. Circulating tapes?

Bob Zimmerman and Judy Rubin at Camp Herzl, 1954.

In its first brochure, Herzl Camp’s aim was “to bring a child closer to Jewish life and the Jewish people… to prepare the child to absorb the content and values of modern Palestine… to enlist the child’s interest and help in building of the Jewish national homeland.” In its first year, camp sessions were offered for children ages 12 and above. From the beginning, athletics, waterfront activities, recreation, music, dancing, cultural and creative events were all components of the Herzl experience. The site on Devil’s Lake in Webster, Wisconsin had The Log Cabin Inn, ironically a “gentiles only” establishment, which became the home of Herzl Camp. The farmhouse was converted into a dining hall and kitchen. One of the larger fishing cabins became an activities building and a minimum of additional plumbing was added to make the site accessible to campers. 368 miles southeast of Hibbing almost as far as Madison, Wisconsin. “Once there was Judy And she said Hi to me When no one else Could take the Time…But she broke me Up When she didn’t Write back and I died for a year – Seela And then there was Ione Who wore a Ring on her Left hand…my mind went Insane Every time I saw her – Seela Then there was Carol Who had tits Like headlights On a fire engine And a face like Helen … she’d rape my feelings … Then there was Barbara Her parents liked me And I liked them But I loved Barbara more…Then came another Judy She had a long Pony Tail And wanted Some day To be an Actress … Now there’s Judy again And my Circe starts Over … I don’t fit in anymore I’m Lost And my trouble is I know it” Interesting that our hero, rebel rude boy, is the only one with a white shirt that does not conform to the camp rules…

Bob Zimmerman 1955

Bob Zimmerman, Camp Herzl, 1956.

Bob Zimmerman 1956.

Bob Zimmerman with Dale Boutang 1956

Bob Zimmerman with Dale Boutang “the best rider in Hibbing, a cowboy on wheels and a seasoned weight-lifter” and Dale Boutang’s Harley 74, 1956. Photograph taken by Beatty Zimmerman, Bob’s mother. (This photograph is seen often on the Internet with the 1956 removed and a modern large 1957 added.) “Waiting in the house was Raatsi on the bed/’I’m gonna pin Boutang’s arm,’ Melvin, then said/A noise outside! and Raatsi’s face had gleam/Ah ha, it was Dale coming on his machine/Raatsi came to the door and opened it wide/Dale Boutang then stepped inside/Roll up that sleeve and let’s get to work,’/Said Melvin Raatsi with a great big smirk/’I’m gonna arm-wrestle you to death said Mel the boy/’Shut up,’ said Boutang,’ I’ll take care of you like a little toy…” “We’d pull into the Hibbing Rootbeer stand on Bob’s motorcycle when the weather was warm. One time, just outside my house on the old service road, he tried to teach me to ride it. He told me all about the controls, started it up and set me on board. Only trouble was my feet weren’t long enough to reach the ground. But I didn’t realize that until I’d already taken off. I made about twenty yards in first gear and thought I’d better practice stopping before I went any further, so I tried to put on the brakes; but something went wrong and the engine started revving and I hit a post or a tree and went head over heels. The motorcycle fell over and the rear wheel went crazy with sparks flying and gravel…Bob stood there with his mouth open and his eyes real big, not believing it.” — Echo Helstrom Photograph courtesy of Leroy Hoikkala and Sharon Ness. This photograph was taken by Beatty Zimmerman in 1956 in front of Bob’s home. The photograph was a part of Tangled up in Ore a Bob Dylan exhibition at Ironworld. — t052008 — Clint Austin — austinIRON0522c3.

Bob Zimmerman, Camp Herzl, 1957.

Bob Zimmerman, Camp Herzl, 1957. ?, Paul Black, Larry Kegan (dark jacket), Jerry Waldman (singing), Bob Zimmerman, Louie Kemp, David Unowsky. Photograph courtesy of Leon (Aryeh) Spotts, a Herzl counselor, via Mark Alpert. “It was the summer of 1957 and I don’t remember many details. Do I remember him sitting on a roof with his guitar? Yes. Am I sure it was the bet-hak? No. I remember that Bob didn’t join in much of the sports and arts and crafts. I think he was busy with girls. Did I think he was a future genius musician, poet, etc.? No. I do have a recollection of our cabin taking our turn at putting on a show in the Ulam. To say it was post-modern and non-linear would be a large understatement.” — David Unowsky, Bob Zimmerman’s cabin mate

Larry Kegan on left, Bob Zimmerman on the right, Camp Herzl, 1957.

Bob Zimmerman, Larry Kegan, 1957.

Rosanne Tenenbaum and Bob Zimmerman, Camp Herzl, August 1957.

Bob Zimmerman 1957-58

Hibbing High School, September 1958. – Bob Zimmerman

This photograph was taken by Bob’s mother, Beatty, in Hibbing, and dated September 1958, a 17-year-old Bob is shown with his second electric guitar. Most more youthful rock’n’roll moments seem to have him on piano.We can say for certain from the photograph that this electric instrument is not a Fender (it’s sometimes been said that he owned a Fender in Hibbing)—and we can say that it isn’t his first electric, a $39 turquoise Silvertone bought mail-order from Sears Roebuck, but must be his second, a new Supro Ozark (a guitar Jimi Hendrix also had as a lad), bought at Mr. Hautala’s store in Hibbing at a knock-down $60 because Bob and his friend John Bucklen each bought one at the same time: and September 1958 is too late for him to be just acquiring the Silvertone. This is the picture of a boy who’s proud of having upgraded. In Minneapolis, Bob swaps his electric for an acoustic. From there he emerges as an acoustic playing folkie, and remains so until July 1965.

1955-1956) Teenage Bowling League Champs

1955-1956 Teenage Bowling League Champs, The Gutter Boys, with Bob in the distinctive check shirt.

Bob Zimmerman, with Monte Edwardson and LeRoy Hoikkala. 1958

The Golden Chords, Little Theatre, Memorial Building, February 1958. Bob Zimmerman, with Monte Edwardson and LeRoy Hoikkala. “Bob had complete arrangements worked out in his head and he used us so that he could hear them come alive” LeRoy: “He would write a song right at the piano. Just chord it, and improvise on it. I remember that he sang one about a train in R&B style” During the Golden Chords days Bob, LeRoy and Monte worked out a song “Big Black Train”, the only Zimmerman-penned rock song known to exist. Monte Edwardson: “He wrote a thing called “Big Black Train”, that we used to do. At the time I couldn’t believe one of us could just write a song. Big Black Train Well big black train, coming down the line Well big black train, coming down the line Well you got my woman, you bring her back to me Well that cute little chick, is the girl that I want to see Well I’ve been waiting for a long, long time Well I’ve been waiting for a long, long time Well I’ve been looking for my baby Searchin’ down the line Well here comes the train, yeah it’s coming down the line Well here comes the train, yeah it’s coming down the line Well you see my baby is finally coming home LeRoy Hoikkala: ”He changed a lot of songs. He listened to a song and he changed them. He didn’t like the way they read. Just like a lot of the songs he recorded. I use to say that he wasn’t copying someone, but he took the basic song and if he didn’t like the lyrics he just changed it to what he wanted.” John Bucklen: “It was difficult to tell which songs he wrote and which he didn’t write, because sometimes I’d discover that he said he wrote a song and he didn’t and other times I thought he did not write the song and he did. So, it was … pretty similar to the music we were interested in at the time.” LeRoy: “He was improvising quite a bit. He would copy a lot of songs. He’d hear a song and make up his own version of it. He did a lot of copying but he also did a lot of writing of his own. He would just kind of sit down and make up a song and play it a couple of times and then forget it. I don’t know if he ever put any of them down on paper.” “Big Black Train” was later, in fall of 1958, to be recorded by The Rockets at the Kay Banks studio in Minneapolis, for the Aladdin Record label, but never released. The Rockets was then Monte Edwardson, LeRoy Hoikkala, Jim Propotnick and Ron Taddei. “..and we finished it on the way to the recording studio”. A handful of acetates exists. “ … used the others to get played on the radio.” Bob 1965: “I never sang what I wrote until I got to be about eighteen or nineteen. I wrote songs when I was younger, fifteen, but they were songs. I wrote those. I never sang anything which I wanted to write. Y’understand? The songs I wrote at that age were just four chords rhythm and blues songs. Based on things that the Diamonds would sing, or the Crewcuts, or groups like that, the uh, the, you know,’In the still of the night’ kinda songs, you know.”