From Robert Zimmerman to Bob Dylan

Rockapedia | 1st August, 2023 Bob Dylan (theBeat.ie)

Generally regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Bob Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60 year career.

While the name Bob Dylan is known throughout the world, Dylan would be one of the many characters that Robert Zimmerman has created over the years.

Born on 24th May, 1941, Robert Allen Zimmerman was the descendant of Jewish grandparents. His paternal grandparents, Anna Kirghiz and Zigman Zimmerman, had emigrated from Odesa in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine) to the United States, following the massacring and expelling of the Jewish in 1905.

His maternal grandparents, Florence and Ben Stone, were Lithuanian Jews who had arrived in the United States in 1902.

Zimmerman would form several bands while attending Hibbing High School, covering songs by Little Richard and Elvis Presley, until September 1959, when he moved to Minneapolis and enrolled at the University of Minnesota.

Zimmerman was living at the Jewish-centric fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu house and began to perform at the Ten O'Clock Scholar, a coffeehouse a few blocks from campus, and became involved in the Dinkytown folk music circuit.

It would be these early coffeehouse performances that Robert Zimmerman began to introduce himself as Bob Dylan.

At the time it was common for Jewish performers to create a stage name. The fact that Zimmerman didnt roll off the tongue also prompted a name change.

In a 1978 Playboy interview Dylan was asked if the name change was because of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

No, I havent read that much of Dylan Thomas. Its a common thing to change your name. It isnt that incredible. Many people do it. People change their town, change their country. New appearance, new mannerisms. Some people have many names. I would pick a name unless I thought I was that person. Sometimes you are held back by your name...

But getting back to Dylan Thomas, it wasnt that I was inspired by reading some of his poetry and going...aha!...and changing my name to Dylan. If I thought he was that great, I would have sung his poems and could just as easily have changed my name to Thomas Bob Dylan (Playboy, 1978)

Robert Zimmerman would be forever known as Bob Dylan, expect of course for a brief moment when he appeared as Lucky Wilbury on 1988's Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, then as Muddy Wilbury on the 1990 follow-up Vol. 3.