Born in Duluth, Minnesota, United States back in 1941, Bob Dylan started his musical career in 1961 and changed the course of music. During a career spanning more than 60 years the musician inspired countless artists and is one of the most covered musicians in history.
He started as a Folk artist but then “went electric”, adopting the electric guitar on his music, incorporating Rock and Roll into his sound. In a conversation with Interview magazine back in 1986, Dylan listed songs that he considered to be very influential and three of them were Rock tracks. Rock and Roll Garage selected what Dylan said about the artists that were responsible for those records and tells a little bit more about them.
The 3 Rock songs that Bob Dylan considers to be influential
Little Richard “Lucille”
Written by Little Richard and Albert Collins, “Lucille” was first released by Richard as a single in 1957, becoming a huge hit that influenced countless musicians over the decades. The single reached the first position of the Billboard R&B chart. The track was also included on Richard’s self-titled second album released one year later in 1958 that also had other hits like “Good Golly, Miss Molly” and “The Girl Can’t Help It”.
In an interview with The New York Times back in 2020, Dylan talked about Richard and said he was triumphant in his work. “Both of those guys (Dylan and John Prine) were triumphant in their work. They don’t need anybody doing tributes. Everybody knows what they did and who they were. And they deserve all the respect and acclaim that they received.”
“No doubt about it. But Little Richard I grew up with. And he was there before me. Lit a match under me. Tuned me into things I never would have known on my own. So I think of him differently. John came after me. So it’s not the same thing. I acknowledge them differently,” Bob Dylan said.
Elvis Presley “Mystery Train”
First released by Little Junior’s Blue Flames in 1953, “Mystery Train” was covered by Elvis Presley two years later in 1955 and released as the b-side of “I Forgot To Remember To Forget”. Still is considered one of the most famous songs of the King.
Still in the 60s, Bob Dylan said that he loved when Elvis recorded one of his songs. “Elvis Presley. I liked Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley recorded a song of mine. That’s the one recording I treasure the most’. . . it was called “Tomorrow Is A Long Time.” I wrote it but never recorded it,” Bob Dylan told Rolling Stone magazine.
Buddy Holly “Not Fade Away”
“Not Fade Away” was released as a single by Buddy Holly & The Crickets back in 1957, two years before the musician’s tragic death in an airplane crash at the age of 22. The song was included on the album “The ‘Chirping’ Crickets’ (1957). That record also had the famous tracks: “Oh, Boy!”, “Maybe Baby”, “It’s Too Late” and “That’ll Be The Day”.
Dylan curiously had the chance to watch Buddy Holly playing live. He recalled that when he was honored with a Nobel Prize in Literature back in 2016. “If I was to go back to the dawning of it all, I guess I’d have to start with Buddy Holly. Buddy died when I was about 18 and he was 22. From the moment I first heard him, I felt akin. I felt related like he was an older brother. I even thought I resembled him.”
“Buddy played the music that I loved, the music I grew up on—country western, rock and 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. He was the archetype, everything I wasn’t and wanted to be,” Bob Dylan said.