On July 9, 1962, folk singer Bob Dylan walked into a studio and
recorded the song that would make him a star: “Blowin’ In The
Wind.”

“This here ain’t no protest song or anything like that, ’cause I
don’t write no protest songs.” That was how Dylan introduced
one of the most eloquent protest songs ever written when he
first performed it
publicly. It was the spring of his first full year in New York City,
and he was onstage at Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village,
talking about “Blowin’ In The Wind,” a song he claims to have
written in just 10 minutes.

Dylan’s recording of “Blowin’ In The Wind” would first be released
nearly a full year later, on his breakthrough album, The Freewheelin’
Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan (84)

Bob Dylan (Robert Allen Zimmerman) turned 84 on May 24.

"Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song that was written by
Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally
recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His
Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade      
and received a gold record, presented by RCA Victor in 1942
(below) for sales of 1.2 million copies.  

(L to R) Paul Douglas, W. Wallace Early and Glenn Miller, February 10, 1942.        
    

Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944)

"Rock Around the Clock" was a Last-Minute Addition to
the recording session. 

On April 12, 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets recorded
“(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock” at a Decca
recording session in New York City.

If rock and roll was a social and cultural revolution,
then “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock” was
its Declaration of Independence. And if Bill Haley
was not exactly the revolution’s Thomas Jefferson,
it may be fair to call him its John Hancock.

The song was chosen to play over the opening
credits of the film Blackboard Jungle, which is
how it became a pop sensation, selling a million
copies in a single month in the spring of 1955.

William (Bill) John Clifton Haley
(July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981)

By the spring of 1965, Bob Dylan’s presence in the world of
music was beginning to be felt well outside the boundaries
of his nominal genre. Within the world of folk music, he had
been hailed as a hero for several years already, but now his
music was capturing the attention and influencing the
direction of artists like the Byrds, the Beatles and even a
young Stevie Wonder.

With Dylan as a direct inspiration, popular music was about
to change its direction, but so was Dylan himself. On June
16, 1965, on their second day of recording at Columbia
Records’ Studio A in Manhattan, he and a band featuring
electric guitars and an organ laid down the master take of
the song that would announce that change: “Like A Rolling
Stone.” It would prove to be “folksinger” Bob Dylan’s
magnum opus and, arguably, the greatest rock and roll
record of all time.

Bob Dylan had his 83rd birthday in May.