Bob Dylan plays a Fender jazz bass with the harmonica around his neck while recording his album 'Bringing It All Back Home' in 1965. Picture credit: Dm/ZUMA Wire
While The Beatles performed jaunty, upbeat songs to crowds of screaming girls, the dishevelled-looking visitor from America asked difficult questions about war, peace and liberty. Put it this way: Harold Wilson never invited him to a reception at Downing Street. While Dylan's appearances at Wolverhampton Civic in November this year are unlikely to generate quite the same atmosphere as those of Birmingham in 1966, it is nevertheless a massive coup for the revamped venue to attract the man many would consider to be the greatest living songwriter.
Dylan provided the soundtrack for the baby-boomer protest movement in the 60s and 70s. Songs like The Times They Are a-Changin', Blowin' in the Wind and A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall spoke for a generation of angry young people who were dissatisfied with their leaders and were demanding rapid change.