Ginsberg: Kickin it with Bob Dylan

Taylor Kurtz

1/13/10

Ginsberg: Kickin’ it with Bob Dylan

            The connection between famous poet Allen Ginsberg and legendary musician Bob Dylan is in no way a secret. Dylan has cited Ginsberg as an enormous influence on his music on numerous occasions. An interesting note however, is that they were only fifteen years apart in age, despite the fact they are often viewed as having a father-son relationship. Regardless of the age difference, Ginseng, the Beat poet, had an enormous impact on the legendary songwriting of Bob Dylan.

            Dylan did not even begin writing poetry or music until he was out of high school. According to Dylan, it was not until he was eighteen years of age when he discovered Ginsberg and began composing poetry and lyrics. Thus, Ginsberg and the Beat generation were enough to inspire Dylan to start writing.

            It was not until 1961 when Ginsberg and Bob Dylan were first introduced by Al Aronowitz, who was both a journalist and mutual friend of Ginsberg and Dylan. Not only was Dylan tremendously influenced by Ginseng, but the respect was absolutely mutual. Ginseng loved Dylan’s work and felt as though he was “returning poetry to the human body through the medium of music.” He was so impressed by Dylan, that he even wrote 3 separate poems dedicated to praising Dylan and the music he composed.

To further solidify their status as being considered having father-son relationship, they collaborated on several projects, including several songs where Ginseng would take over lead vocals and Dylan would work the guitar, harmonica, and backup vocals for the music. All of the songs were recorded in New York. The songs received high praise from those that heard them, but they were originally intended to be released on an album called Holly Soul Jelly Roll, which was never released to the general public for sale. Yet most of the songs are available via bootleg on the Internet. Furthermore, on his Rolling Thunder Revue tour, which was later turned into a dvd, he can be seen on stage being joined by Ginsberg for the performance of the song “This Land is Your Land.” In subsequent shows he also performed backup vocals and the harmonics.

Dylan also managed to have a dramatic impact on Ginsberg as well. After meeting Dylan, Ginsberg became much more involved in both social and political activism, even going as far as to join with Norman Mailer to stand up for the book The Naked Lunch. However all in all, Ginsberg is seen as a major mentor figure to not only Dylan, but Beat poetry in general. Dylan has even been known to include some references to Ginsbergs poetry or even some of his poetry recitations in his music.

The similarities between the two are often found in the spirit of their artwork. While Dylan learned quite a bit from Ginsberg, the way they interacted and also collaborated indicates the way they both benefited from their relatioship and the way they both helped bring Beat poetry into the 60s.

Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. City Lights Publishers. 2001.

"Father and Son."  http://www.beatdom.com/Father_and_son_allen_ginsberg_and_bob_dylan.htm