An Influence and a Friend

           When people think about the music from 1960's they will most likely think of The Beatles and Bob Dylan. One from the US and the other from the UK, together these artists would make a big impact on the world. And who knew that Bob Dylan would be one of The Beatles influences and close friends.

                Paul McCartney bought Dylan's second album and brought it on tour for the rest of the guys to hear. They all feel in love with "Freewheelin" and kept the it on repeat. Dylan's songs were different what The Beatles were writing at the time. They were attracted to his lyrics; he questions politics and he make sophisticated love songs. It was John Lennon had been looking for and it inspired him to write "I'm a loser", the first song that he wrote on a more personal level and was more poetic than his earlier songs. John admired Dylan's work and even said he went through a Dylan period. In The Beatles Anthology, Paul not only said that Dylan had an influence on their music, he also had some influence on their image. John bought a floppy cap which Dylan wore on the cover of his first album. The song "Hide you love away" was also inspired by Dylan. The Beatles met Dylan in 1964 and he introduced them to marijuana and after smoking it, they began to write songs about it. "Revolver" and "Got to  get you back into my life" are songs about pot. After they met each other they all became good friends. John and Dylan wanted to collaborate together on song writing, but it never happened. The story says that everything got lost in the mail and never reached John. They still remained close friends and even created "Eat the Document" which shows John and Dylan in the back seat of a cab talking. When ever The Beatles began writing new material for their next album, they would always show Dylan what they were up to. Dylan got to listen to the Sgt. Pepper's album and the Abbey Road album before they were released. 

           There is one Beatle that Dylan did work with and that was George Harrison. Dylan and George did many collaborations together. George helped record "Self portrait" and "New Morning" albums. They wrote "I'd have you anytime" together" as well. Dylan helped here and there on George's album "All time must pass" which includes a another song they wrote together. They even performed together in 1971 at the Concerts for Bangladesh. Dylan was rehearsed into the show at the last minute, no one knew he was going to be in the show. They came back together again in the 80's in a band called the Traveling Wilburys.  George told Jenny Boyd in an interview that the world would not be the same without Bob Dylan.

          Not only were The Beatles influenced by Dylan, they inspired him as well. The Beatles were the ones that influenced Dylan to go electric. They even went to each others concerts. All four Beatles saw his performance at  the Royal Albert Hall in 1965. Publicly announcing that "Dylan showed the way" for The Beatles set the stage for Dylan to become popular in the UK. It is amazing how some friendships can go a long way. George was right when he said the world would be a different place without Bob Dylan. Dylan helped The Beatles transform into serious musicians and The Beatles helped Dylan to change as well.