A Trivia-Fest For All Dylan-Heads!

Impress your friends in the pub with these fascinating Dylan facts, brought to you by our own unrivalled Dylan fan… Alice was truly in her wonderland with this one!

We take a closer look at the cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Bringing It All Back Home’, which features Daniel Kramer’s iconic photograph. Lots of fascinating details to be uncovered here!

  1. GNAOUA

GNAOUA, the single-issue literary magazine produced by poet Ira Cohen in the spring of 1964, sits on the mantlepiece. Created while Cohen was living in Tangier, Morocco, alongside William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin and others in the artistic expat community, this magazine included contributions from Burroughs, Gysin, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Smith, among others. An intriguing collection of Beat poetry and Beat-influenced work! GNAOUA

2. Album: Lord Buckley, ‘The Best of Lord Buckley’

In Dylan’s own words, Buckley was the ‘hipster bebop preacher who defied all labels’.

3. Like a Rolling Stone...

Bob Dylan’s cat, Rolling Stone, sits on his lap. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that’s a Persian Blue…

Of all the photographs taken, this was the only one that Rolling Stone looked directly into the camera for! See another snap from the photoshoot below:

(image: Daniel Kramer)

4. Cufflinks

Dylan wears cufflinks given to him by folk singer Joan Baez. She later refers to them in her song, ‘Diamonds and Rust’:

‘Ten years ago I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust’

5. Dylan is reading an article about the original platinum blonde bombshell, Jean Harlow. A well known 1930s femme fatale!

6. More Records!

In a pile next to Dylan, we can see a small selection of records that greatly inspired him, including:

Ravi Shankar, ‘India’s Master Musician’

The Impressions, ‘Keep on Pushing’

Robert Johnson, ‘King of the Delta Blues Singers’

Lotte Lenya, ‘Lotte Lenya Sings Berlin Theatre Songs By Kurt Weill’

Eric Von Schmidt, ‘The Folk Blues of Eric Von Schmidt’

7. This particular cover of Time magazine from January 1965 shows President Lyndon B. Johnson, who succeeded JFK and sucked America deeper into the Vietnam War.

8. Sally Grossman, Albert Grossman’s wife, poses behind Dylan. Albert Grossman was Dylan’s manager at the time, also managing Odetta, Peter, Paul and Mary, John Lee Hooker, and Janis Joplin!

9. Dylan’s fourth album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, is just visible behind Sally Grossman.

We have a great selection of Dylan albums and even more Dylan-related records for all you Dylan-heads out there. We’ll leave you with this number from the man himself, filmed just behind the Savoy hotel in London!