by Joel Thornton

Created on: February 01, 2009   Last Updated: February 11, 2009

To understand Dylan's legacy, we do not have to know where he was born. We do not need to know what songs he sang in New York on the Rolling Thunder Tour. It is not important that Dylan was completely engrossed in the music and life of Woody Guthrie. These may seem like important ideas to the average Dylanologist, but it is not about his legacy. There is really only one way to evaluate anyone's legacy: by looking to those who have come after them.

Of all the great artists who have come through the Folk Scene or the Rock Scene there is really only one artist who is lauded by virtually every industry insider as the greatest influence on their musical lives. A real legacy has to be judged by those who best understand the area musicians who come after Dylan.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Dylan's legacy is that it was virtually an instant legacy. It is not just late in his career that his legacy was established. A cock sure 19 year old hitting New York City and within three or four years he is bringing change to industry around him.

The Beatles credit Dylan with moving them from their brilliant love songs of the early Sixties to the more serious work of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Dylan is an ongoing influence of U2 and Bono. And that is not to even discuss Neil Young, Patti Smyth, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, John Prine, and the countless thousands of others who are his contemporaries and yet, great fans crediting their sound to his influence. He is not just an icon of the Sixties Generation; he is the icon of the singers who shaped the Sixties and those who came beyond.

Even the media has helped us evaluate the legacy of Dylan. From time to time, they label a singer-song writer the new Dylan. Time Magazine, in 1973, declared Springsteen to be the new Bob Dylan. And therein is the legacy of Dylan.

This legacy is much larger than we can imagine. Dylan changed the way music was approached by professionals. He was one of the first to write and sing his own songs with success. Until Dylan professional writers wrote the music and professional singers sang themat least with any real measure of success.

Finally, the legacy of Dylan is ever changing. He has reinvented himself so many times that we cannot really evaluate his legacy; it is too much of a moving target. More than several times we have heard that his career was over, the songwriting genius has left him, and we at least have everything he has done so far. Then, out of the ashes, he arises and redefines music.

The best part of his legacy is that Dylan has singlehandedly proven that you can succeed in music, even if no one understands what you are saying when you are talking.

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