How Many Roads Can a Man Walk Down?: Bob Dylan Voted into Academy of Arts and Letters

 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [vocalists Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.] image credit

Who would have thought, back when this photo was taken, that someday the prestigious Academy of Arts and Letters would come a-knockin’?

As the Associated Press points out, the Manhattan-based Academy was designed to keep people like him out

They were averse to all these modern things: jazz musicians, modernist poets.

And now the smart-alecky kid who intoned about rolling stones (and getting stoned, for that matter) is joining a group of mostly classical composers, along with Stephen Sondheim, Jasper Johns and Philip Roth.

Forgive me, I can’t help but think of a couple of Dylan songs that sum up the news: “The Times, They Are a Changin’” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”

Freegal has dozens and dozens of Dylan’s albums available for free download. You can find his classic sound on The Essential Bob Dylan, which includes the above songs as well as “Just Like a Woman,” “Lay Lady, Lay,” “Forever Young,” “I Shall Be Released,” “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,”  “Hurricane,” and a bunch of others.

Other albums of note: MTV Unplugged, Blues, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, Blonde on Blonde, and Blood on the Tracks.

He also has a Christmas album Christmas in the Heart. If you like people growling out “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” this is the album for you

Incidentally, Freegal also has dozens of Joan Baez albums, including her love/hate song for Dylan “Diamonds and Rust.”

The Final Speech: “We Shall Overcome”



Martin Luther King, Jr. leaning on a lectern. Library of Congress. photo credit


The folk song “We Shall Overcome” encapsulated the civil rights movement and was the theme of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last speech in 1968, before he was assassinated.

Its roots were in African-American hymns of the early 20^th century. Its themes were echoed by both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lyndon Johnson.

It has been sung all across the globe in protests, from the US to Beijing to South Africa.

Interestingly, it was brought to prominence by folk singers of the 1960’s, most notably Pete Seeger and Joan Baez.

You can find both of their versions on Freegal, along with dozens of others, including Bruce Springsteen.