3 Songwriters Who Were Called “the Next Bob Dylan”

When Bob Dylan’s 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan came out, he was suddenly the artist people were talking about. Who wrote his songs? Where did he come from? What’s he doing next? Dylan combined poetry with prose, traditional with the brand new, and big ideas with colloquial deliveries. But with that innovation and talent comes comparison.

Videos by American Songwriter

While Dylan seemed to be a one-of-one, others speculated who could follow in his footsteps when he wasn’t around. Enter the conversation about who is “the next Bob Dylan.” It has plagued some. Here below, we wanted to examine three artists who were said to be the next Bob.

[RELATED: Remember When Dylan Went Electric – the Newport Folk Festival 1965]

Donovan

As the Scottish songwriter told the BBC in 2001, “We all had a go at his style.” In fact, Donovan, who was a bit younger though still a contemporary of Dylan’s, often was compared to his American counterpart. He dressed like Dylan, played harmonica like Dylan, and strummed acoustic folks songs like Dylan. Perhaps it was all a coincidence. Even Donovan has said, “To be compared was natural, but I am not a copyist.” Perhaps. But it was hard for others to see that in real time. Exhibit No. 1 is this 1965 song “Catch the Wind,” below.

Bruce Springsteen

The New Jersey-born rocker Bruce Springsteen was another natural “next Dylan” to consider. In his early days, the former boardwalk beach bum looked like Dylan with his plain clothes and rockabilly hair. He seemed, in a way, to also be the next evolution of Dylan. The 1970s rock version 2.0 with his street poetry, passion, and even the use of a harmonica. Dylan once even met Springsteen backstage at a show and joked, “I hear you’re the new me.”

Tom Waits

Even Tom Waits was one of those dubbed to be the next Dylan. For a while, early in his career, Waits sang more traditionally (see: “Ice Cream Man”). He had a lovely voice before, it seemed, but he got sick of his connections to pop culture and instead took on a deeper, much more gravelly voice in order to eschew comparison to anyone. But when you hear songs like the 1976 offering “Tom Traubert’s Blues,” you can understand how the piano-playing storyteller crooner was thought to be perhaps the next torchbearer when it came to Bob.

Photo by Val Wilmer/Redferns