How Bob Dylan Changed New York’s Folk Scene with One Song

In David Browne’s new book Talkin’ Greenwich Village, the writer details the transformative history of Bob Dylan’s ’60s anthem “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

Browne, a senior writer for Rolling Stone, uncovers how Dylan’s song impacted New York’s folk scene and how a little-known group called The New World Singers and their Black vocalist, Delores Dixon, helped introduce “Blowin’ in the Wind” to Greenwich Village folkies before it became a hit.

“No More Auction Block“

Gil Turner, an activist and folk singer, formed The New World Singers in 1962 with Dixon and Bob Cohen. (Happy Traum joined in early 1963.) Dylan heard The New World Singers perform at Gerde’s Folk City, the central club in Greenwich Village, and he’d occasionally join them onstage. The interracial folk group sang standards like Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” and reworked “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” into a civil rights anthem called “We Got the Power in Our Hands.”

However, watching Dixon sing “No More Auction Block” a cappella seemed to leave an impression on Dylan. He later plucked the vocal melody from the antislavery song for use in something new he was working on called “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

Dixon and Dylan became close. In his memoir, he called her “my sort of part-time girlfriend.” She recalled when Dylan first showed her “Blowin’ in the Wind.” They were eating at her mother’s house, and he pulled out his notebook of lyrics and sang his new song. She recognized the melody he’d borrowed from “No More Auction Block,” her feature song at Gerde’s. Gil Turner later brought “Blowin’ in the Wind” to The New World Singers to perform, and, for Dixon, it completed a kind of historical arc.

Dylan recorded his version in the summer of 1962 and it appeared on his second studio album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, in 1963. But it wasn’t his version that broke the song.

The New World Singers

In 1963, The New World Singers recorded their version for a compilation album called Broadside Ballads, Vol. 1, which accompanied a periodical of political songs.

Their version features a plucking banjo and recalls the old-time sound of fellow Greenwich Village folk group The Weavers. As Dixon and her group recorded their version, Dylan stood in the studio, holding the lyrics. However, this version was released by a subsidiary of Folkways and received little attention. It would be another group from the Village scene who’d soon turn “Blowin’ in the Wind” into a hit song.

Peter, Paul and Mary

Peter, Paul and Mary released “Blowin’ in the Wind” in June 1963. It became the fastest-selling single in Warner Bros. Records history at the time. Their version reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the trio two Grammy Awards in 1964.

“Blowin’ in the Wind” became the defining song of the New York folk scene and an anthem for the entire decade. As a result, Dylan, reluctantly and unwittingly, became the voice of his generation. This history and his subsequent pushback against it would define the next chapter of his career. Soon the scene that once revered him would call him Judas.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Sweeten the Melody

A key player in the trajectory of “Blowin’ in the Wind” was Albert Grossman, Dylan’s manager. Grossman was a key player in the scene and also managed Peter, Paul and Mary. He aggressively urged his artists to record Dylan’s songs. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded three Dylan songs for their album In the Wind—“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and “Quit Your Low Down Ways.”

Peter, Paul and Mary turned “Blowin’ in the Wind” into a cultural touchstone. Using their exquisite harmonies, they lifted Dylan’s monotone melody to greater emotional heights and helped commercialize the song.

Meanwhile, The New World Singers, who’d signed to Atlantic Records, finally had their shot at stardom. But it wasn’t to be. During their audition for Atlantic, they performed “Blowin’ in the Wind” for label head Ahmet Ertegun and he asked if they could change the lyrics and make it a love song.

They didn’t dare ask Dylan to change the words. Instead, they recorded “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” It was their only album release with Atlantic Records and they were stuck watching a song they first covered become a hit for another group. Meanwhile, Dixon had already left the band for financial reasons before the Atlantic signing. Browne writes how Dixon felt jealous of the success of Peter, Paul and Mary. Then she said, “But I had to move on.”

Dylan’s song became the new standard. Like the songs of Woody Guthrie or Hank Williams, “Blowin’ in the Wind” became required repertoire. Though the wind blows in many directions, it helps to have a powerful music manager and record label. Even the idealistic unplugged folk scene of the 1960s required a money machine.

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Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images