Bob Dylan at 20 on Freak Shows | Blank on Blank

“I‘m never going to become rich and famous” - Bob Dylan in 1962.

Dylan was just 20 years old when he appeared on the Folksingers Choice radio program on WBAI FM in New York City. He'd arrived in Manhattan just a few years earlier and was playing in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village, at one in particular he was paid "a dollar plus a cheeseburger."

During this hour-long interview with Cynthia Gooding, Dylan played some of his own songs ("The Death of Emmett Till", "Standing on the Highway") and covers of classics by Howlin' Wolf, Hank Williams, and Woody Guthrie. We scored this Blank on Blank with Dylan tuning up his guitar and playing his harmonica.

It's a wonderful snapshot in time, with a young Dylan before he was famous and before he even released his debut album. He's nervous and funny. He's just a guy with a guitar with a little mischief underneath.

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Credits

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
David Gerlach

ANIMATOR
Patrick Smith

PRODUCER
Amy Drozdowska

COLORIST
Jennifer Yoo

SOUND DESIGN
Mixology Post / Doug Moss

PHOTOS
New York Public Library
National Archives
Unsplash
Bigstock
Wikimedia Commons

Help us caption & translate this video!

[InsertCleverNameHere]

"I'm never gonna become rich and famous"

*wins a Nobel Prize*

[TimmyScreamingChild]

Oh my god, its before even his first album...

[Zephead]

Bob made the carnival thing up. It was part of the character he was making for himself.

[misternateee]

1962 bob dylan: "i'm never gonna become rich and famous"
1965 bob dylan: hol' my beer

[ictoan]

Really cool to hear him so young with his whole life ahead of him.

Great job bringing it to life as usual guys.

[HappyMediumProject]

I love Bob Dylan, genuinely do, but I didn't even know he knew how to laugh this much ;)

[RobertSlover]

" the song was there long before i came around with a pencil" awesome.

[ChristinaGina]

The animations and people you do for this is just EXCEPTIONAL. BEST youtube channel by miles.

[discountramblepants]

Its pretty interesting to hear Bob before the motorcycle crash. I know he is 20 here, but you can really see his youthfulness in how he talks and responds to questions. Great episode, keep up the good work!

[whitleybayman]

Dylan made all of that up. That folks is why we love him :)

[ElwoodDowd]

Patrick Smith's animations are so good... and they just keep getting better... Amazing work, as always!

[ncooty]

The man has been a comet blazing across the sky for 60 years.

[lewstone]

In this interview (longer version) he mentions traveling all around the country and playing in Gallup, NM, among other places, before going to New York in '62. I played a gig in Gallup and I thought damn! Me and Bob played in the same town, at different times. Then I found out he never played in Gallup, he made up all that stuff to help create a mystique. LOl, oh well, can't blame Bob. That was a great idea.

[Mrvioleto]

0:34 subterranean homesick blues reference ftw!

[feltfriends]

How can you not smile when hearing Bob Dylan speak

[Funz]

Bob's making stuff up here, he never travelled around and played in Carnivals, ha ha ha. Part of Bob being Dylan is telling tall tales, associating himself with giants & larger themes. Truth is subjective

[simpletravel]

The greatest artist of the 20th century, a true creative genius with uncanny uniqueness. I salute you mr Bob Dylan.

[waz]

I once had a friend who looked, dressed, acted, spoke and laughed exactly like cartoon Dylan here. Except with a Scottish accent

[brazni]

These are just so lovely, really charming animation. Thanks so much for making these :)

[Tonetwisters]

Playing strings that shoulda had last rights said over 'em, and buried in the cold, cold ground. But I was into Dylan at a very early age, back when other people were singing his songs and no one ever even heard of him ... unless you looked over a record, and checked out the songwriter ... Became a born-again Christian many years ago, and recorded several Gospel-related albums. I never saw anyone sing with the kind of timing he had ... you always thought he was vocally going to be late to deliver the next line, but he ALWAYS finished the current line in and on time, like no one I have ever seen. Almost magical.