Front Row Seat: When Bob Dylan was first noted in hometown paper

Three young light-skinned children stand holding hands in a black-and-white photo taken circa 1945. Two girls about six years old wear thigh-length coats; a boy about four years old wears a dark suit. — Bobby Zimmerman, who would become Bob Dylan, stands with two Hibbing children in a photograph taken about 1945. Twice that year the News Tribune reported on the Zimmerman family's visits to stay with relatives in Hibbing.

By Jay Gabler

December 04, 2024 at 7:00 AM

DULUTH — The upcoming movie "A Complete Unknown," starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, tells the musician's story starting with his 1961 arrival on the East Coast.

Dylan's youth here will be acknowledged — a trailer opens with Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) mentioning Minnesota — but the story focuses on the artist's self-reinventions in early adulthood.

What were the folks back home saying while the boy from the North Country was transforming popular music? It's long been hard to tell because most of this newspaper's archives were accessible only on microfiche. Now, though, much of the News Tribune's history is accessible online via Newspapers.com, which means the paper can be searched for mentions of Dylan's name.

The News Tribune first took notice of Dylan's burgeoning career April 15, 1962.

"A youth known in Hibbing as Robert Zimmerman is currently enjoying a wave of attention as a far-out folksinger who calls himself Bob Dylan," read the second item in that day's "Off the Record" column. The day's top item concerned a new album of Jewish prayers.

Newspaper text: "Musical history must note, but not long remember, that a youth known in Hibbing as Robert Zimmerman is currently enjoying a wave of attention as a far-out folksinger who calls himself Bob Dylan. His tunes are largely his own, delivered in a lively style that sounds like a mixture of shout and chant, and accompanied on a steel guitar and harmonica combination. Columbia Records introduces him on an album, 'Bob Dylan.' It's already sold quite a few copies in the Duluth and Iron Range area." — The News Tribune first mentioned Bob Dylan's new name and musical ascendance April 15, 1962.

"His tunes are largely his own, sung in a lively style that sounds like a mixture of shout and chant, and accompanied on a steel guitar and harmonica combination," reported the News Tribune — incorrectly. In fact, at that time, Dylan was largely playing a Gibson acoustic guitar.

Presumably, the News Tribune was more accurate in saying that Dylan's self-titled debut album had "already sold quite a few copies in the Duluth and Iron Range area."

Attentive News Tribune readers would have known about Robert Zimmerman, who had already been mentioned or alluded to at least three times. The first was May 29, 1941, five days after Dylan's birth. A baby boy, the newspaper noted without naming the infant, had been born to "Mr. and Mrs. Abe H. Zimmerman, 519 Third avenue east." (The birth itself took place at St. Mary's Hospital, a structure that has recently been replaced and is currently being demolished.)

Abe and his wife, Beatty, merited mention in the paper several times before even having children.

In 1928, when Abe was just 17 years old, the News Tribune informed readers that the young man "left Saturday for a few days' visit in Minneapolis." (It didn't take much to make the society pages in 1920s Duluth.)

Dylan's future father also popped up regularly in the sports section, which tracked YMCA basketball games and local golf tournaments.

Newspaper clipping: photo of young light-skinned man with text, "The Nu Epsilon Phi fraternity will sponsor its second annual summer sport dance Wednesday night, July 20, in the ballroom at the Duluth Water Sports Center. Abe Zimmerman is chairman of the committee in charge of arrangements. Russ Germeroth's orchestra will furnish the music." — In July 1932, the News Tribune reported on the social activities of Abe Zimmerman, who would become Bob Dylan's father.

In 1932, Abe Zimmerman even had his picture in the paper — his 1929 Central High senior photo — for an item about his participation in Nu Epsilon Phi, apparently a Jewish social fraternity. Abe was leading a committee organizing a "summer sport dance" to be held at the Duluth Water Sports Center on Park Point.

Things seemed to quiet down a bit for Abe after he married, though he did earn make print in 1939 when he received a 10-year service pin from Standard Oil, where he was then a stock clerk.

In a sign of the times, the next item on that page concerned a New York congressman reaming President Franklin D. Roosevelt for "utter stupidity and sheer political folly" after FDR declined to wish Adolf Hitler a happy 50th birthday.

Beatty, for her part, earned notice in the News Tribune several times during her pre-marriage years. The paper dutifully reported on the Hibbing girl's comings and goings as she visited Twin Ports family members and attended events like a 1930 Zionist picnic held in Superior. (On at least two occasions in the early '30s, Beatty stayed with Superior relatives at 927 Baxter Ave.)

She would again make the paper for organizing a 1945 Council of Jewish Women dinner at which Hubert Humphrey — shortly thereafter elected mayor of Minneapolis — was the featured speaker.

Six years later, when Bobby was 9 and the Zimmermans had moved to Hibbing, Beatty was noted as co-organizer of Minnesota's observance of World Jewish Child's Day. Proclaiming the day, Gov. Luther Youngdahl "emphasized the need for gathering homeless Jewish children and sending them to Israel."

Newspaper clipping: portrait of light-skinned young woman with text: "Mrs. Abe Zimmerman is a member of the committee making arrangements for the foreign policy dinner given by the Duluth chapter, Council of Jewish Women, at the Covenant club at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday. Hubert Humphrey, Jr., of Minneapolis will be guest speaker." — In January 1945, the News Tribune reported on a dinner organized by Beatrice "Beatty" Zimmerman, Bob Dylan's mother.

The Zimmermans' own Jewish child was first mentioned by name in the News Tribune on Aug. 31, 1945. The family was then still living in Duluth, and the paper reported that "Mr. and Mrs. Abe Zimmerman and son, Robert, have returned from Hibbing where they were guests of Mrs. Ben Stone."

Four-year-old "Bobbie" was back in the paper just a couple of months later on Oct. 18, returning to Duluth with his parents "after visiting in Hibbing with Mrs. Zimmerman's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Stone." That was an unfortunate error; the News Tribune had reported Ben Stone's death five months earlier. The October note was apparently the paper's last mention of Bobby Zimmerman until his later rise to fame.

The News Tribune did follow up with the Zimmermans a year after the 1962 blurb, finding the family at an awkward point in its history.

By fall 1963, Dylan had become a subject of national fascination, a wunderkind songwriter whose haunting anthem "Blowin' in the Wind" was a major hit for Peter, Paul and Mary. Fans and reporters were increasingly asking about Dylan's origins, an understandable curiosity that nonetheless frustrated the musician and promises to be a major topic of the new biopic.

Album cover: "Bob Dylan," with photograph of light-skinned man in his early 20s and list of songs. Man holds neck of acoustic guitar and wears shearling jacket. — On the cover of his 1962 self-titled debut album, Bob Dylan holds the neck of an acoustic guitar — not, as the News Tribune incorrectly reported, a "steel guitar."

Newsweek infuriated Dylan with a skeptical November 1963 profile. That article quoted Dylan saying he'd "lost contact" with his parents — but then reported that to the contrary, the artist maintained a perfectly amicable relationship with his family. Dylan had been back to Hibbing as recently as that past summer and paid for Abe and Beatty and Dylan's 17-year-old brother to travel to New York for Bobby's Carnegie Hall debut.

"Bobby is hard to understand," Dylan's brother, David, told Newsweek.

It was amid this media maelstrom that the News Tribune got Abe to go on record about "my son, the folknik," as the Oct. 20 article was headlined. The Zimmermans gave few interviews about their son, so despite the inconvenience of accessing News Tribune archives, fans have remained aware of this piece.

The News Tribune didn't waste time addressing the controversy over Dylan's obfuscations. The 1963 article's first sentence declared, "There's an unwritten code in show business that people like to be deceived." Reporter Walter Eldot declared locals were having a "chuckle" over Dylan's transformation, and hinted the Northland preferred good-old Bobby Zimmerman to "folknik" Bob Dylan.

"I ordered a dozen albums," a local merchant told Eldot, "but even his relatives won't buy them."

Abe said that though his parents found his affected persona "disturbing," they understood it as a show business decision.

"He wanted to be a folk singer, an entertainer," explained Abe. "We couldn't see it, but we felt he was entitled to the chance."

The Zimmermans, according to Abe, gave Bobby a year to try his fortunes in New York before going back to school if things didn't work out. After just eight months, Dylan, who legally changed his name in 1962, earned a rave review in the New York Times.

"We figured that anybody who can get his picture and two columns in the New York Times is doing pretty good," said Abe. "Anyway, it was a start."

Abe's parents, who immigrated to Duluth from Odessa, Ukraine, might have said the same thing about having a son who gets his picture in the News Tribune.

more by jay gabler

By Jay Gabler

Arts and entertainment reporter Jay Gabler joined the Duluth News Tribune in 2022. His previous experience includes eight years as a digital producer at The Current (Minnesota Public Radio), four years as theater critic at Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages, and six years as arts editor at the Twin Cities Daily Planet. He's a co-founder of pop culture and creative writing blog The Tangential; he's also a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the Minnesota Film Critics Association. You can reach him at jgabler@duluthnews.com or 218-409-7529.