Q 01/05

What name was Bob Dylan given at birth?

A) Robert Alan Zimmermann

B) Robert Allen Dylan

C) Robert Allen Zimmerman

D) Robert Anthony Zimmerman

Answer · why

C) Robert Allen Zimmerman

He was born at St Mary's Hospital in Duluth in May 1941. He took his stage name legally some years later.

Q 02/05

In which northern state was Bob Dylan born?

A) Wisconsin

B) Minnesota

C) Michigan

D) Nebraska

Answer · why

B) Minnesota

The town was Duluth, on Lake Superior. The family moved inland when he was six.

Q 03/05

In which iron-mining town did Dylan spend most of his childhood?

A) Hibbing

B) Bemidji

C) Brainerd

D) Grand Rapids

Answer · why

A) Hibbing

The family moved there after his father contracted polio. It was his mother's home town.

Q 04/05

Which musician did Dylan travel to New York to visit in January 1961?

A) Lead Belly

B) Pete Seeger

C) Hank Williams

D) Woody Guthrie

Answer · why

D) Woody Guthrie

His idol was in a psychiatric hospital in New Jersey by then. Dylan's early style is a direct copy of his.

Q 05/05

From which traditional song did the melody of 'Blowin' in the Wind' partly derive?

A) John Henry

B) Wayfaring Stranger

C) No More Auction Block

D) Down by the Riverside

Answer · why

C) No More Auction Block

Pete Seeger identified the source and Dylan later confirmed it. The spiritual is connected to 'We Shall Overcome'.