My Hibbing Dylan Pilgrimage

Three weekends ago, I traveled further north in Minnesota than I ever had before. I made a trip up to Cass Lake to take my son to Sen Lin Hu, the Concordia University Chinese language immersion camp. After dropping him off, there wasn’t anywhere in particular I had to be. I noticed I was about 70 miles to the west of Hibbing, the birthplace of Bob Dylan. It was cool and rainy along the way, but the sun broke out when I reached Hibbing.

Oh my name it is nothin’
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I’s taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that the land that I live in
Has God on its side

There is nothing notable about this house, but there are a couple of nods to Bob Dylan here…

This is the street sign on the corner of 25th Street and 7th Avenue, where the Zimmerman residence is found. You might have seen this in the front view photo, but here is a closer look.

The fact that it isn’t a perfect reproduction of the album cover of one of Dylan’s greatest albums makes it all the more a gift of love to me.

I actually took a picture of the Androy Hotel for no good reason, only to discover later that it was the site of Bob Zimmerman’s Bar Mitzvah.

So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war

I took this picture because the plaque on the left, commemorating those who served and died in World War II, was there when Bob Zimmerman went to Hibbing High School in the late 1950’s. The plaque on the right, honoring the victims of the 9/11 attacks, was not.

Again, the plaque on the left was there when Bob went to school, the plaque on the right was not. The plaque on the right honored those who served and died in Korea and Viet Nam, battles in what should be called World War III, but is currently known as the Cold War. The 9/11 plaque honors victims in what will be known in the future as World War IV.

Dylan wrote that the professional wrestler Gorgeous George winked at him when he was playing in this building:

He winked and seemed to mouth the phrase, `You’re making it come alive.’ I never forgot it. It was all the recognition and encouragement I would need for years.

What do I get from that? I get that I can always be encouraging, and that I don’t know the full impact until long after the encouraging happens.

You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray
You may call me anything but no matter what you say

You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

The building on 417 E. Howard Street once housed the L & B Cafe, where Bob and Echo Helstrom would like, hang out, smoke cigarettes and play the jukebox. Echo Helstrom is the subject of the song “Girl From The North Country.” While the L & B Cafe is no longer there, a bar/restaurant/Dylan shrine called Zimmy’s now occupies the building

Yes, I am a doofus photographer. The picture at the bottom is an enlargement of a portion of the picture at the top, a picture of little Bobby Zimmerman. There are t-shirts for sale with “Come Home Bob” on them.

A little sheet music on the walls…

I’m a little unclear as to how old Bob was in the picture in this picture.

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young

This is on the sidewalk outside of Zimmy’s.

The only thing missing from my pilgrimage is that I showed up at about 7:00 pm on a Saturday night, and the Bob Dylan Collection at the Hibbing Public Library was unavailable to me. I probably should have done some research prior to coming to Hibbing. If I had, I would have discovered the Dylan Walking Tour, which I highly recommend. I’d like to think I caught the high points. I was too late for Dylan Days, which was in late May, the time of the Bard’s birth.

Technorati: Bob Dylan, Hibbing