I can't remember the first time I heard Bob Dylan. He must have been on the radio since I was a baby - he started recording in 1961 at the age of 20. I was born in 1964.
I must have learned to play simple Dylan songs (which don't exist, really) when I was learning the guitar at age 12 or 13. I remember my guitar teacher not only taught me classical guitar (Emilio Pujol, Matteo Carcassi) but also liked to teach me playing chords. I remember one of the first songs I learned was the Stones' "My Sweet Lady Jane", but I guess "Blowing in the Wind" was part of the package too. I should look it up in the old guitar lessons notebooks I may still have in a box somewhere. I remember the teacher often used a red pencil to write with.
I am quite sure some of Dylan's songs were part and parcel of the alternative youth 'gang' I was part of at secondary school, from age 15 to 18. At the same time I was playing in the folk music scene, and Dylan's songs were played (as covers, sometimes in translation) often. I have heard many of his songs at that time without realizing they were written by him, actually.
