2 A Cool Guitar

Chapter 2 A Cool Guitar At about the same time he started listening to rock, Bob decided to learn guitar. His parents rented one for him. Bob taught himself to play with a book that showed the basic chords. He spent hours practicing and trying out different kinds of sounds. Soon Bob wanted a cooler and better guitar. He had his eye on a flashy guitar from a catalog. It was turquoise with a white wing painted near the strings and cost thirty-nine dollars. (That was a lot of money in the 1950s.)

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He knew his parents would not understand why he wanted to spend so much money on a guitar. So Bob saved up twenty dollars for the down payment. By doing this, he could take the guitar home. However, until he had completely paid for it, he kept the guitar hidden. Then he started playing it around the house. Bob's parents were impressed with how hard he'd worked to buy that guitar. In high school, Bob and two friends formed a band called the Golden Chords. There was a drummer and a guitar player, and Bob played piano. The Golden Chords soon split up, and Bob formed another band with three other boys. This new, nameless band had electric guitars and very loud amplifiers. When Hibbing High sponsored a talent show, Bob and his friends signed up. As soon as it was their turn, they turned the amplifiers as high as they would go. The music was so loud that no one could hear Bob singing. After just a few minutes the principal cut the power. The nameless band left the stage.

In high school Bob was something of a loner. He kept to himself and seldom spoke up in class. Nor did he play any sports or join clubs, not even the

school band. He preferred practicing his guitar on his own, or drawing and writing poems. Still, Bob found ways to be noticed. He talked his father into buying him a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Bob wore a black leather jacket and had a cute girlfriend who rode on the back of the bike while he roared around Hibbing. The girl's name was Echo Star Helstrom. She was Bob's first real girlfriend. Echo's family was less well off than the Zimmermans. Her family lived in a tiny house outside of town. Bob's family was middle class and had a nice house in a nice neighborhood. But Echo and Bob shared much in common. They both loved listening to the Louisiana radio stations late at night. Echo was as crazy about rock and roll and rhythm and blues as he was. Like Bob, she didn't fit in at high school. They both wanted to

get out of Hibbing as soon as they graduated. Bob was already planning a new identity for himself. Changing his last name was part of the plan. Echo was the first person to hear his new name: Bob Dillon. There was a popular TV character called Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke. But Bob told people that he chose the name because he had an uncle named Dillon who was a gambler in Las Vegas. That wasn't true. There was no uncle named Dillon anywhere. A couple of years later Bob changed the spelling of his new last name to D-y-la-n. Some people thought that Bob had picked the name Dylan because of the famous Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. But Bob denied that, too. Like with so many other parts of the Bob Dylan story, he offered no explanation at all. In June 1959, Bob graduated from high school. Under his yearbook picture it said that his ambition was "to join Little Richard."