Happy 75th Birthday Bob Dylan! Possibly the greatest poet to come out of the 60s, Dylan is our most revered contemporary songwriter. His incredible catalog represents some of the most important work in the history of Folk, Americana, and Rock music. Classics tunes such as “All Along The Watchtower”, “Like A Rolling Stone”, “Maggie’s Farm”, “Tangled up in Blue”, and “I Shall Be Released” are just a small piece of the puzzle, as Dylan released several legendary and influential albums like Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, and Highway 61 Revisited.

Famous for “going electric” at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, Dylan is credited with bringing contemporary Folk music into the Rock era, weaving his politically-charged lyrics with the exciting live musicianship that we’ve come to expect from concerts today. By doing so, Dylan essentially merged the worlds of Folk and Rock that encouraged the musical counter-culture movement of the late 60’s.

Dylan’s acceptance of “plugged in” instruments (and subsequent hiring of The Band as his “electric” band) inspired a generation of musicians to explore the medium, and he heavily influenced artists like The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, and Jimi Hendrix (among countless others) to plug in and explore their instruments and songs in new, groundbreaking ways. On top of all that (as the story goes), he even maybe-sort-of introduced The Beatles to the joys of marijuana! Without Bob Dylan, we might have never heard Jerry Garcia play one of his beautiful guitar solos on an electric guitar, The Beatles might have never been introduced to their psychedelic side, and The Band may have never made their way into the public eye. It’s truly amazing to consider how massive Bob Dylan’s influence has been to the world of music and the culture that surrounds it!

To celebrate this legendary artist’s 75th birthday, check out some great footage of the man himself performing some of his best songs over the years, along with a few of his most fun collaborations, and some very impressive covers performed by an eclectic range of artists. Enjoy the videos below, and happy birthday Bob!

“Mr. Tambourine Man” at Newport Folk Festival in 1964.

“Maggie’s Farm” opening the first-ever electric set at Newport Folk Festival, performed by Bob Dylan in 1965 (note the heavy booing by angry folk music fans at the end!).

Bob Dylan and The Band perform “Forever Young” during The Last Waltz.

26 minutes of Bob Dylan with The Grateful Dead from Giants Stadium 7/12/1987 during their “Alone and Together” mini-tour.

In the late 80’s, Bob Dylan was part of a super-group called the Travelling Wilburys with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty. While the band never toured together, here’s a music video of their hit song “Handle With Care.”

Famed producer T. Bone Burnett organized these incredible contemporary songwriters to complete unfinished songs from Dylan’s Basement Tapes era with The Band. This modern supergroup, dubbed The New Basement Tapes, includes Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Rhiannon Giddens, and Elvis Costello. This video below captures Mumford singing the beautiful “Kansas City”, with special guest Johnny Depp filling in for Costello on guitar.

Here’s some audio of the great Johnny Cash performing Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” at Newport Folk Festival in 1964

Dave Matthews Band has been covering Dylan’s incredible “All Along The Watchtower” for years. Check out this version from their Live in Central Park.

Guns n’ Roses turned “Knockin on Heaven’s Door” into an arena rock anthem on Use Your Illusion II. Watch them perform the seminal song at Rock In Rio festival 1991.

How does it feel?