During the early 1970s whilst I was in my teens, I discovered Bob Dylan. Later I started calling him Bob Da (Da means big brother in Bengali). Like many a teenager and having been born and brought up in the then erstwhile Calcutta, I was also into Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, ABBA, George McCrae, The Temptations, Roberta Flack, Smokey Robinson, Linda Ronstadt, Bee Gees, The Beatles, Eagles, KC and The Sunshine Band, The Carpenters, Ann Murray, Cat Stevens, Matt Munroe, Jim Reeves, Engelbert Humperdinck, amongst other. But Bob Da stayed.
Later I discovered Frank Sinatra. Frank Da too stayed. Much later I discovered Woody Guthrie. Initially I could not connect Woody with Bob Da. But as I delved deep into Woody, I understood how much Influenced Bob Da was by Woody. Not only Bob Da, but Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash and Pete Seeger amongst others too were heavily influenced by Woody.
Then while existing, Bob Da’s Chronicles, Volume One fell into my hand in 2016. Thanks to Bob Da, I discovered – Walt Whitman, Archibald MacLeish, Carl Sandburg, Stephen Crane, Lonnie Johnson, Andy Warhol, Wynonie Harris, Ivory Joe Hunter, Little Walter, Chuck Willis, Stanley Clark, Bobby Hutcherson, Charles Earland, Patti Austin, David Benoit, Marianne Faithfull, Joan Armatrading, Irma Thomas, Jim Dickinson, , Odetta, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Charlie Patton Tommy Johnson, John Jacob Niles, Joe Hickerson, Meade Lux Lewis, Big Joe Turner, Pete Johnson, Josh White.
Now I can exist a little bit more.
