I wouldn't really compare dylan with Elvis in that sense. Yes, the persona was big, but bob actually was making music that was unlike anything else. The political influence was definitely huge, but It wasn't his only influence. He really made songwriters re-think the way they were writing songs. There was no one that I've come across who was writing such poetic and surrealistic songs before Dylan. Combine that with his voice and the overall sound of the music, it was a mainstream breakthrough. So much that even frank Zappa said, "When I heard Like a Rolling Stone, I wanted to quit the music business because I felt: 'If this wins and it does what it's supposed to do, I don't need to do anything else.'" That's a pretty big testament, coming from Zappa.
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