Why was early Dylan a key influence?

Always intensely competitive, The Beatles monitored the output of their rivals closely. None came close to matching their commercial success, but they did consider Bob Dylan an artistic peer

Why Dylan loomed large

The two most influential pop acts of the 1960s were initially wary of each other. As the world was going Beatles-mad, Bob told pals he had no time for 'bubblegum music'. Paul, for his part, dismissed the 'folk crap' he had not actually heard.

Meanwhile, the rivals were busy checking each other out. McCartney has said that he first came across a physical copy of Freewheelin' (1963) during a radio interview. This then mysteriously ended up back at The Beatles' hotel suite, where they famously 'wore it out'.

Meanwhile, Bob was grasping that these British guys weren't going anywhere soon. He began listening more closely.

The Beatles' record sales dwarfed those of Bob Dylan. In terms of musical influence, the relationship was inverse. Paul McCartney has described the guru master relationship:

He was our idol... I could feel myself climbing a spiral walkway as I was talking to Dylan... like I was figuring it all out, the meaning of life.

For The Beatles, record sales were not the only criterion that mattered. Above all, they wanted to impress those fans who resembled themselves: the avid readers of the music press, buyers of imported records, and habitues of the coolest clubs.  

What made Dylan different?

The first selling point was that Dylan was American, something that automatically gave his status an uplift. They also bought into the colourful backstory he had invented for himself. Ironically, the whole hobo-riding-freight-trains shtick was seen as refreshingly authentic. 

He also opened up acoustic musical strands they had previously ignored or downplayed: most notably folk, blues and traditional acoustic music.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 

Released in May 1963, Dylan's second studio album, marked his emergance as a major singer-songwriter. Several tracks would  is . From its casual cover to the rebellious themes of its songs ('Blowing in the Wind, Times they are a changing, Masters of War etc) its seemed to throw down the gauntlet to the establishment. 

Though many assumed Dylan was posing a political challenge, the deeper resonance was cultural. The key word in the title Freewhelin' expressed seemed like a direct challenge to the previous 'greatest' generation. They had gone to war to defend freedom - here was a young man clearly enjoying it. He had his girl and his guitar - and he wasn't settling down anytime soon.