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STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: There's a story in Duluth about Bob Dylan and the city's old armory. City councilor Don Ness says it's best told right here on London Road.

DON NESS: In front of the old armory where Bob Dylan once, Buddy Holly play, back when he was a high school student, coming down from Hibbing.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Just a few days later, Buddy Holly died in an airplane accident Dylan has been quoted as saying the concert was a turning point in his young musical life. A grassroots group is working to restore the armory and turn it into a music center. So city councilor Don Ness says these few blocks of London Road in front of the armory would be a great place to recognize Bob Dylan.

DON NESS: It was 65 years ago that he was born in a Duluth hospital. And by honoring him, I think we also honor ourselves as a cultural and arts center for this region.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: This has come up before. 20 years ago, there was a pitch to name a street after Dylan, but the city council rejected it. People said Dylan had never done anything for Duluth. He'd never come back to play here. But in the past eight years, he's performed two concerts here. One was on an outdoor stage at Bayfront Park. Don Ness says Dylan seemed to be making a peace offering.

DON NESS: He looked up in between songs and looked up to the hill and said, those were the hills that I was born in, and it's good to see that they're still there. And that was his, a very small way for him to reach out to our community. And this street designation would be a very small step for us, for the community, to reach back to him.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Even so, not all the city councilors are sold on the idea.

TIM LITTLE: I will say I'm not a huge Bob Dylan fan.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Tim Little says, tonight, he may well vote against naming a street for Bob Dylan.

TIM LITTLE: I know if I were living on London Road, I certainly wouldn't want to rename the street and have to change just about everything I have to reflect the name change.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: But it wouldn't be like that, says Don Ness. He's not proposing to actually change the name of the street. He just wants to put up some signs to bring attention to the place.

DON NESS: The London Road signs will stay. And then below that will have Dylan Boulevard or whatever the specific street designation would be.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Or, councilors could choose some other street to honor Dylan. Duluth's Dylan fans are proud he was born here. But he only lived in the city for seven years. He spent the rest of his childhood and graduated from high school up the road in Hibbing. He was Robert Zimmerman then. Last year, Hibbing named several blocks of 7th Avenue, Dylan Drive. Aaron Brown is co-chair of Dylan Days, the city's annual celebration of Bob Dylan and of the local arts scene. Brown says they named the street to honor Dylan, but it's turned out to be a bit of a tourist draw.

AARON BROWN: People have snapped a lot of pictures of those signs, so Duluth could stand to benefit from a street sign.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: But Brown says Hibbing can take more credit for Bob Dylan than Duluth ever could.

AARON BROWN: Hibbing is a place where he learned most of his musical abilities and learned a lot of things about the blues and life in general. We don't want to get into a fight with Duluth over it, but we certainly could understand them wanting to put up a street sign.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: After tonight, this road in Duluth could have several names. Outside of town, it's Highway 61. In town, it's London Road. And for a few blocks in front of the armory, it could be Dylan Boulevard.

[BOB DYLAN, "HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED"] Where do you want this killing done. God tell on Highway 61.

I'm Stephanie Hemphill, Minnesota Public Radio News.

[BOB DYLAN, "HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED"]

(SINGING) Well, Georgia Sam, he had a bloody nose. Welfare Department, they wouldn't give him no clothes. He asked poor Howard, where can I go? Howard said, there is only one place I know. Sam said, tell me quick, man, I got to run. Oh, Howard just pointed with his gun and said, that way, down Highway 61.

Well, Mac the Finger said to Louie the King, I got 40 red, white, and blue shoe strings and 1,000 telephones that don't ring. Do you know where I can get rid of these things? And Louie the King said, let me think for a minute, son. And he said, yes, I think it can be easily done. Just take everything down to Highway 61.

Now the fifth daughter, on the twelfth night, told the first father that things weren't right. My complexion, she says, is much too white. He said, come here and step into the light. He says, hmm, you're right. Let me tell a second mother this has been done. But the second mother was with the seventh son. And they were both out on Highway 61.

Now the roving gambler, he was very bored. Trying to create our next world war, he found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor. He said, I never engaged in this kind of thing before. But yes, I think it can be very easily done. We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun and have it on Highway 61.