<P> "Blowin' in the Wind" has been described as an anthem of the civil rights movement . In Martin Scorsese's documentary on Dylan, No Direction Home, Mavis Staples expressed her astonishment on first hearing the song and said she could not understand how a young white man could write something that captured the frustration and aspirations of black people so powerfully . Sam Cooke was similarly deeply impressed by the song, incorporating it into his repertoire soon after its release (a version would be included on Sam Cooke at the Copa), and being inspired by it to write "A Change Is Gonna Come". </P> <P> "Blowin' in the Wind" was first covered by The Chad Mitchell Trio, but their record company delayed release of the album containing it because the song included the word death, so the trio lost out to Peter, Paul and Mary, who were represented by Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman . The single sold a phenomenal 300,000 copies in the first week of release and made the song world - famous . On August 17, 1963, it reached number two on the Billboard pop chart, with sales exceeding one million copies . Peter Yarrow recalled that, when he told Dylan he would make more than $5,000 (equivalent to $39,000 in 2016) from the publishing rights, Dylan was speechless . Peter, Paul and Mary's version of the song also spent five weeks atop the easy listening chart . </P> <P> The critic Andy Gill wrote, </P> <P> "Blowin' in the Wind" marked a huge jump in Dylan's songwriting . Prior to this, efforts like "The Ballad of Donald White" and "The Death of Emmett Till" had been fairly simplistic bouts of reportage songwriting . "Blowin' in the Wind" was different: for the first time, Dylan discovered the effectiveness of moving from the particular to the general . Whereas "The Ballad of Donald White" would become completely redundant as soon as the eponymous criminal was executed, a song as vague as "Blowin' in the Wind" could be applied to just about any freedom issue . It remains the song with which Dylan's name is most inextricably linked, and safeguarded his reputation as a civil libertarian through any number of changes in style and attitude . </P>

Who sang the answer my friend is blowin in the wind