O/T Dylan Lyrics Go For $2m

[peterknowlesburnside]

I'm a huge Dylan fan, but FFS this is crazy. This is from 'Classic Rock' mag -

Bob Dylan's original draft of the lyrics to 1965 classic Like A Rolling Stone sold for over $2m this week, setting a new price record.

It's now the most expensive rock music manuscript ever auctioned, after Sotheby's had estimated it would go for half the amount.

The price tag soared beyond the $1.2m cost of John Lennon's handwritten lyrics for 1967 Beatles track A Day In The Life.

Dylan wrote his words on four sheets of headed notepaper from the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington, DC. The pages include scribbles, ideas and unused lyrics including a reference to gangster Al Capone and the line "Dry vermouth / you'll tell the truth."

Sotheby's head of books Richard Austin said: "It's always pleasing to set the world record. I'm a Dylan fan myself – I thought it was one of the coolest things I've ever handled."

Also sold were Dylan's A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall lyrics, which went for $485,000. Elvis Presley'

[Evewolf65]

Great Songwriter and a fantastic musician but just one of those artist's whose material sounded better 'covered' by someone else IMO.

[1877wolf]

Great Songwriter and a fantastic musician but just one of those artist's whose material sounded better 'covered' by someone else IMO.

Yep.

"There must be some kind of way outta here, said the joker to the thief" always sounds better in a Jimi kind of voice followed by guitar fill

[tony]

Great Songwriter and a fantastic musician but just one of those artist's whose material sounded better 'covered' by someone else IMO.

Couldn't agree more.

There was that famous embarrassing moment - obviously early days when the man himself was still not that well known over here - when 60s pop group Manfred Mann (who went on to cover a lot of Dylan stuff) were assembled in some A&R man's office and one of them complained: "Why does this Bob Dylan get such an awful singer to present his great songs?"

It's fascinating to see the silly money some of this material now commands on the collectors' market. The likes of Dylan/Presley/Beatles made such a cultural impact in their time that they are already being regarded as significant historical figures.

As time goes on and more of these people pass away and recede into history, stuff we once regarded as throwaway ephemera could eventually go on to become the sought after antiques

[MichiganWolf]

Great Songwriter and a fantastic musician but just one of those artist's whose material sounded better 'covered' by someone else IMO.

His voice is one of his greatest appeals to me. It makes me feel like I'm listening to an "average" person, not a musical supergod and given that most of his songs were for all people, I think it fits.

But I can certainly understand not liking it as the only thing you can really say about the quality of voice is that he was singing in the right key.

As for 2 mil for this song, it's not even his best! Wish "The Times They Are A Changin" would go for that much as it will forever be the most culturally relevant song ever written IMO.

[Evewolf65]

Great Songwriter and a fantastic musician but just one of those artist's whose material sounded better 'covered' by someone else IMO.

His voice is one of his greatest appeals to me. It makes me feel like I'm listening to an "average" person, not a musical supergod and given that most of his songs were for all people, I think it fits.

But I can certainly understand not liking it as the only thing you can really say about the quality of voice is that he was singing in the right key.

As for 2 mil for this song, it's not even his best! Wish "The Times They Are A Changin" would go for that much as it will forever be the most culturally relevant song ever written IMO.[/quote]


I never mentioned his voice, but having said that ,it could be deemed an Issue! Everyone pretty much has their own "Times they are a changin' now mate but he made the Blueprint !