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| Bob Dylan's secret archives | |
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Rumors have had it that somewhere an extensive archive of Bob Dylan rarities existed. That archive has now been sold to a group of institutions in Oklahoma for a price about $15-$20 mill. The archives thus opened are meant to become a resource for academic study. The material will be placed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, alongside a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence, an exibition of Native American art, and - not least - a mini-museum of Woodie Guthrie archives. Dylan states that he's glad his archives have found a home and that they "are to be included with the works of Woody Guthrie and especially alongside all the valuable artifacts from the Native American nations. To me it makes a lot of sense, and it's a great honor.” While Dylan has moved away a long way from what he was doing in the very first years (he has more or less spent his whole career moving away from what he did before), traditional American folk music, country, blues and early rock'n'roll has always been close to his heart and an inspiration. To Dylan Woody Guthrie has never been forgotten. It has been an enormous task to catalog and digitize the material which is now made available to scholars and other Dylan students. The New York Times states: "There is always far more beneath the surface than anyone could guess. One example of this phenomenon – and of how radically the material could change existing Dylan scholarship – is the "Blood on the Tracks" material." (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/arts/music/bob-dylans-secret-archive.html?_r=1) The New York sessions of the "Blood On The Tracks" material are among the most interesting items, but a variety of all sorts of material is on display. For those who are not aquainted with the creation of the Blood On The Tracks album, the story goes that Dylan wasn't satisfied with the New York recordings. With the help of his brother, David Zimmermann, the whole bunch of songs was re-recorded in a studio in Minneapolis, and those recordings became the official album. Behind the project stands the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of Tulsa. George Kaiser himself has announced that he's no hot fan of Dylan's music but that he does appreciate his place in American history. "I was taken by Joan Baez in college," he has said, "when she was singing down the block." (He went to Harvard.) (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/arts/music/bob-dylans-secret-archive.html?_r=1) The full archive has been estimated to a value of $60 million, but the main part of it has been given as a donation. The difference between the appraised sum of money and the actual purchase price may enable Dylan to claim a large charitable donation for tax purposes. Good for him. |
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