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Updated November 23rd, 2020 at 11:17 IST

'Client was thrilled': Bob Dylan's unpublished lyrics, letters sell for $495K at auction

A collection of Bob Dylan documents including his musings about anti-Semitism and unpublished song lyrics has sold at an auction for a total of $495,000.

Reported by: Bhavya Sukheja
Bob Dylan
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A collection of Bob Dylan documents including the American singer-songwriter’s musings about anti-Semitism and unpublished song lyrics has sold at an auction for a total of $495,000. According to the RR Auction Company, the items belonged to the estate of Dylan’s friend and fellow musician Tony Glover, who died last year. The items were put up fo sale in a week-long auction and the collection included personal letters and the transcripts from an interview carried out by Glover and hand-annotated by Dylan. 

The Boston-based auction house said that the 1971 interview transcripts revealed that Dylan had anti-Semitism on his mind when he changed his name from Robert Zimmerman and that he wrote ‘Lay Lady Lay’ for Barbara Streisand. In one typed and signed letter, Dylan referred to Beatles John Lenon and Ringo Starr as “groovy” after meeting them for the first time 1964. The RR Auction Company also revealed that the ‘Blowin’ in the wind’ lyrics, dated 2011 and signed by the singer, fetched the highest price $108,253.75. 

In a press release, the auction house said, “The letter's dogged pace and free-flowing lyrical style seem to mirror the very manner in which he was aggressively approaching the song-writing process, with the mashing of typewriter keys all but audible as one reads the page, sold for $36,187”. 

READ: Elvis Presley’s Ring, Motorbike, Woodstock Tapes Go Up For Sale At Los Angeles Auction

READ: Bidding At Johnny Bench Auction Ends At Just Under $2M

Unpublished lyrics sold for $38,781

Meanwhile, according to the auction house, the unpublished lyrics penned during 1962 were sold for $38,781. The press note said that the lyrics were about Dylan’s experiences with blues legend Big Joe Williams. It quoted Glover recalling a trip and Dylan’s writing in ‘No Direction Home’. The interview transcript, on the other hand, was reportedly for an Esquire article that Glover had been writing, though the story was never published. Once the transcript came to light, Barbara Streisand had said that she had no knowledge that a song was written with her in mind. 

Further, the auction house said that its client was “thrilled” with the prices fetched. Bobby Livingston, an executive with RR Auction Company said that the more satisfying result is the tribute to Tony Glover and how the public realised his importance to the history of Rock and Roll. 

READ: Fresh Auction Of Unsold Properties Of Dawood, Mirchi

READ: Sean Connery's Original 007 Gun From 'Dr.No' Expected To Fetch Upto USD 200,000 At Auction

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Published November 23rd, 2020 at 11:19 IST

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