Christie's Will Auction Bob Dylan's First New Studio Recording of 'Blowin In The Wind' Since 1962

London — Christie’s will auction Bob Dylan’s first new studio recording of “Blowin’ in the Wind” since 1962, from a special session with multi-Grammy winning producer T Bone Burnett, on the newly announced breakthrough Ionic Original CD. The first recording to exploit his proprietary technology from Burnett’s firm, NeoFidelity, Inc., this rare lot will be sold in The Exceptional Sale on July 7 as a highlight inside Classic Week London (estimate: £600,000-1,000,000).

A first in music history: this opportunity to acquire a new recording of Bob Dylan’s seminal song is a landmark moment and Burnett notes that the technology used to create the Ionic Original disc “advances the art of recorded sound and marks the first breakthrough in analog sound reproduction in more than 70 years, achieving dramatic improvements in listening experience and durability.” 

The sale of this historic lot – in Bob Dylan's 60th anniversary year as a recording artist - gives a rare chance for worldwide collectors, music enthusiasts, historians, connoisseurs and audiophiles. Exclusive in-person listening experiences of the “Blowin’ In The Wind” Ionic Original will take held in advance of the auction: by-appointment in Los Angeles (8 June) and New York (15 June) and as part of the public pre-sale exhibition in London (2-7 July) (2-7 July).

Peter Klarnet, Christie’s Senior Specialist, Americana, Books and Manuscripts commented: “Christie’s is thrilled to be releasing this unique recording of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, one of the most significant songs recorded in the previous century, on this innovative new ‘Ionic Original’ format. I very much share T Bone Burnett’s love for the aural quality of analog sound and it is appropriate that this major development is being sold as a stand-out lot in The Exceptional Sale, London on 7 July 2022.”

T Bone Burnett, Founder of NeoFidelity Inc. and multi-Grammy-winning producer, commented: “Sixty years after Bob first wrote and recorded ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, he is giving us a new recording of his song; one that is both deeply relevant for our times and resonant with decades of the artist’s life and experience. We’re thankful to Christie’s for their conviction in the ‘Ionic Original’ and for bringing Bob’s excellent recording to the world in a unique and significant way.”

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND

This year celebrates not just the 60th anniversary of Bob Dylan as a recording artist, but also one of the most famous and poignant songs recorded in the previous century, “Blowin' in the Wind.” Debuted on the minuscule stage of Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village in April 1962, Bob Dylan's “Blowin' in the Wind” was an immediate classic, and is now woven solidly into the fabric of American society.

Dylan initially recorded the song for Columbia on 9 July 1962 for his second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. He visited the studio again in 2021 to re-record the song with his buddy, Joseph Henry ‘T Bone’ Burnett III, the Grammy and Oscar winning composer, guitarist and producer. 

Unlike Dylan's 1963 release which attained platinum status, just a single copy of this new recording of “Blowin' in the Wind” will be given on the breakthrough new audio medium: Ionic Original.

The cultural effect of “Blowin’ in the Wind” cannot be emphasised. Covered by hundreds of musicians since the lyrics and melody first appeared in print in May 1962, the song not only launched Bob Dylan to the international stage, but gave fresh voice to the emerging social movements of the 1960s.

T BONE BURNETT

Multiple Grammy and Oscar winner Joseph Henry ‘T Bone’ Burnett is a producer, guitarist and composer. Burnett most recently released Acoustic Space, the first full-length chapter of The Invisible Light trilogy, an experimental song cycle which examines the premise that civilization has been victim to a programming epidemic which is leading us to lose our capacity to separate reality from fantasy. Burnett also created and produced the music for highly praised HBO series True Detective, and his cinematic work includes the five-time Grammy winning soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski, Cold Mountain, The Hunger Games, Crazy Heart and Walk The Line, among others. He has worked with several musicians including Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Roy Orbison, and won Album of the Year and Record of the Year Grammy Awards for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand.

About Christie’s

Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury enterprise. Renowned and renowned for its skilled live and online auctions, as well as its tailored private sales, Christie’s provides a broad portfolio of worldwide services to its customers, including art assessment, art finance, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, encompassing the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with major international sales centres in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only foreign auction house permitted to conduct auctions in mainland China (Shanghai) (Shanghai).

Source: christies.com