Christie’s is set to auction Bob Dylan’s first new studio recording of his hit song, “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
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The new recording is Dylan’s first for the song since 1962 and it comes from a special session with multi-time Grammy Award-winning producer T. Bone Burnett. It’s also the first recording to take advantage of Burnett’s patented technology, Ionic Original, from his company NeoFidelity, Inc.
The disc is set for auction on July 7 in London and is estimated to sell for between £600,000-£1,000,000.
According to a press statement about the auction, “A first in music history: this opportunity to acquire a new recording of Bob Dylan’s seminal song is a landmark moment.”
Burnett says of 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 comes during the 60th anniversary of Dylan’s recording career.
The auction “presents a unique opportunity for international collectors, music fans, historians, aficionados and audiophiles,” according to the press statement.
Exclusive in-person listening experiences of the “Blowin’ In The Wind” Ionic Original will take place in advance of the auction: by appointment in Los Angeles on June 8 and New York on June 15 and as part of the public pre-sale exhibition in London from July 2-7.
“Christie’s is excited to be offering this unique recording of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, one of the most important songs written in the last century, on this groundbreaking new ‘Ionic Original’ format,” said Peter Klarnet, Christie’s Senior Specialist, Americana, Books, and Manuscripts. “I very much share T. Bone Burnett’s passion for the sonic excellence of analog sound and it is fitting that this important development is being offered as a stand-out lot in The Exceptional Sale, London on 7 July 2022.”
Added Burnett, “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 grateful to Christie’s for their belief in the ‘Ionic Original’ and for presenting Bob’s masterful recording to the world in a unique and meaningful way.”
Debuted on the diminutive stage of Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village in April 1962, Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” was an instant classic and is today woven firmly into the fabric of American culture.
Dylan first recorded the song for Columbia on 9 July 1962 for his second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. He entered the studio again in 2021 to re-record the song with his friend, Burnett. Unlike Dylan’s 1963 release which achieved platinum status, only a single copy of this new recording of “Blowin’ in the Wind” will be offered via the new audio medium Ionic Original.
