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New recording of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ to be auctioned

The disc features the first new recording of the legendary song since 1962

By Hollie Geraghty

Bob Dylan performs live in a black and white stage shot
Bob Dylan performs in Rotterdam, June 23, 1978 (Picture: Wikimedia Creative Commons/Chris Hakkens).

Bob Dylan’s first new recording of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ since 1962 is set to be auctioned in London this summer.

The re-recorded version of the classic song from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album, will be auctioned at London auction house Christie’s on July 7 as part of its “Classic Week”.

The track was recorded with Grammy-winning producer and longtime collaborator T Bone Burnett using a new Ionic Original disc format. 

The one-of-a-kind disc, which featured the Dylan’s first new recording of the song since the original version, is expected to fetch between £600,000-£1,000,000.

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,” Burnett said in a press statement. “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.”

Peter Klarnet, a Senior Specialist at Christie’s, said: “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.

“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.”

Earlier this year, the legendary singer-songwriter announced his first book of entirely new writing in nearly 20 years.

He will release ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song’ on November 8 – a collection of more than 60 essays on the art of songwriting that he began penning in 2010, and will include reflections on the craft of, among others, Stephen Foster, Elvis Costello, Nina Simone, and Hank Williams.

According to a press release, the book will see Dylan deconstruct the work of a number of his peers and forerunners; in it, he “analyses what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal”.

Later this month, Dylan is set to head off on a West Coast US tour, kicking off in Washington and finishing up in San Diego.