A previously long-lost collection of Bob Dylan documents has sold at auction for $495,000 (£373k).
The papers included unpublished lyrics written by the star, letters between him and late American blues musician Tony Glover, and transcripts of interviews between the pair.
- Read more: Bob Dylan – ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’review: arguably his grandest poetic statement yet
The collection, which previously belonged to Glover and was auctioned off by his widow, was sold in separate lots at Boston’s RR Auction house. The majority were bought by one bidder whose identity has not been made public.
The interviews transcribed in the papers took place in 1971 and included Dylan talking about how antisemitism had influenced his decision to change his name from Robert Zimmerman. “A lot of people are under the impression that Jews are money lenders and merchants,” he said.
They also revealed that his 1969 song ‘Lay Lady Lay’, which featured on the album ‘Nashville Skyline’, was originally written for Barbra Streisand. Some of the lyrics included lines Dylan wrote after visiting Woody Guthrie in May 1962.
Meanwhile, Dylan was meant to be portrayed by Timothée Chalamet in an upcoming biopic, but that film has now been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. “I don’t think it’s dead, but it’s a tough one to pull off in a Covid-era because it’s all in small clubs with lots of extras in period costumes so you’ve got lots of hair and makeup,” cinematographer Phedon Papmichael said last month.
The veteran musician is working with George Clooney on an adaptation of John Grisham’s baseball-themed book Calico Joe.
He also released a new album ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’ back in June, which NME called “arguably his grandest poetic statement yet” in a five-star review. The album went on to debut at number two on the US Billboard charts, making Dylan the only artist to have achieved a Top 40 album in the US in every decade since the 1960s.
