Inside the Bob Dylan Archive

The first installment of archivist Michael Chaiken's new column on the Criterion website:

Archive Fever Dreams: Inside the Bob Dylan Archive - From the Current - The Criterion Collection

My eyes and ears are burning just reading about it.

 

This could be the most exciting musical thing ever.

 

Wow!

 

Blimey!

 

Great article. Thanks.

 

I wonder if this means we're going to hear the songs that Dylan played when he called round at Steven Soles' apartment that time - songs which were never heard before and haven't been heard since?

 

Do the live recordings contain a recording of Salt Lake City 5/25/76? That's what I want to know.

 

Bob and Ron Wood recorded tons of things in hotel rooms and at Ronnies place, years ago that haven't seen the light of day.

And when Dylan went to Frank Zappa's home and sat down at Frank's piano and played about 11 songs that he wanted Zappa to produce....well....I wonder if Frank had the recorder running or if he sat in with his guitar?
The thought boggles the mind...
It would be very historic

 

Fascinating read, the archivist himself appears to have led a quite interesting and varied life.

Dylan is truly a legend and all of us are the richer for the fact that he appears to have maintained such a treasure trove of his written, visual, and audio materials.

 

We Dylan fans will need long lives to absorb this man's work. Holy Moly!!

 

Great article.

 

As someone who has worked in various archives for most of my career (including an extensive music-related one) and a life-long Dylan follower, just the thought of the Dylan archives is mindbending. I hope I'll be able to visit it someday. Thanks for the link. Nice article.

 

I was gonna say that myself.

 

(I've also posted this on other threads for maximum exposure (for the Archive, not for me)).

Oh, look here! 40 downloadable pages of initial inventory in "The Bob Dylan Archive Finding Aid". Link here:-

https://bobdylanarchive.com/archive-access/


For example, on Page 14:-

Box 93 Folder 01-
Unknown typescript and manuscript lyrics ("Mr. Moneybags") from
Oh Mercy, c. 1989.

Box 93 Folder 02-
Unknown typescript and manuscript lyrics
("Love Ya Easy") from Oh Mercy,c. 1989.

Box 93 Folder 03-
Unknown typescript and manuscript lyrics ("Now I don't know who I am anymore ...") from Oh Mercy , c. 1989.

Box 93 Folder 04-
Unknown typescript and manuscript lyrics ("If Jesus walked the street today ...") from Oh Mercy, c. 1989.

Box 93 Folder 05-
Unknown typescript and manuscript lyrics ("... By the look in your eye") from Oh Mercy, c. 1989.

Box 93 Folder 06-
Unknown typescript and manuscript lyrics ("You are my destiny ...") from Oh Mercy, c. 1989.

Box 93 Folder 07-
Cover song lyrics from the era of Oh Mercy,c. 1989.Includes
"Erin’s GreenShore" [traditional],
"Baby I Don’t Care No More" [Mason Ruffner],
"Defying Gravity" [Jesse Winchester],
"Prisoner of Love" [Russ Columbo,Leo Robin, Clarence Gaskill],
"When I Loved You" [Charlie and Ira Louvin].


Lots more to salivate over, I think...

 

This was a pleasant surprise when I saw this the other day. I guess I wasn't expecting them to list online all the items they received from Bob. It's constantly being updated too, they're not done yet. But so far there's some interesting items:

* Cache of unrecorded lyrics and song fragments written out by Dylan on yellow legal paper, c. 1967. Includes: “The Return of the Wicked Messenger," “All Secrets Are Safe With Me," “I’m Sorry Too," “Maybe Darling," “Diamond Ring,” and “Cardshark."

* Cache of unrecorded lyrics and song fragments written out by Dylan on yellow legal paper, c. 1967. Includes: “Florida Key," “Golden Gate," “Eskimo Woman,” and “False Bottom."

* Unrecorded song lyrics for the album, John Wesley Harding, c. 1967. Lyrics written out by Dylan on yellow legal paper that appear to be both originals (e.g. “The Red Door" and “Letter in the Mail”) and variations on songs originally authored and performed by others including “Stella’s Got a New Dress” and “Brave Wolfe."

* A ticket for a Buffy St. Marie show in 1974.

* Green "Penrite" pocket memo book, c. 1967-68. Unfinished lyric fragments (e.g. “I’m In Love With You”); telephone numbers; note on John Lennon; and Eat the Document editing notes.

* Brown pocket memo book, c. 1967-68. Lyrics: “I Am A Lonesome Hobo” and “Dear Landlord”; verses for unrecorded songs: “No Particular Length of Time," “I Just Hate to Quit,” and “Somebody Like Me.”

* Blue pocket memo book, c. 1969-71. Lyric fragments and chord progressions for unrecorded songs including “Lonely For You” and “You Got to Fall”; Alfred Hitchcock’s California address; and Eat the Document editing notes.

* Green pocket memo book, c. 1967-68. Unfinished lyric fragments and prose pieces (e.g. “The Heat”), Bible verses and small drawings alongside a “to do” list.

* Dylan's leather wallet from 1966 with 10 inserts, including two pieces of paper with Johnny Cash's contact information and three business cards (Otis Redding, ID Magazine, and journalist Annette Kullenberg).

* Undated letter from George Harrison confirming receipt of Nashville Skyline: "Dear Bobbie, Thanks for Nashville Skyline, it is beautiful. Love to you all. George Harrison."

* Telephone numbers list (including Allen Ginsberg, Carly Simon, David Bromberg, John Lennon, Al Kooper, and Robert Johnson)

* Letter from Evander Holyfield (April 23, 1998)

* Letter from Robbie Robertson (November 30, 2001)

* Fax from Jimmy Carter (April 11, 2006)

* Fax from Keith Richards (October 20, 2006)

* Letter from First Lady Michelle Obama (February 17, 2010)

* Letter from Tony Bennett (September 17, 2010)

* Fax from Joe Strummer

* All session tapes from Bob Dylan to Love and Theft.

* Copies of both the original Pennebaker cut, titled 'You Know Something’s Happening', alongside the finished version by Dylan and Alk. In addition, roughly 30 hours of uncut rushes and workprint are present in the digital archive.

* Sixty minutes of color, sound, footage featuring Dylan, Paul Stookey, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Tiny Tim in Bearsville, NY. 1967

* Roughly an hour and a half of footage of Dylan in the studio recording tracks for his 1970 New Morning LP. Digitized from [3], 1⁄2 inch, EIAJ-1, b/w, porta-pak video cassette tapes.

* Tony Glover recordings, 1961-1965
“Minnesota Hotel Tape” recorded in Bonnie Beecher’s room, Minneapolis, MN, December 22, 1961; Party at Dave Whittaker’s house, Minneapolis, MN, August 11, 1962; Party at Dave Whittaker’s house, Minneapolis, MN, July 17, 1963.

Man... I'd love to check all this stuff out.

 

As intriguing as this inventory list is, I find it almost painful to look at. It reminds me too much of the listings I've had to prepare (I was even responsible for a Dylan-related collection). Although this one is far more intensive, of course. I have to get myself to Tulsa somehow someday.

 

It seems that the process of digitisation is only at the beginning for the audio recordings. A lot of missing studio sessions as the period 1984-1988, no home sessions or demo sessions, no rehearsals. For example, no tapes from the demo sessions with Levy for Desire. The live material stops in 1974, with the mention of the soundboards used for the live album

 

Bummer!

 

* Copies of both the original Pennebaker cut, titled 'You Know Something’s Happening', alongside the finished version by Dylan and Alk. In addition, roughly 30 hours of uncut rushes and workprint are present in the digital archive.

* Sixty minutes of color, sound, footage featuring Dylan, Paul Stookey, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Tiny Tim in Bearsville, NY. 1967

 

Is there an EU Copyright rule on video recordings??!!??!!?!?!??!?!

 

This has probably already been posted somewhere on this forum, but this thread is a good place for it in any case. A November 1961 handwritten lyric sheet is being auctioned. A song about Wisconsin with silly lyrics.

Lot Detail - Original, Signed Handwritten Lyrics by Bob Dylan From November 1961 -- Draft Song About Wisconsin, Where Dylan Spent Summers as a Youth -- With Roger Epperson COA

Unearthed Lyrics for Bob Dylan’s Absurdly Silly Ode to Wisconsin Could Be Yours | Pitchfork

Just goes to show you how much stuff was going on in his creative world - so many songs he was working on that never made it into general knowledge at all. I mean, the list in that PDF is astounding. So many previously-unknown titles and details. These archives might just blow the roof of things.

 

Some pictures from inside the archive:

Tulsa's Bob Dylan archives: 'Uncovering the creative process'

 

A new article about the archive's billionaire benefactor:

A billionaire’s quirky quest to create a mecca for Bob Dylan fans. In Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 

Some interesting information from the article:

*The heirs of Johnny Cash, a frequent Dylan collaborator, are reportedly in discussions about basing the country music legend’s archives in Oklahoma as well.
All of which, says Brinkley, who is writing a book on Dylan’s 1970s recordings, “is going to make Tulsa the headquarters of Americana music.”