Bob Dylan re-recording of 'Blowin' In The Wind' sells for €1.7m

A one-off re-recording of Bob Dylan's 1963 hit 'Blowin' In The Wind' has sold for more than €1.7m at auction yesterday.

The record, which was produced in March 2021, is a collaboration with American record producer, guitarist and songwriter T Bone Burnett, and marks the first studio recording of the song since Dylan wrote it in 1962.

It went up for auction at Christie’s in London, following listening sessions with potential buyers in New York, Los Angeles and London.

The record sold for a whooping £1,482,000 / $1,769,508 / €1,733,940 on Thursday, according to a press release, which is almost double the estimated bidding price of £600,000 to £1m. The highest bidder was not identified.

The new version of the 1960s folk song, which was originally released in Dylan's second studio album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963), is pressed on a one-of-one Ionic Original format disc - a brand new analog audio format debuted by Burnett in April this year.

#AuctionUpdate @BobDylan’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 groundbreaking Ionic Original disc sells above estimate for £1,482,000. pic.twitter.com/CEkBiIoTJB

— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) July 7, 2022

Its high-quality audio technology is said to surpass that of formats like vinyl, CD or streaming, with Burnett calling it “the pinnacle of recorded sound”.

He said: "With Bob Dylan’s new version of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’ our first Ionic Original archival analogue disc, we have entered and aim to help develop a music space in the fine arts market.

"I trust and hope it will mean as much to whomever acquired it today at Christie’s Exceptional Sale as it does to all of us who made it, and that they will consider it and care for it as a painting or any other singular work of art."

Christie’s Senior Specialist of Americana, books, and manuscripts, Peter Klarnet, added: “We are so pleased with the excellent result this evening for the Ionic Original disc of Bob Dylan’s first new studio recording of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ since 1962. To work with such an incredibly important and groundbreaking advance in analogue playback technology is a tremendous honor.

"We are excited that this is just the beginning for this amazing new opportunity for recording artists to work with T Bone and NeoFidelity to reset the value of music.”

Dylan recently wrapped up the North American leg of his ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’ tour, which followed the release of his 39th studio album of the same name. The world tour is set to continue until 2024.