Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind' introduces new recording format

May 29—Following the opening of the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa this month, comes word that Dylan plans his first studio rerecording of one of his most iconic songs, "Blowin' in the Wind," to introduce a new recording format to the world.

Dylan's rerecording of the song is said to be his first in the studio since he first recorded the track in 1962 for release in 1963 on his second album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan." Dylan was only 21 when he wrote the song.

Now, Dylan's studio rerecording of "Blowin' in the Wind" is being touted as the first release for musician T-Bone Burnett's new label and recording format called Iconic Original. Plans are for the label to produce "one of a kind aluminum discs," painted with lacquer, featuring a "spiral etched into it by music," according to a release regarding the new format.

It's touted as sounding better than vinyl, tapes, CDs or any electronic music streaming devices. Little information has been forthcoming on how the aluminum discs will be played, or what, if any, special equipment is required.

It's also presented as the first major new format in music in 70 years, going back to when vinyl records replaced the old 78 rpm shellac discs. Vocals on the new recording are touted as benefitting from Dylan's years of experience in music and in life. Dylan, who turned 81 on May 24, recently wound up his last tour with performances in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, then promptly announced plans for another tour.

"Blowin' in the Wind" is the Dylan song that asks a number of musical questions, before concluding that the answer is in the wind.

Don't start queuing up to buy the new disc however. Plans are to produce only one copy and then to auction it on July 7 at Christie's Auction House in London, where it's predicted to sell for from between 600,000 and a million pounds. For those Americans waning to save their money to get in on the bidding, that's from between $756,714 and $1,261,150 in U.S. dollars, depending on fluctuating currency rates.

It's not clear if whoever buys the disc will get the rights to reproduce it, but I will be surprised if that's the case.

Dylan sold the rights to his songwriting catalogue to Universal Music for an estimated $300 million in 2020. Then, in January, 2022, he sold his recorded music catalogue to Sony Music Entertainment for an estimated $150 million to $200 million.

So it looks like whoever makes the winning bid at Christie's Auction House will likely be a collector buying a one-of-a-kind disc to be heard by the buyer and friends.

While this is touted as Dylan's first studio rerecording of the song since that initial one he made in a New York City Columbia Records studio at the tender age of 21, the operative words here are "studio recording."

While it's true Dylan never released another studio recording of "Blowin' in the Wind" since he recorded the first version, he has since recorded and released several live performances.

A live recording of "Blowin' in the Wind" is among the songs Dylan performed during his set on "The Concert for Bangladesh," the first large-scale rock benefit put together by George Harrison, who also performed, along with fellow former Beatles Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Tulsa's own Leon Russell and others. Dylan's delivered a set considered as a return to form, since he hadn't toured for years following a reported motorcycle accident on a country road near Woodstock, New York, back in 1966.

The accident has been shrouded in mystery, since no one has ever obtained an official accident report. Whether Dylan suffered serious and debilitating injuries or used the accident to get out of the exhausting touring schedule he'd been keeping up at the time, has since been a point of debate and never been resolved.

When Dylan sang "Blowin' in the Wind" at the Concert for Bangladesh at New York's Madison Square Garden, a sparse, but all-star band backed him up, which included Harrison on lead guitar. Russell stepped out from behind his grand piano and played bass, with Ringo on tambourine.

It's one of my favorite versions of the song, with Dylan delivering a heartfelt and emotional performance during the concert held to benefit refugees from Bangladesh, at the request of Harrison's friend, the master sitarist Ravi Shankar, who also performed at the concert.

Four years later, Dylan released another live version of "Blowin' in the Wind," this time an electric version backed by The Band during their acclaimed 1974 arena tour featured on their joint album, "Before the Flood."

Another live recording of Dylan performing "Blowin' in the Wind" surfaced in the Joan Baez box set "Rare, Live and Classic." Looking through the liner notes I felt delighted to see the duet performance recorded by Dylan and Baez and included on the album is one I got to witness during a Texas concert, with seats at third-row center. Dylan and Baez shared the same microphone for the performance, which showed they still shared that same musical chemistry from years before.

Among the army of guitarists who backed Dylan during his full-band performances at that concert stood a tall and lanky guy I would later learn was T-Bone Burnett.

So that version from "Freewheelin'" is by no means Dylan's only recording of "Blowin' in the Wind" — but yes, it is his only studio recording — and it's still my favorite.

I still remember when I was about 14, looking to purchase a Dylan album and trying to determine which one to buy. I finally narrowed it down to two: "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" and "Highway 61 Revisited." The only song I'd previously heard on either album was "Like a Rolling Stone" on the "Highway 61" album — an all-time favorite.

I'd already figured out the choice came down to the acoustic, folk-based style of "Freewheelin' " to the full-blown rockers I figured would be on "Highway 61."

Something about "Freewheelin'" intrigued me, though, including the song titles: "Girl of the North Country," "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" and yes, "Blowin' in the Wind."

Even the album cover intrigued me — showing a young Dylan, huddled and cuddled with his girlfriend, a girl with long blonde hair. I would later learn her name was Suze Rotolo, quite a personality and artist in her own right.

I finally made the selection, picked up the copy of "Freewheelin' " and went home to listen to it. I had never even heard the opening track before; yep, "Blowin' in the Wind."

I felt captivated from the first notes, Dylan strumming his acoustic guitar and singing the opening lines: "How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?"

"The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" had been released on May 27, 1963, only three days after Dylan turned 22

He later said he wrote "Blowin' in the Wind" in a cafe in New York's Greenwich Village in about 10 minutes. He performed the song for the first time later that evening at Gerde's Folk City, a club in the Village where lots of aspiring folkies gathered in those days. He even had the song lyrics published in folk music magazines of the time, such as Sing Out! before he recorded the song himself.

Despite its inauspicious beginnings, "Blowin' in the Wind" has become an American standard. It's been covered by more than 300 artists, in a variety of genres, ranging folk and rock, to soul, jazz, country and bluegrass.

Dylan didn't even have the first hit with it. A version recorded by his friends Peter, Paul and Mary went all the way to #2 in 1963. No worries for Dylan though. After he performed the song with them at the Newport Folk Festival later that year, the media discovered him, leading to stories about the then little-known artist known as Bob Dylan.

"Blowin' in the Wind" won induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" is among the first group of recordings inducted into the Library of Congress National Registry during its opening year of 2002.

I'm slightly amused looking at that "Freewheein' Bob Dylan" album cover. Who would dream that all these decades later, a single rerecording of the album's opening track would be expected to bring somewhere around $1 million at auction?

Surely not that young lad huddled with his lass on "The Freewheelin' " album cover.

Contact Janes Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.