Memorabilia that belonged to Bob Dylan’s friend’s estate, Tony Glover, have sold for almost half a million dollars. Letters, unpublished lyrics and handwritten lyrics to Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” were the items that were put up for sale for a week-long auction run by RR Auction Company.
The written out 2011-dated lyrics to “Blowin’ in the Wind” sold at the highest price at $108,253.75, according to CNN. The 1963 track was featured on his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and is still to this day one of his most popular and anti-war based songs.
Along with that, unpublished lyrics that were written during a road trip with fellow musicians Glover and John Hammond Jr. sold for $38,781. Dylan, Glover and Hammond Jr. were supposedly taking a trip to visit Woody Guthrie at the time. The lyrics wrote “My eyes are cracked I think I been framed/ I can’t seem to remember the sound of my name/ What did he teach you I heard someone shout/ Did he teach you to wheel & wind yourself out/ Did he teach you to reveal, respect, and repent the blues/ No Jack he taught me how to sleep in my shoes.”
The handwritten letters from Dylan also sold for a good chunk of change. “The letter’s dogged pace and free-flowing lyrical style seem to mirror the very manner in which he was aggressively approaching the song-writing process, with the mashing of typewriter keys all but audible as one reads the page, sold for $36,187,” said RR Auction Company in a press release.
Glover was a longtime peer of Dylan and a great blues harmonica player who left an everlasting impression on those around him. He event spent some of his time teaching Mick Jagger how to play the harmonica. Glover passed away in late May of 2019 of natural causes at the age of 79.
Dylan released his most recent album, Rowdy Days, in early July of this year. As an artist that has been widely known as an activist through his music, he continued on his political-based theme throughout the album. He, along with many other artists in the last few years, have brought more attention to the political climate through their music. A lot of that was influenced by Donald Trump’s actions as the President of The United States.
Neil Young is another example of a musician who has recently used his voice to bring light to certain political issues. In fact, he did so by covering Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changing” in late August. The track was featured on The Times, an EP full of politically charged songs and was released on September 18.