That’s right, I’ll pay $500. for a photograph of Bob Dylan playing this guitar. Dylan gave this Washburn D 12 CE/B acoustic/electric guitar to the daughter of his longtime friend and road manager Victor Maymudes, at the end of a 1995 US tour.  Maymudes and his daughter were helping Bob unload his bus at the [...]

Every morning I check CollectorsFrenzy.  That’s the site where you can see the 25 most expensive records that sold on Ebay the previous day. There’s a LOT of discussion these days about the records on Collector’s Frenzy.  That’s because in my opinion* there’s been a rash of fake acetates selling for big money.  Hundreds and [...]

It’s been a crazy few months with the holiday season and the release of my book 100 Essential Rock Records: The Golden Age of Vinyl, From The Beatles to the Sex Pistols.   Below is a just-in review from my favorite music magazine, Mojo, which happily gave the book four stars (their highest rating) and made [...]

It’s been a while since I posted, but I’ve got a good reason.  I’ve been consumed with finishing and now  launching my first book, the just released 101 Essential Rock Records: The Golden Age of Vinyl, From The Beatles to the Sex Pistols.  It’s a coffee table sized celebration of vinyl’s Golden Age, beginning with [...]

On Sunday I wrote a post about helping Public Television’s History Detectives investigate a Fender Stratocaster guitar allegedly played by Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, when he famously “went electric.”  The people at History Detectives had asked me not to reveal the results of the investigation before the show airs, next Tuesday, [...]

The July 17 episode of Public Television’s History Detectives will be of great interest to Bob Dylan fans–and anyone interested in 60′s music and rock memorabilia.  The show, the first in History Detectives’ 10th season, is devoted to solving three mysteries involving potentially historic music artifacts. On History Detectives, a group of researchers from various [...]

The original “Freewheelin’.”  One of–if not the–rarest and most valuable records in the world.  A stereo copy sold for $35,000, and a mint mono copy would likely bring $15,000.  So it’s big news when a previously unknown copy surfaces.  And I’m happy to report one just did. “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” is Dylan’s second album, [...]

Since the advent of eBay, sellers have been hyping UK versions of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Electric Ladyland with blue type and larger photos of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell as “true first pressings.”  We have long disputed this claim, and now we have evidence to refute it.  For those obsessed with minutiae like this, [...]

On April 9, I was thrilled to attend the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s new Library and Archives in Cleveland.  Many years in the making, the Rock Hall has opened a truly world class (I know it sounds crazy) study center dedicated to Rock and Roll.  The opening featured a panel [...]

I love collecting letters and documents that help tell the story of popular music, and thought I’d start posting a few of my favorites.  I buy this kind of thing whenever I can, keeping those that interest me most, donating the rest to archives that will preserve and share them–most often, the Rock and Roll [...]

  Just before the end of the year, I was fortunate to purchase an amazing collection of classic Jazz memorabilia and autographs, some of which I’d originally sold years ago–and never thought I’d see again.  This post shows off some of the most interesting and unusual items, many of which are for sale at Recordmecca.   [...]

Fifty years after his recording debut (on the 1961 album “The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem”) the great Bruce Langhorne has released his debut solo album, the appropriately named “Tambourine Man.”  Bob Dylan, in the liner notes for his “Biograph” box set said ““Mr. Tambourine Man,” I think, was inspired by Bruce Langhorne. Bruce was [...]

Here’s something I thought people might enjoy seeing; a 1967 management contract for The Byrds and The Jet Set, their previous incarnation, which included Jim McGuinn, David Crosby and Gene Clark. This 10 page document is signed by the original Byrds lineup–David Crosby, Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, and Gene Clark (who signs using [...]

Here’s a great Ramparts cover story by early Dylan supporter Ralph J. Gleason from March 1966; Gleason was one of the most important music critics in America at the time and his early and wholehearted embrace of Dylan was important to Dylan’s acceptance by the critical community.  This article features some great Dylan quotes and [...]

It was 50 years ago today—well, tomorrow–that Bob Dylan played his first concert, on November 4, 1961.  Billed as Dylan’s “First New York Concert” it was, more accurately, Dylan’s first anywhere concert.  Prior to this show, at Carnegie Chapter Hall, he had only played club dates and a few guest spots on multi-artist bills.  Dylan [...]

Recently we’ve had the good fortune to acquire some truly amazing Velvet Underground artifacts from the collection of the late, great Velvets guitarist, Sterling Morrison. Sterling actively collected memorabilia from throughout his band’s career, and we feel fortunate to have obtained many one-of-a-kind items from his widow, Martha Morrison.  We’ve created a new Velvet Underground [...]