A one-sided acetate of an alternate mix of Bob Dylan’s song “Wigwam,” previously owned by Dylan, and used by him during the making of his 1970 album Self Portrait.  This is a different mix of the version that appeared on Self Portrait, with minimal vocals.

This disc was part of a collection of Dylan-owned acetates discovered in 2014 in a five story brownstone at 124 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village.  From approximately 1969 through 1972, Dylan rented the building’s ground  floor to use as a studio (at the time, he lived two blocks away at 94 McDougal St.)  When the owner of the building died in January 2014, her executor found the acetates in two boxes labeled “Old Records,” in a a loft closet above the bedroom. The discovery of these acetates by Recordmecca’s Jeff Gold received extensive media coverage in publications including The New York Times, Wall St. Journal, Rolling Stone, and Billboard (for the complete story and more photos, see the Recordmecca blog.)

The West Houston St. Studios acetates originally belonged to Bob Dylan, and were used by him during the production of his albums, including Self Portrait.  At the time Dylan was based in New York, while his producer, Bob Johnston worked out of Columbia Records’ Nashville office.  Taking direction from Dylan, Johnston would cut acetates of various mixes and sequences, and send them to Dylan for his comments or approval.  Dylan discarded or abandoned them when he moved out of the building in the early 1970’s. For more than 40 years, they were carefully stored by the building’s owner, and only discovered by chance by before the building was put up for sale in 2014.

Cut directly from the master tapes, the acetate has fantastic fidelity.  Grading EX++, it sounds bright and bold.  With the original Transco Acetate sleeve, with a clear-tape repaired tear on the back.

Included is a copy of a letter of authenticity from the estate’s executor detailing how he discovered the acetates, and a letter of authenticity and written lifetime guarantee from Recordmecca’s Jeff Gold, an internationally recognized Dylan authority who appraised The Bob Dylan Archive for Dylan’s management.

A remarkable Dylan artifact formerly owned by Dylan himself.

Read Recordmecca owner Jeff Gold’s blog post on collecting artist-owned records google: “Why I collect beat-up records owned by Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and members of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground and Grateful Dead”.