Christie's to Auction Dylan Poem (by Hank Snow)

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
May 23rd 2009 at 4:02PM

Christie's is ready to auction a handwritten poem by singer Bob Dylan. An interesting find, the piece is said to have come from the hand of the teenager who later became the legend. There's only one problem: Dylan's hand, Snow's words.

The "poem" is based heavily on the song "Little Buddy" by Canadian country singer (didn't know there was such a thing) Hank Snow, who died in 1999 at the age of 85. The similarities eluded experts at Christie's. At one point in his career, Snow was known as the "Yodeling Ranger." A Reuters reader gets credit for the discovery, which the news organization then passed along to the auction house.

Dylan wrote transcribed this piece while away at Jewish camp when he was 16 years old. He submitted it to the camp newspaper for publication, and the editor held the handwritten piece for more than half a century before donating it to Herzl Camp in Wisconsin.

This piece is nonetheless believed to be the oldest Dylan manuscript and will be offered at the June 23, 2009 Pop Culture auction. An estimate of $10,000 to $15,000 has been offered.

Big surprise: Dylan's management office wasn't available for comment.

Tags: auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, bob dylan, BobDylan, christies, pop, pop culture, PopCulture

Filed under: Auctions

Source

Subscribe to these comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Steve Kack Jun 3rd 2009 3:30PM

"Little Buddy" was recorded by Hank snow in the late 40's. I have a copy of the record. The same lyrics as written by R. Zimmerman. The second line of the 1st verse in the Hank Snow song says "Golden curls all wet with tears" This seems to be the only line Zimmerman changed from the Hank Snow song.

Is it possible that Mr. Zimmerman wrote the song for Hank Snow? No, I'm sorry that is impossible It was recorded 9 years before Mr. zimmerman wrote it. Wow this has got to be checked out as this paper by Zimmerman may not be worth the paper it is written on!!!

Steve Kack