Bob Dylan Electric Guitar Worth $1 Million? Ownership Disputed by Singer's Lawyer
A woman claiming to have discovered the guitar Bob Dylan played at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival could see over $1 million by selling it at auction.
It was during the Newport show that Dylan first used an electric guitar, making the instrument even more special.
A New Jersey woman owns the electric guitar in question, although Dylan's aides insist that the folk singer still owns the instrument.
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Dawn Peterson claims that her father, a private pilot for Dylan's manager Albert Grossman, found the guitar onboard his plane.
"My father saw there were three guitars left on the plane," Peterson explained, according to ShowBizSpy.com. "He contacted the company a few times about picking the guitars up, but nobody ever got back to him."
Experts involved with the television series "History Detectives" are investigating Peterson's claims, and have confirmed that the instrument is extremely valuable. They said that Dylan's scribbles on the case verify that the singer-songwriter strummed it in Newport.
Orin Snyder, Dylan's attorney, maintained that the instrument is not Dylan's most famous guitar, according to Rolling Stone magazine.
"Bob has possession of the electric guitar he played at the Newport Folk Festival," said the lawyer. "He did own several other Stratocaster guitars that were stolen from him around that time, as were some handwritten lyrics."
Moreover, one Bob Dylan fan is in pursuit of folk singer's vintage Kleinhans Music Hall Buffalo concert posters which also hold a significant value.
"The Kleinhans is home of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and was built in the late 1930's," explained Andrew Hawley, an avid Dylan fan and poster collector, according to the San Francisco Gate.
Dylan first performed at the Kleinhans in 1964 but did not become popular at the venue until the following year. Hawley described the particular poster's significance in terms of Dylan's career.
"The 1964 Kleinhans concert poster is similar to the 1963 Town Hall, New York poster, which was Dylan's first major performance," Hawley continued. "The Dylan Kleinhans poster uses an early photo of Dylan with his harmonica. The biggest difference being that Town Hall and Kleinhans posters, is the Town Hall poster includes local quotes from newspapers and music magazines. The Kleinhans poster does not use these quotes."
The poster collector went on to explain that the Kleinhans poster used the standard 1965 tour blank which featured Dylan in a photo taken by Daniel Kramer.
"The 1965 tour blank would be used at most of Dylan's 1965 tour stops including San Jose, Minneapolis, Carnegie Hall, Vets Memorial in Columbus, Ohio, and the Pasadena Civic Center," said Hawley.
Hawley said he is willing to pay $5,000 in cash for the 1964 and 1965 Dylan Kleinhans posters or any other 1962-1965 vintage Dylan posters.
Today, 71-year-old Bob Dylan remains an icon in the music world. He is best known for songs "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" among dozens of others.
