Dylan signs with Starbucks
 

Desolation row: Dylan signs with Starbucks

Jamie Wilson in Washington
Wednesday June 29, 2005
The Guardian


His protest songs made him the figurehead of the anti-establishment movement that defined America during the 1960s. But yesterday Bob Dylan was facing accusations of selling out after it emerged the singer had agreed an exclusive deal to sell some of his rarest tracks at Starbucks, the coffee shop chain targeted by anti-globalisation protesters as a symbol of American cultural dominance.

Bob Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962 features the much sought-after material recorded at the Gaslight Cafe in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, a focal point of the folk revival in the early 1960s. Tracks include rare versions of A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall and Don't Think Twice It's Alright, as well as folk standards Barbara Allen and The Cuckoo.

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Bootleg versions of the album, which will be released on August 30 and will only be available in Starbucks outlets across the US and Canada, have been touted among Dylan fans for years but this is the first to be professionally produced and remastered.

By yesterday afternoon fans on Dylan discussion boards were already venting their fury. "This sucks," wrote one doleful fan on the website Expectingrain.com. "He's belittling his music." Another disgruntled fan opined: "He certainly doesn't need the money. Maybe he's doing it to directly discredit the public's view of him as an anti-establishment protest singer?"

The Starbucks deal coincides with the release of director Martin Scorsese's feature-length film about the legendary singer, No Direction Home.

Starbucks has sold several exclusive albums, including an acoustic version of Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill. The Seattle-based chain was responsible for a quarter of all sales of Ray Charles' duets album Genius Loves Company, which sold 3m copies in the US.


well....ok....

Dylan got his start playing small crowds in little coffee shops and bars. It's great to see that he hasn't forgotten where he came from and can go back to his roots and 'give something back'.

Those CDs will be a big hit with 43 year old women driving H2s.

More like 63 year old women....

Dave

I dunno. I see a lot of MILFs down there, showing off their new belly button rings.

Some people have to bitch about something...

It made me sad to see Mos Def in a GMC commercial.

hopefully he will sign with cap next and sing about summer fleece

He became irrelevent when he stop enunciating.

wow

Have you heard him in the last 15 years? Sings purely out of his nose, can't understand a word he says. He could be singing about what he had for breakfast and nobody would know.

ROFL ..reread your post

Dylan a donkcrusher superstar!

What is the deal with hating successful businesses? What is it that Starbucks represents that is supposed to offend me?

What position does he play?