New Bob Dylan Album Sold Exclusively at Starbucks

According to Billboard magazine: "Starbucks has nabbed the exclusive first rights to sell "Bob Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962," an album of newly restored live recordings culled from Dylan's performances at the New York cafe. The 10-song CD hit more than 4,400 Starbucks' locations in North America on Aug. 30, and is also available through its Web site. The exclusivity window lasts 18 months. Bootleg versions of the shows have circulated among fans for years, but the Aug. 30 release marks the first time a sanctioned release has occurred. Among the tracks are the earliest surviving live recording of "Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and "Don't Think Twice It's Alright."

Starbucks Entertainment president Ken Lombard says he hopes there are more such projects to come. "Our plans with Bob Dylan go beyond this," he says, although he adds there is no other project already in the works. "We've always been huge Dylan fans. We see him as a legend and one of the most socially conscious artists out there. This will hopefully be the first of many things we can do with Dylan."

Sally
Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer