Bob Dylan "sell-out"

Fans condemn his deal with Starbucks

29 June 05 - Bob Dylan has been accused of selling out after making a deal to sell a classic live recording exclusively at Starbucks coffee shops.

A famous bootleg of Dylan performing at the Gaslight Cafe in Manhattan's Greenwich Village in 1962 will now be released as a live album on 30 August. It will include rare versions of A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall and Don't Think Twice, It's Alright.

But Bob Dylan: Live At The Gaslight 1962 will only be sold through Starbucks in the US and Canada. The powerful American chain has been targeted by anti-globalisation protesters. Now Dylan fans are appalled that the protest singer has linked up with the brand.

One fan wrote on a Dylan message board: "This sucks. He's belittling his music."

"This sucks ... He's belittling his music"
Bob Dylan fan

Another more optimistic fan said: "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?"

Starbucks has previously sold exclusive releases by Alanis Morissette and helped Ray Charles' duets album Genius Loves Company to sell three million copies in the US.

Andre Paine