By Patrick Clark 8/31/12 11:38am

This Deal Ain't Going Nowhere

Dylan

Highway 61 Offering Revisited: Goldman to Retool Bonds Backed by Dylan Royalties

Goldman Sachs is rethinking its plans to market a bond offering backed by royalties from songs written by Bob Dylan and other recording artists, the Financial Times reported last night.

The deal would raise cash for Sesac, a privately-held Nashville company that owns the exclusive rights to the public broadcast or performance of music by Mr. Dylan, Neil Diamond and Rush, among others. According to reports earlier this month, the company was working with Goldman on a $300 million offering backed by the royalties it receives from its rights to the music of those artists. Read More

By Michael H. Miller 6/27/12 10:15am

Music

The Band on the Ed Sullivan Show. (CBS Photo Archive)

Feeling About Half Past Dead: Down in the Basement With What’s Left of The Band

Earlier in June, two months after the death of Levon Helm, the drummer and strongest singer in The Band, I received an email with the subject line, “The Band Reunion.” This was curious because they were a five-piece—Rick Danko, Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson—and there’s very little left of them now. Mr. Hudson and Mr. Robertson are the only surviving members and, aside from an appearance at the 1994 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the two have rarely played music together since the Band’s full line-up performed their final show in 1976. This reunion, at the Iridium Jazz Club last Friday night, would be no exception. Mr. Hudson was sitting in on a set with Jim Weider, who replaced Mr. Robertson as lead guitarist when The Band reformed in the ’80s, but that was good enough for me: there’s enough of a legend to The Band that simply being in the same room as the man who played accordion on “When I Paint My Masterpiece” feels downright significant. There’s a lot of history, too, most of which has ended in tragedy. Read More