Mark Davidson is the director of archives and exhibits at the Bob Dylan Center in Oklahoma. Visitors are being encouraged to be more creative in their own lives. Even if he doesn't wear white gloves, Davidson is the perfect choice.
RobertReid.
Don't let Mark Davidson see "authentic Bob Dylan lyrics"
Davidson studies the Dylan world, including the singer's own scribbled or typed lyrics. One case where a forger used a computer program to copy the quirks of Dylan's Royal Caravan typewriter is one that Davidson can spot a mile away.
I'm curious to know if Dylan used the same typewriter in the ‘80's. Davidson wonders if he did. I don't have a phone to call.
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Davidson is the director of archives and exhibits and curator of the Bob Dylan Archive, which is part of the Bob Dylan Center, which opened to the public on May 10. There are already music fans and scholars booking their first trips to Oklahoma. The Dylan archives were acquired by the George Kaiser Family Foundation in 2016 and they played a part in this. The archive is for scholars and researchers. Hundreds of thousands of tapes, film reels, photos, letters, lyrics, notebooks, paintings, programs, all of which is daily turf for Davidson's role, is what datememe datememe is.
Davidson said that his knowledge of Dylan increased 150 percent weekly.
Davidson has a PhD in musicology and a second master's in science. He immediately applied for the job after seeing it in Austin. He worked there before the public museum opened in May.
He said it was a dream job. There are times when the manuscript of one of the most important songs by one of the most important writers can be found.
Accidental discoveries are the most important. He saw a letter with a Vietnam postmark while looking through a bag of fan mail. He found a letter from a soldier in the Vietnam War who was compelled to write Dylan after hearing Blowin' in the Wind. It was very strong. There is a view in the center.
Davidson's day-to-day can include less glamorous tasks like "caring for the collections, processing items, making sure they're safe" While working with Clinton Heylin, one notable aspect was managing the difference between the margins of US and UK paper.
The center has 29,000 square feet of archives. The public galleries are located in the Arts District of the city. The site has an iron gate welded for it, as well as an immersing film told in Dylan's voice and displays of his career. The earliest manuscript in the archives is the 1964 song "Chimes of Freedom".
Davidson was involved in the creation of the multimedia exhibit "Bowie Is". The tambourine that inspired "Tambourine Man" and the leather jacket Dylan wore at the Newport Folk Festival are both on display.
Davidson said they hope to inspire people to write something. We don't want to be a Hard Rock Cafe.
It was a lot of work and a lot of responsibility to put it together on time. He compares this to his folk-music thesis, which resulted in as many nervous breakdowns. He found time to have a little bit of fun with Dylan die-hards by leaving some intentional "Easter eggs" in the gallery space, like a bit from a 1980 San Francisco performance filmed on the sly by collector Bill Pagel that captured the last-ever appearance. Dylan is a big fan of things like this.
The big question for any archivist is what else.
Is the white glove something? White gloves aren't the way to go according to most archives. I like to sit there. Davidson said potential damage was the reason for it. Half a dozen pairs are behind me.
Robert Reid, who traveled and wrote about the world for 20 years, is back in his native Oklahoma to host and produce a PBS show. On June 2, his newest project aired.
An earlier version of the story had a spelling mistake.
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