Freereal signature by Bob dylan?

[Schindler]

Hi group members, I have a few signed lps by Bob dylan coming from the estate of bert Parell/NY. Do you think it's the real signature of Bob Dylan?

Best regards, Andy

[Steve Cyrkin, Admin]

Please post images.

[Bruce Juice]

Who is Bert Parell and what is a "Freereal" signature? 

Impossible to answer your question without see the actual signatures in high quality photos. 

[BallroomDays67]

It’s actually “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.”

I moved this to the Dylan forum.

[Schindler]

Thank you! Yes, I don't know why it turned out not as freewheelin'... Sorry... 

[Schindler]

Thank you, no idea why it turned out not as freewheelin... Sorry. 

[Schindler]

[Schindler]

Should be from the early, mid 80s....after the release of infidels, as I have an Infidels cover with a similar signature from the same source. 

[Steve Cyrkin, Admin]

Hi Schindler,

I hate to say it but this is definitely a forgery in my opinion and not a good one.

[Stepeanut]

That’s an early, first or second, U.S. edition of Freewheelin’ (I’d have to see the LP label to determine which), but the large signature, in gold pen, has clearly been added in more recent times.

Even as a long-time Dylan collector, who own’s two legit signed items from the man himself, I’m often hesitant to weigh in on these discussions just because Bob’s autograph has varied so much down the years.

Without any context or provenance, I can only judge by the handwriting style, and I’m not keen on this one.  The swooping, downward loop on the D, and the long trail-off after the L are atypical in my experience.  In fact, it’s often the A and the N that are the most characteristic letters in Bob’s signature, but both are missing here.  I wouldn’t buy it myself, at any price, without firm provenance.  It looks like a fake, to me.

[Schindler]

Thank you very much, Stepeanut, for your answer. I looked up as many pictures of signatures as I could find, and some really look close. For example the one on the cover of budokan, which definitely is original... But I'm no expert. What convinced me was that I have a signed joni mitchell lp and a csny from the same source which look 100% real to me, coming from the bert padell estate, who had an agency on Wall Street with hundreds of clients from the rock circus. Thanks for your opinion, very interesting. My infidels signature from the same source looks just the same, by the way, so it looks like he signed a bunch of lps in the early 80s for Bert Padell. If he did. 

[Stepeanut]

Your welcome.

I don’t know the source, but if you’re confident he had good connections then I encourage you to seek further opinions from our members here.  I am but one member.  Others may have a different opinion on this signature.

Dylan’s autograph is not only one of the most difficult to obtain, but also to authenticate.  Like I say, I have two, both with cast-iron provenance, and they look completely different to each other.  He’s also widely faked.  It’s a minefield without provenance.

That gold pen looks very fresh for an early 1980s signature.  It would also be unusual to use such a pen during that period.  And there is a known forger who often uses such a pen ….

Like I say, gather more opinions.  Good luck.

[Stepeanut]

Slow day at work, so I’ve been doing a little digging into this.

Bert Padell — not Parell — was an entertainment industry accountant who died in 2018.  He had a large collection of music and baseball memorabilia that he either collected himself or was given by his long list of celebrity clients.  Much of Padell’s collection was auctioned off by Geppi’s Memorabilia Roadshow between 2005 and 2007.  So far, so good.

Now for the not-so-good bit.  As I said earlier, I am a long-time Dylan collector, with some heavyweight items in my collection.  Not once have I ever heard Padell’s name in connection with Dylan’s.  Googling the two men in conjunction with each other brings up nothing, and a search of previously sold lots from the Geppi auctions yields nothing either.

Now Bob is a secretive guy, so it’s always possible he had some connection with Padell that no one is publicly aware of.  But without proof of that connection, we’re back to square one.  If the signed Dylan albums the OP has came from a previous auction of Padell memorabilia, then they should come with paperwork from the auction house to back up the sale.

I recently bought two items of original artwork at auction, both created by the British artist Edward Bell for his client David Bowie.  Those auction lots are not only searchable online, but I also have a printed invoice from the auction house itself.

So, my question to the OP is this: do you have any paperwork to back up the claim that your signed Dylan albums are from the collection of Bert Padell, or is it just hearsay from a third party seller?  I’m not talking about a dodgy COA, but proper paperwork from a known auction house.  Without paperwork, all you have is a cool story, and I’m not sure that’s enough in this instance.