Searching For A Gem: News
 |
28 Jul 2010: David Mackenzie is selling a copy of "A Fool Such As
I", the very rare Dutch CD release of 1973's Dylan on eBay with no
reserve - see
here.
27 Jul 2010: Thanks to "Isis" magazine for news that Volume 9 of
the Bootleg Series is expected to be released by Columbia around Oct 2010
with 47 tracks from the early 1960s Witmark and Leeds Music demos. Released at the same time will be an 8CD remastered boxed set of
Bob's mono albums. The eight mono albums released will of course cease to
be rarities. For more
details, see here.
21 Jul 2010: Thanks to Arie de Reus for a fantastic Romanian
release of the UK version of 1967's Greatest Hits in a digipak with
a special edition for 27 May 2010 of the newspaper "Jurnalul National".
Arie bought this from a stall at the Linz, Austria, show on 12 Jun 2010.
Bob of course played at Bucharest, Romania, on 2 Jun 2010. For more
details, see here. |
 |
|
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& DVD]
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Promotional Releases] [International Stereo Releases]
[Questionable
Releases] [Released Rarities] [Honourable
Mentions]
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back to bobdylan.com]
"By popular demand", the
latest
Bob Dylan Rarity News notified to me. If you have any news not shown that will interest site
visitors, please contact me
here.
Please make sure the subject of your message includes the
word "Dylan"- this will ensure it's not put in the trash by my Spam
filter. This is absolutely vital - incoming Spam is up to 13,300 messages per
day, and I'm sure some of your valuable messages have been missed! Please retry
if your message was rejected or if you haven't received a reply.
The font used for the titles of each page is appropriately called "Jokerman",
if you can't see it, download it here:
Contacting Bob Dylan
This
is a fan site with no connection to Bob and you
can't contact him through me!
I used to have a postal address that I thought was
correct, but I have since been informed by someone who wrote to that address that
their mail was returned. I have never had an email address. I can only suggest
you contact Bob's publisher Simon & Schuster, or use the contact address at
bobdylan.com
.
I also have no means of helping anyone who wants Bob Dylan's autograph!
For much wider news coverage of interest to Bob Dylan fans,
see Karl Erik's amazing "Expecting Rain" site
.
It's always up-to-date thanks to his astounding dedication!
News and Updates are now two separate pages - for Updates (including all site
structure changes), see here.
Revised:
30 July, 2010
28 Jul 2010: David Mackenzie is selling a copy of "A Fool Such As
I", the very rare Dutch CD release of 1973's Dylan on eBay with no
reserve - see
here.
27 Jul 2010: Thanks to "Isis" magazine for news that Volume 9 of
the Bootleg Series is expected to be released by Columbia around Oct 2010
with 47 tracks from the early 1960s Witmark and Leeds Music
demos. Released at the same time will be an 8CD remastered boxed set of
Bob's mono albums. The eight mono albums released will of course cease to
be rarities. For more
details, see here.
The following Witmark demos have been officially released
on regular albums:
The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 [Rare And Unreleased]
1961-1991 (1991): The Times They Are A-Changin';
When The Ship Comes In; Walkin' Down The Line
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 - No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
(2005): Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
This performance has been released on a limited edition of
a regular album:
R-0776 Blowin' In The Wind - Witmark demo version recorded
Witmark offices, New York, Jul 1962, from the 2CD+DVD Special Edition of
Together Through Life, 2009
These 22 performances have appeared on official recording
company acetates:
R-0029
Long Ago, Far
Away - Witmark demo, 1963, released on
Warner Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0030 Long Time Gone
- Witmark demo, 1963, released on
Warner Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0031 Ain't Gonna
Grieve - Witmark
demo, 1963, released on Warner Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0032 John Brown - Witmark demo, 1963, released on Warner Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0033 I Shall Be Free - Witmark demo,, 1963, released on Warner
Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0034 Only A Hobo - Witmark demo, 1963, released on Warner Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0035 The Death Of
Emmett Till -
Witmark demo,1963,
released on Warner Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0036 (I'd Hate To Be
You On That) Dreadful Day -
Witmark demo, 1963,
released on Warner Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0037 I'll Keep It With Mine - Witmark demo, 1964, released on Warner Bros Nine Songs Publisher’s Sampler
LP, 1967
R-0286 Baby, I'm In The Mood For You - Witmark demo version
from Columbia acetate LP, 1963
R-0287 Quit Your Lowdown Ways - Witmark demo version from
Columbia acetate LP, 1963
R-0288 A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall - Witmark demo version from
Columbia acetate LP, 1963
R-0289 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Witmark demo version
from Columbia acetate LP, 1963
R-0290 Oxford Town - Witmark demo version from Columbia acetate
LP, 1963
R-0291 Tomorrow Is A
Long Time - Witmark demo version from Columbia acetate LP, 1963
R-0292 Masters Of War -Witmark
demo version from Columbia acetate LP, 1963
R-0293 Farewell -
Witmark demo version from Columbia acetate LP, 1963
R-0465 Paths Of Victory - acetate of Witmark demo recorded 1963, offered
for auction in Dec 1992
R-0539 Walkin' Down The Line - Witmark demo version from
Columbia acetate LP, 1963, mono version of track released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Vols.
1-3
R-0691 All Over You - Witmark demo, recorded Mar 1963,
on MPH acetates which surfaced in 2004
R-0692 Talkin'
John Birch Society Blues - Witmark demo, recorded Mar 1963,
on MPH acetates which surfaced in 2004
R-0693 Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag
- out-take from
The Times They Are A-Changin', Aug or Oct 1963,
on MPH acetates which surfaced in 2004
No Leeds Music demos have yet been released
officially. Those that circulate unofficially
include: Ballad For A Friend; Hard Times In New
York Town; He Was A Friend Of Mine; Man On The Street;
Poor Boy Blues; Rambling, Gambling Willie; Standing
On The Highway; Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues.
Let's hope these will all cease to be rarities!
23 Jun 2010: The "Searching For A Gem" Facebook page is up and
running, see here.
This should provide contributors and visitors with a forum to exchange
views and information.
22 Jul 2010: Thanks to Hans
Seegers for a warning about
counterfeits of original US LPs in mono or stereo on red and black vinyl. They
come from a German bootlegger and they are very well done! For example, there is
a
Time Out Of Mind
on black vinyl which can only be recognised by the matrix numbers. You can also
find Highway 61 Revisited and Bringing It All Back Home in mono on
red vinyl, beautiful, but counterfeit. For example,
Carl Torstensson has a copy
of Time Out Of Mind with the
records pressed in mottled blue vinyl. Unfortunately this is one of the
fakes made in Germany without authorisation from Columbia.
21 Jul 2010: Thanks to Arie de Reus for a fantastic Romanian
release of the UK version of 1967's Greatest Hits in a digipak with
a special edition for 27 May 2010 of the newspaper "Journalul National".
Arie bought this from a stall at the Linz, Austria, show on 12 Jun 2010.
Bob of course played at Bucharest, Romania, on 2 Jun 2010. For more
details, see here.
15 Jul 2010: It's St. Swithin's Day and it's raining!
L (The legend
is that if it rains on St. Swithin's Day, it will rain for forty days and
forty nights. There goes the summer!) Thanks to Dag Braaten for news that
My Own Love Song, the Olivier Dahan film with music by Bob, is
going straight to DVD, and will be released in France by Ge Sphe-TF1 on 18
Aug 2010. For more information, see
VHS & DVD 2010s.
23 Jun 2010: The "Searching For A Gem" Facebook page is up and
running, see here.
This should provide contributors and visitors with a forum to exchange
views and information.
14 Jun 2010: Thanks to Andrew Wellman
for information that Didier C.
Deutsch, a Frenchman who moved to New York about 40 years ago, is
working for Legacy Records, a reissue label for Sony and his latest
project: a Bob Dylan 40-CD box set! For
more information, see
Let's hope it comes out around my
birthday!
4 Jun 2010: I'm sad to announce the
death of friend, contributor and long-time Dylan fan John Lettiere, of
Ardsley, New York. Sincere condolences to his wife Cindy and family. We
all know John is somewhere still keepin' on keepin' on...
17 May 2010: Thanks to Paul
Pearson for news that Martin Scorsese, who directed the documentary No
Direction Home in 2005 (see VHS & DVD
2000s Part 3), is now directing a documentary about George Harrison to be
called Living In The Material World: George Harrison. This is expected to
be released in 2011 and may include footage of Bob Dylan. More information will
be added when available, and also see
.
 |
14 May 2010: Thanks to "Isis" Newsletter 149½
for information that the 2010 Olivier Dahan film "My Own Love Song"
starring Renée Zellweger and Forest Whittaker will include 27 Dylan
compositions of which 16 are new. For full details, see
VHS & DVD
2010s. |
Older News
Old news items are kept on here until the rarities referred
to actually surface, or until it becomes clear that they're not going to!
6 Jan 2010:
Thanks to Laurence J. Epstein for information about his "Dylan Watch" article on
"Bob Dylan's Voice", see
. For information about his forthcoming
book "Political Folk Music in America from its Origins to Bob Dylan", see
.
2 Dec 2009:
Thanks to Ian Woodward for news that the UN is releasing a documentary film
called "Hard Rain: Our Headlong
Collision with Nature" to
mark this month's climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The film
consists of a live performance by Bob of A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall with images by
photographer Mark Edwards. The film will be released on DVD at the start of the
conference. Thanks to Larry Crum for confirming the performance is from Carnegie
Hall, New York, 26 Oct 1963,
and can currently be found of CD1 of The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 - No Direction
Home: The Soundtrack (2005) along with When The Ship Comes In. For six
further songs from Carnegie Hall, see the limited release Bob Dylan Live At
Carnegie Hall 1963 (2005). For more information, see
. For a BBC News article, see
.
 |
22 Oct 2009: Thanks to
Sophie Kaila of Proud Galleries, Camden, London, for new about limited
edition Bob Dylan prints.
Sophie says "The
Proud Galleries would like to bring your attention to our beautiful
collection of limited edition Bob Dylan prints by a selection of
world-renowned and celebrated photographers from Jerry Schatzberg and Mark
Makin to John Cohen and Elliott Landy. With prices starting from £250 ex VAT
your fan members could be part of the elite group of people who own some of
the world’s most exciting photography.
In response to outstanding interest we couldn’t resist
exhibiting a few special images of Bob Dylan in our Best of Proud
collection. Please pop down to Proud Camden to take your first look whilst
enjoying our outstanding venue adorned by rock royalty throughout. We have a
favourite Dylan print shot by the infamous Jerry Schatzberg. It is available
from our Proud Camden Gallery for £2000 ex VAT.
As one of the most popular privately-owned photographic
galleries in the UK, Proud always endeavours to offer an efficient,
personalised service for photography fans who care as much as we do about
preserving and sharing history’s greatest photographic images.
If you have any questions
about our prints, enquiries about forthcoming exhibitions or are simply
trying to track down a special image or photographer in the run up to
Christmas, please do give me a call and I will be happy to help."
Proud Galleries are on
+44 (0) 207
482 3867 or email Sophie Kaila. |
Photo from eBay - the handwritten text is almost unreadable |
2 Mar 2009: Thanks to Arie
de Reus for information about a UK acetate of I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
and Drifter's Escape from John Wesley Harding on eBay that purports
to contain alternate takes to the released versions. Arie doesn't think it's
genuine, but to check it out see
here. |
18 Dec 2008: Thanks to Jack from Canada for information
that Sony may be releasing a 2CD Legacy Edition of Blood On The Tracks
with CD1 being the album as released in 1975 and CD2 including the complete
withdrawn "New York" version of the album with five replaced tracks, see
1974. More information will be
added when available.
 |
15 Dec 2008: Thanks to Gil Walker for
news about a tape being auctioned on eBay that was recorded during the Nashville
Skyline sessions at Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville, TN, 14 Feb
1969, with five out-takes of Lay, Lady, Lay and a previously uncirculating
song Going To Chicago. This has been added to the Starlight in The East "G"
page. It has different lyrics from Doc Watson's Going To Chicago Blues,
so may be a Dylan original. Thanks to Tim Dunn for
information that this tape with five takes of Lay, Lady, Lay is part of what
in 1993 were known as "The Lost Warehouse Tapes". These were between 2200
and 3000 reels of tape recorded between 1953 and 1971, discarded by Columbia
and acquired by record producer Clark Enslin. Other recordings by Bob are
known to be Mr. Bojangles (released on the 1973
Dylan album), Wild Thing, Blue Moon,
Ring Of Fire and Take A Message To Mary. |
19
May 2008: Ian Woodward's "Wicked Messenger" column in "Isis" issue 138 reports that Bob has put music to some of the
"Shoebox Songs" - unpublished lyrics left by Hank Williams in notebooks and
papers in a shoebox. Apparently an album featuring Bob and other artists will be
released by Sony later this year. Norah Jones performed one of the Shoebox Songs
in New York in Mar 2008 with music written by herself. Ian also says a new
volume of The Bootleg Series is likely to be released by Columbia/Legacy
in Autumn 2008 - this is expected to be a 2CD set of previously
officially-unreleased studio material like Vols. 1-3.
14 May 2007:
Thanks to Dave Plentus and Harold Lepidus for news that Classic Records are to
release a stereo 200gm vinyl version of the withdrawn edition of The
Freewheelin' Bob Dylan with the four replaced tracks (see
1963). This will be released as a 2LP set with the
regular version. For more information, see
.
 |
26 Sep 2006: Thanks to Harold Lepidus
and Jean-Pol Hiernaux
for news that Bob's friend from Hibbing, Ric Kangas, is auctioning a three-song
tape from 1959 and other memorabilia with a starting price of $25,000. The songs
on the tape reel are When I Got Troubles (included in the 2005 release of The
Bootleg Series Vol. 7 - No Direction Home), The Frog
Song, I Got A New Girl. The site is Heritage
Auction Galleries - for more details, see here
. |
 |
31 Aug 2006: Thanks to Harold Lepidus
for news that a forthcoming tribute album to songwriter Peter LaFarge will
include Bob's recording of The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
from the long-deleted Columbia Dylan album - see
1973.
7 Aug 2006: Thanks to Ian Woodward and others for
news that the Royal Festival Hall, London, 17 May 1964 concert is being
considered for release as a "mini album" of eight tracks, rather like last
year's incomplete "Gaslight Tapes" and "Carnegie Hall" releases. Two of these
performances, Mr. Tambourine Man and Eternal Circle, turned up in 2004 on a
Fantasy Records acetate of the unreleased 1964 Bob Dylan In Concert album
(see 1964 and 2004).
22 Mar 2006: Thanks to Artur Jarosinski for information about Wolfgang's
Vault
. This is a site primarily selling
memorabilia, much from the archives of legendary rock promoter Bill Graham (of
the Fillmore East and West), whose actual first name was Wolfgang. The site also
has an online radio which plays live performances from Bill Graham's collection,
including many with Bob. For more information see
here.
Picture from www.christies.com |
6 Nov 2005:
Christies in Rockefeller Plaza, New York, is auctioning this tape made by
Peter McKenzie on Thanksgiving, 1961. It is about 60 mins in length and has
seven songs by Bob:
Baby, Let Me Follow You Down,
San Francisco Bay Blues, You're No Good, House
Of The Rising Sun, In My Time Of Dying, Highway 51 and This Land Is Your
Land, with two instrumentals and interjections from the McKenzie Family,
Suze Rotolo, Kevin Krown, and other people present. The selling price is
expected to be between $40,000-60,000! The auction will take place on
21 Nov 2005. The lot also includes the two microphones used to record the
performances (shown on the left of the picture). It's important
to note that "This recording is offered for sale without copyright,
broadcast rights, performers' consents and other reproduction rights."
Therefore it's unlikely this material will be officially released any time
soon! |
28 Oct 2005: Thanks to
Jack from Canada for the information that,
in addition to the Capitol 6 disc set The Band: A Musical History (see
2005), there will be an 8CD set of Levon and The Hawks called Bacon
Fat And Judgement Day released by the Canadian label Other People's Music.
This will include 1967 Woodstock Basement Tapes material, and may include tracks
with Bob. For more information, see
. In a reply to a query from Jack, OPM
said:
"There were many recordings from "The
Basement" which excluded Bob Dylan. OPM Inc. supplied a few of these for the
Band Box Set: Words And Numbers, You Don't Come Through, etc., on disc 1.
There's more that is currently being considered for inclusion in The Hawks' Box
Set.
Any songs including Bob Dylan would
require his consent. If we were able to include any material of the Hawks
featuring Bob Dylan on lead vocals from "The Basement", we would focus only on a
few selections. Those considered would be cover songs... Hank Williams, Johnny
Cash, etc., as this project is about The Hawks. They would not be Dylan
originals. Certainly we hope to include the other version of "Will The Circle Be
Unbroken" with Dylan singing lead and the Hawks singing back-up harmonies.
Robbie originally wished to include both versions; with and without Dylan.
Despite the report in the liner notes by Rob Blowman that this version was too
distorted to use, I'm not sure that the esteemed Mr. Blowman has even heard the
entire version of this song; certainly not a restored version. It's quite
haunting."
Picture from eBay |
21 Oct 2005: Thanks to Ian
Woodward for information about the May 1959 Ric Kangas tape, which was offered
on eBay for $1.5 million! It contains four songs: When I Got Troubles (on
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home), Teen
Love Serenade (a short excerpt is featured in the "No Direction Home"
film), and two other songs, I Wish I Knew (song by
Ric Kangas with Bob backing), and The Frog Song (a
song by Bob with Clarence "Frogman" Henry-style vocals). Thanks to
Jean-Pol Hiernaux for finding
the item on eBay. It's now closed and there were no bids! |
Picture from eBay |
21 Aug 2005: Thanks to Peter Stone Brown and Fred Muller for news that
the four songs performed by Bob in his role as Bobby the Hobo in the 1962 BBC TV
drama "Madhouse On Castle Street" have been restored after being thought long
lost. These are an early version of Blowin' In The Wind,
Ballad Of A Gliding Swan, The Cuckoo, and
Hang Me, Oh Hang Me. The songs are due to be
broadcast in Sep 2005 in an Arena documentary on BBC4, "Dylan In The Madhouse",
shown as part of a Bob Dylan season including the BBC screening of "No Direction
Home". I doubt if they will be officially released in any form, but I'll add
further information when available.
13 Jun 2005: Thanks to Gil Walker for information about
the Larry Keegan disc that failed to sell on eBay in 2002 (see below). The tracklist is mentioned in Greil Marcus' new book about Like A Rolling
Stone, and is said to be covers of:
Ready Teddy (Little Richard)
Confidential (Sonny Knight)
Boppin' The Blues (Carl Perkins)
Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Lloyd Price)
In The Still Of The Nite (5 Satins)
Let The Good Times Roll (Shirley/Lee)
Earth Angel (Penguins)
There are only seven songs as opposed to the eight mentioned
below. Apparently the quality of both the sound and the performances is awful!
In Mar 2003 it was reported that all the 1960s Broadside recordings,
including Bob's listed on this site, are to be transferred to CD using a grant
from America's National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. For more
details, see
.
Picture from eBay |
On 20 Nov 2002, I reported
that the latest issue of "Isis" magazine (#105) says that the 1956
acetate shown left only attracted a single bid on eBay for $1! I've since
learned that the record is definitely genuine, and is being sold by the sister
of Bob's long-time friend Larry Keegan, who died in Sep 2001. However the price
being asked ($150,000-$200,000)
was very high for an item which could only be acquired for a personal
collection, since there would seem no likelihood of the owner being able to
use it for commercial benefit. I still don't have details of the songs on the
acetate.
The eBay
description of this acetate is as follows: "This vintage master sound recording
from 1956 features Bob Dylan, a legendary performer and composer, an icon
of Rock & Roll. It was recorded on Christmas Eve in the recording
facility of Telinde Music, a retail music store in St. Paul, Minnesota. It
is the earliest known recording of Bob Dylan at the age of 15, a very
unique master. There are approximately eight minutes of eight recorded
songs on the disc, with Bob playing piano and singing, accompanied by
Larry Keegan and Howard Rutman on vocals. This 10 inch 78 rpm solid aluminium,
vinyl coated record is in excellent condition."
|
On 30 Jan 2002 I reported:
"Bob Dylan is reported to be one of the musicians participating in an
album of tribute to the Cuban singer and songwriter Pablo Milanés, according to
informed journal "Cuban Rebellious Youth" yesterday. The album, called
Pablo Querido, will be published by PM (Pablo Milanés) Récords in
February 2002." That album appeared without Bob, but Bob and other
artists such as Sting, Harry Belafonte, Stevie Wonder and Peter Gabriel may now
appear on a new album tentatively called Pablo Querido 2, with
Bob performing on a song called Dónde Andarán [Where
They Will Walk]. For more details, see
(in Spanish).
A "new" Townes Van Zandt release called Van Zandt Country
was scheduled to be released in the USA on Tomato/Glitterhouse
Records in the "early summer" of 2002. It was supposed to feature duets with Bob Dylan
(For The Sake Of The Song), Lyle Lovett (Flyin'
Shoes), Van Morrison (Snow Don't Fall), and Neil Young (Loretta). Glen Dundas
told me that around ten years ago there were
rumours in Austin, TX, about a collaboration between Bob and Townes Van Zandt,
but they were never confirmed. Thanks to Paul Read for details of his interval chat with
Townes during the interval at his performance at the Winning Post in
York in mid 1994, when they spoke about the duets project and Dylan's
involvement (which Townes was still waiting for). It now appears most likely
that the duet did not happen during Townes' lifetime and Bob's contribution has
been recorded posthumously. Re the Townes Van Zandt duets
(see "Older News" below), Rod MacBeath writes: "One little bit of
news relates to the Townes Van Zandt duets album Vol. 2, featuring Townes and Bob
on For The Sake Of The Song. The last I heard, this
release had been put back to Spring 2003, thought there are great disputes
between Townes' widow and the producer about his over-production standards
and both seem to think that they have a legal right to the final say. I'm
sure, as you stated, that Bob's contribution was only done after Townes' death.
I spoke to him in '94 and '95 about it (see the first issue of "The
Bridge") and it was clear that things were a long way off happening. There
is the possibility that Bob recorded more than one song though - I recall
hearing that up to three was a possibility, and some artistes will have
been featured more than once by the time all five volumes are out (or if
all five come out). Of course, the intention may have been simply to get a
selection of duets of the same song to choose from."
Before he died George Harrison was working with
Jeff Lynne on a Traveling Wilburys anthology (perhaps a boxed set) called
Maximum Traveling,
which would have contained all the previously released material (see
Traveling
Wilburys), plus previously unreleased tracks, such as a cover of Paul
Simon's Run
That Body Down, and three 1990 tracks with Del Shannon as the replacement
for Roy Orbison. The 2007 Wilburys boxed set release supersedes this, but we
live in hope of more from the Wilburys!
[Home] [The Official
Rarities Yearly Lists] [Traveling Wilburys]
[Online Performances (bobdylan.com)] [Online Performances (Other)] [Interviews with Bob] [VHS
& DVD]
[International Mono Releases] [International
Promotional Releases] [International Stereo Releases]
[Questionable
Releases] [Released Rarities] [Honourable
Mentions]
[Updates] [Red Herrings] [Other Pages] [Go
back to bobdylan.com]
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Pig production
Listings © 1998-2010
The rights to material from all quoted contributors remain
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companies.
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