CD of Early Taylor Swift Recordings Featuring Unreleased Originals and Dolly Parton, the Chicks Covers Sells For $12K
Written by Gil Kaufman on June 18, 2024
One of the earliest known CDs of Taylor Swift‘s songs sold at auction over the weekend for $12,505. According to Goldin Auctions, the disc — which features a picture of a tween Swift on it as well as a phone number, email address and website for interested music executives — was burned by the now mega-star when she was a modest, pre-fame sixth grader.
“At the age of 11, Swift traveled to Nashville with her mother to shop her demo around, with the demo containing cover songs of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks tunes,” reads a description of the contents; the latter country trio is now known as the Chicks. “All of which brings us to this hidden gem in our auction: an early, self-produced CD signed by Swift herself with a black marker.”
The first song on the disc is the never-released “Am I Ready For Love” (written by Celina Berman-Gray), followed by a very early Swift-penned original, “Can I Go With You,” which she wrote with Greg McElrath. Elsewhere, she covers Olivia Newton-John’s Grease hit “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” the Chicks’ “There’s Your Trouble” and Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again.”
Swift’s Eras Tour juggernaut continues its march across Europe this week with a show slated for tonight (June 18) at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, followed by a three-gig run at Wembley Stadium in London on June 21-23. In addition, the singer’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, has just notched its eighth week at the top of the Billboard 200, extending her lead as the solo artist with the most weeks on top in the chart’s history.
Check out a picture of the disc below.
