Pressing identification
Original Dylan Columbia
six-eye pressings.
From 1956 to 1962, Columbia Records used a distinctive label design with six small “eye” logos arranged around the rim. Bob Dylan's first three albums — Bob Dylan (1962), The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963), and The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964) — were issued on the six-eye label in their earliest pressings. Columbia shifted to the two-eye label, then to the “360 Sound” era, then dropped the eye motif entirely. The six-eye is the first-press indicator for early Dylan.
01
What the six-eye label looks like
The Columbia six-eye label is a deep-red center disc with six small Columbia “eye” logos (concentric-circle marks) arranged at regular intervals around the perimeter. The eyes alternate with the text “COLUMBIA” in white. The center catalog text reads “Columbia” with no “360 Sound” or stereo-era markings. Mono pressings have a CL- prefix in the catalog number (e.g., CL 1779 for Bob Dylan); stereo pressings have CS- (CS 8579 for Bob Dylan).
Columbia replaced the six-eye with the two-eye label in 1962–63, then with the “360 Sound” stereo-era label in 1962–63 for stereo pressings. Any of those later labels indicates a reissue of the early Dylan catalog.
02
What six-eye Dylan first-presses are worth
| Album (year) | Six-eye catalog | NM value |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Dylan — mono (1962) | CL 1779 | $200–700 |
| Bob Dylan — stereo (1962) | CS 8579 | $300–1,000 |
| Freewheelin' — mono (1963), banned-track variant | CL 1986 | $3,000–25,000+ |
| Freewheelin' — mono (1963), standard | CL 1986 | $80–300 |
| Freewheelin' — stereo (1963) | CS 8786 | $150–500 |
| The Times They Are a-Changin' — six-eye (1964) | CL 2105 / CS 8905 | $60–250 |
Sources: Discogs sold listings (90-day window), Popsike.com auction archive, Heritage Auctions comparables. The banned-track Freewheelin' variant is one of the most valuable Dylan LPs in existence.
03
The Freewheelin' banned-track variant
Four tracks recorded for the original Freewheelin' sessions were pulled from the album at the last minute and replaced with four different tracks — but a small number of copies had already been pressed with the original tracklist. The pulled tracks include “Talkin' John Birch Society Blues,” which Columbia withdrew over legal concerns about its content. Surviving copies with the original four tracks are among the most valuable Dylan records ever sold.
The variant is identified by the matrix runout in the dead wax (codes 1A/1A or 1B/1B for the earliest pressings before the track substitutions) and by the back-cover tracklisting. Authenticated copies have reached $25,000+ at auction. Most claimed banned-track copies are actually standard Freewheelin' pressings with damaged labels — authentication is the prerequisite for any high claim.
04
How to confirm a six-eye Dylan
Pull the record. Look at the label first — the six-eye design is unmistakable once you know what you're looking at. Six small concentric-circle eyes around the rim, alternating with the white COLUMBIA text. If the label has two eyes (or zero eyes, with “360 Sound” instead), it's a later pressing.
Then confirm the catalog number on the label (CL- or CS- prefix, four-digit number matching the table above). Finally check the matrix runout in the dead wax — first-press six-eye copies have early cut numbers (1A/1A, 1B/1B, 1AA/1B etc.) etched in the runout.
For Freewheelin' specifically, cross-reference the back-cover tracklisting against a documented banned-track version. The tracklist differences are the only reliable indicator without authentication.
Or scan with Crown Vinyl. The app reads the label design (including the six-eye), the catalog number, and the matrix runout from a single photograph. Free on the App Store.
A few questions
The ones that come up.
A Columbia Records label design used from 1956 to 1962, featuring six small concentric-circle 'eye' logos arranged around the rim of a deep-red center disc, alternating with the text 'COLUMBIA' in white. Columbia replaced it with the two-eye label in 1962–63, then with the '360 Sound' stereo-era design. The six-eye is the first-press indicator for early Dylan, Miles Davis, and other early-60s Columbia releases.
Check the label first. The six-eye Columbia design indicates a first-press for the 1962–64 albums (Bob Dylan, Freewheelin', and The Times They Are a-Changin'). Then check the catalog number prefix (CL- for mono, CS- for stereo) and confirm with the matrix runout in the dead wax.
Four songs recorded for the album — including 'Talkin' John Birch Society Blues' — were pulled at the last minute over legal concerns. Columbia replaced them with four other tracks before mass production. A small number of original-tracklist copies were already pressed and shipped. Authenticated copies are among the most valuable Dylan LPs and have brought $25,000+ at auction.
For the 1962–63 albums, stereo six-eye copies often trade higher than mono — the opposite of the typical 1960s pattern. Stereo pressings were issued in smaller quantities during the early-60s transition period and survived in fewer numbers. Mono copies are still highly collected. The Freewheelin' banned-track variant exists in mono only.
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