Scorsese film sends Dylan album sales soaring

Sales of Bob Dylan records have soared thanks to the BBC documentary about his life, figures showed today.

His 2004 compilation, The Essential Bob Dylan, has doubled its sales and is now heading back into the Top 40. HMV has reported a massive increase across the singer's vast back catalogue over the past month.

It comes after BBC2 screened Martin Scorsese's two-part Dylan documentary, No Direction Home.

The documentary, which featured a rare television interview with Dylan, retraced his steps from being an ambitious young man from Hibbing, Minnesota, to playing in the top venues in the US and London during the Sixties. The documentary attracted audiences of two million, and will be released on DVD on Monday.

Phil Penman, head of music at HMV, said: "These are the largest increases we've seen with Dylan's catalogue for many years.

"In September there has been an enormous renewed interest in his work, with HMV stores throughout the country reporting substantial increases in sales of his catalogue."

HMV's top five best-selling Dylan albums in September were The Essential Bob Dylan, No Direction Home, Freewheelin', Highway 61 and Bringing It All Back Home.