The most revealing situations that people put themselves in are in those demos

Michael Greene, Recording Academy

Agnes Cunningham and her husband, Gordon Friesen, who set up the magazine and recording studio Broadside in their living room, brought the struggling musicians together to record under its banner.

Dylan's folk anthem Blowin' in the Wind was published for the first time in the Broadside magazine, while Seeger recorded his nuclear war parody Mack the Bomb in that New York living room.

The Broadside collection includes 1,000 to 1,500 songs, as well as interviews with several artists, and is currently housed at the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina.

The grant from the recording academy will pay for the conversion of the tapes to more durable compact discs and preservation quality master tapes.

Dylan's first album came out in 1962

Michael Greene, head of the academy, said his group did not want to risk losing the 40-year-old acetate tapes that he called "living history".

"Let's face it, many times, the most candid comments, the most revealing situations that people put themselves in are in those demos," said Greene.

Last year an album called The Best of Broadside 1962-1988: Anthems of the American Underground from the Pages of Broadside Magazine was released.

The album was nominated for two Grammys in 2001 - for liner notes and historical album.