Lyric drafts for Mr Tambourine Man are expected to realise the most at a January auction centred around the archive of legendary journalist Al Aronowitz.
Aronowitz’s collections contribute 50 of the 60 items in the sale, due to be held by Julien’s Auctions at the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, Tennessee on January 18 next year.
Aronowitz can lay claim to being present at some of the pivotal events of the late 20th century.
His son, Myles Aronowitz, said: “My Father was this incredible connector… He introduced Allen Ginsberg to Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan to The Beatles… The collection represents my Father’s instinctive ability to identify and connect with greatness.”
Carrying an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000, three drafts, written on typewriter capture the process of refining Dylan’s totemic song Mr Tambourine Man.
When the Byrds (Gene Clark and David Crosby, pictured with producer Terry Melcher, left, in the studio) recorded Mr Tambourine man it took Dylan’s work to a new, younger audience.
The song was written by Dylan in 1964 and first recorded by him on his album Bringing It All Back Home, released in 1965.
The Byrds’ (shortened) recording of the song was a number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic and helped confirm that Dylan was part of a movement that took in the youthful, high-energy dance music of rock ‘n’ roll and his own wordy, political and social commentary.
Dylan is the most famous word-smith in popular music history, and the only modern pop writer to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.
The words to Like a Rolling Stone were sold in 2014 for more than $2 million. A draft of A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall realised $485,000 in 2015.
Alongside the Aronowitz collection is an Ionic Original recording of The Times They Are A-Changing.
It was recorded in 2022 as a one-off physical recording.
In 2022 another song in this series, Blowing in the Wind, was sold for £1.5 million.
This recording, produced by T Bone Burnett, carries a $400,000 to $600,000.
A guitar, harmonica and early oil painting by Bob are among other lots that make this one of the most significant Dylan sales for years.
