A typewritten early draft of Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man has been auctioned for $508,000.
Dylan threw the papers into a wastepaper bin at the home of journalist Al Aronowitz.
The two pages topped realisations at the sale of Mr Aronowitz’s personal collection hosted by Julien’s Auctions on Monday, January 20.
Across four sides of yellow paper, three drafts show Bob Dylan’s most successful song evolving.
“Take me on a trip please on your magic soundin ship,” became, “take me for a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship,” in the version Dylan sang before just before The Byrds made the song a global pop hit in 1965.
Typed deletions and Dylan’s own handwritten alterations are scattered through the document.
Al Aronowitz (1928 – 2005) was an important figure in the 60s rock ‘n’ roll boom in his own right.
He is usually credited with introducing Bob Dylan and The Beatles (a meeting at which The Beatles first smoked cannabis), and was the first manager of the Velvet Underground.
Aronowitz’s family arranged the sale.
“He never threw anything away,” Aronowitz’s son Myles Aronowitz, told the New York Times.
Dylan scholars are excited to see a work in progress from the legendary songwriter. Image courtesy of Julien’s Auctions.
Myles Aronowitz helped catalogue the sale from around 250 boxes of papers, photographs and rock and pop artefacts.
Although Al regularly told his family the story of the song, they had no idea where the drafts were until after his death.
Martin Nolan, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Julien’s Auctions said: “We’re honored to highlight this truly unique collection with so many historic Bob Dylan items from the grandfather of rock journalism, Al Aronowitz.
“Today’s white glove auction just reinforces the extraordinary impact and everlasting love that people have for Dylan, which transcends generations.”
Dylan’s painting is confident and colourful and commands prices to rival many established artists. Image courtesy Julien’s Auctions.
A white-glove sale is one in which all items are sold.
In total, the sale brought in $1.5 million.
Myles Aronowitz expects his father’s papers to produce at least one more sale, and also plans to donate items from his collection to museums and archives.
Alongside the Mr Tambourine Man lyrics a Fender Telecaster sold for $222,250; an early Dylan oil painting realised $260,000; and a page of ball-point pen doodles made $28,575 against a $1,000 – $1,500 estimate.
Bob Dylan is highly collectible.
His music, writing (he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016), film work, and painting are all sought after.
The lyrics of Like a Rolling Stone, Dylan’s 1966 masterpiece sold for $2 million in 2014. A one-off record of a 2022 recording of Blowing in the Wind was auctioned in 2022 for $1.77 million. The Fender Stratocaster guitar on which Dylan “went electric” at the Newport Folk Festival realised $965,000 at auction in 2013, becoming the most valuable guitar ever sold at the time (after a lawsuit over its ownership).
Dylan is now 83, but still touring and recording.
A film based on his early career starring Timothée Chalamet has put his legend before a new generation.
There is no reason to suppose that the market for collectibles related to Dylan will do anything other than rise in the near future.
