NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The original lyrics to Bob Dylan’s landmark song “Mr. Tambourine Man” fetched over $500,000 during a weekend auction that featured a vast array of memorabilia associated with the legendary musician.
Approximately 60 items connected to Dylan—ranging from photographs and sheet music to his guitar, sketches in pencil, and even an oil painting created by the Nobel Laureate—were auctioned off on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee, by Julien’s Auctions.
The total revenue from the auction reached nearly $1.5 million, encompassing both in-person and online bidding, according to the auction house. Notably, 50 of these featured items, including the record-setting lyrics, originated from the private collection of the late music journalist Al Aronowitz.
The typewritten lyrics consist of three drafts of the 1965 song, written across two sheets of yellow paper, with annotations found on the third draft. It is reported that Dylan composed the initial lyrics at Aronowitz’s home in New Jersey, as chronicled in a 1973 article by Aronowitz himself.
Aronowitz recalled Dylan working on a portable typewriter at the breakfast bar, surrounded by smoke from chain-lit cigarettes, as he typed out the lyrics on copy paper. The auction house indicated that although the third draft closely resembled the final version of the song, it still contained notable differences from the lyrics that would ultimately be released.
“Mr. Tambourine Man” was featured as the leading track on the acoustic side of Dylan’s 1965 album “Bringing It All Back Home” and marked the first of his songs to achieve No. 1 status in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Other prominent items that attracted high bids during the auction included a 1968 oil-on-canvas painting signed by Dylan, which sold for $260,000, and a customized 1983 Fender guitar that he had used, which went for $225,000.
At 83 years old, Dylan continues to capture public interest, especially following the recent release of the film “A Complete Unknown,” which chronicles his ascent to fame in the early 1960s. Timothée Chalamet stars as Dylan in the film, a project he has been dedicated to for several years, incorporating singing and guitar playing into his role.
