Pay a song for me: ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ lyrics among Bob Dylan song drafts, artworks and photos to go on sale

By Billy Stockwell, CNN

(CNN) — A spectacular haul of Bob Dylan memorabilia, including early drafts of the singer and songwriter’s number 1 hit “Mr. Tambourine Man” and an original oil painting, will soon go under the hammer.

Fans and collectors alike will be able to bid for 50 “extraordinary artifacts” from the musician’s life and career, with some items expected to fetch up to $600,000, according to Julien’s Auctions, which is selling the items. Others are valued at around $100.

The items being sold form part of the personal collection of journalist Al Aronowitz, commonly known as the “godfather of rock journalism,” who became friends with many of the stars he reported on, including Dylan, the auction house said.

Among the items are multiple pieces of original art, including a signed oil painting from 1968, and an analogue disc of the singer’s 2021 re-recording of “The Times They Are A-Changin,” one of his most famous songs which was released in 1964.

A promotional leaflet for Dylan’s first major solo concert in 1963 at Town Hall in New York City and multiple vintage photos of the singer are also for sale.

Perhaps the most eye-catching listing however is three drafts of “Mr. Tambourine Man” – the first Bob Dylan composition to get to number 1 in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Dylan perfected the lyrics while staying at the Aronowitz family home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, while listening to Marvin Gaye’s “Can I Get A Witness” on repeat, according to the auction house, which added that the pages are estimated to sell for between $400,000 and $600,000.

In an article written by Aronowitz – an original copy of which is also up for sale – the journalist recalls Dylan writing the lyrics in his home.

Aronowitz said that Dylan wrote the song on a portable typewriter in a swirl of cigarette smoke, “his bony, long-nailed fingers tapping the words out on my stolen, canary-colored Saturday Evening Post copy paper.”

Later, Aronowitz said that he found “a waste basket full of crumpled false starts,” according to excerpts of the article posted on the auction house website.

“I took the crumpled sheets, smoothed them out, read the crazy leaping lines, smiled to myself at the leaps that never landed and then put the sheets into a file folder.”

The auction house added that “the pages show substantial changes from the first draft to the third draft, which is close to the final version of the song, although it still has significant variations from the final lyrics.”

“Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of history,” it said.

Aronowitz’s son, Myles, said his father, who died in 2005, was “much more than a journalist, he understood what these artists were trying to do.”

“The collection represents my father’s instinctive ability to identify and connect with greatness. Each item is evidence of this, and how with his magic, he literally brought you into the room,” he said in a statement.

Singer Judy Collins previously said that Dylan wrote the song at the house of impresario Albert Grossman. “I heard this voice coming up the stairs and it was Dylan writing ‘Tambourine Man,’” she told the Strange Brew Podcast in 2023.

“So, I got my robe on, I went downstairs and I sat for two hours in front of this blue door behind which Dylan was writing Tambourine Man.”

The auction, titled “Celebrating Bob Dylan: The Al Aronowitz Archive, T Bone Burnett, & More,” is taking place at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee on January 18.

The sale coincides with James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” hitting cinemas across the world.

Starring Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, the film follows the musician’s spectacular rise from his arrival in New York at age 19 to become one of the most influential singers and songwriters of all time.

In 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” He has sold more than 125 million records during his career.

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