Bob Dylan’s draft lyrics for his iconic song “Mr Tambourine Man” have sold at auction for £417,471 ($508,000). The two yellow sheets of paper contain three typewritten drafts of the song, along with handwritten notes by Dylan in the margins. The sale also featured a 1968 oil painting created and signed by Dylan, a 1983 Fender Telecaster electric guitar owned and played by him, and a biography written by music journalist Al Aronowitz about Dylan’s writing process.
Aronowitz recalled finding the drafts of “Mr Tambourine Man” in a waste basket full of crumpled paper. He smoothed out the sheets, read through them, and later filed them away. The song was released in 1965 and became a huge hit for the Byrds, reaching number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and UK charts.
The auction featured several other rare items owned by Dylan, including sketches that far exceeded their estimated price tags. A Levi’s denim jacket worn by Dylan in the 1987 film “Hearts of Fire” sold for $25,400. The collection as a whole made nearly $1.5 million at the auction house.
The sale comes ahead of a new biopic about Dylan’s life, titled “A Complete Unknown,” which stars Timothee Chalamet and was released in December 2024.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce85yzegd70o