Bob Dylan Draft Lyrics Sell for Over $500K

Dylan memorabilia auction totals nearly $1.5M in sales
By Newser.AI Read our AI policy
Posted Jan 20, 2025 2:45 AM CST
Bob Dylan Draft Lyrics Sell for Over $500K
An image released by Julien's Auctions shows musician Bob Dylan's lyrics for famed song "Mr. Tamborine Man" are show in this undated image.   (Julien's Auctions via AP)

Draft lyrics of Bob Dylan's classic "Mr. Tambourine Man" fetched over $500,000 at a weekend auction in Nashville. Organized by Julien's Auctions, the event featured around 60 Dylan-related items, including photographs, musical scores, a guitar, drawings, and an oil painting by the Nobel-winning musician. Overall, the auction generated nearly $1.5 million through both in-person and online bids.

Most of the notable items came from late music journalist Al Aronowitz's collection. The typewritten drafts of the 1965 song were annotated by Dylan and revealed significant differences from the song's final version. According to Julien's, these drafts were typed in Aronowitz's New Jersey home, in what Aronowitz described as "a swirl of chain-lit cigaret smoke," where Dylan passionately crafted his lyrics. Other high-value pieces included a 1968 oil painting signed by Dylan, selling for $260,000, and a custom Fender guitar from 1983, which went for $225,000.

The auction coincides with a renewed spotlight on Dylan, now 83, thanks to the film A Complete Unknown, which debuted last month. The movie focuses on Dylan's rise to fame in the 1960s and stars Timothée Chalamet as Dylan. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)

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