£400k Windfall: Bob Dylan’s Unreleased Draft Lyrics for “Mr. Tambourine Man” Go Under the Hammer!

Bob Dylan’s manuscript lyrics for his 1965 track Mr Tambourine Man have fetched $508,000 (£417,471) at auction in the United States.

The lyrics are inscribed on two yellow sheets of paper and consist of three typewritten drafts of the track – although not the definitive version. The evolving work also includes handwritten notes from the folk-rock icon in the margins.

This song ranks among Dylan’s most renowned hits, and the draft pages were part of a collection of 60 items that belonged to the artist, which were sold in Nashville.

An oil painting from 1968 that Dylan both created and signed, along with a Fender Telecaster electric guitar from 1983 that he owned and played, were also available for purchase.

The third draft found on the pages is nearly identical to the final version of the song, although it still displays notable differences from the final lyrics, as per Julien’s Auctions where the event occurred.

Additionally, the auction featured music journalist Al Aronowitz’s eyewitness account of Dylan composing the song at Aronowitz’s residence, likely in March 1964.

Aronowitz recounted how Dylan had spent the entire night crafting and redrafting the song using the journalist’s typewriter.

In a piece titled Bob Dylan: The Champ Has No Contenders, Aronowitz mentioned that he “discovered a trash can filled with crumpled false starts” that turned out to be drafts of Mr Tambourine Man.

“I gathered the wrinkled sheets, flattened them out, read the whimsical lines, smiled to myself at the missteps that didn’t land, and then placed the sheets into a file folder,” he remarked.

One month subsequent to Dylan’s release of Mr Tambourine Man, the Byrds delivered their version. This band’s debut single topped the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved number one in the UK, making it the first Dylan composition to secure the top position in both the US and UK.

Various sketches by Dylan surpassed their estimated values, with one anticipated to sell for between $1,500 (£1,233) and $2,500 (£2,054) ultimately fetching $88,900 (£73,057).

Moreover, a Levi’s denim jacket that Dylan wore in the 1987 musical drama Hearts of Fire was sold for $25,400 (£20,874).

The auction house reported nearly $1.5 million in total sales from the collection.

A biopic chronicling Dylan’s ascent to prominence, titled A Complete Unknown and showcasing Timothee Chalamet as the artist, was released in December 2024 in the US.