Bob Dylan’s Original Lyrics to ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ Sell for Over $500K

Almost 60 years to the day since it was first recorded, the original lyrics to Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” have sold at auction for a total of $508,000.

The lyrics were sold via Julien’s Auctions alongside a number of other Dylan items – including a signed oil painting and numerous pieces of original art – which were originally part of the personal collection of late American journalist Al Aronowitz. Famed for introducing Dylan to The Beatles in 1964 and for being the first manager of The Velvet Underground, Aronowitz spoke about his unique connection to “Mr. Tambourine Man” in a 1973 article – of which an original version was included in the sale.

Explained Aronowitz: “Bob Dylan wrote ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ one night in my house in Berkeley Heights, N.J., sitting with my portable typewriter at my white formica breakfast bar in a swirl of chain-lit cigaret [sic] smoke, his bony, long-nailed fingers tapping the words out on my stolen, canary-colored Saturday Evening Post copy paper while the whole time, over and over again, Marvin Gaye sang ‘Can I Get a Witness?’ from the 6-foot speakers of my hi-fi in the room next to where he was, with Bob getting up from the typewriter each time the record finished in order to put the needle back at the start.”

“At the breakfast bar I found a waste basket full of crumpled false starts,” added Aronowitz. “I took it out the side door to empty it into the trash can when a whispering emotion caught me, like a breeze that sometimes gently stops you cold just because of its own ghostly power to make you notice it. 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. I still have them somewhere.”

The lyrics as sold made up two pages of yellow paper which contained three progressive drafts of the lyrics, typewritten and providing an insight into Dylan’s writing process. The lyrics are believed to date back to March of 1964, based upon the information available.

Dylan first began performing “Mr. Tambourine Man” privately in 1964, eventually recording the track as part of a number of takes on Jan. 15, 1965. The song was later included as the first song on the acoustic side to Dylan’s fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home, in April 1965.

Though “Subterranean Homesick Blues” from the same album was Dylan’s first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, “Mr. Tambourine Man” would become his first to top the chart, albeit when The Byrds released a cover as their debut single that same month.

The sale of the lyrics is just another Dylan-related happening in recent months, with the venerated artist’s profile and legacy being thrust into the public eye as a result of James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown biopic. The wider response to the biopic has been widespread and immense, with Dylan seeing his catalog earn 11.6 million U.S. on-demand streams in the week ending Dec. 26.