The famous auction house, Sotheby’s, is planning to auction off the only known handwritten draft of Bob Dylan’s iconic song, “Like A Rolling Stone,” on June 24th. The lyrics are appraised at over 1 million dollars.
Dylan wrote the song during a stay at the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington D.C., and the lyrics are written on four pages of hotel stationary. There are also several differences between these draft lyrics and the ones that made the final cut, including a reference to Al Capone, a “dry vermouth/tell the truth” lyric, and various alternatives for the “how does it feel?” lyric, including “does it feel real,” “shut up and deal,” and “get down and kneel.”
The auction is part of a “History of Rock and Roll From Presley to Punk” that will include a number of rock memorabilia items, including lyrics from Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” a manuscript for Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” guitars played by Eric Clapton and John Lennon, and a contract signed by Jimi Hendrix, in which the guitarist agrees to perform in the studio for the price of $1.00.
The current record for a lyric manuscript is John Lennon’s “A Day In The Life,” which fetched $1.2 million in 2010.
-David Melamed (@DMelamz)