The Velvet Underground
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.
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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.”
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“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.
The culture-affecting Charli XCX has revealed her fondness for the culture-defining Velvet Underground, praising their 1967 debut at Variety’s Hitmakers Awards.
Appearing at the Awards on Saturday (Dec. 7), Charli XCX was on hand to receive the Hitmaker of the Year honor, predominantly thanks to the massive global success of her Brat album throughout 2024. However, in her own acceptance speech, Charli XCX explained that that the very definition of what is a “hit” is up for debate. To underline her point, she deferred to some remarks she had written about The Velvet Underground‘s iconic debut album.
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“In March 1967, The Velvet Underground released their album The Velvet Underground & Nico,” she began. “It debuted on the Billboard 200 at Number 199. And a few weeks later, it rose to its peak position of 195. But don’t worry, it dropped out, but then it re-entered the charts. And later in life, Lou Reed told Brian Eno that it had only sold around 30,000 copies over its first five years.”
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“In my humble opinion, this record is the definition of a hit. This record is arguably one of the most influential and groundbreaking records of our time,” she added. “This album is the apex of fine art and DIY culture colliding. It’s high and low, it’s poetry meets drugs, it’s earnest meets arrogance, and even if you’re never heard a single song from this album, you’ll undoubtedly recognize its cover, either from the walls of a modern art gallery or from the shop floor of an Urban Outfitters.”
“And let’s be real, what is a hit if you’re not conquering both of those places?” she asked. “My album cover has not yet appeared at the Guggenheim or the Whitney or the Tate. However, some of my merch is available to purchase right now in Urban Outfitters. So I guess that means that I’m halfway there.”
While Charli XCX is correct that The Velvet Underground & Nico peaked at No. 195 upon its initial release, it re-entered the charts later in 1967, ultimately peaking at No. 171. In 2013, the record would reach its highest peak to date with No. 129.
Likewise, the famous quote about the record only selling 30,000 copies in its first five years has been up for debate as well. Eno’s full quote adds that despite the sales figure, “everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band”. However, later investigations have seen more than 58,000 copies had been sold by February 1969, with as many as 200,000 copies being sold by 1971. For comparison, in June, Charli XCX’s Brat debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with a total of 40,000 album sales.
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