Sotheby’s New York to hold sale of rock, pop music material

KOLKATA: On 24 June Sotheby’s New York will stage Presley to Punk: A Rock & Roll History – a sale of rock and pop music material that will showcase important manuscripts and objects as pieces of 20th century cultural history. The auction will be led by Bob Dylan’s original hand-written lyrics for the 1965 epic Like A Rolling Stone – the most significant popular music manuscript ever to appear at auction and the song that transformed Dylan from a folk singer to a rock icon. Since ushering in a new musical era in the 1960s, Like A Rolling Stone has proved overwhelmingly popular, topping Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In this near complete four-page working draft the distinctive often repeated ‘how does it feel’ lyric is clearly visible alongside unused lines, stray thoughts on American cultural imagery, and interesting doodles. The manuscript is estimated to fetch $1-2 million.

Further Dylan lyrics to be offered include the original working manuscript comprising the final lyrics for A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (estimate $400,000/600,000). The sale will also include significant pieces relating to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Joni Mitchell.

Richard Austin, the expert in charge of the Presley to Punk sale commented in an email statement: "This is the Holy Grail of rock lyrics. The release of Like A Rolling Stone irreversibly changed postwar music history. With one song, Bob Dylan elevated rock music from mere ‘pop’ to the medium through which youth culture expressed itself. The lyrics set down on these four small sheets of paper are a near complete rendering of the song that resonated like no other, influencing the course of pop music for the next 50 years."