YESTERDAY'S LESSON
Yesterday brought a real Dylan artifact from the Basement-era orbit and a persuasive sign from Waukegan that the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour is still being quietly rewritten onstage.
What Moved Yesterday
The clearest development was the discovery of a working draft of “I’m Not There,” found tucked inside a first-edition paperback of Allen Ginsberg’s Ankor Wat that had belonged to Sally Grossman. Omega Auctions is listing the page, described as typed lyrics with handwritten amendments, with an estimate of £20,000 to £40,000. The interest here is not just collectible value but the chain of people around it: Ginsberg, the Grossmans, and one of Dylan’s most elusive 1967 songs suddenly meeting again in a single object.
That matters because “I’m Not There” has always occupied a strange place in the Dylan canon: central to the Basement Tapes aura, long bootleg-haunted, and only officially released decades later via the 2007 soundtrack that took its name. A draft surfacing from that circle does not change the history, but it gives the history a fresh physical edge. It is the kind of find that makes Dylan’s archive feel less like a sealed institution than a living trail of paper, friendships, and accidents.
On the current tour, the most interesting reading of the day came from Waukegan, where a close review described a notably more acoustic show than usual. Dual guitars reportedly carried much of the set, with the piano pushed into the background, and several songs seemed to benefit from the rebalancing: “I Contain Multitudes” took on a new lilt, “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” moved earlier and opened up, and “Masterpiece” reportedly landed especially well. It is still one observer’s account, but it suggests a band that is still adjusting rather than merely repeating.
There was also wider circulation around Dylan’s new Patreon page, which appears to offer stories, odd lectures, and pseudo-historical texts in a deliberately slippery voice. Much of the reaction was noisier than the thing itself, especially around questions of authorship and AI, so for now it reads more as a curiosity than a settled development.
Key Signals
- A working “I’m Not There” lyric draft was reportedly found inside Allen Ginsberg’s Ankor Wat, from the Sally Grossman estate, and is headed to auction at an estimated £20,000 to £40,000.
- The find ties directly to Dylan’s 1967 writing and recording burst with the Band, giving one of his most mythic songs a newly tangible document.
- A detailed Waukegan review described an unusually acoustic, dual-guitar-heavy set, with the piano far less central than usual.
- “Goodbye Jimmy Reed,” “I Contain Multitudes,” “Crossing the Rubicon,” and “Masterpiece” were all cited as songs that benefited from fresh arrangement choices.
- Dylan’s Patreon drew attention, but the conversation around it remains more speculative than illuminating.
Implications
The archival discovery is the day’s most durable item because it joins two Dylan stories at once: the continuing afterlife of the Basement-era material and the way important documents still emerge from personal networks rather than from formal rollouts. “I’m Not There” has always carried a special mystique, and even a single draft page adds texture to that song’s long, half-hidden history.
The touring note matters in a different way. Dylan’s late-period live work can look fixed from a distance, but the Waukegan account suggests there is still room for meaningful rearrangement inside the format. If that acoustic emphasis carries into the next stops, it will be more interesting than most of the online side chatter surrounding him this week.
Things to watch
Watch
Whether images or fuller descriptions of the “I’m Not There” draft appear ahead of the April auction.
Watch
Whether the Waukegan acoustic balance and reshuffled song placements show up again at the next tour dates.
Watch
Whether Dylan’s Patreon settles into a clearly authored, worthwhile outlet—or remains mainly a generator of confusion.