Pop Music and Rock and Roll
1962 The Missing Jumbo of John Lennon
2015 SOLD for $ 2.4M including premium
The Beatles liked the Gibson ES-175 guitar of their friend Tony Sheridan. John and George desired to own guitars from this US brand. Their choice went on the Jumbo Electric J-160E that was not regularly available in England. This acoustic-electric hybrid model can be used unconnected, which is nice when you are traveling.
The two identical marvels are delivered to them on September 10, 1962 through a specialized shop in Liverpool. These instruments meet their needs and they make a regular use of them for composition and recording, at home and in the studio. Their collaboration is so close that they swap their Gibsons, certainly unknowingly.
A few days after a Christmas show in 1963, John observes that his guitar has left. He will never see it again.
For the last 45 years, a guitarist living in San Diego owned this instrument without identifying its glorious past. In 2014, he realized the likeness of his Gibson with its widely documented twin which had been kept by George. Serial numbers are very close together.
The veins in the wood allow the identification of a guitar with the same certainty as fingerprints for a human. The best expert of equipment used by the Beatles compared the instrument with period photographs. He is formal and admiring : half a century after being pinched, John Lennon's Gibson has resurfaced in its unmodified configuration, like a time capsule.
This historic guitar is estimated $ 600K for sale by Julien's in Beverly Hills on November 7, lot 278.
Its photo in an exhibit at Austin in 2015 was offered to the public domain and is available on Wikimedia:
The two identical marvels are delivered to them on September 10, 1962 through a specialized shop in Liverpool. These instruments meet their needs and they make a regular use of them for composition and recording, at home and in the studio. Their collaboration is so close that they swap their Gibsons, certainly unknowingly.
A few days after a Christmas show in 1963, John observes that his guitar has left. He will never see it again.
For the last 45 years, a guitarist living in San Diego owned this instrument without identifying its glorious past. In 2014, he realized the likeness of his Gibson with its widely documented twin which had been kept by George. Serial numbers are very close together.
The veins in the wood allow the identification of a guitar with the same certainty as fingerprints for a human. The best expert of equipment used by the Beatles compared the instrument with period photographs. He is formal and admiring : half a century after being pinched, John Lennon's Gibson has resurfaced in its unmodified configuration, like a time capsule.
This historic guitar is estimated $ 600K for sale by Julien's in Beverly Hills on November 7, lot 278.
Its photo in an exhibit at Austin in 2015 was offered to the public domain and is available on Wikimedia:
_-_Ladies_and_Gentlemen..._the_Beatles!_exhibit_at_LBJ_Presidential_Library%2C_Austin%2C_TX%2C_2015-06-12_11.37.55.jpg)
1963 Ringo on Drums
2015 SOLD for $ 2.1M including premium
Three days of sales will be needed by Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills to disperse the collection of Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach, from 3 to 5 December. No less than seven drum kits used by the musician with the Beatles or in his subsequent career are offered in this auction.
The Beatles reach the top position in the hit parade in February 1963. They now require the best instruments, not only for guitars. In April, Epstein and Starr choose together a three piece drum kit of Ludwig brand in a London specialized shop.
Ringo takes possession of his new instrument on May 12. The activity of the Beatles is intense and even frantic. Between that date and February 4 of the following year, Ringo uses his Ludwig drums in 200 live performances and 180 studio recordings, covering all titles from this period of great enthusiasm preceding their trip to America.
The Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl kit was retained by Ringo and has not been seen in public for half a century. However, it was used in part in 1969 and 1970 by Paul McCartney when he recorded his first solo albums.
The prestigious drum kit of Ringo Starr is estimated $ 300K, lot 696 for sale on December 4. I invite you to watch the video shared by Julien's.
The Beatles reach the top position in the hit parade in February 1963. They now require the best instruments, not only for guitars. In April, Epstein and Starr choose together a three piece drum kit of Ludwig brand in a London specialized shop.
Ringo takes possession of his new instrument on May 12. The activity of the Beatles is intense and even frantic. Between that date and February 4 of the following year, Ringo uses his Ludwig drums in 200 live performances and 180 studio recordings, covering all titles from this period of great enthusiasm preceding their trip to America.
The Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl kit was retained by Ringo and has not been seen in public for half a century. However, it was used in part in 1969 and 1970 by Paul McCartney when he recorded his first solo albums.
The prestigious drum kit of Ringo Starr is estimated $ 300K, lot 696 for sale on December 4. I invite you to watch the video shared by Julien's.
1965 Bob Dylan, the Poet of Rock and Roll
2014 SOLD 2.05 M$ including premium
An inspired poet must not follow the pre-established rules. After Rimbaud and Kerouac, Bob Dylan is also a social activist who sang in the largest anti-racist rally of his time on August 28, 1963 after the speech 'I have a dream' of Martin Luther King.
Dylan is a teller who builds his music, sometimes rudimentary, from the rhythm of his speech, with his hoarse and monotone voice. In the bohemian life of Greenwich Village, his culture is a synthesis of all popular musics : blues, folk, jazz.
He will use this versatility to unnerve his audience whenever he can. It was a bold but winning path as his public eventually accepted all forms of his art, blowing forever the boundaries between folk and rock.
On June 24 in New York, Sotheby's sells the final autograph draft of the lyrics for two of the most important songs of Bob Dylan.
When he wrote A hard rain's a gonna fall in December 1962, Bob is 21 years old. This poem is a political scream saying the impotence of the poet facing the endless violence of the Cuban missile crisis.
This manuscript from his folk period consists in two 23 x 15 cm pages torn from a spiral notebook. It is estimated $ 400K, lot 141.
The long song Like a rolling stone whose title was inspired from the Rollin' stone by Muddy Waters is a philosophical poem. The topic reminding some chansons réalistes of the early 20th century is anti-romantic and ambiguous when the forfeiture of Miss Lonely is considered as a blessing for her because she is freed from previous constraints.
After two legendary episodes confirming the genius of Bob to thwart any conformism, this song was his biggest hit.
The recording was difficult because the atmosphere was not suited to the author. He found the solution by entrusting the organ to a musician who had never played such instrument. This song also had a major role in the revolution of the Newport Festival where Bob forced his fans to hear his electric guitar.
This manuscript which opened the way to the American rock and roll is a four-page document 24 x 15 cm on hotel stationery, with many corrections and additions, written in June 1965. It is estimated over $ 1M, lot 146.
POST SALE COMMENT
Here are the results including premium for these two outstanding poems: $ 485K to A hard rain's and $ 2.05M for Like a rolling stone.
Dylan is a teller who builds his music, sometimes rudimentary, from the rhythm of his speech, with his hoarse and monotone voice. In the bohemian life of Greenwich Village, his culture is a synthesis of all popular musics : blues, folk, jazz.
He will use this versatility to unnerve his audience whenever he can. It was a bold but winning path as his public eventually accepted all forms of his art, blowing forever the boundaries between folk and rock.
On June 24 in New York, Sotheby's sells the final autograph draft of the lyrics for two of the most important songs of Bob Dylan.
When he wrote A hard rain's a gonna fall in December 1962, Bob is 21 years old. This poem is a political scream saying the impotence of the poet facing the endless violence of the Cuban missile crisis.
This manuscript from his folk period consists in two 23 x 15 cm pages torn from a spiral notebook. It is estimated $ 400K, lot 141.
The long song Like a rolling stone whose title was inspired from the Rollin' stone by Muddy Waters is a philosophical poem. The topic reminding some chansons réalistes of the early 20th century is anti-romantic and ambiguous when the forfeiture of Miss Lonely is considered as a blessing for her because she is freed from previous constraints.
After two legendary episodes confirming the genius of Bob to thwart any conformism, this song was his biggest hit.
The recording was difficult because the atmosphere was not suited to the author. He found the solution by entrusting the organ to a musician who had never played such instrument. This song also had a major role in the revolution of the Newport Festival where Bob forced his fans to hear his electric guitar.
This manuscript which opened the way to the American rock and roll is a four-page document 24 x 15 cm on hotel stationery, with many corrections and additions, written in June 1965. It is estimated over $ 1M, lot 146.
POST SALE COMMENT
Here are the results including premium for these two outstanding poems: $ 485K to A hard rain's and $ 2.05M for Like a rolling stone.
1969-1970 The Sound of the Pink Floyd
2019 SOLD for $ 4M including premium
On June 20 in New York, Christie's sells David Gilmour's collection of more than 120 guitars. Passionate about guitars since his childhood in Cambridge, David dreamed of playing a Fender Stratocaster. He explains today that a Strat enhances the personality of its performer.
At the end of the 1960s, psychedelic music is taking over from classic rock and roll. To reach the fame, bands must now offer to the public sounds that are both dynamic and different. David becomes the guitarist of the Pink Floyd in 1968 to compensate for the incapacity of Syd Barrett victim of mental disorders.
Lot 127 is David Gilmour's Black Strat. Made in 1969, it was bought new by David in 1970 at Manny's in New York. Until 1983 it is his favorite instrument, constantly modified by him to extract new sensational sounds. This instrument is a basic element of the Pink Floyd sound lab at their best time. It is played by David in 1973 in the album that will remain the biggest hit of the group, The Dark Side of the Moon.
This working guitar that was originally an ordinary Strat has become a cult instrument of rock in its post-Beatles phase. Leased for ten years at the Hard Rock Café in Dallas, it was later restored. Replicas were created by Fender from 2006 in two models, one of which named The Relic copying its state of wear before restoration.
In 2005, when the band's historic members meet in concert in London after a very long break, David Gilmour plays his Black Strat again. Frequently modified for half a century by its prestigious owner, it is offered with a reasonable estimate of $ 100K to 150K. Please read the article by Christie's telling its long story.
At the end of the 1960s, psychedelic music is taking over from classic rock and roll. To reach the fame, bands must now offer to the public sounds that are both dynamic and different. David becomes the guitarist of the Pink Floyd in 1968 to compensate for the incapacity of Syd Barrett victim of mental disorders.
Lot 127 is David Gilmour's Black Strat. Made in 1969, it was bought new by David in 1970 at Manny's in New York. Until 1983 it is his favorite instrument, constantly modified by him to extract new sensational sounds. This instrument is a basic element of the Pink Floyd sound lab at their best time. It is played by David in 1973 in the album that will remain the biggest hit of the group, The Dark Side of the Moon.
This working guitar that was originally an ordinary Strat has become a cult instrument of rock in its post-Beatles phase. Leased for ten years at the Hard Rock Café in Dallas, it was later restored. Replicas were created by Fender from 2006 in two models, one of which named The Relic copying its state of wear before restoration.
In 2005, when the band's historic members meet in concert in London after a very long break, David Gilmour plays his Black Strat again. Frequently modified for half a century by its prestigious owner, it is offered with a reasonable estimate of $ 100K to 150K. Please read the article by Christie's telling its long story.
(1973)-1975 Freddie Mercury's Yamaha Grand Piano
2023 SOLD for £ 1.74M by Sotheby's
The Queen rock band is formed in 1970 in London by Freddie Mercury with Brian May and Roger Taylor, later joined by John Deacon.
Born Farrokh Bulsara to a Parsi family in Zanzibar, Freddie Mercury took piano lessons from the age of 7 and formed his first rock band at the age of 12 as a school boy near Bombay.
Queen is a sexually ambiguous name for a group of men. Freddie Mercury did not formally make a coming out of his own homosexuality but was to die of AIDS. He said that Jimi Hendrix "really had everything any rock 'n' roll star should have". The group operated an eccentric performance influenced by Liza Minnelli.
In 1975 Freddie Mercury intensely searched a domestic sized piano with a clear sound that would resonate with his musical ambitions. He selected a 1973 Yamaha G2 baby grand 147 x 168 x 100 cm which he placed in his small living room.
The G2 was a cheaper competitor to Steinway, with an easy keyboard action. Starting with Bohemian Rhapsody, he used it for the rest of his life, often working a full day sitting at it with a metronome to his left and a tape recorder to his right.
He maintained it pristine for improvising melodies, testing lyrics and submitting the new songs to his collaborators. He used it in 1987 to compose Barcelona with the soprano Montserrat Caballé.
The Yamaha was sold for £ 1.74M by Sotheby's on September 6, 2023, lot 44 in the sale of Freddie Mercury's collection.
Born Farrokh Bulsara to a Parsi family in Zanzibar, Freddie Mercury took piano lessons from the age of 7 and formed his first rock band at the age of 12 as a school boy near Bombay.
Queen is a sexually ambiguous name for a group of men. Freddie Mercury did not formally make a coming out of his own homosexuality but was to die of AIDS. He said that Jimi Hendrix "really had everything any rock 'n' roll star should have". The group operated an eccentric performance influenced by Liza Minnelli.
In 1975 Freddie Mercury intensely searched a domestic sized piano with a clear sound that would resonate with his musical ambitions. He selected a 1973 Yamaha G2 baby grand 147 x 168 x 100 cm which he placed in his small living room.
The G2 was a cheaper competitor to Steinway, with an easy keyboard action. Starting with Bohemian Rhapsody, he used it for the rest of his life, often working a full day sitting at it with a metronome to his left and a tape recorder to his right.
He maintained it pristine for improvising melodies, testing lyrics and submitting the new songs to his collaborators. He used it in 1987 to compose Barcelona with the soprano Montserrat Caballé.
The Yamaha was sold for £ 1.74M by Sotheby's on September 6, 2023, lot 44 in the sale of Freddie Mercury's collection.
1980 Debbie Harry by WARHOL
1
Pink version
2023 SOLD for £ 6.6M by Sotheby's
In 1980 Andy Warhol is 52 years old. He is no longer the young artist who will conquer the world. He is still fascinated by famous women, but they went to become younger and more beautiful than him. He takes his Polaroid instantaneous camera and, like the paparazzi, endeavors to meet these new stars.
He makes many Polaroid portraits of Debbie Harry, the 35 year old leading singer of the rock band Blondie. He selected two photos to be transferred with his improved five color technique of silkscreen ink over acrylic on 107 x 107 cm canvas, enabling nuances and shades amidst bold colors.
In the three paintings made from a specific Polaroid photo, a same color was used for the abundant hair and the background. The pink variant was sold by Sotheby's for £ 3.7M by Sotheby's on June 29, 2011, lot 42, and for £ 6.6M on March 1, 2023, lot 118. The other two are kept in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.
Her pink hair and purple eye shadow remind that Blondie was in the punk movement, but her arresting gaze belongs to a modern young woman, confident in herself, worthy of our post-punk time.
He also painted a portrait from a Polaroid photo of Farrah Fawcett, the red haired actress.
He makes many Polaroid portraits of Debbie Harry, the 35 year old leading singer of the rock band Blondie. He selected two photos to be transferred with his improved five color technique of silkscreen ink over acrylic on 107 x 107 cm canvas, enabling nuances and shades amidst bold colors.
In the three paintings made from a specific Polaroid photo, a same color was used for the abundant hair and the background. The pink variant was sold by Sotheby's for £ 3.7M by Sotheby's on June 29, 2011, lot 42, and for £ 6.6M on March 1, 2023, lot 118. The other two are kept in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.
Her pink hair and purple eye shadow remind that Blondie was in the punk movement, but her arresting gaze belongs to a modern young woman, confident in herself, worthy of our post-punk time.
He also painted a portrait from a Polaroid photo of Farrah Fawcett, the red haired actress.
2
2014 SOLD for $ 3.1M by Sotheby's
In the same format, technique and year as the example above but coming from another close up photo of the face, a portrait of Debbie Harry by Warhol was sold for $ 3.1M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Sotheby's on November 12, 2014, lot 231.
The star with dyed golden hair has her head slightly turned and bent, in a more engaging attitude than the full front example above.
Debbie inscribed it XX Love on the overlap in 1987 after Andy's death.
The star with dyed golden hair has her head slightly turned and bent, in a more engaging attitude than the full front example above.
Debbie inscribed it XX Love on the overlap in 1987 after Andy's death.
1982 Frankenstrat of Eddie Van Halen
2023 SOLD for $ 3.9M by Sotheby's
The Van Halen family rock band was founded in Pasadena in 1973. The two brothers soon switched their instruments with the drummer Eddie becoming the guitarist.
Eddie Van Halen was a keen designer and experimenter. Not happy to make a choice between the leading trademarks Fender and Gibson, he conceived his own guitars with elements from both of them. The name Frankenstrat was coined by him as a reference to Fender's Strat (ocaster) and to the Franken (stein) movies with beings built from composite human sources.
In 1982 Eddie accepted a deal with the maker Kramer to build Frankenstrats from his requirements.
One of them made in the fall of that year was the first to include a not yet patented supporting device that enabled a two hand tapping like on a piano. This instrument was used by him in 1983 in the video clip Hot for Teacher played by the Van Halen band with a gang of unruly schoolchildren and a few women in bikini. That song released in an album in the next year is a mixing of glam metal, heavy metal, hard rock and speed metal.
The Hot for Teacher guitar was sold for $ 3.9M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on April 18, 2023, lot 124. The straight jacket and white gloves worn by Eddie Van Halen in the video are joined to the lot. It is decorated by the Dutch born Eddie with white and black stripes in the De Stijl fashion.
The innovations brought by Van Halen for this specific instrument went to be the basis for a production of replica Frankenstrats by Kramer.
Eddie Van Halen was a keen designer and experimenter. Not happy to make a choice between the leading trademarks Fender and Gibson, he conceived his own guitars with elements from both of them. The name Frankenstrat was coined by him as a reference to Fender's Strat (ocaster) and to the Franken (stein) movies with beings built from composite human sources.
In 1982 Eddie accepted a deal with the maker Kramer to build Frankenstrats from his requirements.
One of them made in the fall of that year was the first to include a not yet patented supporting device that enabled a two hand tapping like on a piano. This instrument was used by him in 1983 in the video clip Hot for Teacher played by the Van Halen band with a gang of unruly schoolchildren and a few women in bikini. That song released in an album in the next year is a mixing of glam metal, heavy metal, hard rock and speed metal.
The Hot for Teacher guitar was sold for $ 3.9M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on April 18, 2023, lot 124. The straight jacket and white gloves worn by Eddie Van Halen in the video are joined to the lot. It is decorated by the Dutch born Eddie with white and black stripes in the De Stijl fashion.
The innovations brought by Van Halen for this specific instrument went to be the basis for a production of replica Frankenstrats by Kramer.
(1969)-1991 Fender Mustang of Kurt Cobain
2022 SOLD for $ 4.6M by Julien's
MTV (Music Tele Vision) is the American cable channel that offers a music beloved by the X Generation. In August 1991 Nirvana is invited. They play their hard rock guitar song Smells like Teen Spirit, one of the biggest hits in pop music history, which brings their transition to stardom. The title is released two weeks later in the second album of the group, Nevermind. It currently has 1.4 billion views on YouTube.
The 24 year old band leader Kurt Cobain is playing one of his favorite instruments, a newly purchased left handed Fender Mustang guitar made in 1969.
Still with its original case, this blue six string instrument was sold for $ 4.6M by Julien's on May 22, 2022, lot 1008. A portion of the proceeds will go to a mental health charity. It is in good condition despite being thrown by Cobain on a mixing board during a club appearance.
Its image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : Razvan Orendovici from United States, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The 24 year old band leader Kurt Cobain is playing one of his favorite instruments, a newly purchased left handed Fender Mustang guitar made in 1969.
Still with its original case, this blue six string instrument was sold for $ 4.6M by Julien's on May 22, 2022, lot 1008. A portion of the proceeds will go to a mental health charity. It is in good condition despite being thrown by Cobain on a mixing board during a club appearance.
Its image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : Razvan Orendovici from United States, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
(1959) - 1993 The Acoustic Grunge
2020 SOLD for $ 6M including premium
In the 1990s, young people wanted to have an authentic and relaxed life, opposed to the orthodoxy of their elders. Their main subculture is the grunge, a mixture of hard rock and heavy metal for music, and of hippie and punk for a deliberately offbeat clothing.
This trend ensures the fame for the group Nirvana, created in 1987, and its leader, singer, guitarist and co-founder Kurt Cobain. The grunge is often named the Seattle music.
In 1989 the musical television channel MTV created Unplugged, a series of programs in which groups were invited to reinterpret their best songs while leaving all electronic equipment except microphones.
Nirvana accepts MTV's invitation for a recording to be made on November 18, 1993. They need this program for boosting the sales of their album In Utero, which had not the expected success. Kurt Cobain is excessively nervous during the preparation phase, probably feeling a risk of recuperation of his art by the establishment. He imposes his solutions on the MTV team, including a morbid setting.
For the show, Nirvana plays fourteen songs in one take. In accordance with his commitment, Cobain uses an acoustic guitar. He chose a Martin D18-E from 1959. This instrument is one of the stars of the show : in the last sequence, Cobain places it reverently on its stand and leaves the stage.
Kurt was an irreducible perfectionist. He could not bring himself to offer an exclusively acoustic sound in this program. A hidden pickup was used in the Martin for at least one of the songs.
The record titled MTV Unplugged in New York released a year later is one of Nirvana's greatest hits, posthumously for Cobain. The Martin is estimated $ 1M in the sale organized by Julien's in Beverly Hills on June 19 and 20, lot 742. The olive green cardigan worn by the blond singer in this show was sold for $ 334K including premium on October 25, 2019 by the same auction house.
This trend ensures the fame for the group Nirvana, created in 1987, and its leader, singer, guitarist and co-founder Kurt Cobain. The grunge is often named the Seattle music.
In 1989 the musical television channel MTV created Unplugged, a series of programs in which groups were invited to reinterpret their best songs while leaving all electronic equipment except microphones.
Nirvana accepts MTV's invitation for a recording to be made on November 18, 1993. They need this program for boosting the sales of their album In Utero, which had not the expected success. Kurt Cobain is excessively nervous during the preparation phase, probably feeling a risk of recuperation of his art by the establishment. He imposes his solutions on the MTV team, including a morbid setting.
For the show, Nirvana plays fourteen songs in one take. In accordance with his commitment, Cobain uses an acoustic guitar. He chose a Martin D18-E from 1959. This instrument is one of the stars of the show : in the last sequence, Cobain places it reverently on its stand and leaves the stage.
Kurt was an irreducible perfectionist. He could not bring himself to offer an exclusively acoustic sound in this program. A hidden pickup was used in the Martin for at least one of the songs.
The record titled MTV Unplugged in New York released a year later is one of Nirvana's greatest hits, posthumously for Cobain. The Martin is estimated $ 1M in the sale organized by Julien's in Beverly Hills on June 19 and 20, lot 742. The olive green cardigan worn by the blond singer in this show was sold for $ 334K including premium on October 25, 2019 by the same auction house.
