A piece of music history has sold for a record price.
John Lennon’s Framus Hootenanny 12-string acoustic guitar was used by Lennon and Beatles bandmate George Harrison on the band’s 1965 album “Help!” I used it in a recording session. There’s also “Rubber Soul,” according to Julien’s Auctions, which sells celebrity art. The guitar also appeared in an outtake of the Beatles’ comedy “Help!”
According to the auction house, Lennon purchased the guitar in late 1964 and photographed it during a recording session. handwritten note Producer George Martin According to Julien, Lennon and Harrison each used an instrument on “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.” The guitar was also played on songs like “It’s Only Love,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Girl” and, of course, “Help!”
Julien’s Auction
At the end of 1965 the guitar was gifted to: lennon To Gordon Waller of the pop duo Peter & Gordon. According to the auction house, Harrison and Lennon were writing songs for the two of them. Waller later gave the guitar to his manager, who hid it in the attic for decades, leaving a piece of music history in the dust.
The auction house did not specify how the guitar was discovered 50 years after it was last seen, but did say that musician and “Beatles Gear” author Andy Babiuk confirmed the instrument’s authenticity. The guitar was identified thanks to its unique markings, including what the auctioneer described as “told wood grain” and “swirls of tortoiseshell pickguard material.”
“The real testament to Hootenanny is in the sound. When you hit it, it immediately identifies it as “the” guitar. “If you know the code, a Beatles song can easily come out of the sound hole,” the auctioneer said. “Like an audio time capsule from 1965, Framus is a direct link to that record.”
A guitar sold at an auction held at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, New York. The final bid was $2,857,500, making it the fifth most expensive guitar ever sold.
Also for sale is a guitar case pictured with the Beatles and a “Help!” Some Beatles memorabilia was also included, including DVDs.
No information was shared about the guitar’s new owner, but the auction house described the buyer as “the custodian of a piece of Lennon’s soul and a tangible link to the creative energy that flowed through him and touched the lives of millions.”
