A guitar belonging to John Lennon was auctioned in New York, setting a new Beatles record.
A guitar that John Lennon (1940-1980) and George Harrison (1943-2001) played during the recording of the albums “Help!” and “Rubber Soul” was auctioned in New York. According to media reports, never before has more been paid for a Beatles guitar at auction.
In 2015, “Julien’s Auctions” sold another Lennon guitar: It achieved a price of 2.41 million dollars. The newly discovered Framus guitar was reportedly valued at 600,000 to 800,000 dollars before the auction – but brought in considerably more.
The musical instrument that has just been auctioned is said to have been lying in an attic for the last 50 years. The Beatles’ acoustic guitar, which according to a statement from the auction house was manufactured by the German company Framus in the early 1960s, was played primarily by John Lennon and can apparently also be seen in the film “Help!” (“Hi-Hi-Help!”), where it is used in “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”. George Harrison used the guitar for “Norwegian Wood”, among other songs.
“Like discovering a lost Rembrandt or Picasso”
Darren Julien, co-founder and CEO of Julien’s Auctions, said, according to People magazine: “Finding this remarkable instrument is like discovering a lost Rembrandt or Picasso, and it still looks great and plays like a dream.”
He also said that the owners – who had forgotten that they owned the instrument – had originally been given the guitar as a gift by Gordon Waller (1945-2009) of pop stars Peter & Gordon. Waller then passed the guitar on to one of his managers, who took it home, put it in the attic and apparently did not look after it for decades.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
