Jimi Hendrix Mandolin Auction

[Ranald]

Speaking of popular musical memorabilia:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment...rics-1.5985562

[journeybear]

Geez! That investigation has been dragging on for six years? My goodness, the wheels of justice do turn slo-o-o-o-owly sometimes.

[Ranald]

Geez! That investigation has been dragging on for six years? My goodness, the wheels of justice do turn slo-o-o-o-owly sometimes.

Interesting that the case made it to criminal court though. Back in the 1970's in Ontario, my friend, Graham Townsend, had tapes stolen from a studio. A person he knew sold a record made from these tapes. There was no question who did it, but the police weren't interested. According to them, it was a civil court matter. His lawyer told him that it would probably cost him $30,000 to pursue the matter -- a substantial amount of money at the time -- (to me it still is a substantial amount) -- and there was no guarantee that he'd win. One time, I played Graham a tune from an anonymous tape of "100 Great Canadian Fiddle Tunes." Graham said, "Let me see that tape... That's me playing and they never asked my permission." Then he told me about the previous theft. I gather that in the U.S.A. monetary crimes are usually relegated to the civil courts as well, so I'm glad that someone is seeing the alleged theft from Don Henley as a crime.

[journeybear]

I've got nothing to add, just bumping up this enjoyable thread on Jimi Hendrix' 81st birthday. Oh, I'll add this:

[JeffD]

I know it's not the OP's intent, but I find this topic remarkably sad. The idea of this POS mandolin that almost certainly meant nothing to anyone, certainly not the musicians named, going for any serious money... it just makes me sad.

Yes. People chasing what would otherwise be emptiness.

[tonyw]

Hmm, should I buy this, or a couple of Loar Gibsons? Let me think - I'll have to get back to you on that...

[MikeEdgerton]

the purchaser is lucky he did not not bring that out on stage at Monterey.

I don't know how I missed this when it was posted so long ago.

[BradKlein]

When Jimi tossed this empty can of Ronsonol my way in the Summer of '67 I didn't think anything of it. Just slid it into the pocket of my 501s and hitched back home and resumed my quiet life as a midwestern elementary school student.

But now I realize that it's time for me to be certain this important musical artifact finds a home with a well-heeled collector.

Hello Christie's? It's me, Brad...

[journeybear]

Now and then (about every six years) Thanksgiving falls on Jimi's birthday. Indeed, his last birthday came on Thanksgiving. Apparently he had a long-standing sympatico with this occurrence.

[MikeEdgerton]

When Jimi tossed this empty can of Ronsonol my way in the Summer of '67 I didn't think anything of it. Just slid it into the pocket of my 501s and hitched back home and resumed my quiet life as a midwestern elementary school student.

But now I realize that it's time for me to be certain this important musical artifact finds a home with a well-heeled collector.

Hello Christie's? It's me, Brad...

I might be willing to trade the strings off the guitar that Elvis played for that can.

[journeybear]

I might be willing to trade the strings off the guitar that Elvis played for that can.

You'll want his broken strings. They are much more highly valued.

From Scotty Moore's site:

He was definitely not easy on his instruments with a very aggressive strumming style and would break strings constantly. Perhaps the lack of a microphone on his guitar most of the time contributed to the development of his aggressive style in attempt to be heard. Robert Dye who photographed him at the Overton Shell on August 5th 1955 recalled one performer loaning him his guitar after Elvis couldn't find his in time to go on and was pretty agitated after Elvis returned it with two strings broken.

And elsewhere:

When country singer Bob Luman saw Elvis perform on stage in 1955, he noticed that Presley used his guitar more as a prop than as a musical instrument:

“This cat came out in red pants and a green coat and a pink shirt and socks, and he had this sneer on his face, and he stood behind the mike for five minutes, I’ll bet, before he made a move. Then he hit his guitar a lick, and he broke two strings. Hell, I’d been playing ten years, and I hadn’t broke a total of two strings. So there he was, these two strings dangling, and he hadn’t done anything except break the strings yet, and these high school girls were screaming and fainting and running up to the stage, and then he started to move his hips real slow like he had a thing for his guitar.”

I remember seeing an account of this sort of activity told by someone who went on to be famous. Breaking two strings on the first chord, and the girls in the audience going wild. The raconteur's take on that was that all the years he'd spent learning how to play his instrument and honing his skills meant nothing; this was the way to stardom.

And ... we now return you to your previously scheduled programming, already in progress ...

[MikeEdgerton]

You have to have proof of the provenance and I have that for this rusty old set of strings. Here's a picture of Elvis playing them on his old Gibson guitar.

[Ranald]

Speaking of strings, I have a set of old burned ones, melted together, from the stage at Monterey. Think they're worth anything? How I came by them is a long story...