Tag Archives: Auctions

Shorties

“Something”

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It would seem as though writing about someone who just (March 17) turned 80 would be somewhat uncharacteristic in this space. But given that so many of those who are certainly distinctive and formative creators of the entire rock and roll sphere (Dylan. . .Jagger. . .Ono. . . Page. . .), it is, well, not out of the ordinary, but is becoming something that is rather regular. We should all hope we have similarly long runs.

In this case the person of interest is Pattie Boyd, one of the quintessential figures of the Swinging ‘60s in the U.K., a model first (she was on the cover of Vogue four times) and foremost (then) who made her way into photography (later).

What makes Boyd more famous than, say, Cynthia Powell, John Lennon’s first wife, is that she was married to George Harrison from 1966 to 1977 and then, two years later, married Eric Clapton. Their marriage lasted until 1989. (Looking at those dates it seems as though at about the 10-year mark things become unraveled.)

Harrison wrote “If I Needed Someone” (1965), presumably to woo Boyd. And he also wrote “Something” (1969), presumably with Boyd being the object of the pronoun.

And while those two Harrison compositions are considered to be his best, Boyd also was the object of what is arguably Clapton’s most famous, “Layla,” which was released (1970) while Boyd was still wed to his pal. (“I tried to give you consolation/When your old man had let you down/Like a fool, I fell in love with you/You turned my whole world upside down”) The two musicians co-wrote and performed on “Badge,” which appears on Cream’s Goodbye album (1969), with L’Angelo Misterioso being used in place of Harrison’s name, given that the Beatles and Cream were on different labels. If nothing else, given the two songs appearing within about a year of one another and the tripartite dynamics of the people involved, there is certainly something to be said for the emotional spur to creativity. (And when Clapton sings, “And I’m thinkin’ ‘bout the love that you laid on my table,” who might the person be?)

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Shorties

What’s There That We Don’t Know

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John Constable was an early 19th century British landscape painter about whom you—even if you took an art history course at some point—probably know very little about. In fact, you’ve likely not heard of him.

However, in art circles he is something of a big deal. Writing for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Elizabeth E. Barker observed, “Today he is often considered, along with J. M. W. Turner, one of England’s greatest landscape painters.” And Turner is sufficiently widely know such that Mike Leigh made a biographical film about him in 2014, Mr. Turner, with Timothy Spall (yes, of Harry Potter fame), portraying the painter: this is a movie that must be seen—or at least heard—to be believed because there are more grunts and other noises coming from Spall’s character than words (to exaggerate just a wee bit), and he’s the focus of the film. (I suppose most of us would like our artists and other characters to be more articulate and refined.)

A couple who live in a castle in Scotland, Craufurdland Castle, which has been in the family for 800 years, have a painting, Old Bridge Over the Avon, about which Simon Houison Craufurd, laird of the castle said, “It’s a painting that I have seen I don’t know how many times and have never actually paid any attention to it.”

The painting has been owned by the Craufurd family since 1918. Yes, he probably saw it plenty of times even if it wasn’t over some massive fireplace. (Constable liked to pain on big canvases: He wrote in 1821: “I do not consider myself at work without I am before a six-foot canvas.”) Yes, no surprise at this point, the painting was determined to be by Constable.

The painting is worth on the order of $2-million.

While this doesn’t change the reputation of Constable in any way, it seems remarkable that there was the work of one of the masters of British painting in plain sight for over 100 years and it was not known to be what it is. (Presumably it was known to be a Constable when it was purchased by one of Craufurd’s forebearers.)

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Shorties

Gibson Guitars for Good

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One of the things that is nearly inexplicable in our time is that there is a land war in Europe right now and although we have more access to information with more immediacy than the last time that happened to this extent and global consequence—back when Elizabeth II was still a princess—it seems as though that it something that we all once sort of knew about but which has been replaced in our infosphere by things of another sort. Most people probably know more about what’s happening in Mar-a-Lago than in Kharkiv. One is a continuation of the clown act that could have some devastating repercussions. The other is a place where, as I write this, the BBC reports: “On Saturday, the Russian-appointed head of Kharkiv region, Vitaly Ganchev, said his troops have started to evacuate civilians in Kupiansk and Izyum.” The Kharkiv region is Ukraine sovereign territory; the Russian-appointed head has absolutely no right to evacuate “civilians” from Ukraine–except that those “civilians” are undoubtedly members of the Russian army.

But there it is.

What’s more: Do we think that those people left homes, schools, stores, restaurants, infrastructure and the rest in anything but shambles?

While I have been critical—to say nothing of puzzled—of and about auctions of rock-and-roll-related memorabilia, from October 11 to November 11, 12 and 13 there will be an online auction taking place that is being organized by Gibson that is titled “Guitars for Peace.”

100% of the monies raised by Gibson Gives, the instrument company’s philanthropic arm, through this program will be donated to humanitarian undertakings for the people of Ukraine.

This auction goes far beyond someone being able to have something on display in their rec room. This auction matters. Matters as in life or death. Literally. Russian troops aren’t evacuating civilians in the Kharkiv region because they’re being nice.

Luthiers at Gibson have created four special Les Paul guitars that are painted with the azure blue and gold colors of the Ukrainian flag.

These guitars are being used by a wide array of touring musicians–Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones,  Slash, Fher Olvera of Maná, Nile Rogers of Chic, Mark Knopfler, Lzzy Hale, Margo Price, Alex Lifeson, Blossoms, The Fratellis, Kasabian, Madness, Maisie Peters, Paloma Faith, The Charlatans, The Vaccines, Toyah, My Chemical Romance—and the instruments are accompanied by autograph books that the musicians sign (thereby not having the guitars covered with Sharpie ink).

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Shorties

Objects of Interest

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I regularly receive emails from Wolfgang’s Vault, promoting the latest items that it wants me to purchase. Wolfgang’s, if you’re not familiar with it, is the archival trove and then some of concert promoter Wolfgang Grajonca, better known as Bill Graham, he of the Fillmore fame. It is a vast compendium of photos, vinyl, books, merch, and posters from the venues (e.g., The Filmore, Winterland, Avalon Ballroom) at which Graham staged what can now only be considered legendary shows, even though back in the ‘60s they were considered, well, shows.

The posters are the most wonderful objects. Graphic artists including Wes Wilson, Lee Conklin and Rick Griffin created a visual vocabulary on the posters they designed. In addition to the full-size posters, these works of art—yes, commercial art, but be that as it may, they were artists, not just layout jockeys—were printed as 5 x 7-inch postcards, which increased the opportunity for ownership.

In addition to the wildly imaginative lettering and graphics that these objects embody, there is another fascinating aspect to them, which are the performers they promote. As the setting was San Francisco, it is not at all surprising that The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane loom large. Often, the two bands were on the same bill.

But what is in some ways more interesting than the art is the selection of performers on a given night. The Who and Cannonball Adderly. Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Led Zeppelin and Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity (in my humble estimation one of the best groups of the last half of the 20th century that never got its due). The Yardbirds and The Doors. Pink Floyd and Procol Harum. These and many other shows are the stuff that audio dreams are made of, the sorts of events that give rise to “If only. . . .”

As I grew up in Detroit, there was the Grande Ballroom and similar handbills created, many penned by Gary Grimshaw, many including the MC5, which was something of the house band but one that would often get top billing, except in cases like playing second to Cream and Jefferson Airplane. Again, shows that only the imagination can capture.

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Shorties

A Mighty Wind

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Bob Dylan has made a special recording of his 1962 song “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

It is special specifically because there is one copy of the song recorded last year on an analog disc developed by T Bone Burnett.*

One copy. Recorded by Dylan. A one-shot.

It is going to be auctioned at Christie’s in London this coming July.

There are thoughts that it might go for $1.26 million.

This could be the definition of “irony”:

In a description of “Blowin’ in the Wind” that appears in secondhandsongs.com there’s this:

“In a 1978 interview, Dylan confirmed that “’Blowin’ in the Wind’ has always been a spiritual. I took it off a song called ‘No More Auction Block’ — that’s a spiritual and ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ follows the same feeling.””

“No More Auction Block” is about selling people, not pop songs.

Over $1-million for a Dylan song created in a special format.

I would think he would come over to somebody’s house and sing it for less than that.

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Shorties

The Crying of Lot 205

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Friday, April 10, was the 50th anniversary of the breakup of The Beatles, so what better day than that to buy stuff?

Specifically, Beatles’ stuff.

Let’s face it, there hasn’t been a whole lot of interest in the actual music being put out by the two remaining people who had been part of the band, so that’s not driving a whole lot of revenue for anyone.

So a wide array of things that were associated with the once Fab Four were put up for auction at Julien’s Auctions.

In case you are wondering, that business is not operated by John Lennon’s son: he’s Julian. According to the folks at Julien’s, it is “the world record-breaking auction house to the stars.”

(And as we have a bit of time on our collective hands as we shelter at home, let’s think about that “auction house to the stars” claim for a moment. Also according to the firm, it “received its second placement in the Guinness Book of World Records for the sale of the world’s most expensive dress ever sold at auction, the Marilyn Monroe ‘Happy Birthday Mr. President’ dress which sold for $4.81 million.” That happened in 2016. Ms. Monroe sang that song to John F. Kennedy in 1962. Ms. Monroe died that same year. So one of the claims to fame of the “auction house to the stars” has no benefit to the star in question, as both the star and the person to whom her slinky vocal stylings were directed have both been dead for more than 50 years. In addition to which, in terms of the auction that we will be looking at in a moment—honest, I will get out of this parenthetical remark soon—again, two of the stars are no longer with us, as John Lennon died in 1980 and George Harrison in 2001, so again, how are they going to benefit from the auction? In case you’re wondering about the first placement in the Guinness Book of World Records, that occurred in 2009, when it auctioned off a white glove that had been worn by Michael Jackson, “making it the most expensive glove ever sold at auction.” Jackson died in 2009. It isn’t clear whether the glove sold before or after his passing. And the whole notion of a glove being owned by him is not worth thinking about too hard, or at all, for that matter.)

Back to the auction of the Beatles’ related materials.

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Articles

Drive: John Lennon’s hearse up for sale

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With the exceptions of Jan and Dean (well, Dean, anyway, as Jan moved on in 2004), The Cars, Gary Numan, and Sammy Hagar, I find the seeming fascination with and apparent love of automobiles and rock musicians to be somewhat incongruous. Sure, the Futurist Manifesto hailed the automobile as the symbol of something that is more dynamic that those things preserved from the past and would leave them covered in its dust—“We declare that the world’s wonder has been enriched by a fresh beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car with its trunk adorned by great exhaust pipes like snakes with an explosive breath … a roaring car that seems to be driving under shrapnel, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace”—but (1) Marinetti wrote that in 1909, years before Bill Haley saw the light of day in Highland Park, Michigan (which, curiously enough, is where the second Ford Motor factory was located) and (2) there is evidently a deep longing for many rock musicians, both practicing and arthritic, to be entombed in a museum near Lake Erie.

We recently saw that Roger Daltrey is working with Rolls-Royce. And we cited a Rolls that had been owned by John Lennon.

Now we learn of another Lennon automobile, a 1956 Austin Princess Type A135 that will be going on the auction block at the 46th Annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction, to be held Jan. 14-22, 2017, which is essentially the auto auction of all auto auctions.

The vehicle was extensively used in the 1972 documentary Imagine.

It is a somewhat bizarre car in that unlike most ordinary Austin Princesses (note: Austin was a British car manufacturer; this is not a reference to some cotillion in the capital of Texas), this one was fitted out by coachbuilder Arthur Mulliner Ltd. of North Hampton (if you were to draw a line like this: \ from Birmingham to London, North Hampton falls in the middle). . .with the body of a hearse.

Mind you, this wasn’t some Lennonian prank or tweak; the vehicle was built as a hearse and operated as one by Ann Bonham & Son mortuary.

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Links

Buy the Whites Stripes Marimba

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Whites Stripes Marimba

You’ve still got a few days to bid on the marimba used by the White Stripes on their 2005-06 Get Behind Me Satan world tour. All proceeds go to the Nashville Chapter of the Red Cross to help victims of the recent floods. At this time, the current bid is $3,050. Bidding closes on May 24.

Note, this is not the same marimba used to record the album: “that marimba was deemed too large and not red-and-white enough to be used by the band live.”

See Jack’s instrument in action below…

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Links

Handwritten Lyrics for A Day in the Life Auctioned

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On a Loop in Hell Some handwritten lyrics of the Beatles‘ “A Day in the Life” will hit the auction block in June, the BBC reports. Written by John Lennon in a couple types of ink (because one pen apparently ran out) and with corrections and notes throughout, the double-side sheet is expected to fetch around $700,000, just behind the current record holder for handwritten Beatles lyrics.

“According to [Sotheby’s], the current record for the sale of Beatles lyrics is All You Need Is Love, which fetched $1m (£655,450) in 2005.”

The lyrics go up for sale on June 18, in case anyone is looking for a birthday present for Paul McCartney.

The Beatles: Amazon, Insound, wiki

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MGMT: Making of Kids video, Monster Auction

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Video: MGMT – Making of "KIDS"

Everyone who saw MGMT’s “Kids” video—especially those of us with toddlers of our own—was at least slightly concerned for the psychological well being of the kid in the video. I assumed it was cleverly edited and that the kid wasn’t actually traumatized by monsters. But no, this new “making of” video shows they really let those monsters attack Baby Zachary, 18 months. Sure, he’s giggling between takes, but there are clearly moments when he’s upset.

The creepiest part is the faux interview with “Zack’s Mom” (played by Joanna Newsom) in which she discusses baby pilotes and how “age is really nothing but a number.” So convincing is Newson’s portrayal of a real yuppie mom, they actually had me going for a minute.

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