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August 21, 2020 12:13 pm  #1


How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

How much would you pay for a piece of rock and roll history from your favorite artist? The answer appears to be plenty – and it shows that some people have way too much money on their hands.
 
I stumbled onto auction site Christie’s the other day and amidst all the usual jewelry and paintings, I found some pretty amazing music artifacts. And some of them fetched astonishing prices. Here are a few examples: (All prices are in U.S. dollars. Click on the title to go to the page.)
 
Rubber “Sold”
 
John Lennon’s original handwritten notes to the song “Nowhere Man” went somewhere, man. That single piece of paper brought in a whopping $455,500.

 
 
Andy War-haul
 
Andy Warhol’s work has always brought big bucks, and even more so after the artist’s death. Combine that with an Elvis canvas and prices go through the roof. Someone forked over $851,925 for this piece of art, which shows the King in his prime three times.


 
“Electric” Shock
 
When Bob Dylan played his electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival, he was greeted with boos by many, who accused him of selling out. It was a touchstone moment in rock. And that may explain why that hated axe managed to get a bidder to pony up an eye-popping $965,000 for the thing – with strings attached, of course!


  
“Pie” In The Sky
 
Finally, this one really blows my mind. You wouldn’t think it would be that valuable but perhaps they got into a bidding war. Which is the only explanation I can think of for why the original working manuscript of Don McLean’s iconic “American Pie” had a collector shelling out a whopping $1.2 million for the privilege of owning it. The site says it includes “numerous revisions and unpublished deleted sections.”

Would I spend that much to own it? That’ll be the day that I die!

Last edited by aflem (August 21, 2020 6:18 pm)

 

August 21, 2020 6:18 pm  #2


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

Wow!! So who wants my autographed Hofner bass?
 

 

August 22, 2020 8:09 am  #3


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

If I had the money, I honestly can't say how much I'd shell out for things like this.  I can say though, just holding the handwritten lyrics to "Nowhere Man" and Bob Dylan's guitar would be an amazing feeling.

 

August 22, 2020 9:49 am  #4


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

I think the only thing I'd shell out big dough for is an original Robert Johnson recording. But I'd probably be outbid by  several British musicians who seem to have their eyes on the same prize.

 

August 22, 2020 8:51 pm  #5


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

Roman wrote:

I think the only thing I'd shell out big dough for is an original Robert Johnson recording. But I'd probably be outbid by  several British musicians who seem to have their eyes on the same prize.

...and the brits would likely be outbid by someone in japan.
 

 

August 23, 2020 7:56 am  #6


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

It's me Karen wrote:

     just holding the handwritten lyrics to "Nowhere Man" and Bob Dylan's guitar would be an amazing feeling.

I.M.Karen:  wouldn't it be refreshing if some of these so-called "collectors" donated their acquisition to the R 'n R Hall of Fame or to (what's left of) Hard Rock Cafe exhibits?
 

 

August 23, 2020 11:55 am  #7


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

G. wrote:

It's me Karen wrote:

     just holding the handwritten lyrics to "Nowhere Man" and Bob Dylan's guitar would be an amazing feeling.

I.M.Karen:  wouldn't it be refreshing if some of these so-called "collectors" donated their acquisition to the R 'n R Hall of Fame or to (what's left of) Hard Rock Cafe exhibits?
 

Yes.  It'd be a plus if you could indeed hold the items.

 

August 23, 2020 12:38 pm  #8


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

If it's autographed you wouldn't want anyone holding it. When I used to have mine displayed everyone who walked into the room wanted to pick them up. I finally put them in their cases and in a closet for fear of the autograph being damaged..

 

August 23, 2020 2:07 pm  #9


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

I only know of a few collectibles in my family. One is pretty common. Another I'm slightly unsure about. And the final one? Well, therein hangs a very bizarre tale.
 
The first one is the original Woodstock program, which my brother-in-law (who was there) kindly/foolishly gave to me in 1970, before anyone knew how iconic that concert would become. I’ve kept it in pristine condition ever since. I’m not sure what it’s worth but I’ve seen them on eBay for up to $500. But of course, it’s not for sale.

The second is a full ticket purported to be from the Beatles' Shea Stadium concert in New York in 1966. (Oddly enough, as I look at it now, the day I'm posting this, August 23rd, marks exactly 54 years since the big show.)  It was given to me by the late Sid Bernstein, the concert promoter who brought the Beatles to Carnegie Hall in 1964. I had the pleasure of interviewing him for a radio show I was doing in the 1980s and he handed it to me. I strongly believe it's not an original, since there's no advertising on it anywhere and I've always wondered how real it is. But it's a nice keepsake anyway and if it IS from the concert, I imagine it's probably worth something.   
 
The last one belongs to my sister-in-law and that one actually made the newspaper. It happened sometime around 1969, when she was still a teen and traveled to Buffalo to see Elvis Presley, who was making his comeback at the time, in concert.
 
She was there with a friend and near the stage when Elvis, wearing one his trademark scarves with his name on it, spotted her and another fan screaming their lungs out. As was his custom, he picked a girl out of the audience and threw the scarf at her. My in-law-to-be was the lucky one he picked that night.
 
But that other teen girl was standing right beside her and decided to make a grab for it, too. As Elvis kept crooning, a titanic battle broke out between the two of them, with both determined never to let go, come hell or high water.
 
As they struggled with the thing, a security guard finally came over, ripped the neck covering in half and, King Solomon-like, gave half to her and half to the other kid. But my relative was lucky – she got the half that had “Elvis Presley” printed on it
 
All these years later, she has it framed in her kitchen, along with half of the ticket she used to get into the concert and a newspaper article that outlined the epic battle for the scarf that ensued in the crowd that day. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of it or I'd post it here. 
 
I have no idea what it’s worth, but I would imagine the fact it has Elvis' DNA on it, the story of how it came into her possession and the provenance provided by the article would make it quite valuable. But of course, she’s not interested in parting with such a precious souvenir and memory.


     Thread Starter
 

August 23, 2020 2:29 pm  #10


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

It's me Karen wrote:

G. wrote:

It's me Karen wrote:

     just holding the handwritten lyrics to "Nowhere Man" and Bob Dylan's guitar would be an amazing feeling.

I.M.Karen:  wouldn't it be refreshing if some of these so-called "collectors" donated their acquisition to the R 'n R Hall of Fame or to (what's left of) Hard Rock Cafe exhibits?
 

Yes.  It'd be a plus if you could indeed hold the items.

i've never been to any sort of museum where they've let folks paw stuff. if there is one, i can only imagine what the insurance rate might be.
 

 

August 23, 2020 7:20 pm  #11


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

aflem wrote:

I only know of a few collectibles in my family. One is pretty common. Another I'm slightly unsure about. And the final one? Well, therein hangs a very bizarre tale.
 
The first one is the original Woodstock program, which my brother-in-law (who was there) kindly/foolishly gave to me in 1970, before anyone knew how iconic that concert would become. I’ve kept it in pristine condition ever since. I’m not sure what it’s worth but I’ve seen them on eBay for up to $500. But of course, it’s not for sale.

The second is a full ticket purported to be from the Beatles' Shea Stadium concert in New York in 1966. (Oddly enough, as I look at it now, the day I'm posting this, August 23rd, marks exactly 54 years since the big show.)  It was given to me by the late Sid Bernstein, the concert promoter who brought the Beatles to Carnegie Hall in 1964. I had the pleasure of interviewing him for a radio show I was doing in the 1980s and he handed it to me. I strongly believe it's not an original, since there's no advertising on it anywhere and I've always wondered how real it is. But it's a nice keepsake anyway and if it IS from the concert, I imagine it's probably worth something.   
 
The last one belongs to my sister-in-law and that one actually made the newspaper. It happened sometime around 1969, when she was still a teen and traveled to Buffalo to see Elvis Presley, who was making his comeback at the time, in concert.
 
She was there with a friend and near the stage when Elvis, wearing one his trademark scarves with his name on it, spotted her and another fan screaming their lungs out. As was his custom, he picked a girl out of the audience and threw the scarf at her. My in-law-to-be was the lucky one he picked that night.
 
But that other teen girl was standing right beside her and decided to make a grab for it, too. As Elvis kept crooning, a titanic battle broke out between the two of them, with both determined never to let go, come hell or high water.
 
As they struggled with the thing, a security guard finally came over, ripped the neck covering in half and, King Solomon-like, gave half to her and half to the other kid. But my relative was lucky – she got the half that had “Elvis Presley” printed on it
 
All these years later, she has it framed in her kitchen, along with half of the ticket she used to get into the concert and a newspaper article that outlined the epic battle for the scarf that ensued in the crowd that day. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of it or I'd post it here. 
 
I have no idea what it’s worth, but I would imagine the fact it has Elvis' DNA on it, the story of how it came into her possession and the provenance provided by the article would make it quite valuable. But of course, she’s not interested in parting with such a precious souvenir and memory.


I did a quick Google image search on The Beatles Shea ticket stub, and everything out there looks like the ticket you have. No advertising on any of them, just a couple of different price points ($4.75, $5.65, $5.75). My amateur research suggests you have the real deal. Going rate appears to be $300-$1000.
 

 

August 23, 2020 7:42 pm  #12


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

Wow, thanks for that. I probably should have done it myself by now but never really thought about it, probably because I have no intention of selling it. The reason I was suspicious of it is: didn't that concert completely sell out? If so, where did that ticket come from? I always thought Bernstein kept copies as props to give out, sort of like a business card. 

But if it IS the real deal, sorry Sid wherever you are! That's a very nice souvenir. (By the way, the interview went really well and we talked about some of the other acts he signed - and the fact that he passed on Barbra Streisand, primarily because he was too busy with the Fab Four at the time to give her enough attention.) 

Last edited by aflem (August 23, 2020 7:43 pm)

     Thread Starter
 

August 24, 2020 5:25 am  #13


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

gopher wrote:

It's me Karen wrote:

G. wrote:


I.M.Karen:  wouldn't it be refreshing if some of these so-called "collectors" donated their acquisition to the R 'n R Hall of Fame or to (what's left of) Hard Rock Cafe exhibits?
 

Yes.  It'd be a plus if you could indeed hold the items.

i've never been to any sort of museum where they've let folks paw stuff. if there is one, i can only imagine what the insurance rate might be.
 

 I think you're all missing my entire point.  It'd be enough for me to just hold some of these items.  The suggestion that the HOF would let me "paw" them, was part of the dream.

 

August 24, 2020 5:35 am  #14


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

aflem wrote:

Wow, thanks for that. I probably should have done it myself by now but never really thought about it, probably because I have no intention of selling it. The reason I was suspicious of it is: didn't that concert completely sell out? If so, where did that ticket come from? I always thought Bernstein kept copies as props to give out, sort of like a business card. 

But if it IS the real deal, sorry Sid wherever you are! That's a very nice souvenir. (By the way, the interview went really well and we talked about some of the other acts he signed - and the fact that he passed on Barbra Streisand, primarily because he was too busy with the Fab Four at the time to give her enough attention.) 

Checked a few places and it seems that the show was not a sell-out...55,000 tickets sold vs. 65,000 the previous time they played there. If that was the case, Sid likely had a trunk full of tickets left. Still, there are obviously not that many available now given their asking price. Also, IMO, Sid made the right choice re Babs vs. The Beatles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles%27_1966_US_tour
 

 

September 15, 2020 8:58 am  #15


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

When I read stuff like this, I honestly think some people have way too much money on their hands. Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones auctioned off a treasure trove of memorabilia this weekend, and some of the stuff that fetched big bucks was amazing - a bass guitar that went for $384,000 U.S., the most ever paid for such an instrument.  

There was a plethora of other items, including amplifiers, a silver record and more. But my favorite artifact went for the paltry sum of $1,152. What was it? A plush toilet seat cover with the Stones' tongue logo on it. Talk about being flushed with success.

Wyman auction fetches record prices - including a toilet seat

     Thread Starter
 

September 15, 2020 9:33 am  #16


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

Just found a pic of the infamous seat. I assume it was one of the first things to "go."

     Thread Starter
 

September 15, 2020 12:52 pm  #17


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

I Can't Get No Satisfaction from that 

 

September 15, 2020 3:59 pm  #18


Re: How Much Would You Pay This For Iconic Rock Memorabilia?

Well, You Can't Always Get What You Want.

     Thread Starter
 

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