Julien’s Auctions has announced that the 1965 Fender Telecaster that Bob Dylan played during his infamous “electric” tour—where he played live with a backing band for the first time—will be heading to the auction block on May 19. The guitar—which was owned by The Band’s Robbie Robertson and later played by both George Harrison and Eric Clapton—is expected to fetch between $400,000—$600,000.
For his 1966 tour with the band known then as The Hawks (they would later change their name to The Band), Dylan used this Telecaster, which was owned by The Hawks’ guitarist, Robbie Robertson. Dylan would later use the Tele on his iconic 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde and on the legendary 1967 recordings that would be released eight years later as The Basement Tapes.
Robertson would later use the guitar on some of The Band’s most timeless songs, such as “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” It was played on stage during The Band’s performances at Woodstock, Isle of Wight, Festival Express, and at Watkins Glen, the record-breaking concert that featured the Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead and more.
In 1970, Robertson stripped the guitar’s original black finish from the body. He also made other modifications to the guitar in later years, saying that they “seemed to give it a new life, along with a different creative surge.”
“This guitar has been on the front lines of so many phenomenal events, I gaze at it with amazement,” said Robbie Robertson. “When I think about all the creativity this guitar has been a part of, I’m still blown away.”
You can find out more about the auction over at juliensauctions.com. A portion of the proceeds will go to the American Indian College Fund.
Broke Ground in Seminal Rock Albums and Concerts, Blonde on Blonde,The Basement Tapes, Woodstock, Isle of Wight, Music from Big Pink, The Band,
Watkins Glen and More
Los Angeles, California – (March 29, 2018) – Julien’s Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house, is proud to announce that one of the most historically important guitars in rock history-played by the most influential singer-songwriter of all time and pop culture icon Bob Dylan and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame legendary songwriter and guitarist Robbie Robertson’s famous 1965 Fender Telecaster electric guitar-will headline day two of the blockbuster rock and roll auction event Music Icons on May 19 live in New York at the Hard Rock Cafe and online. The iconic guitar is available for auction for the first time in history and is estimated to sell between $400,000–$600,000. It joins a stellar line up of historical items by other music legends including the previously announced Property from the Life and Career of Prince taking place May 18th.
The legendary Fender Telecaster first came onto the music scene making history as the guitar played by acoustic folk icon Bob Dylan on his first tour “going electric” with The Hawks in 1966; his backing band subsequently would become more famously renamed and revered as The Band. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the guitar was used extensively by both Dylan and Robertson as well as music legends Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Levon Helm and others. The guitar has been featured in some of rock music’s most important concerts and performances and defined the sound of some of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time. Some of the guitar’s notable recordings include: Bob Dylan’s revolutionary Blonde on Blonde (Columbia Records, 1966) considered by Rolling Stone as rock’s first great double album and a masterpiece with Dylan’s work on the telecaster notably in a rare guitar solo on “Leopard–Skin Pill–Box Hat”; Bob Dylan and The Band’s critically acclaimed album The Basement Tapes, recorded in 1967 and released by Columbia Records in 1975; Robertson’s guitar work on The Band’s debut album Music from Big Pink (Capitol, 1968) featured on the Robertson composed classics “Chest Fever,” “To Kingdom Come,” “Caledonia Mission,” and “The Weight”; their self titled album The Band (Capitol, 1969) hailed by Rolling Stone and TIME as one of the greatest albums ever recorded and subsequently preserved into the national Recording Register in 2009 that featured the Telecaster front and center on Robertson compositions, “King Harvest (Has Surely Come),” “Across the Great Divide,” “Unfaithful Servant,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and more. The Telecaster has been played on stage during The Band’s legendary performances at Woodstock, Isle of Wight, Festival Express, and Watkins Glen, the concert that broke the Guinness Book of World Records for attendance that featured the Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead and others. On the Rock of Ages shows, The Band’s legendary four–night stand at New York’s Academy of Music in December 1971, Robertson and Dylan once again shared the guitar whose recording became one of the greatest live albums of all time.
In 1970, Robertson stripped the guitar’s original black finish from the body to bare wood. Other modifications made to the guitar throughout the years as Robertson explains “seemed to give it a new life, along with a different creative surge.” Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, the Telecaster played a special role in the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s guitar arsenal. A portion of the proceeds will go to the American Indian College Fund.
“This guitar has been on the front lines of so many phenomenal events, I gaze at it with amazement,” said Robbie Robertson. “When I think about all the creativity this guitar has been a part of, I’m still blown away.”
“To witness Robbie Robertson’s legendary electric guitar come to auction is a once in a lifetime event,” said Darren Julien, President/Chief Executive Officer of Julien’s Auctions. “This special Telecaster has been played not only by Robertson but by Dylan, Clapton, Harrison and was center stage in the 20th century’s most important music and is arguably one of the most legendary instruments of all time.
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