American singer, songwriter and guitarist John Sebastian, formerly of The Lovin' Spoonful, performs … [+]
This week, May 29th and 30th at 10am EST, Julien's Auctions will host the “Music Icons” exhibit, an amazing journey through the history of rock and music with hundreds of guitars and instruments, a bastion of memorabilia, clothing and jewelry, signed items from artists such as Ringo Starr, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Mark Knopfler, Barbara Streisand, Annie Lennox, Kylie Minogue, Phil Collins and many more.
The entire auction lot features a who's who of music icons including Queen, Dolly Parton, The Who, Amy Winehouse, The Beatles, Elvis Presley and more. Two of the artists with a big presence in the auction are Randy Bachman, of both Bachman-Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who, and former Lovin' Spoonful frontman John Sebastian.
I spoke with both of them about their roles in the auction, why they chose to participate, how they chose the items to include, and more.
Steve Baltin: I imagine going through all these elements of your story brings back a lot of memories. What stood out to you the most when looking at your story?
John Sebastian: I would have to say that the Woodstock tie-dye jacket has a special place because I wore a little bit to go to a show and the jacket ended up being better known than I was. So it's been a funny thing but a cool thing. It was an amazing day that happened completely by chance. I had managed to get to the festival only because someone with a helicopter I knew was at the airport and took me to Woodstock, and by Saturday I was starting to feel pretty comfortable. I think there was a moment when Michael Lang and Chip Monk were on stage with me and I heard them talking and they were like, “We can't really put any bands on stage right now because it's too wet, but we need a boy. who could hold them with an acoustic guitar.” I'm listening to this conversation, nodding my head and then I turn and realize they're both looking at me. It was a complete surprise. I ran down to this sort of lower area under the stage and borrowed a guitar from Timmy Harden so I could fulfill his request.
Randy Bachman: Every guitar has a memory of when I bought it, the songs I played and learned to play on it, and the hit songs I recorded with it. Each one has a special feeling, memory and meaning,
Baltin: What motivated the idea of the auction?
Bachman: A couple of things that were out of my control that I had to learn to roll with. One, he had residences in Convent Garden-London, Santa Monica-CA, Oakville-Ontario and Victoria-BC. With the Covid travel restrictions, I couldn't go anywhere for three years, so they sent me my stuff from all those places and I sold the residences. I ended up with many toasters, many lawn mowers, dozens of pots and pans, dozens of televisions, and hundreds of guitars. I hadn't played most of the guitars in years as they were in the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Music Archives in Calgary, Alberta. I had to rent a huge storage unit and sell a lot of stuff. This is the result of the evolution of the last three to five years.
Sebastian: I think the materials were sitting in my warehouse, and I was trying to think of something constructive to do and I realized that Ukraine could use some medical security. So this auction is basically for the medical aid of Ukraine.
Baltin: How did you choose what went up for auction?
Bachman: I had already sold 350 Gretsch guitars to Fred Gretsch for the Gretsch Museum in Savannah, Georgia. Then I collected rare one-of-a-kind German archtops that were handmade just after World War II by craftsmen who had trained at the Stradivari Institute in Cremona, Italy. They were trained to create violins, violas, cellos, upright basses and went on to make guitars. Most symphony halls were destroyed during the war, but jazz clubs thrived. Django Rheinhardt and other gypsy players kept them alive and the archtop market thrived. Later, when this took the world by storm, Gibson turned to mass-producing their large-bodied “jazz” archtop guitars, but they were all the same. German guitars were made one at a time, usually by father-son craftsmen from naturally aged and cured woods and black market ivory, abalone, rosewood, etc. Most of them were acoustic and were made to project the rasgueos of the rhythm guitar on the drums, the piano. , bass and singer. Later, these acoustic guitars had pickups added to them to increase the volume even more. These musical gems are each a work of art and craftsmanship that will never be seen again in the world. They are museum pieces, but they can all be assembled and reproduced by anyone. They are ideal for photo and video sessions. I picked many of these gems to sell and also kept an equal amount for myself. Also, I sell my hit guitars. My 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard blew out serial number 9 0319. With Bigsby that was my sound to The Guess Who on “No Time” and “American Woman”. Also, in many BTO tracks, my two white Fender Stratocasters were my mainstays in BTO and played on all the albums and hit songs like “You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet” and “Let It Ride , to twenty”. -Fifth Anniversary Les Paul made with fruit wood and a pickguard autographed by Les Paul A gifted Chet Atkins Gretsch Super Ax signed by Chet, a gifted Epiphone BB King signed, a gifted Telecaster signed by Bruce Springsteen, a gifted Epi Les Paul signed by Bob Seger Gifted Gold Les Paul Epi Slash Model Signed by Slash Many more amazing circa 57-58-59-60 Gibson, Les Paul, L-5, etc.
Sebastian: Yeah, I had to organize things and you know put them in a nice canvas closet so they don't dry out or whatever. That was about it.
Baltin: Do you feel like doing an auction like this gives you more control over what happens to your legacy while you control the auction versus someone else?
Sebastian: I guess that's one of the things we deal with. I was pleased to take it off the hands of the so-called Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And what can I say from here we will see who is interested.
Bachman: Yes, and selling the first batch in a two-day event will ease the pain of parting instead of one at a time and dragging it out and on and on.
Baltin: As music fans, if you could go to an auction of other musicians' items, who would it be and why?
Bachman: Any musician who touches me with his music, song, playing. Music is what makes the world a better place, musicians are messengers of love, joy, happiness and magic. I would appreciate any reminders [Jimi] Hendrix, [Eric] Clapton, Joe Walsh, Jimmy Page, Beatles, Chuck Berry, Elvis [Presley]it goes on and on.
Sebastian: It's very interesting. I'm definitely a fan of some of the great men and women I've played with over the years. I don't know if it makes me want an article of yours. The property is that you have to keep it and do something with it. I'm more than happy to pass this on to people who might be interested.
Baltin: As you prepare for the auction, have you been surprised by the interest in music memorabilia?
Bachman: Yes and no. After the initial surprise at the interest, I realize that the world and each of us has changed drastically and radically in the last three to five years. Every life, business, country, family, music and everything has had forced changes to survive and move forward into a “Brave New World” where no one can predict what tomorrow will bring. So every yesterday was part of the “good old days”, the “happy days”, which we long for but will never get back. Therefore, getting a memento of the happy days to cherish and keep the memories alive is very important for many people. There are also many more millionaires and billionaires from the internet and the computer industry, from gaming with millions to spend and they want something special and the “bragging rights” that come with it. Sooner or later your children grow up and leave home just like you and me. i did, and now it's time to let my “kids” loose and hope they find a home where they will be loved, touched, cherished and put to work making great music to rock the world.
Sebastian: I was surprised to look at Julian's auction catalog of everyone else but me, and there was a bit of a temptation to see the Waylan Jennings Telecaster go by. I would definitely mention that this Rosewood j200 I am putting up for auction is a beast! It really is a great guitar, and if I didn't have another great beast of a guitar, I probably wouldn't let it go. I was in this perfect spot at a NAMM show with the president of Gibson's acoustic division talking about the 75 J-200s they put together for this particular NAMM show because it was the seventy-fifth anniversary of the J-200 and while I stood there and talked to him. and that while he was talking, he was going down the line playing all the guitars he could play and that particular instrument is a unique guitar and I used it in a project with David Grisman. I've certainly played it with my jug band over the years and it's just a really fun guitar.
