Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501190092
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Goin' on the rock block: Elvis' musicians' union card, Jerry Lee's passport, Paul's guitar - everything but John's kitchen sink.
His bathroom sink, however, will be offered this week, during the biggest rock 'n' roll auction ever.
The plumber who renovated Lennon's apartment hopes to get $3,000 to $5,000 for the porcelain memento.
Starting today, these and about 5,000 other items, including posters, records, guitars and photographs will be knocked down in a four-day extravaganza.
``There have been rock auctions with a couple of hundred lots and maybe a Michael Jackson glove and a few other interesting items,'' Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's auction house, said Wednesday. ``But this is many times larger than anything else like it.''
It's not all rock. Bandleader Guy Lombardo's Grammy Award is expected to sell for $300 to $400.
In addition to Jerry Lee Lewis' passport and Presley's union card, some of the more intriguing items for sale in the ballroom of the Puck Building included:
The first Fender electric guitar, a prototype built in 1948 by Leo Fender and George Fullerton. The catalog describes it as ``arguably the most historically significant guitar in the world'' because it paved the way for today's mass-produced, solid-body electrics. It is expected to bring perhaps as much as $500,000.
A Stratocaster electric guitar that was smashed by Kurt Cobain and bears the late rocker's blood. The instrument was given to a fan who was pulled on stage during a Nirvana concert in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1993. It was wrecked by Cobain and the fan, and later signed by all three band members. The bloodstain on the white pick guard, according to Guernsey's, is Cobain's. (Price estimate: $10,000-$15,000.)
The earliest known Elvis acetate, ``I'll Never Stand in Your Way,'' recorded in 1954 at the Memphis Recording Service. Presley supposedly paid $4 to make it; bidders may pay at least $200,000 to own it.
A Nativity scene displayed at Graceland, Elvis' Memphis estate, in 1964. It includes a stable with a 9-foot ceiling and slightly larger-than-life statues of Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men, two shepherds, assorted animals and one angel. No Jesus, though. ($20,000-$40,000.)
by CNB