John Lennon's lost 'Help!' guitar to be on display in Nashville before auction. How it was found
John Lennon's prized Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar — on which he played on many of the Beatles' early hits and their 1965 album "Help!" — is among a quintet of legendary rock 'n' roll guitars appearing in an exclusive "Music Icons" exhibition at Nashville's Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum from May 15-18, 2024.
Highlighting guitars showcasing the British Invasion, country, folk and punk's influences on rock history continue an existing relationship between the Musician's Hall of Fame & Museum and industry-leading music memorabilia auction house Julien's Auctions.
Alongside Lennon's guitar, instruments from Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson, Randy Bachman, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, and Mark Knopfler will be featured before they head to New York for their final exhibition and auction at the two-day "Music Icons" auction occurring May 29-30, 2024 at New York City's Hard Rock Cafe location and online at https://juliensauctions.com.
Which rock guitars will be on display on Nashville?
John Lennon's Lost 1965 Help! Album Framus 12-String Hootenanny Acoustic Guitar
Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson's Historic 1965 Fender Telecaster Guitar
Randy Bachman's "American Woman" 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard Guitar
Steve Jones' Sex Pistols 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom Guitar
Mark Knopfler's 1987 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman Guitar signed by Atkins to Benefit The King's Trust
Exclusive to The Tennessean, Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum CEO and Curator Linda Chambers said she has appreciated the "great relationship" the two organizations have shared over the years, allowing the "greatest artifacts in music history" to be shared with museum guests.
Chambers highlights that the key to this is that the exhibition allows Bachman, a 2014 Musicians Hall of Fame Inductee, to be spotlighted. Notably, the exhibition extends the Hall of Fame's recent spotlight on The Beatles via Ringo Starr's 2023 induction.
Legendary guitars are having a lucrative auction moment
"Lennon's guitar was an incredible discovery," says Julien's Auctions' executive director and co-founder Martin Nolan to The Tennessean.
Nine years ago, Lennon's Gibson J-160E guitar sold for $2.41 million at Julien's Auctions in California, making it the second most valuable guitar ever sold.
In 2019, Pink Floyd member David Gilmour sold his black Fender Stratocaster for nearly $4 million via Christie's auction house. However, one year later, Kurt Cobain's retro acoustic-electric 1959 Martin D-18E (played during Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged performance) sold for just over $6 million.
Lennon's guitar is expected to sell for a value at or above either Lennon's previous sale or Cobain or Gilmour's record-breakers.
"The discovery of John Lennon's 'Help!' guitar, which was believed to be lost, is considered the greatest find of a Beatles guitar since Paul McCartney's lost 1961 H?fner bass guitar," Julien's Auctions co-founder and executive director Darren Julien said in a press statement.
Comparing the instrument's discovery to "finding a lost Rembrandt or Picasso," he adds that it "still looks and plays like a dream after having been preserved in an attic for more than 50 years."
For Nolan, showcasing the guitars at the Musicians Hall of Fame allows multiple generations of fans to learn how those instruments played songs that inspired youth movements that sustainably pushed popular culture forward.
Nashville's role in preserving rock's cultural legacy
He maintained a long relationship with Linda Chambers' husband Joe, who, from 2006 to his 2022 passing, leveraged relationships he built as a musician and songwriter in the music industry, plus friendships with organizations like Julien's Auctions, to develop a space highlighting the efforts of artists, creatives, executives, and session musicians fundamentally crucial to the roots of American popular music's entrenchment as a staple ingredient of global culture.
Those include session musicians like Los Angeles' Wrecking Crew, The Funk Brothers of Detroit, the Memphis Boys, Muscle Shoals Swampers', Nashville's own A-Team, plus players in Miami, New Orleans, New York and more.
The venue also has long-held relationships with the Recording Academy and Nashville's annual SOURCE Awards, honoring women who helped build Music City's music industry.
For nearly two decades, Julien's has maintained a relationship with Nashville that has included icons of business and entertainment connected to the city, including working with Gibson Guitars, Garth Brooks, The Judds and Dolly Parton for downtown Nashville revitalization projects.
Most recently, in Nov. 2023, Julien's brought items from their "Played, Worn & Torn: Rock n' Roll Iconic Guitars and Memorabilia" auction, like Eric Clapton's legendary Fool guitar, Kurt Cobain's Skystang I Fender Stratocaster and even Cobain's personal Levi's jeans to town.
Proceeds from the 2023 event benefitted the decade-old Music Health Alliance. This organization provides access to healthcare by removing financial barriers, finding solutions and restoring health and hope for music industry professionals nationwide.
For Nolan, outside of being a lucrative endeavor, the work that companies like Julien's and organizations like the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum engage in offers a far deeper value to the world in general.
"These instruments are as much a work of art that contributes to an art form as they are nostalgic and valuable assets that spur conversations and moments that are tangible conduits to inspire preserving how youthful awakenings drive pop culture's endurance."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: John Lennon's lost Help! guitar displayed in Nashville before auction
