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John Denver's stage-used guitar $20,000+ in $647,000 Heritage auction

DALLAS, TX: Amidst an almost $650,000 auction of Music & Entertainment memorabilia at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas — on Friday, June 5 — that boasted a high quality array of a wide cross-section of the American entertainment business, including the personal collection of legendary Laugh-In producer George Schlatter — it was ultimately the lure of Oscar that brought out the fiercest bidding and the greatest competition.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Schlatter Collection will benefit the charitable foundations of Goldie Hawn and Barbara Sinatra, both close personal friends of Schlatter.

The Oscar in question, awarded to Richard Day in 1942 for Best Black and White Art Direction on This Above All, is one of the very last Academy Awards available to be resold. It led the way to the top of the event podium with an impressive $53,775 total, including Buyer's Premium.

"For the collector of vintage music and entertainment memorabilia this auction was an embarrassment of riches," said Doug Norwine, Director of Music & Entertainment at Heritage. "We're thrilled with the price that Mr. Day's Oscar brought. For a piece like this to lead such a deep auction speaks volumes of how sought-after pre-1950 Academy Awards are."

A 1950 requirement stipulates neither Oscar winners, nor their heirs, can sell the statuettes without first offering to sell them back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the sum of $1. If a winner refuses to sign said agreement, the Academy keeps the statuette. A 2007 Forbes article suggests that only an approximate 150 statuettes have ever been sold with the buyer often returning the award to the Academy, which stores them in its vaults.

This particular Academy First Award for Best Black and White Art Direction was one of two presented to legendary art director Richard Day on March 4, 1943, at the 15th ceremony. He was also honored that night with an award for Best Art Direction — Interior Decoration, Color, for My Gal Sal. They were his 12th and 13th nominations — in a lifetime total of 20 — and fourth and fifth wins. The immensely talented Day had previously been awarded for Dark Angel, Dodsworth, and How Green Was My Valley, and would win again in 1952 for A Streetcar Named Desire and in 1954 for On the Waterfront.

"Not only was Day's Oscar the leading lot of the auction," said Norwine, "the second highest lot in the auction was also an Academy Award."

The Academy's First Award for Best Documentary Feature, for 1947's Design for Death, was presented to executive producer Sid Rogell and producers Theron Warth and Richard O. Fleischer on March 20, 1948, at the 20th Oscars ceremony. Co-authored by Dr. Theodor S. Geisel (aka "Dr. Seuss") and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel, Design for Death was the commercial version of a 1945 U.S. Army training film that explored Japanese culture and the origins of that nation's involvement in World War II. It realized $33,460.

Pop music also proved a potent draw as always at the Heritage Music & Entertainment June event, with several important instruments leading the way, principal among which was an Elvis personally-owned and used guitar topping the music offerings with a final tally of $26,290 and bringing along with it a touching story of Elvis's talent and generosity.

The Italian-made acoustic guitar was previously a crowd-pleaser at the Warner Bros. Museum in Hollywood. Elvis played this guitar as he sang "Angel," the final song in Follow That Dream (1962), and another musician played it (Elvis at one point touches it) in Kid Galahad (1962). Elvis became friends with a prop man who worked on both films and presented him the guitar, and the prop man consequently gave it to his young son, who idolized "The King". The boy cherished this guitar until his premature death a few years ago, at which time his widow put the instrument on display at the Warner Bros. Museum, from whence it came to Heritage.

Two other pieces of unique Elvis memorabilia also made their way into the Top 10 lots in the auction:
A silk shirt worn by The King in the 1970s and gifted to an aunt, realized $10,160, and a modernist turquoise and opalescent stone ring work by Elvis, with a provenance from the Dick Clark Collection -realized $6,570.

When John Denver died in a plane crash in 1997 he left behind legions of fans who loved the man and his music, as well as a whole other segment of fans — made up of musicians — who were in awe of his tremendous musicianship and his ability to summon an amazing range of sound from his guitar. Two John Denver owned and used guitars led the offerings from the late great musician:

Denver's 1994 Taylor 12-String Acoustic Stage-Used Guitar played extensively by him throughout the 1990s, on tour and in recording sessions, realized $20,315, while his 1994 Taylor K15 Six-String Acoustic Stage-Used Guitar, also used extensively by Denver on world tours throughout the '90s, and featured prominently on numerous recordings, as well as being pictured on the covers of at least two of Denver's commercially acclaimed recordings: John Denver Live and The Wildlife Concert, realized $13,145.

No Heritage Music & Entertainment auction would be complete without an outstanding selection of Beatles memorabilia and musical instruments, and the June 5 event would prove no exception to the rule.

"The Beatles are evergreen in terms of their popularity," said Norwine, "and we've always managed to get some amazing Beatles memorabilia. This auction had a great selection and we were pleased to see that collectors paid top money to add these pieces to their collections.

A Beatles shirt, signed by the entire band, led the Fab Four offerings when it peaked at $11,350. This fantastic vintage light gray shirt bearing a Beatles logo on the left breast was signed by John, Paul, George, and Ringo in blue ink on the right side. After the band stopped doing live concerts in 1966, they came together as a group mostly just for recording sessions, which concluded with Abbey Road in August 1969. So, while items signed by all four Beatles after 1963 are scarce enough, by 1969 there were virtually no additional items being signed by all four members.

A Paul McCartney Signed Left-Handed Hofner Bass proved the subject of much intense bidding and ultimately realized a price worthy of its name and its owner at $11,350. In 1956, Walter Hofner conceived an amplified semi-acoustic bass that revolutionized popular music and in 1961 McCartney provided the instrument its greatest champion, using it live and on many of the Beatles' most famous songs. McCartney continues to use Hofner to this day, and the design is often referred to as the "Beatle bass."

An early-'70s Beatles-related Abbey Road Street Sign was a pleasant surprise when it came in at $5,975. The Beatles named their final studio album Abbey Road (1969) after the EMI Abbey Road Studios where it was recorded, which in turn took its name from its North London location. Both the album and its cover image, which depicts the Beatles walking across said street, have since become music icons — the street has been a tourist attraction since 1970. There are no longer signs on the famous building; they've been replaced in modern times with versions painted on the sides of the building.

To view the catalog for this auction, along with detailed photos and descriptions, go online to www.HA.com/7006.

Heritage Auction Galleries is the world's third largest auction house, and by far the largest auctioneer of rare collectibles, with annual sales more than $700 million, and 450,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage's auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HA.com.

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