The Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t helped anyone I know. Fact is, it has caused a global financial catastrophe. Along with restaurants, event facilities and gyms, among those suffering the most are musicians. I don’t mean the megastar rock, hip-hop, or country acts who have already made their fortunes. I’m talking about the tens of thousands of performers in local bands who can’t play because of the shutdown.
Some of those musicians perform for fun. They enjoy it. Others do so for a living. Granted, no one is getting rich playing Bar Mitzvahs or at the corner tavern, but for quite a few performers those regular gigs actually pay the bills.
Local musicians rarely experience arenas filled with the applause, screams and adulation music superstars get. For those big acts, just a guitar pick or drumstick tossed into the audience can cause a small riot the result of people clamoring to get them. The item may not be worth much monetarily but fans will injure themselves scrambling for it....
A few of those superstars who remember their early pay-for-play roots recently came together to donate dozens of personal mementos, concert-used instruments and signed artifacts to benefit some of those out-of-work local bands and musicians through the nonprofit MusiCares. The sale of those items took place earlier this month at Julien’s Auction in Beverly Hills.
Included in the sale was a shirt worn and signed by Eric Clapton; a flashy track suit owned by Elton John; and a black leather jacket signed and worn by Billy Idol. Each sold for a bit north of $5,000. So too for an outfit worn on stage by Ozzy Osborne. It sold for almost $9,000. A pair of Ozzy’s prescription tinted round glasses also brought $7,500. A watch owned by late-rocker Tom Petty sold for $6,400.
Two drum heads were in the sale. One signed by Beatle Ringo Starr sold for $3,480. Another inscribed by the members of Coldplay brought $5,100.
Naturally, autographed guitars were a focal point. A few included those signed by Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) $1,920; Keith Urban $2,560; Taylor Swift $3,500; Bee Gees - all signed $3,840; Gene Simmons (Kiss) $5,120; Billie Eilish $7,680; Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) $8,960; and Carlos Santana $8,960. Taking top guitar prizes was a guitar dual-signed by Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) & Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) $19,200; and another signed by Harry Styles which sold for a whopping $28,125. That’s remarkable considering that guitars signed by Styles often sell online for around $1,000.
Also in the mix was a page of handwritten lyrics to the song “Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way” by Bono. That was estimated to sell for $3,000 but soared to $22,400.
The big draw was to be the entire six-component speaker and amplifier set used by Bill Wyman on the Rolling Stones “Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle” Tour in 1989/90. That set with provenance by Wyman was estimated to bring more than $80,000 but was hammered down for $51,200.
In the end it was an admirable effort. It’s not as if tens of millions of dollars were generated and just how the proceeds will be divvied up is up to the MusiCares. Of course, anything will help and this may spur similar efforts from other musicians, actors or luminaries.
It’s also incentive for concert-goers to take another look at mementos they may have been lucky enough to snag (especially at a Harry Styles performance).
For more collecting advice, visit www.peterexford.blogspot.com