“The Gretsch was given by John Lennon to his cousin. He kept it for almost 50 years”: The magical mystery of the $1.3m Gretsch that might have recorded a Beatles classic

“The Gretsch is pretty special,” Amelia Walker of Christie’s reflects of John Lennon’s 1963 6120 Chet Atkins, now sold at auction for $1,270,000.

“But both this guitar and the Model 1996 Rickenbacker are incredible because of the provenance. In both instances, how these came into The Jim Irsay Collection is the most perfect sort of backstory you could ever want.

“The Rickenbacker was given to Ringo by John [in 1968], and then Ringo sold it over four decades later at auction at Julien’s [in 2015], which is where Jim Irsay bought it.

“The Gretsch was given by John Lennon to his cousin David Birch, who wanted a guitar for his own band. David kept it for almost 50 years and then sold it privately to Jim Irsay. So you don’t really get any better than that.

“And the fact that we can obviously photo-match the Gretsch because of the unique grain pattern in the headstock and on the back of the neck, as well, means that you know that absolutely everything checks out.”

More Treasure From Christie's Jim Irsay Auction! - YouTube

Watch On

“The amazing photos that were taken at the Paperback Writer/Rain session by Leslie Bryce for The Beatles Book [aka The Beatles Monthly] publications present this really great series of shots of John with the guitar – both on his own, next to the amp fiddling around, and then with the other members of the band as they were literally recording the song.”

• “Lot after lot we felt like we were making history”: World record for most expensive guitar shattered three times in one night as Jim Irsay auction sees David Gilmour's Black Strat fetch $14.5m
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.