John Lennon's Psychedelic Guitar on the studio floor..
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
John Lennon's Psychedelic Guitar
By 1967, the psychedelic movement in London was in full swing, and mind expanding was all the rage. It was during this stage of John Lennon's life that he met two Dutch artists, Simon and Marijke Posthuma, better know as "The Fool." Embracing the psychedelic mood of the time, Lennon commissioned The Fool to paint a psychedelic work of art on his upright piano and of course his J-160E acoustic guitar. Soon after the release of Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles performed "All You Need Is Love" live, via the first-ever world-wide satellite broadcast. It was 1967, and "the Summer of Love." For this special performance, John Lennon unveiled his newly painted psychedelic acoustic. Later, in an October 1967 issue of the British Beat Instrumental magazine, an article about Lennon's music room in his Weybridge home entitled "John's Music Room" was published. For the accompanying photos, Lennon appeared with his newly painted psychedelic acoustic, showing off his more "trippy," Magical Mystery side..
1964 Gibson J-160E; Serial #64309. Lennon bought this even though he often used Harrison's for recording. It was first used in concert in Montreal on 8 September 1964 and served as a backup for the '65 world tours. Except for an extra rosette around the sound hole -- and a visible orange label inside -- it was identical to his first J-160E, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. He moved the pickup from the neck to the bottom of the sound hole, then in '67 commissioned Dutch artists Simon and Marijke Posthuma, a.k.a. The Fool, to give it a psychedelic paint job, to commemorate the "All You Need Is Love" satellite broadcast. It's seen in rehearsal shots of that event, but at air time he opted to just sing. Lennon later had it professionally stripped, replaced the pickguard and put the pickup back where it was originally. This guitar was last seen in action during the Bed-Ins, where Lennon scratched two caricatures of himself and Yoko on the front. Recently on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, on loan from the Lennon Estate.
ReplyDeleteThe psychedelic finish (on the Magical Tour model) are hand painted by master luthier Ren Ferguson