Backstage Auctions Rolls Out a Different Type of Auction

Summer Classic Rock 'n Roll Auction
Auction Dates: September 17th - 25th

By Pat Prince

Backstage Auction’s “Summer Classic” auction, September 17-25, will be unique for a rock ‘n’ roll auction house that typically handles consignments from only those involved in the recording industry. The sole collection for the “Summer Classic” auction is that of a private collector.

Uncle Ted's favorite Indian boots.

“This is the first, and likely only, exception we are making to our standard model,” says Backstage Auctions owner Jacques Van Gool. “We pretty much knew where these items in this auction came from. This is a collection that came from a private collector who has been a buyer from Backstage Auctions, literally, from the very first auction. And he never skipped a beat — every single auction we put up, he bought. So the one thing that I did know is that a lot of the things still have the original certificate of authenticity. I know where they came from, so I’m very comfortable. And items that we found that didn’t come from us, we had the signatures verified by a third party to make sure the signatures are authentic.”

He continues: “When you have an individual who has been so incredibly loyal to you, literally from the first day you been in business, you build a personal relationship with them— which is what we had. And he sadly passed away and his family did not know where to go. And we just felt — and it’s hard to put into exact words — but if he knows that we are taking care of this, then I would like to believe that that would make him happy.”

Also, this may be one of Backstage Auction’s most eclectic auctions yet. “The fact that he was so diverse and eclectic of a collector means that you’re probably going to find something from anyone who was somebody in rock ‘n’ roll. He wasn’t discriminating towards either a particular artist or a particular musical genre or a particular type of item — from ticket stubs to videos — everything you can think of. But he did have a couple favorites.”

One of those favorites is Ted Nugent. According to Van Gool, twenty-five percent of the entire collection is made up of Nugent-abilia. “There’s a tremendous amount of Ted Nugent stuff,” says Van Gool. “I mean, it’s impressive. The rarest vinyl you can think of. A CD collection that is just over-the-top. Then there’s also the personal stuff, like one of Ted’s most favorite outfits that actually used to hang in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is a pair of his Indian boots that he used to wear for years and years. There has to be over a thousand photos where you can find Ted wearing those particular boots. And there are Gold and Platinum record awards (RIAA) that were all issued to Ted Nugent. These were his personal record awards, including one issued to his mother.”

1965 Pandora & The Males "Kiddie A Go Go"

He goes on: “One of the things I thought was so cool is that we came across a 7” of Pandora & the Males’ “Kiddie A Go Go” from 1965. We had set it aside because no one here had recognized what it was. Finally, when we started doing research on it, we found that Kiddie A Go Go (aka, Mulqueens Kiddie A Go Go) was a pre-teen dance show from 1965, Chicago — which was basically a cross between American Bandstand and the Mouseketeers. They had some pretty interesting artists on the show, but they also had their own house band which was Pandora (Elaine Mulqueen) and a backup band, The Males. And the soundtrack for the show was “Kiddie A Go Go.” Well, Ted Nugent was the guitar player of The Males. And this little 7” is the very first recording that includes Ted Nugent. To me, something like that, is super awesome. Yeah, it’s great to have a “Double Live Gonzo” signed album hanging on your wall, and, yeah, we have that, and it’s cool to have, but then you have something like Pandora & The Males 7” from 1965 … I get excited about that kind of stuff.”

For many, it may be hard to imagine the Motor City Madman, who is about as polarizing a personality as one can ever imagine, as the guitar player for a pre-teen dance show’s house band. Whether it has to do with his opinions or his politics, controversy attaches itself easily to Ted Nugent. But Van Gool makes it clear that it isn’t his job to be the judge of such issues. “As an auctioneer we have never looked at which artist we like for their life views or their political views because it is irrelevant. You only can look at what their contributions are to the history of music, and how relevant they are to collectors. Nugent, without question, is very relevant. But I think that, as opposed to a lot of artists, there’s no denying that the world of Nugent is a little more black and white. You either really really like him or you really really don’t.”

Long Life To The Queen

But, as stated above, you don’t have to be a Nugent fan to be attracted to this auction. There will be plenty of other artists — over 1000 auction lots to chose from and the foundation of it is probably the vinyl record collection. “I mean, we’re talking about thousands and thousands of records here,” says Van Gool. “But what makes this so interesting is that just about every vinyl lot will include some really unusual, special releases. We found a very solid number of import vinyl — British pressings, German pressings, Japanese pressings. Then we found a significant number of broadcast vinyl. Back in the ‘70s, companies like Westwood One would make these broadcast specials, print them on vinyl and distribute them to radio stations around the nation. Westwood One had their Superstar Concert Series and those were legitimate live recordings. Westwood One also had a DJ named Mary Turner and a series called Off The Record. Mostly interviews, there are also some studio sessions and live sessions.”

Also included in this record collection is much sought after bootleg vinyl. “Usually in vinyl collections you’ll come across these releases,” says Van Gool. “They’re mostly from the ‘70s. And back in those days they would press like a 1000 copies, and yeah, you know, the audio quality is probably not the greatest but 30-40 years later these albums have become real collectible. It’s almost more fun to complete a bootleg collection of your favorite artist.”

1979 KISS World Tour Vintage T-Shirt

Apart from the vinyl, it doesn’t stop there. There are hundreds of signed items, over 300 concert t-shirts (mostly officially licensed), ticket stubs, backstage passes, guitar picks, drum sticks, photos, posters, promo items, reels, CDs, DVDs and videos, books and over 1000 magazines (first assorted by artist, then by genre and then by title). There is even an entire lot of Goldmine magazines.

It may all seem a bit overwhelming but one thing’s for sure, rock ‘n’ roll collectors, this is one auction not to miss.

The auction will feature rare memorabilia from KISS, Pink Floyd, Rush, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, AC/DC, Van Halen, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Pretenders, YES...and these are just a few of the highlighted artists. 

Register Today:   VIP All Access Auction Pass

A special thanks to Pat Prince for writing such an awesome piece on our auction. Pat you ROCK our world!

DVD Review: Neil Young - Here we are in the Years: Neil Young’s Music Box

Here we are in the Years: Neil Young’s Music Box
Sexy Intellectual
All Access Review: B-

Drawing parallels between Buffalo Springfield’s raucous “Mr. Soul,” penned by Neil Young, and the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” doesn’t require a great leap of imagination, nor does one have to strain to hear the sad echoes of Roy Orbison in the tender melancholy of Young’s heartbreaking “Birds.” Anybody who fancies himself an amateur musicologist could make similar connections. To construct a sort of family tree of the complex musical influences that, when combined, drove Young to become the multi-faceted, challenging and utterly compelling artist he’s been for decades takes a more skillful hand, especially when doing it as a documentary film.

In the case of “Here we are in the Years: Neil Young’s Music Box,” the filmmakers, to their detriment, often allow the hardcore musicology to get in the way of a good story. A detailed, studious survey of Young’s career and all its fascinating twists and turns, “Here we are in the Years” offers up an in-depth examination of the impact of genres as diverse early rock ‘n’ roll, surf instrumentals, the Beatles and the Stones, country and folk, punk and new wave, electronic and grunge on Young’s work. Much of it involves weaving together the thoughts of critics, Young biographers, authors, musicologists and fellow musicians with live footage and snippets of old interviews with Young taken from other sources. As with many similar DVDs from Sexy Intellectual, Young is not involved personally in the project, and the film does not have the blessing of Young’s management or record label.

His lack of participation isn’t a distraction, however. There are plenty of Young to go around – in performance clips (the MTV Awards with Pearl Jam, concert pieces from his tour for Trans, the “Heart of Gold” concert film and a televised Buffalo Springfield jam on “Mr. Soul” to name a few) and a very small part of an interview Young did in 2007 with the BBC. What “Here we are in the Years” leans on is a clutch of talking-head interviews with the likes of writers Greg Prato, Anthony DeCurtis and Richie Unterberger. It traces Young’s career from the very beginning, starting with the rock ‘n’ roll pioneers like Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard he idolized on through to his preoccupation with, of all people, Kraftwerk.

That open-mindedness and willingness to pay attention to, and incorporate, elements of what was happening in contemporary music – punk rock was something Young found a kinship with, even as colleagues like Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Graham Nash turned their backs on it – probably helped Young stay young, or at least artistically relevant. And even though efforts like the electronic immersion of Trans and the rockabilly-fueled Everybody’s Rockin’ were both part of Young’s early ‘80s malaise, they were signals of Young’s intentions to try his hand at just about everything, and give this film credit for delving into the stories behind these failures with as much relish as does the triumphs, like Harvest, After The Gold Rush, On The Beach and Sleeps With Angels.

There’s a lot of territory to cover, and “Here we are in the Years” does its level best to traverse it all. The thought-provoking analysis, delivered honestly and without a hint of cynicism, hits the mark consistently, and the history provided here is as deep and well-researched as can be, given the constraints of film running time. Much insight is given into Young’s dalliance with electronic music and his grandfatherly relationship with grunge icons, such as Pearl Jam, is explored with great intellectual curiosity, as is his abiding love of the folk duo Ian & Sylvia and the theory that Bert Jansch and his brand of depressed, gloomy British folk weighed heavy on Young’s more folk-oriented material.

But, there’s a limit to the amount of serious, almost academic discussion of Young’s influences a viewer can take. This is master’s class in Young and his art, his lyrics, his guitar playing, his politics and his songwriting. From the undeniably British narration – quiet, unassuming and intellectual – to the all-business attitudes of the commentators gathered here, “Here we are in the Years” is a death march to the end. With one eye watching the clock to see how much running time is left and a finger on the fast-forward button, it’s not always easy to stay awake for the whole thing. The more dedicated Young scholars will go for extra credit and review the extended interviews and digital biographies included among the extras. The C students among us who want to go play our Harvest records or try to copy the wild, noise-drenched solos Young plays with Crazy Horse will ditch school and try to avoid the truant officer.

-          Peter Lindblad

CD Review: WhoCares: Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi & Friends

WhoCares: Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi & Friends

Armoury Records

All Access Review: B

Across the WhoCares marquee, in big, bold letters, read the names Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi, icons of a bygone time in rock history. Any pairing of the groundbreaking Black Sabbath guitarist and, for all intents and purposes, the voice of Deep Purple — with apologies to David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes — is bound to raise a few eyebrows, just as it did in 1983 when Gillan joined Sabbath for heavy metal's version of "Plan 9 From Outer Space," the laughably awful LP Born Again and its "Spinal Tap"-like supporting tour.

Long considered the worst album in Black Sabbath's otherwise awe-inspiring monolith of a catalog, Born Again was a debacle — Gillan's hairy-chested bluesy vocals ill-suited for Sabbath's trademark gloom and doom, a problem made even worse by lackluster songwriting. Even the album cover, that demonic infant born with devil horns, fangs for teeth and sharp claws, proved to be comic fodder. And yet, here we, almost 30 years later, with Gillan and Iommi back together to rewrite the wrongs of the past — or at least trying to get by with a little help from their friends — and make some money for charity. Again into the abyss, the two legends gain a measure of redemption with the WhoCares project, whose purpose is to raise money for the music school of Gyumari, Armenia, an area still struggling to recover from the devastation wrought by a horrendous earthquake in 1998.

A two-song digital single, WhoCares features the tracks "Out of My Mind" and "Holy Water," the former an epic, heavy-duty collision of the thick, crushing riffage of Iommi and HIM guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindstrom, the insistent, surging keyboard swells of Gillan's old Deep Purple mate Jon Lord and the monstrously huge rhythmic wrecking ball swung over and over by Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain and former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. As for Gillan, he doesn't sound as out of place here as he did on Born Again. There's a seething undertone of menacing madness in his vocals that rises and falls with every pummeling sonic wave, with a seething Gillan dramatically expressing the scrambled thoughts of a man losing his grip on sanity as nightmarish imagery flashes in his brain. Unexpectedly, Gillan seems to have picked up on that undefinable "it" that made Ozzy Osbourne's vocals work so well with Iommi's unique hammer-of-the-gods guitar work.

"Holy Water," though, is more tailored to what Gillan does best. The star power dimming on "Holy Water" — as the supergroup of "Out of My Mind" gives way to less prominent musicians, like guitar duo Steve Morris and Michael Lee, drummer Randy Clarke, bassist Rodney Appleby and keyboardist Jesse O'Brien — Gillan gives a more reflective, contemplative performance, finding solace and comfort in that "Holy Water" that drowns so many alcoholics. An exotic, dreamy, Middle Eastern intro, perfect for a movie about the politics of that war-torn region starring George Clooney, wafts through the air until smashing headlong into a powerful, bluesy train of Hammond organ, noisy guitars and steely bass and drums that slows in the verses, riding on golden rails of acoustic guitar, and then chugs full-steam ahead toward its destination. It's a song that looks ahead, while still managing to seem full of regret and haunted by a troubled past. And Gillan perfectly captures that combination of hopeful yearning and  twinges of repressed pain in thoughtful singing that can only come with years of bold living.

Still, neither track would ever approach the proto-metal classics that Gillan and Iommi recorded with Purple or Sabbath. There's a slow, but strong, current that pulls "Out of My Mind" along that is magnificent to behold,and while able to roll along through one's mind like the Danube, the song labors and meanders to the finish, despite some beautifully drawn twin guitar work from Iommi and Lindstrom near the end. And while there is character, grace and guts in "Holy Water," it's a fairly bland offering that lacks a memorable melody and doesn't seem to notice it is traveling down a road to nowhere. Still, with Iommi and Gillan both drifting outside their comfort zones, the pair seem energized by their reunion and willing to explore new horizons, even as they bask, somewhat, in the glories of their respective histories.

The enhanced CD is fleshed out with a 30-minute, behind-the-scenes documentary of the recording sessions — plus a video for "Out of My Mind" — and it offers interesting insight into the project, inspired by Iommi and Gillan's trips to Armenia to see the damage and recovery for themselves. In a way it perhaps mirrors the motivation Iommi and Gillan might have had in trying to fulfill the potential they saw in their partnership the first time they joined forces back in 1983.

-Peter Lindblad

CD Review: ZZ Top - Live in Germany

CD Review: ZZ Top -  Live in Germany
Eagle Rock
All Access Review: A+

The tread on ZZ Top’s tires was showing a lot of wear by the time that little ol’ band from Texas put out 1976’s uninspired burr under the saddle Tejas. Compared with the thick, rubbery, insatiably delicious blues-rock boogie of Tres Hombres and Fandango, from 1973 and 1975, respectively, the bald and flat Tejas rolled along almost completely on its rims until being sent out to that album scrap yard where disappointing records go to be dismantled for parts. As for ZZ Top, it was time to go back to the shop for a tune-up.

Lying low for three years, the durable trio of Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill triumphantly returned in 1979 with the nitro-burning funny car Deguello, as rowdy and raunchy a record as ZZ Top would ever make. Their propulsive rhythms and Gibbons’ growling guitar licks never sounded so lean or mean as they did on Deguello, with the bubbling hot bluesy stew “I Thank You” and the snarling pit bull of a single “Cheap Sunglasses” leading the charge. It was a strutting, vice-ridden tour de force that would set the stage for the even more lusty and powerful Eliminator in 1983, an album that would transform ZZ Top into the toughest rock-and-roll outlaws on the planet.

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Already bad and nationwide, having poured its whiskey-soaked, boogie-rock down America’s gullet and gotten the country blind drunk on its shots of its heavy-duty, Chicago-by-way-of-Texas blues moonshine, ZZ Top set out to search Europe for some accommodating “Tush” and new fans thirsty for their brand of barroom rock, at the behest of Warner Bros. And they found it all on the famed TV show “Rockpalast.” In 1980, ZZ Top roared into the Grugahalle in Essen, Germany, and raised more than a little hell, the live mayhem caught on camera for the acclaimed “Double Down Live” DVD released in 2009. Here, is the musical documentation of that unforgettable night and it is street-legal, complete with vintage concert photos of the band and informative liner notes from “Rockpalast” executive producer Peter Ruechel that tell the fascinating story behind this historic performance.

Riding in to the sound of spaghetti-western horns of the intro “El Deguello,” ZZ Top launches into a wicked, side-winding version of “I Thank You,” one of nine Deguello tracks in the concert set, and follows up with the rugged, earthy grooves of a brass-knuckled “Waitin’ For The Bus” that kicks like a mule. Hill’s bass registers 7.0 on the Richter scale throughout Live in Germany, but on “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” it simmers slowly and seductively, until reaching a boil during Gibbons’ fuel-injected solo, just one of seemingly a thousand sharp, stinging leads the guitar legend clawed his way through that night so long ago. Going deeper into the catalog, ZZ Top rumbles and rages through “Precious and Grace” and “Manic Mechanic,” before working out the kind of sweaty, nasty grooves usually found in strip joints in “Lowdown in the Street” and the radiation burn of “Cheap Sunglasses.”

And Gibbons and company are just warming up, their earthy, gritty aesthetic sounding so dynamic and full of vitality. On “Heard it on the X,” ZZ Top presses the accelerator to the floor and simply runs over the clapping, cheering crowd, prior to cooking up a steaming hell broth of boogie-based blues and proto-metal on “Arrested for Driving While Blind.” Many of ZZ Top’s most salacious hits are set on fire in this scorched-earth, 16-track set, including a riotous “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers” and a down-and-dirty medley of “La Grange/Sloppy Drunk/Bar-B-Q,” where Gibbons wrings every bit of sinful, aggressive energy his guitar can muster out of those hot-wired six strings. It’s the highlight of an incredibly exhausting thrill ride that concludes with tasty, swaggering takes on Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom” and Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock,” before driving the bruising, brawling closer “Tush,” in all its tawdry glory, straight into a house of ill repute. Confident, lively and full of testosterone, ZZ Top’s Live in Germany is a sensational concert album, maybe one of the best ever. It never lets up, not for a minute, and in the end, it’s a full-blown package of dynamite that will blow you to kingdom come. Don’t worry, you’ll die happy.

Peter Lindblad

Artist Official Page: ZZ Top

CD Review: Iggy Pop's Roadkill Rising: The Bootleg Collection 1977 - 2009

CD REVIEW: Iggy Pop's Roadkill Rising: The Bootleg Collection 1977 - 2009
Shout! Factory 
All Access Review: A

Pleading for quiet, Iggy Pop is having no luck convincing the crowd of mangy curs at Bookie’s in Detroit in 1980 to settle down and stop screaming. Worked into a frothy, rabies-infected lather, the audience, pressing dangerously against the stage, wants blood. They demand that Iggy and the band punch them in the mouth with the kind of grimy psychedelia and brass-knuckled garage rock his old band, The Stooges, used to dish out with violent glee. Iggy, on the other hand, is intent on serenading them with a soft, jazzy old standard, “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)” written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer and popularized by Frank Sinatra, of all people.

In the end, the stubborn and confrontational Iggy, spewing a stream of expletives amid entreaties for sanity, reason and safety, gets his way, and unexpectedly, he croons the song with great reverence. It’s one of the most disarming moments on the sprawling new four-CD, 66-track collection of unreleased Iggy Pop live recordings Roadkill Rising, setting them up for the kill that is the brawling, propulsive, furious ball of energy “Take Care of Me” from 1980’s Pop solo effort Soldier.

Spanning four decades of Iggy’s solo years, Roadkill Rising bulges with more than four hours of well-chosen concert audio – more than 60 tracks in all of Stooges and Iggy solo material, and a clutch of interesting covers – from some 20 different shows, like the four-song snippet from the show at Bookie’s, with its sweaty, intimate atmosphere, that includes a creeping version of “Nightclubbing” or Iggy’s performance at the huge Glastonbury Festival in England, where the classic Stooges’ growler “Down On The Street” is burned and beaten to within an inch of its life and “Real Cool Time” whips around in a cyclone of riffage.

Another in a series of “official” bootleg collections from Shout! Factory, which has featured artists like Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Todd Rundgren, Roadkill Rising might just be the cream of the crop. Stooges’ material such as “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Loose,” from Disc 2’s 1987 gig at New York City’s Club 1018, jump out of the speakers like a mugger from the shadows, while Iggy’s “Kill City” is a muscular, turbo-charged thrill ride and covers of the “Batman Theme” and “Hang on Sloopy” are fun-filled rock-and-roll romps that celebrate rock-and-roll’s past. Disc 1 sees Iggy digging into The Stooges’ past with seething takes on “Raw Power,” “1969,” “Search And Destroy” and “Gimme Danger,” and Disc 3 – from the ‘90s – presents a rousing survey of Iggy’s best-known solo work, with “Lust for Life,” “China Girl,” “Butt Town,” “Candy” and “The Passenger” rumbling menacingly and snarling with anger.

Iggy’s fingerprints are all over these recordings. Like other artists in the series, Iggy not only has given the collection his stamp of approval, but he’s also been involved in the remastering. And the sonic quality, tough, full-bodied and electric, of Roadkill Rising is pure Iggy. There’s nothing weak sounding or lethargic. Take “Corruption,” “Howl” and “The Jerk” from Disc 3’s 2001 Bizarre Festival performance in Germany.  The guitar wrangling is viciously clear, the stomping bass is thick and powerful and the drums hit like wrecking balls – as they all do throughout Roadkill Rising. Even comments, such as “Iggy is God” and other less complimentary utterances, from the peanut-gallery crowd come through loud and clear. The only drawback the set has is its packaging. Although the comic-book artwork is cool and the accompanying booklet features vintage photos, it lacks liner notes about how these bootlegs were found or even chosen for this collection. A minor complaint, though, as Roadkill Rising is a must-have for Iggy completists or anybody with a healthy respect for ballsy, take-no-prisoners rock and roll.

Peter Lindblad  

Artist Official Page: Iggy Pop

Shout! Factory Link: Roadkill Rising: The Bootleg Collection 1977 - 2009

Rock and Roll Limited Edition Lithographs

THE BEATLES, ROLLING STONES & BON JOVI LIMITED EDITION LITHOGRAPHS

In the mid 1990s, the music memorabilia community responded with excitement to the release of a most impressive series of a strictly limited quantity, museum-quality lithographs, featuring works of the worlds' best known graphic artists, such as Giger, Van Hamersveld, Volmer, Dean, Warhol and others. Combined, they produced rocks' most memorable album art for the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Yes, Eagles, Genesis, The Who, ELP and many more. Available for a limited time only, these fully authorized works-of-arts sold out quickly (worldwide) and have since become highly collectible. 



Currently in the Backstage Auctions Store, a selection of Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones and The Beatles lithographs are available for direct purchase. The limited edition lithographs range in price from $35.00 - $150.00. 

"These are truly beautiful pieces of artwork and look absolutely stunning framed and displayed. We recently sold an entire set of Rolling Stones lithographs to a customer that was had them framed and then hung in their media room at home," says Backstage Auctions owner, Jacques van Gool. "And make no mistake,  these fine pieces of art will not break the piggy bank - they are all moderately priced."


The entire collection can be view by clicking on this link: Limited Edition Lithographs

ONE OF KIND FIND: CHRIS CORNELL CUSTOM MADE GUITAR

SOUNDGARDEN CHRIS CORNELL'S SILVER CUSTOM GRETSCH GUITAR

There are lots of cool and collectible guitars in the world - but rarely do you find an opportunity to actually own one as cool and significant as THIS silver (pre-Fender) Gretsch 6128 DuoJet with Bigsby that belonged to none other than Chris Cornell of Soundgarden. !!! Yes, you read that correctly. THE Soundgarden, one of the pioneering bands at the epicenter of the "Seattle sound" known as Grunge that emerged from the Great Northwest in the early 1990s. Soundgarden were - beyond question - at the forefront of that movement, along with the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains, and this Gretsch DuoJet was undeniably involved in the creation of that sound. 

The Gretsch 6128 (DuoJet) is a solid body electric guitar manufactured since the mid 1950s. Made of a chambered mahogany body, the DuoJet model 6128 is one of Gretsch's most sought after guitars. The difference between the DuoJet and comparable guitars, is in its configuration variations. While it shares the same two pickup, single cutaway style of the popular Gibson Les Paul guitar, the 6128 DuoJet models have more controls for shaping the tonality of the instrument. 

The DuoJet has been popular with anyone from Chet Atkins to David Gilmour, and is still in demand to this day. The most famous example of a DuoJet being played was by George Harrison during the Beatles' early days in Hamburg, and first few albums. In fact, he used that exact guitar on the cover for his 1987 "come back" masterpiece, "Cloud Nine." Clearly these guitars have impacted all types of music and players - including Chris Cornell and Soundgarden! 

Soundgarden achieved their biggest commercial success with the release of their 1994 album "Superunknown," spawning mega-hits "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman" which won Grammy Awards and helped Soundgarden reach mainstream popularity. In 1995, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. 

The album has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA in the United States and remains Soundgarden's most successful album. In 2003, the album was ranked number 336 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time! Their follow-up album "Down on the Upside," their last studio album to date, produced a few successful singles as well. The video to one of these singles, "Pretty Noose Live" shows Chris Cornell playing the Gretsch as offered here. In addition to this video there are numerous pictures and videos floating around of him playing it, and you can rest assured knowing that there is no other single guitar on the planet that will match this one.

Specs: 
Gretsch 6128 DuoJet: 
* Custom Silver Finish 
* Solid Body 
* Two Humbucking Pickups 
* Bigsby Tremolo 
* Silver Pick Guard 
* Two Volume/Tonal Controls 
* Neck/Bridge Pickup Switch 
* White Pearl Fret Inlays 
* White Pearl Gretsch and Horseshoe Inlay in Headstock 
* Chrome Hardware 
* Serial Number: 9411129.301 (11/1994) 



For more information on how to acquire this super rare and unique guitar, visit our website for more information: CHRIS CORNELL SILVER CUSTOM GRETSCH GUITAR







Here is an awesome clip of Chris playing the guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8nkHrv_4Mg (Pretty Noose Live 1996)