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Bob Dylan Acoustic Guitar Tops Heritage Auctions’ Entertainment and Music Memorabilia Auction

More than 1,500 bidders pursued an extraordinary array of items ranging from musical instruments to posters to awards to clothes and albums, ultimately driving the total realized at Heritage Auctions’ Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Auction Nov. 11 in Dallas, Texas to ,624,366.

Not surprisingly, the top lot was a Bob Dylan-Owned and Stage-Played 1963 Martin D-28 Acoustic Guitar, which brought 6,500. The musical legend played the instrument through the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, including on stage at George Harrison’s 1971 Concert for Bangladesh in a musical set that also included legends like Harrison, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell and Ringo Starr and in Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review tour from October 1975 through May 1976.

“The historic significance of this guitar makes it anything but surprising that it realized such a strong result,” Heritage Auctions Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Director Garry Shrum said. “The fact that it was owned and played by such an iconic musician and played on the same stage with a ‘Who’s Who’ of musicians makes this a must-have instrument for any serious music collector, and it showed in the final result.”

There are several reasons that John Lennon's Personal Stereo "Butcher Cover" Prototype with His Original Artwork on the Blank Back and Signatures of Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on the Front drew 5,000. In addition to the fact that the controversial cover image adorns the front of what is widely considered the rarest Beatles album in the world, this copy was owned by Lennon, who signed the front and drew some original artwork on the back. A subsequent owner, Dave Morrell, got two more members of the band – McCartney and Starr – to add their signatures,

An extremely rare 1959 Gene Vincent Abilene City Hall Concert Poster sparked a frenzy of competitive bidding that continued until the final hammer fell at ,500 – more than 40 times its pre-auction estimate. Printed on card stock for a Nov. 16, 1959 rockabilly show in the small city about 150 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas, this poster is one of only two known examples still in existence.

Also crushing its pre-auction estimate was a Beatles - A Copy of Mersey Beat Vol. 1, No. 13 (UK, 1962), which also climbed to ,500 – topping its pre-auction estimate by more than 400 percent. One of just three copies known to remain in existence, this Jan. 4-18, 1962 copy of the influential Liverpool (England) music paper includes an outstanding cover photo of the Beatles in their early days with Pete best on drums. The “Beatles Top Poll!” headline trumpets the Fab Four’s spot atop a “Mersey Beat Popularity Poll” run by the paper.

A 1961 Bo Diddley/Fats Domino Municipal Auditorium Biggest Show Of Stars Concert Poster continued the trend of lots obliterating pre-auction expectations when it realized ,000 , against a pre-auction estimate of 0. The poster heralded an April 26 performance in Topeka, Kan., that included several of the top R&B musicians of the era, including Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Chubby Checker, Ben E. King and The Drifters. The “Biggest Show of Stars” series, produced by Globe, includes posters some collectors consider the “Holy Grail” of boxing style posters. Four of the acts pictured on the poster are in enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.