[no subject]

ENTWISTLE: HE WAS CLEARLY A HOARDER 
10:30 - 19 April 2003
 
He was a legend who helped to create an unforgettable
page in rock'n'roll history.

Guitars and stuffed fish will be sold He was also an
avid collector. And now hundreds of personal effects
belonging to the late Who guitarist John Entwistle are
to go under the hammer.

They reveal an extraordinary glimpse of the man,
nicknamed Thunderfingers and The Ox, who gave up his
rock'n'roll for the quiet of the Cotswolds.

Among the most valuable items for auction with
Sotheby's are 150 guitars, including a Warwick Buzzard
black bass which the band smashed to bits on one of
their tours.

Another is Entwistle's favourite pink Fender Precision
Bass, affectionately referred to as Frankenstein,
which carries a reserve price of #7,000.

He spent two hours with a screwdriver and a soldering
iron, building it from the remains of five smashed
guitars when he was in San Francisco in the 1960s.

When he finished, he ran around the room shouting:
"It's alive, it's alive!"

It became one of his favourites, and almost took on a
life of its own in the musicals Tommy and
Quadrophenia.

One of the best bass players of his generation,
Entwistle also played the six-string instrument.

A rare Gibson explorer and a Gibson Flying V, both
dating from 1958, are expected to fetch up to #50,000.

The glossy 120-page auction catalogue bears testament
to Entwistle's unusual taste and obscure pastimes,
including deep sea angling and drawing.

At the home in Stow where he lived for 27 years, he
surrounded himself with more than 30 shark casts,
stuffed heads of deer and boar, and baby sharks
mounted as lamps.

One Mako shark has a lifelike human hand protruding
from its jaws.

They stretched from his 'Barracuda Inne' bar, to his
billiard room, bathrooms and even the bedroom
landings, where hammerhead sharks and razor-billed
marlin would loom at guests on their way to bed.

There is also deep sea brass diving helmet and a
ship's wheel from HMS Renown in the collection.

Once when interviewed, Entwistle said: "I've been a
collector of something or other all my life: cigarette
cards, model soldiers, horror comics.

"It's a human characteristic to collect, to hoard, to
have the whole set. Keith Moon used to collect nuts .
. . they were attracted to him like a magnet. It was
the same with me and guitars."

A keen cartoonist, his collection includes drawings of
rock musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, and his original
art work for the 1972 Who album Whistle Rymes.

Fashion collectors will be keen to get their hands of
some of his clothes, including a tour wardrobe,
complete with flares, 12 leather jackets and nine
pairs of elastic-sided suede boots for #2,000.

On sale separately are dozens of flared jeans, tie-dye
jackets and fur coats. Clearly, this man never threw
anything away.

There are 14 brass instruments, rock concert posters,
and a host of gold and platinum discs.

The spider is a recurrent theme, recalling the song he
wrote called Boris the Spider. Two of the 10 wrist
watches have cobweb faces, and there are four spider
brooches.

John Entwistle died in June 2002 at the age of 57 from
a heart attack after taking cocaine. He was found dead
in his room at the Las Vegas hotel where a 20-date Who
tour was due to start the next day.

He is survived by his mother Queenie, son Chris and
partner Lisa Pritchett-Johnson.

Sotheby's will auction 386 lots in two sessions in
London on May 13. The sale is expected to fetch
#400,000.


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-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
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