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Visiting Entwistle's treasure trove
By Darryl Chamberlain 
BBC News Online entertainment staff

Nearly 200 guitars belonging to The Who's late bassist
John Entwistle are up for auction in London, along
with several other unusual items. 

At first sight it looks like a sad end to a rock
star's career - scores of guitars, gold discs,
outfits, and other memorabilia from a lengthy career,
all set out waiting to be sold. 

But then you see the poster for an early show as The
Detours at The White Hart in Acton, west London
("girls 2/- before 8pm"), just a few miles from
Sotheby's saleroom in West Kensington, and it's clear
how far The Who's John Entwistle came in his career. 

What is laid out at Sotheby's is the bulk of
Entwistle's collection. But the word "collection"
doesn't do it justice, because The Who's bassist
wasn't just a world-class rock star, he was a pretty
canny collector too.

There are 180 guitars in the sale, dating from the
1960s to the 1990s. 

"It's an unprecedented sale," says Sotheby's
specialist Stephen Maycock. 

"Eric Clapton sold 100 guitars in 1999, and we've now
got almost double that here." 

The guitar collection is heaven for rock enthusiasts.
"It's a just a shame Entwistle isn't here now to share
these with us," says Mr Maycock. 

"He loved tacky, ugly 60s guitars - he loved having
them around him. And he'd always be buying and selling
them to go up a grade." 

Smashed basses 

Sat at the centre of the collection is Frankenstein,
the Fender Precision bass guitar used from 1967 and
built from five smashed basses - in Entwistle's own
words, "two hours with a Phillips screwdriver and a
soldering iron and I was screaming 'It's alive, it's
alive!'"

"He was always looking for a different sound, the
perfect sound," explains Mr Maycock. 

"The earlier guitars were very easy to put together -
the complicated bit is the wiring." 

It is valued at up to #7,000 - which Mr Maycock admits
is a "very conservative" estimate. 

Frankenstein was retired after 1979's Quadrophenia, as
Entwistle concentrated on newer, more advanced
guitars. 

For those immune to the appeal of guitars, Enwistle's
artwork stands out, featuring studies of himself, the
other members of The Who, and other stars of the time
- the 1960s and 1970s as seen through his eyes. 

A self-portrait shows him in bright red flares,
smoking a cigarette and looking glum - or moody -
while another shows him as "Sir Henry Entwistle (The
Silent Night)". 

'Sherlock Townshend' 

Pete Townshend appears as "Sherlock Townshend", while
other sketches feature Jimi Hendrix, Rod Stewart and
the Rolling Stones. 

The clothes are all here - an entire tour wardrobe is
valued at #2,000-#3,000, and skinny-fit tour jackets
from when these were younger men are also on sale.

Another part of Entwistle's huge collection glares out
over the clothes and the guitars - 29 fibreglass casts
of fish he had caught over the years, which were taken
back to his home in Gloucestershire, for display in
his house, his recording studio, and in his bar. 

Three surreal lamps made using baby sharks and
driftwood are on sale, valued at up to #600, while
divers' helmets and a ship's wheel also feature. 

It is probably the most diverse rock auction since
Elton John sold off much of his belongings in 1988.

But here there is a lingering sadness surrounding this
sale. His flight case - containing five guitars - was
with him when he died in July 2002. It is valued at
#8,000- #10,000. 

In notes on his guitar collection he wanted to publish
one day, Entwistle wrote: "I've been a collector of
something or other all my life. It's a human
characteristic to collect, to hoard, to desire 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 - only they were
the magnets." 

He continued: "I remember in my teens the long,
late-night discussions with Pete Townshend on which
guitars we were going to buy when we were rich and
famous. 

"Well, at least we got famous." 

The exhibition is open at Sotheby's, Olympia, west
London from Thursday to Monday. The sale takes place
on Tuesday 13 May.


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

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