The Gotta Have Rock & Roll Pop Culture Auction Winter 2021

Lot #330:

The Who – A Significant Piece of Pete Townshend’s 1965 Fender Stratocaster as Smashed on Stage in a 1968 Concert with Fully Signed Paper

You are looking at Pete Townshend's 1965 Fender Stratocaster that he owned, played, and smashed on 8-22-1968 at The Who concert at Municipal Auditorium Music Hall in Kansas City, MO. This guitar comes with the most amazing provenance for an item of this magnitude. The original owner of the guitar bought his tickets for the 1st and 2nd row for the show. He kept his receipt and ticket envelope. He also kept the ticket stub. He took 17 detailed photographs during the show, which capture Pete playing and smashing this guitar. Pete smashed the guitar during “My Generation” and threw the pieces out into the crowd. After the show, the owner waited for the band and got all 4 of their autographs. He had Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon sign a piece of paper. Vance then got Townshend to sign the guitar at a later date, adding the inscription “To Vance”. In total, the lot comes with seventeen 3.5 squared snapshots of the concert, a 5.75 x 2.625 piece of paper signed by the whole band, a ticket stub with the original purchase receipt as well as certificates of authenticity from Rockaway Records, Heritage Auctions and the Vance, the original owner of the guitar. This is a historic piece of memorabilia, and a must-have for a serious collector. Ales comes with a Gotta Have Rock & Roll Certificate of Authenticity.