Nirvana, Weather Report, and Fleetwood Mac Basses Surface in Stunning New Auction

Julien’s Auctions has announced the return of its Music Icons series, with an auction scheduled for May 30-31 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, New York. This year’s auction will feature over 700 lots, including instruments, wardrobe pieces, handwritten lyrics, and more.

“At the heart of this year’s sale is the Julian Lennon Collection, a curated offering of rare Beatles and John Lennon artifacts,” the auction house states. “Highlights include RIAA Gold record awards for ‘Hey Jude’ & ‘Revolver’ as well as lyrics, animation cels from Yellow Submarine, and more. A portion of proceeds will benefit The White Feather Foundation.”

There are also many highlights for bassists, with the most notable being Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic‘s 1989 Warwick Dolphin Pro bass. The axe was used during a 1991 recording session in Hilversum, North Holland, Netherlands, prior to a concert later that evening. Kurt Cobain also played the bass.

“The session, which was a joint effort between Dutch radio stations VPRO and VARA, was held at Hilversum Studios. The band meandered through three songs including Leadbelly’s ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night?’ And a cover of ‘Here She Comes Now’ by The Velvet Underground; the unnamed third song would come to be known as ‘Horrified.’ Both Kurt and Krist would play the bass at the studio that day, captured in photos taken by Michel Linssen. Accounts of how long the session lasted seem to vary, however, only around 20 minutes of recorded material seems to have surfaced, which can be heard here,” Julien’s Auctions writes.

The bass has a starting price of $25,000 but is expected to fetch between $100,000 and $200,000. A Trace Elliot GP11 Mk V bass amp used during the recording session is also up for grabs.

Bass icon Alphonso Johnson contributed five basses to the Music Icons auction. Three are contemporary Warwick basses, while two are especially rare, vintage, boutique instruments. Johnson is selling his 1974 Charles LoBue custom bass that he first used with Weather Report and utilized throughout his career.

“I went to NY to meet [LoBue at] his store in the village. We talked about wood and what I wanted,” the bassist said. “I told him, whatever we do I wanted an ebony fingerboard, and everything just kind of evolved naturally. Most of the records I did in the ‘70s, I used that bass. Phil Collins, Weather Report, on tour with Jazz is Dead.”

His 1976 Rex Bogue bass is also on the block. The instrument has a 30.25-inch scale and was initially designed to be used as a piccolo bass, but it was later converted to standard bass tuning. It has a birdseye maple body and a stunning mother-of-pearl and abalone vine inlay pattern on the fretboard. Johnson utilized the bass on Jeffrey Osborne’s 1983 single “Stay With Me Tonight,” which opens with a distinctive slap riff.

Other cool pieces include a Rick Turner Renaissance Bass played by Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie, a gold sparked StingRay played by Matt Bissonette with Elton John, a Squier Precision signed by Mike Mills and R.E.M., and a Fender Bass VI formerly owned by Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson. For full details, check out the Julien’s Auctions website.