The 1964 sunburst Fender Stratocaster guitar which Bob Dylan controversially used to ‘go electric’ at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 is to be put up for auction later this year.
The ownership of the iconic instrument was made the subject of legal proceedings last year when Dawn Peterson, daughter of a private pilot for Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman, claimed she was in possession of the guitar despite Dylan himself insisting he still owned it.
However, at the start of this year a legal agreement was reached between the two parties which has paved the way for a sale which experts have previously claimed could fetch up to $1m.
“One term of the agreement that I obviously can disclose is that Mr. Dylan will participate in the sale to the extent that he will be signing off on any ownership interest after the sale,” Peterson’s attorney Christopher DeFalco has told Rolling Stone.
“The person who buys it will receive a bill of sale that will be signed both by the Petersons and Mr. Dylan or his representatives.”
The sale will include handwritten Dylan lyrics found in the guitar case, containing extracts from ‘Just Like a Woman‘ and ‘Temporary Like Achilles‘.