“When Bob Dylan really did go electric, nearly 60 years ago, this Fender Telecaster was one of his most crucial weapons”: Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson’s 1965 Fender Telecaster fetches a whopping $650,000 at auction
Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson’s 1965 Fender Telecaster has been sold for $650,000 at auction. The guitar has a long history, having been owned, recorded, and stage-played by Robbie Robertson of The Band and Bob Dylan, serving as the catalyst for his electric era.
Robbie Robertson of The Band originally bought this Telecaster after suggesting it could be a good fit for Dylan when he was experimenting with integrating the electric guitar into his performances. Dylan took Robertson at his word, and used this guitar throughout 1965, playing it on 1966’s Blonde on Blonde, and using it as his guitar of choice on his 1966 world tour.
This guitar was also present at Dylan’s historic gig in Manchester on May 17, 1966, when Dylan was heckled and called “Judas” by a concertgoer for going electric.
Dylan famously replied, “I don’t believe you…You’re a liar!” before turning to his band and saying “Play it fucking loud,” right before launching into Like A Rolling Stone. This incident was caught on film, and this 1965 Fender Telecaster happened to be slung around Dylan’s shoulder.
Rock journalist Alan Light commented, “‘Dylan goes electric’ is still used as shorthand any time an artist follows his own path and defies the audience’s expectations. When Bob Dylan really did go electric, nearly sixty years ago, this Fender Telecaster was one of his most crucial weapons.”
From his end, Robertson used it when writing Chest Fever, Caledonia Mission, and the opening guitar part of The Weight from The Band’s 1968 album Music from the Big Pink. It was also his guitar of choice for The Band’s 1970 Stage Fright album. In 1974, Robertson handed the Tele over to Eric Clapton after Clapton took the stage with The Band.
The guitar’s story came full circle when Dylan made a surprise appearance at The Band’s New Year’s Eve performance at New York’s Academy of Music. He used this same Telecaster, a moment captured on The Band’s Rock of Ages album.
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The Tele’s body was originally finished in black, before being stripped to its current natural state by Robertson in 1970. For some time, the guitar had its original neck pickup and pickguard. However, it was fitted with a new three-ply white-black-white pickguard and a chrome-covered Gibson patent number humbucker right before The Band’s 1971 Rock of Ages performance.
Robertson and Dylan’s Telecaster was initially expected to fetch between $500,000 – $700,000. It was sold yesterday by Julien’s for $650,000. Eric Clapton’s ‘Tears in Heaven’ guitar, and John Lennon’s ‘Help!’ Framus 12-string were sold at the same auction, the latter fetching a record-breaking $2,857,000.
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