GEORGE'S GUITAR GETS RUN OVER - Weird Moments in Beatles History #5

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George Harrison's Gretsch guitar fell off their touring car and was run over by multiple trucks (or lorries, as they say in Britain). But what Gretsch was it? Both of Harrison's main Gretsches, the '63 Country Gentleman and Tennessean, disappeared around this same time.
It's long been assumed that the Country Gentleman was smashed during this event - but I'm not so sure anymore. Have we been wrong all these years? Could one of them still be out there? New clues on Paul McCartney's recently rediscovered bass - namely a mystery tuner - may finally reveal the truth.
NOTE #:1 I used the term "unbranded" because these Waverly tuners did not have a brand stamped in them, but Waverly is in fact a real company and not just a nickname. Waverly manufactured tuners of this style for several brands, including Martin and Gibson.
NOTE #2: I mistakenly used "nickel" and "chrome" interchangeably, but you know what I'm talking about. It's metal.
Want to know how to tell George's Gretsch models apart in more detail? • 5 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KN...
Want to hear an overview of how Paul McCartney's long lost bass was rediscovered?
• PAUL McCARTNEY'S LOST ...
DONATE: nickmartellaro.com/#donate :)
COVERS + ISOLATED TRACKS on PATREON: / nickmartellaro
Coming soon:
-Paul the organ player
-John's replacement guitar
Segment from Keith Badman's book: books.google.com/books?id=g9Y...
Glasgow Heralrd, 4 Dec 1965: news.google.com/newspapers?ni...
Mal Evans bio: kennethwomack.com/books/beatl...
Lost Bass Project: thelostbass.com/
0:00 Intro
0:46 December 1965
1:19 Account #1: Alf Bicknell
1:51 Account #2: George Harrison
2:20 Exhibit A: The Glasgow Herald
2:59 Exhibit B: Neil Aspinall's tour diary
4:10: Account #3: Mal Evans
5:06 The Lost Hofner Bass
5:30 The Mystery Tuning Machine
5:44 Film and Video Evidence
6:19 Waverly Tuners, Grover Imperial, and Gretsch
6:48 Conclusion
DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational purposes only. All images, audio, and video footage fall under fair use laws. No copyright infringement is intended.

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24 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 92

@2kalubafak404 3 месяца назад

After this incident , George wrote "while my guitar gently weeps".

@FrancardNoir 4 месяца назад

"It's out of tune now" - Lennon, always a cheeky one.

@ARWest-bp4yb 4 месяца назад

The guitar gear connection channel recently did a video about this incident and made a case that both Gretsches got wrecked, which makes sense especially that George had to borrow a guitar for the gig. There are pictures from the '65 UK tour where he's playing his ES-345, but we never saw the Gent again.🤔 Interesting that no one ever noticed the odd tuner on Paul's Hofner til now!

@foofghtr 17 дней назад

@@ARWest-bp4yb those are Moody Blues guitars.

@joestarr05 4 месяца назад

Legendary detective work man!

@nickwass9700 3 месяца назад

Having seen that metal tuner close up I think you are quite correct, it's on the Lost Bass and has been for years. So, I suppose, it must be, now, the only surviving part of the original Gretsch Tennessean.

@alexarteaga-caseyjunior5098 10 дней назад

Not only the metal tuner George reused the Silver Gretch selector switch knob from this guitar on his Lucy Les Paul for a brief period.

@elirosen1391 4 месяца назад

It would certainly be a tragedy if the Tennessean was the one wrecked. Oh it would be sad if it were the Country Gentleman as well. But I like the sound of the Tenny the most. Let that serve as a lesson never to strap anything valuable to the top of a car!

@joshuaross4644 Месяц назад

Excellent detective work Nick 👌 but as you know we’ve been discussing this tuner on BGC on the old Voxtalks for decades 😅

@tommymaguire2839 4 месяца назад

Nick, wow! This was fantastic. Brilliant sleuthing! You are impressive, dude. Keep 'em coming. I'm still trying to imagine how they managed to secure 14 guitars to the roof though and not sure why they were traveling with 14. That's odd, don't you think?

@chrisst8922 21 день назад

14 was a Liverpudlian exaggeration, I'd have thought that there MIGHT have been say three, that being those that George was touring with. Perhaps the Tennessean, the second Country Gent and a Rickenbacker 360/12. How many fell off and how many were destroyed is still to be determined. Only Paul and Ringo might be able to shed any light on the truth.

@foofghtr 17 дней назад

@@chrisst8922 the story can change all it wants, one guitar fell off and was run over. The Gretsch Tennessean.

@timothyflyte9443 4 месяца назад

That would also mean that when The Beatles did over dubs for the Shea Concert films , on Jan.5 , '66 , that George had to use a different guitar for his Tennessean over dubs. Now the question is ... What guitar did he use for the overdubs ? Are there any photos of them doing these sessions at the CTS film studios where these were done ? At the time , these sessions were not known, being kept quiet & " secret ". Details are in Lewisohn's book the Beatles Chronicles. Page 215. Nice video & correct , why did no one notice the changed tuner before ? Why , when people made their own custom copies , they did not notice ? Keep up the good work. I enjoy your videos.

@beatlesfan2884 4 месяца назад

George probably used his Strat as it would give a similar tone to the Tenny unlike his 345

@chrisst8922 17 дней назад

A very good point. CTS is Cine Tele Sound at Wembley.

@maritimponi 4 месяца назад

I think you have all seen the footage of George watching himself playing "this boy" with the Beatles, right? He mentions "I gave that guitar away". Is that one of the guitars missing?

@TheNeonRabbit 4 месяца назад

No, George was "playing" an acoustic guitar in that video

@davidrichmond83 4 месяца назад

He might have thought of the solid Rickenbacker he bought when visiting his sister in the USA.That, he may have used for the other side-I want to hold your hand. That Ricky was given away.

@foofghtr 3 месяца назад

Ringo has it…

@foofghtr 3 месяца назад

The guitar that was destroyed was the Tennessean. Mal picked up the pieces, the neck and headstock. A tuning key from it is on Paul McCartneys Hofner Cavern bass. Go look you’ll see the chrome Tennessean tuner on his bass.

@ovalvox7888 4 месяца назад

Good detective work Nick.

@mattskustomkreations 4 месяца назад

Whoah! Had no idea Paul’s bass was found!!!

@alexarteaga-caseyjunior5098 10 дней назад

There’s one other thing that you forgot to mention in this video is that after analyzing some photos George reused the Silver Gretch selector switch knob from the gretsch tennessean guitar on his Lucy Les Paul for a brief period. Because later on it was replaced with a Pickup Selector switch.

@Hammerman48 4 месяца назад

I love the moment when John said to the driver Alf Bicknell….if you can find the guitar you can keep your job!

@gdholmfirth 4 месяца назад

Sherlock Martellaro. Good work.

@chrisst8922 3 месяца назад

Presumably Paul's bass will be restored. It's important that they retain the odd machine head as it's the last surviving remnant of the Tenny.

@ZackyDog 3 месяца назад

Nice work, Nick. Thanks. Yes, it looks like a Tennessean tuning knob.

@ksharpe10 4 месяца назад

I just saw this notice. Another youtuber did a tennessean video, and in that video he showed an Auction page with a Tennessean that was being sold from Richard Starkey/Ringo estate, it was listed as having been gifted to Richy from Georges Wife and Son in 2002, because Ringo had done the tribute show for George, it was Supposedly ONE OF GEORGE"S actual guitars, Did he buy another at one time??? Anyway the serial number listed was 52994, for the Auction Guitar, the photos of the Auction Guitar show no White around the F HOLES. I am really surprised that all the info. on these guitars is so RARE. Wish someone would talk to PAUL and OR RINGO, about these, The gibson 345 is a mystery also, where it came from and where it Went. What a Rabbit Hole of Beatlemania after all these years.

@Merseyrock 3 месяца назад

Lucky for Bill (and lucky for Paul, too, who was to acquire it, later on...) his upright didn't fall off their car during his early gigs 'on the road' with both Elvis and Scotty

@Birdie6479 4 месяца назад

That is quite the detective work.

@jtym6349 4 месяца назад

Wow! Impressive detective work! Seems it may indeed be the Tennessean that got wrecked. The next task would be to find out the serial numbers of both of George's Country Gent and to see if anyone out there has a match with one of them, assuming there's still one being owned by the Harrison estate.

@chrisst8922 17 дней назад

In annother video, Nick has identified the number of one of them. There is not a Country Gent owned by Harrison's estate, both are missing.

@RobertMascaro69 4 месяца назад

Awesome detective work my friend! I love this stuff! Keep it coming!

@foofghtr 3 месяца назад

Now Harrison’s Country Gentleman is a 1963 model. On the headstock the gold plate at the top the serial number is engraved into that. I haven’t found a photo that gives the numbers up yet.

@shawnhawley9917 4 месяца назад

Super nice detective work, then finding all the pictures, the missing bass, coming back into possession, still with the same tuning key on it, as all the pictures show. Even Paul McCartney should be able to share some light on that now that all the pieces have been put together I’d say that was a great piece of detective work. Congratulations! Very impressive, the missing guitar could very well still be out there and would be worth a fortune. Sherlock Holmes has nothing on you.

@cliffhughes6010 Месяц назад

Great video and great detective work.

@charlesceb673 3 месяца назад

It seems strange to me that George says that they had 14 guitars on the tour, it seems like a lot to me based on what they used on those tours.

@chrisst8922 2 месяца назад

Sort of a figment of speech.

@Kahuna54 3 месяца назад

After seeing George playing the Country Gentleman and hearing the story of it being destroyed when he left it on top of the car they were driving I bought one! I love it!

@UncleSam-USofA 4 месяца назад

I saw a RU-vid video a few years ago of the Beatles live on stage and the Country Gentleman had stopped working and while live he changed guitars but I cannot find that video presently. Can you find that????? It was live and they are using Vox amps

@jakewilliams1344 4 месяца назад

That's incredible! Great find!!!

@lemontiki 4 месяца назад

Man! You do amazing research 🔬

@Wildmutationblu 3 месяца назад

Nice work detective Martellaro.

@GerarddeSouza-yt3fc 3 месяца назад

Nick Martellaro: Beatle detective.

@lachlangrant1588 3 месяца назад

One small detail you've missed is that George actually had two Gretsch Country Gents. The first one had dial-up mutes fitted to it, which are basically rotary operated. His second Gent had 'flip-up' mutes, which are an on and off switch system. Once George got the Gent with flip-up mutes, the Gent with dial-up mutes became his spare. I believe it was the Gent with the dial-up mutes which was destroyed. His second Country Gent was given away at a later date. The machine heads used on Tennesseans and other Gretsches like 6120's and Duo Jets were Grover Sta-tites. The machine head on Paul's '61 bass certainly looks like one. I'd be very interested to know what Paul remembers about about the incident. If anyone would know for sure, it'd be him.

@NickMartellaro 3 месяца назад

Appreciate your comment! Just a couple corrections - the first Gent went back to Sound City for repairs when he got the second one. I believe they kept it and planned to sell it and donate the proceeds. Apparently, it was quite beaten up. From Beat Monthly magazine at the time: "One of Harrison's worn-out guitars, a Gretsch Country Gent in a falling-to-pieces case, fills a corner in Sound City, in London...no good for George, but it could raise thousands of pounds if put up for charity." Also, at least as far as Tennesseans go, this particular model did not have Grover Sta-Tites. As stated in the video, they were Waverly manufactured tuners. Modern reissues, however, do have Grover Sta-Tites.

@lachlangrant1588 3 месяца назад

@@NickMartellarowell aware that the first Gent went to Sound City for repairs, as it wouldn't stay in tune. Apparently the bloke who looked at it was horrified at how filthy and gummed up the fingerboard was. I don't think George really knew how to care for a guitar up to that point. The first Gent was actually stolen while it was at Sound City. It was quickly recovered before going back to George, who then used it as his spare for the '63. In regards to the first Gent being wrecked, refer to pages 163 - 165 of Andy Babiuk's Beatles Gear book. According to Alf Bicknell, the Gent was destroyed en route to the Beatles appearance on the Blackpool Night Out T.V show. George used the Tennessean on this performance, so that effectively rules it out as being the guitar destroyed. Machine heads. According to Jay Scott's Gretsch book, Duke Kramer is reported as saying that Tennessean's built in the first three years ('58 - '61) had machine heads made by Waverley. The Tennessean at that point was a single pickup, full hollowbody archtop. However, by 1961 when the sealed Electrotone body was introduced across the Chet Atkins range of guitars, Gretsch were using Grover StaTite machine heads, and occasionally Van Ghent machine heads (which had different shaped buttons to the Grovers). George's Tennessean was a '63 model, so it had Grover StaTites on it, not Waverleys. By the late '60's, Van Ghent machine heads were more common on Gretsches that Grovers were. Hope this helps.

@NickMartellaro 3 месяца назад

@@lachlangrant1588 Again, thanks for your comment! I think there's some confusion here. Blackpool Night Out occurred on August 1st, 1965, correct? Unless you're referring to the 1964 performance. Either way, Harrison was spotted throughout the entire 1965 August USA tour (Shea Stadium, etc) playing both the Tennessean and the Country Gentleman, so your timeline doesn't really make sense. I'm not sure what Alf Bicknell comment you're referring to - neither my original copy or the new "Ultimate Edition" of Beatles Gear mentions Blackpool. Regarding the Tennessean's tuner - I did a video tracking down the serial number and looked through tons of close ups of his guitar. I'll let you be the judge, but check out the pic below. I always thought Grover Sta-Tites were branded (as they were on Lennon's 325) with a distinctive plate...these look like Waverlies to me. i.imgur.com/xJwiK2z.png

@scottrap 4 месяца назад

Wow, that is incredible! I’m reading Mal‘s biography right now but I’m only on page 10.

@Vitotesta 3 месяца назад

Superb!

@paulsimmons5726 3 месяца назад

Well, I may still have a chance at finding a really cool guitar with some history to it; I’m not holding my breath though, lol!

@martinrw42 Месяц назад

brilliant!!!

@BGTuyau 3 месяца назад

Interesting anecdote ...

@MilesTippett 4 месяца назад

Someone should walk that stretch of road to see if BY CHANCE a 60 year old artifact may still be there!

@chrisst8922 3 месяца назад

Mind the pot holes.

@TRICK-OR-TREAT236 4 месяца назад

BRILLIANT INVESTIGATING NICK ! I AGREE ITS THE TENNESSEAN THAT BIT THE DUST.

@vayabroder729 4 месяца назад

Great information; one question. I thought George had two Country Gentlemans and the Tennessean. Is that accurate?

@zyabomusic6912 4 месяца назад

Yes

@hstdriver6616 Месяц назад

I remember a picture from years ago of George with the Travelling Wilburys and they are all holding guitars. Tom Petty is holding a Country Gent! Could it be one of the missing ones? I'm sure I read somewhere that the picture was taken at George's house and they were all holding one of his guitars each just for the photo shoot. Could you track down this photo to see if you can get the serial number of the guitar?

@joestarr05 11 дней назад

That Gretsch only had single mutes. Both of George's Country Gent would have double mutes (one dial up and one flip up).

@erikbrooks7712 4 месяца назад

Chrome tuner means the Tennessean was wrecked cause the Country gentleman has gold tuners and by the time I typed this they just said that

@DrTomoculus 4 месяца назад

Your next sleuthing should be why can't Paul McCartney remember that you had to special order left handed basses from Hofner back in the day. Because they weren't a shelf item. You had to tell them you wanted one. PS - it's pronounced HOAFner. Like Loaf of bread. Hofner. German. ;)

@vayabroder729 4 месяца назад

Some say that Cavern bass was the first lefty Hofner ever made.

@DrTomoculus 4 месяца назад

Next thing I expect to hear is that McCartney was a virgin birth. @@vayabroder729

@pearsedunne9938 4 месяца назад

Poor Mal Evans. A hard working man for The Beatles with a wage of £30 a week. Years later, he was shot dead by cops in the states….

@Ohms_vs_Draaggs 3 месяца назад

Rip to a real one

@marguskiis7711 Месяц назад

30 wasn't bad at all in 60s.

@CorkElectric40 3 месяца назад

Yes...........yes yes yes yes yes..........well done brother.

@joestarr05 4 месяца назад

OMG!

@FiveLiver 4 месяца назад

Not being guitar savvy, but liking Roy Orbison - did he use one of these Gretches?

@Bmille1965 4 месяца назад

usually Roy used a Gibson but seen photos of him with a Gretsch Country Gentleman like Georges

@timothyflyte9443 4 месяца назад

One of the guitars Roy Orbison used had a Gretsch body with a Gibson neck and pick ups from a steel guitar. There is a video about this guitar on RU-vid.

@FiveLiver 4 месяца назад

@@timothyflyte9443 Thanks for the info - I'll look for it.

@FiveLiver 4 месяца назад

@@Bmille1965 Thanks for that.

@foofghtr 3 месяца назад

Ringo has the Country Gentleman and John Lennon’s Rose Morris Fireglo Rickenbacker 1996 with an F hole at 2pm which he recently auctioned off for $900,000 That’s what I’ve been told anyway..

@joestarr05 2 месяца назад

I though it was a 1962 Tennessean he auctioned.

@chrisst8922 21 день назад

There was a story about this on-line years ago told by fans who saw some of the guitars Ringo had. As you say he certainly had the Rickenbacker but the identity of the Gretsch is less certain. Ringo had Gretsches, some were actioned but they weren't the missing one's

@foofghtr 20 дней назад

@@chrisst8922 the Tennessean is definitely the broken Gretsch. So we also know George said he gave the Gent to someone, it’s not in his personal collection. We know a couple things, someone really close in the Beatle circle told me Ringo has it. Who knows, all we know is it’s not destroyed.

@chrisst8922 20 дней назад

@@foofghtr I read that George gave a Gent to Brian O'Hara of The Foremost and you can see videos of him playing (presumably) that guitar on YT. I read that he in turn gave it away to persons unknown and died in 1999. There's also the second Country Gent. When Ringo auctioned his stuff he kept some of it, his personal snare for example.

@foofghtr 20 дней назад

@@chrisst8922 he had two Gents at once, there’s a pic. He traded in the dial up mute older Gent for the Tenny.

@jahgust 4 месяца назад

Nice sleuthing sir!

@gj8683 3 месяца назад

Here's a thought: Don't strap your guitars on top of your car. Just sayin'.

@michaelwwhite 4 месяца назад

👍👍👍

@recordstreetband6187 4 месяца назад

There is a photo with The Traveling Wilburys standing about at George's house. They are all holding guitars owned by George. Tom Petty has George's Country Gentleman in hand. The Country Gentleman was never stolen or lost