The Fender Stratocaster played by Bob Dylan in 1965
Like Elvis’ no-hips-allowed appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles’ arrival in America or Woodstock, it is considered a milestone moment in rock history: Bob Dylan going electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Yesterday, the Fender Stratocaster that Dylan used at the festival sold for nearly $1 million — the highest price ever paid for a guitar at auction.
A buyer identified only as a private individual agreed to pay $965,000 at Christie’s, including the auction house’s fees, for the sunburst-finish electric guitar.
Dylan’s legendary performance at the festival in Rhode Island 48 years ago marked his rupture with the folk movement’s old guard and solidified his shift away from acoustic music, like Blowin’ in the Wind, toward amplified rock, such as Like a Rolling Stone.
The raucous, three-song electric set was booed by some in the crowd, and folk purists saw Dylan as a traitor and a sellout.
Christie’s had expected the guitar to go for far less, $300,000 to $500,000.
The previous record was Eric Clapton’s Fender, which sold for $959,500 in 2004.
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