John Lennon’s Guitars Part Thirteen: 1961 Fender Stratocaster
John Lennon, and The Beatles in general, are known for using a lot of hollow-bodied electric guitars, especially Rickenbackers. But they did make occasional use of solid-bodied guitars, like the Fender Stratocaster featured in the latest edition of our series on John Lennon’s guitars. See earlier entries here:
- Part One: Gallotone Champion Acoustic John Lennon Guitar.
- Part Two: Hofner Club 40 Electric John Lennon Guitar.
- Part Three: 1958 Rickenbacker 325 Capri John Lennon Guitar.
- Part Four: 1962 Gibson J-160E John Lennon acoustic/electric.
- Part Five: 1964 Gibson J-160E John Lennon acoustic/electric.
- Part Six: 1964 Rickenbacker 325 Jetglo John Lennon Electric.
- Part Seven: 1964 Rickenbacker 325-12 Jetglo John Lennon Electric 12-string.
- Part Eight: 1964 Jose Ramirez A-1 John Lennon Classical Guitar.
- Part Nine: 1964 Rickenbacker 325 Fireglo John Lennon Electric.
- Part Ten: 1964 Framus 12-string Hootenanny John Lennon Acoustic.
- Part Eleven: 1965 Gretsch 6120 Hollow-Bodied John Lennon Electric.
- Part Twelve: 1965 Russian Acoustic John Lennon Guitar.
In the first half of 1965, The Beatles were working on their fifth UK studio album, Help! One day, John Lennon and George Harrison sent roadie Mal Evans out to procure a pair of Fender Stratocasters to mess around with. Evans returned with matching 1961 models in a pale blue colour. Supposedly manager Brian Epstein, ever conscious of the band’s image, had agreed to pay for the guitars on the condition that the colours matched.
John’s Stratocaster was first featured on a released take later in 1965, to record Nowhere Man. He continued to make some use of it for at least two years, through the end of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. The guitar’s location since then is unknown, though John used a similar Stratocaster in 1971 on his second solo album, Imagine.
History source: thecanteen.com
Tags: Beatles, Fender, guitar, history, John-Lennon, StratocasterRelated Stories
POSTED IN: John, Uncategorized, history
0 opinions for John Lennon’s Guitars Part Thirteen: 1961 Fender Stratocaster
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: